Heartburn: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World) by Tarrah Anders (100 best novels of all time TXT) 📕

“I’m from here, sir. My entire plan was to start out in the city, then return home.”

“Ah, a boomerang.” He nods.

“A what?” I ask as we approach the doors that lead to the bay.

“A boomerang. It’s when you leave and then come back.”

“Ah, yeah. That’s me.”

I can hear sirens and see the flashing lights as they near. Three buses pull up, and we’re set into motion.

We’re pulling the gurney’s down off the buses and wheeling them into hospital, with residents following.

“There’s three more buses coming,” someone shouts from one vehicle.

“Someone page Quinn, we’re going to need him to come in tonight!” Dr. Richardson says.

My heart skips a beat hearing Rogan’s last name, but I keep my eyes forward and get the line for the patient in front of me.

There’s a lot of blood from the patient laying on the bed in front of me. She has a large glass shard piercing her chest cavity. She is sobbing, and half of her face is also bloody.

I look behind me as a resident brings in another patient. I make sure the woman’s connected appropriately and turn to get the next patient checked in. This one has bruising against his chest in the shape of a seatbelt. The right side of his face is mangled, and he is holding his wrist.

I move from bed to bed, in sync with Dr. Richardson for the night. The evening went fast and before I know it, the sun peaks in through the bay doors. The room slowed after that, and I finally caught my breath as I sat down to record some notes from the night.

“Impressive.” Dr. Richardson taps his knuckles on the top of the desk.

“Excuse me?” I look up at him just as Rogan steps up to him.

“Hey Rogan, have you met our new hot-shot nurse?”

“Yeah, we’ve met.” Rogan nods in my direction and moves around Dr. Richardson to grab one of the tablets in the stand. He taps the surface and sets it down on the counter to maneuver through the screens.

“She’s pretty efficient. Took on tonight like a beast, I’ve seen nothing like it. It was pretty efficient.”

“Thank you, Dr. Richardson.” I smile.

“I may have to change some shifts with you, Ro, so that way I have a competent nurse in my ER.”

“What’s wrong with Connie? She’s a skilled nurse.”

“She’s good, nothing is wrong with her. But I enjoyed the way we flowed. It was like a dance, we were perfectly in tune with one another. Consider yourself lucky, man. You don’t want to let this one out of your sight.” Rogan looks up at me and then back to his tablet.

If he only knew.

7

Rogan

I live for the movement of the Emergency Room.

Even in the town of Sunnyville, the Emergency Room is the front lines of the hospital. It is the place where you put all the judgements aside and it doesn’t matter who you are. You are an equal and you will be treated as so.

I come to work revitalized each day, knowing that I will help someone, even if it’s just by giving them a band-aid and sending them on their way.

Work is where I’m happy to be. It’s not a chore to go do a shift, or even to fill in for someone else. Work is where I go to clear my mind and be of service to others. If I’m not on my game while there, I could make mistakes and since Kindra Mason has come back to town, my mind wanders, my eyes drift and I know that I’m slacking off.

I cannot let that happen.

“We need to talk,” I say to her back in the locker room. She pulls her jacket off the hook and slowly turns around.

“Excuse me?” she asks.

“We need to talk. Since it looks like, you will be staying in town.”

“Well, I did take a job here, I think that would be a hefty inclination of so.” She cocks her head and smirks.

“Let’s grab a coffee, since our shift is over, and clear the air so that way, we’re both on level ground since we’ll be working together.” I suggest.

“I can do that,” she nods.

“I’ll grab us a table at Sunny Side Up,” I tell her and leave, not giving her the option to choose another place.

It’s just after six in the morning when I walk into the diner. I’m greeted by the server who tells me to choose anywhere to sit, so I situate myself in a booth by the window. A few minutes later, Kindra walks in and looks around the empty space until her eyes land on mine.

I know that I look tired, because tonight’s shift was long, but she looks fresh and rested which is impossible. She takes a seat in front of me and offers me a small smile.

“Is this weird for you too?” she asks.

“A little,” I admit, as the server pours us each a cup of coffee.

“You guys need a few minutes?” She asks, looking back and forth between us.

“Yeah, just a few, thanks Ness.” She nods and walks away.

“The food here still the same?” Kindra asks.

“New owners, better food.” I whisper.

We place our orders and then we’re sitting in silence. I clear my throat and connect eyes with her.

“Eleven years is a long time.” I say.

“I can explain.”

“You have a lot to explain,” I reply.

“I know, I’m sorry.” She looks down at her hands folded in front of her until her head shoots up at someone shrieking her name and rushing toward our table.

“I can’t believe you didn’t come home first!” The woman stands beside the table.

I look up at her and recognize that it’s Kindra’s mom. She doesn’t regard me, her eyes are set on Kindra and waiting for an answer.

“I needed to settle in first,” Kindra explains sheepishly.

“You’ve been gone for over eleven years, Kindra. You’ve been in town for two weeks, and you haven’t even come to say hello to your mother?” She pushes