Selfless Hero

“Thank you so much for filing the report, Ms. Hackett. We will be investigating the case shortly.”

“Okay. Thank you.” With a heavy sigh, I ended the call just as Megan entered our break room, carrying her lunch with her and looking like she wanted nothing more than for the day to end.

“How’s it going, Megan?” I asked.

“I was about to say it’s going too busy, but you look even more worn out than me. What’s wrong now, doll?”

I crossed the room and sat beside her at the table. “I just had to report a case of possible child abuse. I was just on the phone with Child Protective Services.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. This sweet little seven-year-old girl has scarring on her wrists. I just saw her this morning. I was assigned to help Dr. Lewis again, and he was examining her. She was brought in for her fever.”

“It’s always hard when you see kids getting hurt. Any idea who’s abusing her?”

“Not really, although she did seem a little uncomfortable with her mom. Her mom wasn’t even in the room with most of the time though.”

“Where was she?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t get a chance to ask. She eventually returned and Dr. Lewis sent me out.”

“Well, rest assured you did the right thing.”

“I know. The important thing is making sure she’s going to be okay.”

“Exactly.”

“Guess I may as well take my lunch too. Be right back, Megan.” I stood and headed to the refrigerator to get my lunch.

“So—you were assigned to Max again today, eh?” Megan called out to me in a teasing voice.

I tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smirk as I made my way back over to the table with my lunch. “So.”

She laughed. “So did the two of you behave today?”

“We had no choice. The little girl was there.”

“Oh sure. Blame it on her.”

“You saw how he treated me yesterday. What else do you think contributed to his sudden ability to be cordial?”

“The fact that he regretted how he treated you.”

“How on earth do you know that?”

“I ran into him in the parking lot before I left yesterday.”

My ears perked, and I paused midway before taking a bite of my turkey sandwich. “And…?”

“And he asked about you.”

“Really? What did he say?”

Megan laughed, and I had to resist the urge to slap myself for sounding like an overly excited schoolgirl. I tried to remind myself that Dr. Lewis was not my type, so I had no reason to be so concerned with what he said about me. I had already dated a handsome jerk before, so I wasn’t about to fall for another one, even if he was a successful doctor.

Upon entering the hospital that morning, I had paused in the hallway and for the first time, took a good look at the various plaques of excellence for doctors among the hospital staff. Max Lewis had plenty of appearances on the wall. It was surprising I’d never noticed before, but I supposed I just hadn’t paid attention. Seeing all the good work he’d done over the years, I actually started to regret my own behavior a bit as well, particularly since I had more or less implied he hadn’t known what he was doing. But in my defense, he had insulted me first, so I still didn’t feel entirely too guilty about it…

“He just asked how long you’d been working here. I told him you’d been here as long as me, and that you were one of the most dedicated nurses at this location.”