‘It would have been,’ she affirmed. ‘Had her biological parents not cleaned themselves up and taken her back. That’s why I came to Seattle.’
‘You needed a fresh start in a new place where there were no memories of Carrie.’
‘Right.’ She lifted her shoulder, then let it drop. ‘A move across the country seemed like a good start.’
‘I can’t imagine how much you must miss her.’
‘Like you said, we’re both here to press the reset button. And although I didn’t plan on meeting you, you were right, we’re both adults, and it’s just sex.’
‘Just sex,’ he echoed. ‘I did say that.’
‘You did.’ She couldn’t name the odd lilt to his tone, but she couldn’t afford to dwell on it. ‘Transitory, no strings, no-commitment fun. Neither of us can offer the other any more than that. But, right now, that’s all we need. Right?’
This was exactly what she’d told Gemma that she wanted, and this was what Logan was offering.
‘That’s what I’m saying,’ he agreed, and again she couldn’t shake the idea that there was an edge to his tone.
But then he straightened up and flashed her a megawatt smile that said he was wrapping up the conversation.
‘I would kiss you,’ he teased, ‘but my son is over there and that would be breaking the rules.’
Kat laughed, in spite of everything. This was a framework she could understand. She could live with.
‘Well,’ she declared, standing up with a broad grin and lining up the perfect shot of her coffee cup into the bin. ‘We wouldn’t want to break the rules, would we?’
Before he could answer, she took the shot, turned around and jogged into the park to find Jamie.
CHAPTER NINE
‘THIS IS LEO. He’s seventeen, he was climbing trees when he slipped and fell, and he got crushed between a wall and a fence. His GCS was fifteen on arrival and he was complaining of reduced capability in his left arm and left leg. Tender at C2 and C3 with persisting sensory reduction in his left hand. We’ve seen no volume issues and he has been stable during transport.’
‘Okay, thanks.’ Logan stepped forward to take over from the EMTs. ‘Hey, Leo, I’m Logan. I’m the ER doctor. My colleague here is going to draw some blood and I just want to listen to your chest.’
As Logan signalled to her, Kat stepped forward to greet the patient and get the syringe organised.
She felt strange. Not quite in her body, as if she was floating above the ER, watching everything unfold below her. Last night had been fun and revealing, in equal parts. She’d opened up to Logan in a way she’d never anticipated doing with anyone out here, even Gemma. Not that she’d told him everything, of course. Like they’d agreed, they weren’t a couple, they were just two adults enjoying a mutual attraction for a while.
Questions slid into her head, but she shut them down quickly. They had their rules, and she’d thought she understood where she was with Logan.
This morning, however, he’d barely said two words to her, unless it had been about patients. And maybe that was a good thing—they could concentrate on their work, and the patients gave them something safe to discuss. But she couldn’t help feeling that he was regretting last night after all. Sex was one thing, but maybe opening up to each other was now against the rules.
It only made it all the more critical that she keep her eyes on her patient and her mind focussed on the task in hand. Working steadily, methodically. Letting the buzz around her wash over her. She was aware of Logan concentrating on the lad’s leg and asking him to squeeze his hand harder.
None of the signs looked good, and Kat’s heart sank on the kid’s behalf.
It was a short while later when Logan called her out of the room, along with the rest of the team, whilst he carried out a preliminary bedside scan.
‘Okay, I’ve called Neurology,’ he advised them. ‘Given that Leo can’t feel anything when I palpate below a certain point, I want them to ensure he’s stabilised before we risk moving him for a full CT.’
‘Right,’ one of the other nurses concurred. ‘So we wait?’
‘What other patients do you have?’
‘I’ve got a possible mumps, a patient who has a cyst on her knee and needs it to be aspirated, and a probable asthma attack...’ Kat’s colleague listed them off.
Then Logan turned to her. ‘Kat?’
‘I have a dislocated finger, a young boy with lacerations that need suturing and a probable tetanus boost, and a patient with leg pain, possible DVT. I just need an ultrasound to check for a clot.’