A Father's Gift

By Sherrika Evans

From the outside, Blake Harperʼs life looks perfect. She's young and attractive and has an enormously successful career as an emergency room nurse practitioner. She loves her work and has always placed it high on her priority list. But suddenly her life is turned upside down with a single phone call.

Her father has cancer...aga

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781641121880

Book preview

PART ONE

BLAKE

CHAPTER 1

I’ll take a venti white chocolate mocha, please. Extra shot of espresso, Blake said as she handed five dollars to the barista.

You want a venti today and an extra shot of espresso? It must be a hectic day in the ER if you need that much of a caffeine kick this early in the morning. The barista and Blake had gotten to know each other pretty well over the past few months. Some days Blake found herself needing two cups of coffee or more during her twelve-hour shifts.

Blake smiled and said, Today has been insane. I pretty much live off of caffeine at this point.

It had been such a long morning, full of chaos in her small-town emergency room where Blake worked as a nurse practitioner. It was a very interesting career, but it meant that for as many good days, there were even more bad days, and they were all busy. Today had been particularly chaotic. After several traumas and a lobby full of sick patients, she was exhausted. This had become her typical day recently, so she knew what was coming when she came into work each and every shift. No matter how fast she worked, she knew she would never be fully caught up. As she made her way through the long hospital hallways, Blake remembered when she first started working in health care. She had lived and even thrived on the adrenaline rush of the ER, but now she was just plain tired.

Blake had started in the ER when she was just eighteen years old. She was always bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she bounced into work, ready for the storm to hit. The good old days for her included working as a secretary and being excited to come into work each day. She had slowly worked her way up the ladder in the emergency medicine world.

While she was a secretary, she decided she had a deep calling to become a nurse. All she wanted to do was help people when they needed it the most. During each shift, she felt that her heart and soul belonged in emergency medicine. She loved feeling as if she had found her second home and family at work.

So she went to a local nursing school and had the time of her life. She loved learning about her future career. Her entire class was small—less than fifty people. She would see them going out and having fun throughout the week, but she didn’t have any interest in partying with her classmates. Blake decided she would celebrate after nursing school was completed. She buckled down and tried to soak in as much information as possible. Learning the material came easy to Blake, and she managed to graduate at the top of her class.

Early in her nursing career, she was awarded and praised by management and physicians, and soon she was asked to be on committees for improving the department and training new staff. Providing education to the new staff gave her a sense of purpose and drove her to be the best nurse that she could be. However, as years passed, she seemed to find less joy with her career choice.

After four years, she decided she wasn’t as happy as she should be in her career, so she applied to graduate school on a whim. She thought a new challenge and new role in health care would give her the happiness that she felt like she was missing. She realized quickly what her new goal should be—a nurse practitioner—and that she should continue practicing in emergency medicine, her comfort zone. When she told her coworkers and her family about her dream, everyone seemed to cheer her on in support, so she jumped in headfirst.

Now, five years later, she found herself working as a nurse practitioner in the same ER, feeling like she was stuck in the same rut. She still enjoyed caring for patients, but she felt as if something was missing from her life. She was envious of the fact that all of her coworkers seemed to be genuinely happy. They all smiled and laughed throughout the day while she stayed quiet and reserved. She wasn’t completely miserable, but she wasn’t as passionate about her career as she thought she should be at this point in her life. She didn’t thrive on her insane ER shifts anymore. She prayed for easier days and avoided as much chaos as she could.

When she first started working in health care, coworkers had always warned her about allowing herself to get to the point of feeling burnt out. As she was walking back into the chaotic ER from the coffee shop, Blake couldn’t help but think that being burnt out was an understatement. She had never really taken their warnings seriously and had always pushed the thought aside. At the time, work was what she absolutely loved to do. She wanted to be there every day and help people as much as possible. Her career made her feel powerful and whole, and she didn’t want to miss a single day.

After more than ten years of long hours and crazy shifts, the insanely busy days had taken a toll on her mind and spirit. She felt broken. She used to pick up extra shifts every week, but lately she just wanted to work the bare minimum per month that she was required per her contract. On her days off, she spent time on the couch, enjoying wine and drifting off in daydreams about escaping the chaos that she called life. She cringed at the thought of hearing alarms beeping, people yelling, and phones ringing.

