“I want a SpongeBob band aid and a lollypop,” Brady announced, glaring at one of the paramedics. “I don’t want my ow.”
“I know you don’t,” Jan soothed as they pulled up to the hospital. “But you’re going to have to be really strong, a really big boy for me. And then we can see a doctor and get you a SpongeBob band aid.”
And maybe even a yellow cast.
“What do we have here?” someone said, and Jan’s head shot up. She recognized the voice from somewhere, but she couldn’t place it. She moved outside, following the stretcher, the paramedics and doctor conferring.
“Are you the...Mom?” Jan startled at that question.
“No. I’m his...Keith!”
“Jan?” her father’s best friend asked.
“Yes. He’s one of my students. His parents aren’t here yet and…” She trailed off, staring at her father’s best friend. She’d known he’d moved hospitals, but had never expected him to be here.
Keith nodded. “Med proxy?” he asked, all business, though he was watching Jan carefully.
“Yes.” She handed it over to him and he scanned it before giving it to a nurse and hurrying into the bay where Brady had been taken. She followed hot on his heels. The medical personnel moved Brady onto a hospital bed, each of them wishing Brady well. The last paramedic handed Jan several lollypops for Brady, but Jan had the feeling they wouldn’t be eaten any time soon.
Dr. Keith and his staff were efficient, getting Brady down into X ray in moments. Jan freed up enough time to check her texts, and found that it was bad, worse than she’d expected.
Shit, the TV station is here.
The police are questioning Mr. Phillips. What do we say?
I just closed the school for the afternoon. Parents will be picking up their kids.
How is Brady?
Jan had to stop after that; the texts were coming in way too quickly, the flow of information too much for her already frayed nerves. Seeing Brady on the ground like that, knowing their supervisor’s drinking problem had been the cause, had broken her heart. Jan loved this job; it was the first step toward running her own facility. She’d given five good years here, starting the day after she’d gotten her Masters. Jan loved her kids; she’d worked up the ranks and despite Mr. Phillips and his attitudes, Jan had hung in because of her coworkers, and the kids. Should she have expected this? Could she have?
Jan rubbed the back of her neck and sank into a chair, brushing the knees of her dress pants. Brady would probably be in imaging for a few minutes and she could let off a little tension. She was strung out, her entire body locked down. She closed her eyes, tears welling up. Jan hated this; loathed the fact that her supervisor had put them in this position.
How dare he?
“Hey, kid. Want something to drink?” Keith’s warm voice washed over her, and Jan opened her eyes. He’d come in, bending down, his hand resting on the damp knee of her pants.
“I can’t go anywhere,” she told him, trying to blink back her tears.
“I know. I can get you a water or a soda. It’ll be a bit yet. They’re going to get some pain medication into him and he’ll be drowsy. We won’t be able to do surgery until the parents have arrived, but we can make him comfortable.” He paused. “This is a surgical fix, Jan. What happened?”
She didn’t want to explain it; she didn’t dare right now. Instead, she racked her brain to change the subject. “I can’t right now,” she told him, and he gave her a shrewd look.
“How are things?”
Jan let out a little brittle laugh. “I think I’m going to be looking for another job soon.”
“Why’s that?” Keith asked, sympathy brimming in his gaze, his green eyes crystalline in the harsh lights of the ER cubicle.
“It’s a nightmare,” Jan told him, tears welling in her eyes. She wouldn’t cry in front of Keith; she couldn’t humiliate herself like that. He probably still thought she was a teenager, when she was anything but.
Keith looked at his watch. “I get off work my shift in an hour. Can I take you out for a bite?”
“Sure,” Jan said, giving him her warmest smile. He’d been there when she’d ridden her first bike. He’d taught her to do so. He and Dad had taken her to her first baseball game. Keith and his wife, Miranda, had come to all her major life events, and when Miranda had died in a car accident ten years ago, her family had mourned deeply. Mom and Miranda had been close, almost as close as Dad and Keith had been.
Keith had been a constant presence in her life, for longer than she could even remember. He and Dad had been best friends forever, meeting in kindergarten. The friendship it stayed, and while Keith wasn’t quite an uncle to her, he was one of her closest mill influences in her life. Jan knew that she could use his advice. She had a really bad feeling about this.