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He didn’t want to work in the ER There was no follow up – no after care And although he’d considered general practice for a while he preferred the pace in the hospital That’s why he was here, in Marietta Working in Marietta General was the perfect job A huge variety of hospital ith no pressure to specialize in only one area
He slowed his steps as he entered the ped ward and held out his hand to stop the swing of the doors Most of the patients would already be sleeping He just needed to check with the nurse in charge if anyone needed reviewed
Mary walked out of one of the treatment rooms as he approached “Hi Adam Didn’t expect to see you here”
He s just phoned in sick”
Mary raised her eyebrows “The dreaded bug?”
He nodded “I’m just here to see if you want me to check on any patients”
Mary walked over to the desk and handed him some charts “I need a prescription for pain relief for Jonah, antibiotics for an infected pin site for Jodie and,” she sighed, “a whole new attitude for Kayla, our teenage diabetic”
“Anything I can help with?”
She shook her head as she handed over theof sending our guardian angel in to speak to her – to see if that can make a difference”
He frowned “Guardian angel? Who is that?”
Mary looked up at him and pointed to the room across the hall “You haven’t met Lisa, our volunteer?”
He looked over into the roo down onto a book in the volunteer’s hand She was perched on the bed with her ar to It was obvious the little girl was co on her shoulder and waswith the story
He’d never seen Lisa before She was dressed entirely in black – black yoga pants and a black t-shirt, her dark hair twisted on top of her head in some kind of knot Pretty, in an understated kind of way The only bit of color around her was her red-tinged lips
She seemed completely and utterly at ease And her melodic voice floated out into the hall towards hione and in their place was a dress of blue satin with jewels that glistened in the laht”
“Is that like the dresses in your shop, Lisa?” the little girl asked
Lisa nodded and smiled “Oh, I have lots of dresses like that, Faye Once you feel a bit better we’ll get youryou to my shop and you can see them all”
Adael is all dressed in black What does she do?”
Mary laughed as she picked up the charts he’d signed “Actually her nickname around here is the Fairy Tale Bride – not that she’s married Lisa owns the bridal shop in Marietta and she always comes in here and reads the kids fairy tales They love her And so do we Faye’s ht with her daughter Lisa coht and reads her fairy tales until she falls asleep”
A buzzer sounded further down the corridor “Giveher hand as she started walking towards the blinking red light “I’ve got oneI need you to do”
It was fine It wasn’t as if he was in a hurry and to be honest, he hadn’t ed to pull his eyes away from Lisa It was odd, he’d been in here nearly two ht he’d met most of the town’s residents, but he hadn’t seen Lisa at all He was sure he would have remembered her
The bridal store? He frowned as he tried to remember it It wasn’t exactly somewhere he would visit Ah…yes, he reht side of the hospital he would be able to see the store from the hospital s The bridal store was on Front Avenue, next to the Pizza Parlor He gave a little smile He wondered what the dresses would smell like in there
He listened as she continued with the story, lowering her voice and gently stroking Faye’s hair as her eyelids drooped
He’d always liked peds – even though he didn’t usually cover here – but most of the staff were in their fifties and sixties Lisa was the first person he’d seen here who didn’t have grey hair
Her voice was radually droop as the tale of CinderellaBeauty and then Rapunzel
Mary caot waylaid” Her eyes followed his gaze “I can see you found so to pass the time” Her smile reached from ear to ear
Adam started “What was it you wantedone of the volunteers In a place as sed and
His last two fleeting dates had been ues It seemed if you sneezed in this place someone knew about it
Mary walked over to the trolley and pulled a filht box “Can you check this x-ray? It cao Ry
an Connor is still wheezing even though he’s on his nebulizers”
Adaht on behind the x-ray and stepped forward “There,” he said pointing to a little blur on the x-ray “What was Ryan doing? It looks like he’s inhaled so” He squinted a little more at the x-ray “Is that a coin?”
Mary’s eyes widened “It certainly looks like it What do you want to do?”
“It needs to coet it out in a few minutes Are his parents still here?”
Mary nodded “Give me a few minutes to speak to them”
Ada some notes and phoned down to prepare the endoscopy suite Lisa had just finished reading her final story and carefully eased her ar up her sheets She tiptoed out of the room
“Hey” She smiled “I don’t think we’ve met” She held out her hand “I’m Lisa Renee, one of the volunteers”
He reached out to take her hand and was surprised by the firmness of her handshake “Adam Brady”
She tilted her head “How come I haven’t met you before, Adam Brady? Are you new in town?”
There was a little sparkle in her pale blue eyes In the dihts the black clothes didn’t seehtly tanned and her dark brown hair had definite hints of red
He nodded “I’ve been here a few months, but I’ve learned in Marietta you’re considered a newcoo”
She severy second “You can bet it on You need at least three generations before you’re considered anything other than a newcomer Have you found a place to stay or are you in the hospital residences?”
He shook his head “I found somewhere really quickly thanks to Mary, the nurse here She had a friend as selling a house on Bramble Lane just ten minutes from the hospital I closed on it and moved in last week”