She longed for a vacation. She wanted to run away and leave all of the ER drama and life responsibilities at home, even for just a short time. Unfortunately, escaping seemed impossible these days. Work had started calling her in on her days off due to being short-staffed; every person they hired seemed to run away before they were even fully trained.

Lately, she had been questioning herself about when and why she had become such a stressed, type A, boring person. She had always had such a strong desire to be wild, free, and fun-loving. Deep down she wanted to be a person who laughed every single day but couldn’t remember the last day that she spent more time laughing than being irritated. What I wouldn’t give to be on a beach somewhere, bartending and listening to steel drums play with waves crashing in the background.

She was brought back into reality when she pushed open the ER door. A nurse rolled a patient who was clutching his chest past her in a wheelchair. She knew it was time to put her game face on, finish the rest of her shift strong, and put her daydreams away, for now.

As Blake walked up to her desk, one of her favorite nurses cheerfully bounced up to her. Hey, girl, I put three charts on your desk while you were gone. Oh, Dr. Moore wanted me to ask if you had time to stitch up the patient in room six. He cut his finger with a butcher knife. Her name was Blair. She was a younger nurse in her early twenties, blond and petite. She had only been out of school for a year or so, but she was by far one of the best nurses in the department. Blake noticed that even on the worst days, she was always laughing and talking with patients and their families.

Has anyone told you that you are too chipper sometimes? Blake asked as she sat down behind her desk and looked at her charts.

Just drink your coffee and get on my level. The nurse rolled her eyes and laughed as she walked away to continue with her day.

Blake opened up her charts on her computer and got back to work. Only a few hours left, she muttered to herself.

The last patient of Blake’s shift was a twenty-three-year-old young man. He drank too much Jack Daniel’s whiskey and ran his car off the road. Blake glanced into his room from the hallway. He was handcuffed to the stretcher and had a familiar face beside him, Officer Bailey. His first name was Paul, but everyone around town just called him Bailey. He was a very tall man, around six foot five, with jet-black hair and dark-brown eyes.

Anytime he came into the ER, he was always wearing his official uniform, and women flocked to spend a few minutes alone with him. However, when Blake had seen him out and about in town, she didn’t see what the fuss was about. He was handsome in his uniform and had always been fit, but recently Blake had noticed that he was gaining a little more of a beer gut and losing his edge.

Blake had heard that he was recently divorced from his second wife. The rumor floating around was that she cheated on him with a police officer in another district. Things like that never seemed to stay a secret in such a small town. Blake wondered how much of the rumor was true versus how much had been embellished for dramatic effect. He had always seemed like a nice person but also seemed to be a little bit of a pushover when he brought patients into the ER. She thought that he probably let a lot of people talk their way out of tickets. She was sure that if anyone flirted with him, even a little, he would cave and let them have or do whatever they wanted.

As Blake walked into the room, she tried to be as upbeat as possible as she put together a fake smile. Hello. What brings you guys into the ER today?

The patient scowled at her and rolled his eyes. Isn’t that obvious? he muttered as he shook his hands dramatically. The handcuffs rattled against the stretcher, and Blake took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.

Blake opened her eyes and looked at the patient with a very halfhearted smile. She could smell the stench of alcohol and cigarettes as soon as she walked close to him. She knew from her years of experience that arguing with intoxicated patients or letting them get under her skin never really ended well. Ignoring his comment, she turned her gaze to Officer Bailey. He had a huge, goofy grin on his face. Patients who were heavily intoxicated always seemed to be brought in by the police before they made their way to jail. Blake was always curious if they really had to bring them or if it was just easier than letting them sober up at the police station. Most of the time, patients who came in with the police were calm and cooperative, but she did have to deal with rude, dramatic patients on occasion.

The police officer said, This guy is Tim, and he has been quite the handful since we picked him up. He didn’t seem to have any serious injuries on the scene, but you never really know until they sober up a little.

