Joseph and George had been at the hospital for a total of four days. She checked on them every chance she got, but she’d been careful to avoid Austin. It hadn’t been easy, but so far, so good. She’d also been able to see Cassie often, and lend a shoulder for her grief filled friend.
With each passing day, the stress lifted a bit, though. Every time the men made it through another night, they each got stronger.
“Thank you,” Kinsey mumbled.
“George Anderson is showing signs of improvement. At the family’s request we’ve moved him to a room where his brother can be placed with him. We’re going to bring George out of his coma tonight. Joseph is stable now, enough to be moved. The family believes it will help the twin brothers heal faster, if they are next to each other.”
“That’s wonderful news,” Kinsey replied. She didn’t know why her supervisor was telling her this, though. She knew some of the news already, because Cassie had told her, but there was no need for her to tell her supervisor that.
“You look confused. I understand. We don’t normally share this information with the staff, but the family has insisted on you being the charge nurse for Joseph and George, since you have experience in both the ED and ICU, and of course, since you saved Joseph’s life. With the amount of money they’ve provided this hospital, they can make a request for the moon and we’re going to try our best to get it for them. Asking for you to be their charge nurse is an easy request to fill.”
Kinsey felt both honored and yet terrified at the same time. What if something happened to either of the men while on her watch? She was confident in herself, knowing she was great at her job, but these weren’t regular patients. Both men were loved by so many people. It was a huge weight on her chest to be the primary nurse in charge of their care.
Then, there was Austin. How could she possibly avoid him if she was caring for his father and uncle each day? She had no choice but to accept the offer, though.
“Joseph and George will be your main priority during this time. You’ll work twelve hour shifts, six days a week. I know you’ve been asking for all the overtime you can get. Well, you’ve now gotten it. The family knows you need to sleep, but they’ve requested for you to stay nearby so if anything goes wrong, you can be on-call. They’ve been very generous with supporting the extra funding to pay for the added expense.”
“I’m honored,” Kinsey finally replied.
“Your shift starts tomorrow at seven. Go home, get some rest, and pack what you need. It’s going to be a long week. I have a feeling this assignment won’t be a short one. Although George is recovering well, Joseph…” she trailed off. No one on staff liked to jinx a patient, even if the situation looked hopeless.
“Thank you,” Kinsey said before she made her way from the room. She’d just have to do the best she could for both of her patients and herself. Austin was just a guy, right? He didn’t hold control over her. She could handle being around him in a professional environment. She wouldn’t be affected by him. She didn’t even like him.
As she gave herself a little pep talk, her stomach clenched. She knew she was lying to herself. She wanted to see him, to be near him. She just didn’t want to want that.
A few hours later, Kinsey stood by as the doctors carefully removed his breathing tube, then weaned off the medicine to bring George out of his coma. As he slowly came to, his family crowded the room, worried looks on each of their faces.
“Dad?” Bree questioned as his eyes fluttered open.
“Bree?” he muttered, his voice raspy.
“Dad! Thank goodness,” Bree cried as she pushed past a nurse and knelt beside her father’s bed. The largest tears of gratitude, relief and thanks fell from her rounded doe eyes as a delighted smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “I’ve been so worried. You have got to quit scaring me like that,” she demanded.
“Joseph?” he croaked.
“He’s right next to you, Dad. Look to your left. See, right there,” she answered while pointing to his bed.
“Okay?” he asked.
“He’s stable, Dad. He’s doing really well. They got the problem fixed, but he’s in a coma right now. I don’t want you to worry. The hospital’s taking excellent care of him. He’s just worked too hard for too long, and this is his body’s way of telling him he needs a nice long nap,” Bree said.
George had a tear in his eye, but the corners of his mouth lifted at his daughter’s positive attitude. He finally looked up, and smiled more when he saw that all of his family was there.
“We’ve missed you, Dad. I agree with Bree. You need to start taking better care of yourself,” Trenton said as he stepped forward.
“Yeah. Aunt Katherine said there are no more joy rides for you two,” Max added as he came and squeezed his father’s hand.
“Not unless you want to face her wrath, that is,” Austin added.
“That’s right, George Anderson. You certainly won’t be getting any more joy rides. I can’t handle seeing you in a hospital bed twice in such a short amount of time,” Katherine said as she sat in the chair next to his bed. “I’ve missed you, my friend. Your brother is strong. Bree’s right, he’s simply catching up on some much needed rest. What I need from you is to not worry about him. I need you to get better, so you can help me bring Joseph back.”
George’s eyes filled and spilled over at Katherine’s words.