Unfortunately, they hadn’t been. Now, having been burned by his experience, he’d never sleep at night knowing that he could have saved a friend from misery and hadn’t.
Be that as it may, their personal issues and discussion would have to wait. The soon-to-arrive patient would take precedence.
He approached Marissa as she severed the phone connection. “I’m back,” he announced.
The smile on her face faded. “How nice.”
Her polite tone grated on his nerves but he deserved a chilly reception. Before he could frame an apology, she pointed to the monitor of a second computer. “My notes on Mr. Newland are charted for your review. The pharmacy has already called about renewing his medication orders, so if you can take care of that first—”
“They’ll have to wait. I’m admitting a new patient to the unit, a seventy-year-old female with possible meningitis or encephalitis. I’ll want a spinal tap.” The elevator bell dinged an interruption, and he added, “That’s probably her now.”
She rose and darted around the counter, her cool demeanor changing to her usual professionalism. “I’ll put her in two.”
“Marissa, wait.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Why? Your patient is here.”
As if he needed a reminder. “I know.” He paused. “You need to know something first.”
Impatience flitted across her face. “What?”
“It’s Lucy.”
“Lucy who?”
“Lucy Mullins.”
It took a second for the name to register. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “My Lucy?”
He nodded, intently watching her response.
Lucy Mullins might be Marissa’s seventy-year-old neighbor, but she was far more than that. Neither woman had any family to speak of, and he knew that Lucy offered friendship, homemade cookies and motherly advice whenever any of the above were needed.
The worry in Marissa’s eyes turned to determination. “As soon as I’ve gotten her settled into room two and am ready for the spinal tap, I’ll let you know.”
She headed in that direction, but Justin’s hand on her arm held her in place. “What now?” she asked impatiently.
“Ask Kristi to take over for you.”
She stared at him, incredulous. “Why? Lucy is my patient.”
He shook his head, aware that she wouldn’t like what he would say next any better than she’d liked his comments about Pendleton. “Not today she isn’t.”
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