Well, it is always better to be safe than sorry. How much damage did he have to the car? Was he wearing his seatbelt? She asked her questions efficiently and took notes down on his chart as she went.

He said he was wearing it, but he was already out of the car and walking around when I got there. The car only had a few scratches and bent bumper. Overall, it looked like he was pretty lucky. It could have been much, much worse.

Tim suddenly yelled. "Yeah, I’m real lucky. Hello…I’m with the police. I think that is pretty unlucky, if you ask me."

Well, at least you didn’t kill yourself or someone else. Blake looked at him sincerely as she spoke and smiled softly. She was trying her usual approach to difficult patients, killing them with kindness.

Oh, save me your speech. He rolled his eyes and attempted to pull his arms up. The sound of the handcuffs against the metal stretcher seemed to make him even angrier this time. He started to struggle against the restraints as his face turned red. This is such bullshit! He finally huffed and gave up, letting his arms fall to the bed.

Blake chuckled to herself and started her exam. Tim seemed a little beat up. He had a few scratches on his arms and neck but was okay overall. Blake noticed he had a black eye and wondered if that was from the accident or a previous altercation with someone.

Tim interrupted her while she was attempting to listen to his heart and lungs and began yelling. Yo, this is police brutality, you old, ugly hag. Don’t you know anythin’? You’re helping ’em frame me for driving drunk. If y’all don’t let me out, I swear to god, I will own this place.

Yeah, it don’t work that way, buddy. Just try to be civil until we get the tests done, Bailey said as he scrolled through his phone.

During the exam, Tim called Blake so many names that she lost count, although the term ugly hag did stick out. Ugly hag wasn’t a term she heard often from a patient. With an expressionless face, Blake looked at him. You are using some colorful language today, Tim. You do realize that I am not actually the bad guy here, right?

As he fought against his handcuffs again, his neck veins bulged and his breathing became rapid. Stop being such a dumb bitch. Make that idiot police officer lemme go. It was just a few shots, and I was fine. This is such bullshit. He was pulling against his cuffs so hard that he already had red marks and bruises starting on each wrist. She knew he would be sore in the morning from fighting his restraints so much. She made a mental note that she would have to document his behavior in his chart, just in case he did call back and complain about his care or her treatment.

Blake sighed and looked at Bailey. It’s a good thing I have tough skin after this many years. Luckily, he didn’t suffer any serious physical injuries, so we can let him sleep off his alcohol here while we monitor him. When he is sober, you can take him to jail. While he is sobering up, we will run a few tests just to make sure everything looks good. It’s a shame that he probably won’t even remember his overly pleasant attitude and behavior.

Blake turned to leave the room, and Bailey followed her into the hallway. She could still hear Tim pulling at his handcuffs in his room.

Hey, I was thinking we should get dinner sometime. There are a few new places around that I want to try out.

Blake chuckled. I swear you bring patients in here just to annoy me in hopes that I say yes.

Me? No, ma’am. I would never do that. Annoying you is just an added bonus. He smiled slyly as he spoke, and Blake knew it was a mischievous smile. He had asked her out a couple of times already, and she had always said no. She was always terrified to date someone she worked with. It never ended well and seemed to always cause drama.

You know I don’t have time to date. I don’t have time for my own life because I am basically married to my job.

Doc, you need to get out more and live a little. Hasn’t anyone ever told you, life is too short to be so serious all the dang time?

Who said I was serious all the time? I can have fun. I just don’t have time to date, Bailey.

No offense, you just tend to put off the…um…leave-me-alone vibe. You are always here and obsessed with work. You can’t let yourself cut loose and let your hair down for a good time. Come on, let me treat you to dinner. Everyone deserves to enjoy a night out once in a while. He raised his arms to gesture around the ER. I promise to show you a good time.

Blake knew he was right on some level. She did need to get out more and stop working so much, but she still wasn’t interested in dating anyone from work. She had seen the drama it always caused when her coworkers had tried it.

I appreciate the offer. It’s not you; I just really don’t want to date anyone from work. I will try to look more fun-loving and less serious if it makes you feel better though. She smiled a big, clearly fake smile as she turned to walk away.

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