Chapter 16

KIM WALKED INTO the conference room bright and early Monday morning. The quarterly psych staff meeting was held half an hour before morning shift change to allow as many staff as possible to attend.

Philip waved her over to the lectern.

"What's up?"

"Are you sure about this?" Philip asked. "It's not too late to change your mind."

Kim smiled. "I'm sure." The last two weeks working alongside Jess in the ER had only strengthened Kim's belief that she had made the right decision.

"All right then, once I cover the other items on the agenda, you can make the announcement. I'm sure it will be met with enthusiasm."

"I'm sure it will." Kim started to walk away.

"Kim."

She turned back toward Philip.

"If you should ever change your mind, just let me know. This doesn't have to be permanent."

"Thanks, Philip." She nodded to several people before taking a seat next to Chris Roberts. Philip called the meeting to order. Kim sat back and listened while she waited for her turn.

"Now for the last item on our agenda, Kim has an announcement to make," Philip said. "Kim."

Kim approached the lectern. Philip stepped aside, allowing her to take his place. "As you all know, I am the liaison with the ER. I've had numerous complaints about psych coverage from the ER."

"That's because they're totally unreasonable," Chris called out.

Kim glared at him before continuing, "As Philip has previously discussed when staff are assigned to the ER, they aren't remaining in the department as they should. In addition, they are slow responding to pages."

"There's no office to use when assigned down there," Harland interrupted. "And even if there were, I still wouldn't want to be down there. McKenna treats us like residents." He tipped his nose up with a haughty air. "I personally prefer to work on the psych floor. I'm a psychiatrist, not an ER doctor."

Kim held up her hand before anyone else could complain. "I understand that not everyone is comfortable working in the ER. With Philip's approval, I've come up with a solution that I think will be acceptable to everyone. I will be taking over coverage of the ER on a permanent basis."

Cheering broke out in the room.

Philip clapped his hands. "Settle down."

When the room quieted, Kim continued, "The only time any of you will be required to cover the ER is when you are the staff on-call after-hours. Also someone will need to cover my days off. But starting today, there will be no more two-week rotations in the ER."

The room erupted with clapping and whistles.

"All right. That's enough," Philip said. He opened a folder. "Grab a copy of the updated assignment schedule on your way out."

"Who has the duty pager?" Kim asked the departing group.

"I do." Harland pulled the pager off his belt.

Kim glanced at the pager as he handed it over. Damn it! "Harland, this is turned off."

He looked down his nose at Kim. "Well… Of course. We were in a meeting."

Grinding her teeth together to keep from letting her temper loose, Kim spun on her heel and headed for the ER at a fast clip. I just hope like hell things were quiet in the ER.

"Don't page them again," Jess said. "Call the psych department. Tell them to get someone down here now. I don't care who."

Kim skidded to a quick halt. The nurses' station counter separated her from Jess. "I'm here," she said, still slightly out of breath from her rapid descent down the stairs. She had forsaken the elevator in her rush to reach the ER.

Jess turned to face her.

Kim flinched at the expression on Jess's face. She expected her to be angry. The look of deep disappointment on Jess's face was far worse. It struck her hard. Damn you, Harland! "Sorry. There was a meeting —"

Jess cut her off before she could continue. Her voice was as cold as an arctic winter. "Psych meetings are not my concern, Dr. Donovan. I expect you to answer your pages, meeting or not." Jess's gaze bore into Kim's. "We needed you down here."

While she knew it was unrealistic to think that she and Jess would never come into conflict on the job, in this case, it was not her fault. As much as she wanted to explain, now was not the time. "What have you got?"

Jess blew out a breath and scrubbed her hands over her face. "Patient is a twenty-five-year-old male: diagnosed schizophrenic — off his meds. He was combative and paranoid. We sedated him, but he's still very agitated. Dr. Johnson is with him in Exam Two."

"I'll take care of him right away," Kim said. As she headed toward the exam room, Bates came scurrying up.

"I'll help with him, Kim. Don't let that bitch get you down." He offered a sympathetic smile. "When we're done we can go get a cup of coffee."

Great. Just what I need. Kim scowled. And I never told you that you could use my first name. She didn't have time to deal with Peter's behavior right now. "Is he your patient?"

"Well, no. He's Terrell's, but —"

"I've got this." Kim pulled open the exam room door. "I'm sure there are other patients waiting to be seen, Dr. Bates." She stepped inside and pushed the door shut in his face.

Kim sighed as she sank down onto the couch in the staff lounge. This was her first real break since stepping foot in the ER today. The pace had been relentless. She took the opportunity to grab a cup of coffee and relax for a few minutes. Kim had hoped for a chance to explain to Jess about what happened earlier but had not seen her except in passing all morning.

The door to the lounge swung open. Jess stepped inside.

A little unsure of her reception, Kim offered a professional greeting. "Dr. McKenna," she said with a slight nod.

Jess winced. She nodded in return and then moved over to the coffee pot. After getting a cup of coffee, she returned to stand next to the couch. "You mind?" Jess asked, gesturing to the opposite end of the couch.

Okay. So maybe it's not as bad as I thought. "Have a seat."

Jess settled onto the couch and laid her head back against the cushion. A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

"Tough day, huh?" Kim asked.

"I've definitely had better," Jess said. She sat up and took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't get the duty pager until after our meeting was over." Kim's hand clenched around her cup. "I had no idea Harland had turned it off for the meeting," she said, her voice tight with renewed anger.

"I owe you an apology as well." Jess shifted around until she was facing Kim. "I'm sorry. It was really crazy this morning, but I still should've given you a chance to explain. You've always been here when we needed you."

The gray cloud that had hung over Kim all morning finally dissipated. "On the bright side, it's official. I'm permanently assigned to cover the ER." Kim smiled. "I'll make sure everyone knows from now on to use my personal pager number so they can reach me at all times."

"Thanks." Jess reached over and lightly touched Kim's forearm. "And welcome to the ER."

Quiet reigned as they enjoyed their coffee. The momentary peace was broken by the sound of Kim's stomach growling.

Jess grinned. "Missed breakfast again, huh?"

A second louder rumble was her answer.

Although Kim wanted to, she hesitated to ask Jess to lunch. They had eaten lunch together last week in Jess's office, but that was a private setting. Other than the day Jess asked her to work in the ER, they had not been to the cafeteria together again. Kim decided to take a chance. After all, I work here every day. It shouldn't seem that noteworthy for people to see us together. "Could I interest you in going to lunch?" Kim didn't miss the sudden tension radiating from Jess. Oh well, it was worth a try. She tried not to let her disappointment show. "Well, I guess I'll just go grab myself something from —"

Jess bolted from the couch startling Kim. "No. Let's go to the cafeteria. My treat... as a welcome to the ER."

Peering up at Jess, Kim looked for any sign of hesitation. Jess held her gaze and smiled. Kim sucked in a breath at the warmth emanating from Jess's vivid blue eyes. She rose from the couch. "Great. I'm starved."

"What's new," Jess said with a laugh.

Kim playfully elbowed Jess in the ribs. Yeah, the day is definitely looking up.