CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

LUCY TIGHTENED HER PONY TAIL AS SHE EXCITED ONE OF HER PATIENTS ROOM AND MADE HER WAY BACK TOWARDS THE NURSES STATION. It was busier than usual on the unit and she took a long swig from her water bottle as she leaned against the desk. The clock on the wall read four in the afternoon and she pursed her lips.

This was the brunette's last shift of the week and she had four more hours to go before she could go home and take a nice long bath. A bath she had been craving all week but hadn't found the time to take it yet.

"What did they want?" asked Denise, one of her co workers as she looked up from the computer.

"Pump was beeping." she said, leaning over the desk to place her bottle back down. "Air bubble in the line but it's fixed now. Could you cover room three for me when they call? I need to administer some antibiotics in five and then I have to put in a new IV in six."

"Absolutely," she nodded and finished typing her report. "anything else? My kids are all done for at the moment."

"I don't think so..." she racked her brain to see if she was forgetting anything and rested her hand in the palm of her hand. "maybe you could assist me in six with the IV? The kid is pretty scared."

Denise nodded her head with a smile and as Lucy was about to go to the fridge to get the antibiotics her other co worker stopped her with the phone to her ear. There was a frown on her face as she listened to the person on the other side.

"Change of plans, you're needed in the ER."

"The ER?" grimaced Lucy. "Why would I be needed in the ER?"

"There's a six year old there with a nasty cut on his arm." said Helen and the person on the other end said something again. "Okay ...?" grimaced Helen and Lucy rested her hand against her hip while she raised a brow. "The father is requesting you. Specifically you, Lucy."

The woman furrowed her brows and could not think of a single person who'd request her to stitch up a child. "I don't understand? They're perfectly capable of doing that downstairs and i'm really busy."

Helen shrugged her shoulders and ended the call then and shared a glance with Denise who was watching the exchange in intrest. "I have no idea they didn't say why. I'll cover for you till you get back."

Lucy's face contorted in confusion before she heaved a sigh and stalked towards the elevator. The ER was on the first floor and she was on the sixth. The woman tried to rack her brain again but all she could come up with was that it was either Dean, Stan or Gregg but they'd never just outright request her if there were perfectly capable staff downstairs.

The elevator doors slid open and she stepped into the emergency room that was bustling with staff running around and beeps from pumps and call lights. Lucy made her way towards the front desk and smiled at the woman sitting behind it.

"I was told I needed to come down to stitch up a six year old?"

"Lucy?" she smiled politely and searched up his medical file on the computer before her. "Thanks for coming down. Six year old boy fell on the concrete while riding his bike and cut his arm on a rock. He's been giving pain meds and he's quite the champ about it but does need stitches. He's in room two with his dad."

"Has it been cleaned?" she wondered and tilted her head to the side.

"Uhh..." her eyes raked over the screen to see what the nurse had written down. "not yet. The father wanted pain meds first. Which he has been given about thirty minutes ago so he should be good now."

"Local aesthetics?"

"No. Oh, and his name is Marcus."

Why the fuck not?

"Okay, got it. Thanks."

Lucy searched for room two and grabbed a pair of gloves from beside the door before sliding it open. "Hi Marcus," she smiled as she entered and pulled on the blue gloves. "I'm Lucy and I -"

The brunette was met with a pair of dark brown eyes and she fell silent straight away, one glove half on. He shot her a smile as he rested his hand on the shoulder of the six year old boy. Marcus looked up as she entered and offered her a polite smile, his injured arm resting on the small table beside them.

Lucy glanced between the two and the resemblance was striking. He had his fathers eyes, the exact same shade and the same face shape.

The woman turned around and grabbed some supplies from the cabinet and bit the inside of her cheek harshly. She had not seen him since that night at the bar and now he was right in front of her with a child. His child, nonetheless. She had no idea he had a kid and she guessed that no one knew he had a child.

Lucy turned back to face them with a kind smile on her face as she focused on Marcus who looked at her with curious eyes. She sat down on the stool and rolled herself towards them while Rio followed her every move with his eyes.

The man with the eagle tattoo rubbed his shoulders in comfort and said, "This nice lady is going to take care of you, yeah?"

"Hi honey," she smiled at the kid and he mimicked her gaze Lucy laid down her supplies but made sure that that was not where his main focus was. "what happened?"

"I fell off my bike." He held up his arm to show her the cut and then glanced at his father who gave him a reassuring look. "It still hurts."

"You fell pretty hard, huh?" she wondered and gingerly took his wrist to twist his arm to get a better look. "I'm going to make this all better. Do you want to know what i'm going to do or do you want your dad to play a little game with you?"

Marcus furrowed his brows and looked at Rio for an answer. "It's okay bud, you can tell her."

"I want to know." he grumbled shyly.

"Okay," nodded Lucy and patted his hand in comfort and ignored Rio's gaze. "First i'm going to make sure that you're not going to feel anything. And i'm going to do that by giving you a tiny pinch on your arm. It will be really quick but i'm sure you can handle it. You're brave kid."

Marcus nodded his head and Rio rubbed his back as he sat on the hospital bed beside him.

"Then i'm going to clean it up a bit with some gauze and then i'll make sure it's going to look as good as new." she continued. "While I do that you can watch a fun video on the ipad I have or you can just look at your dad. Whatever you want, Marcus."

"Ipad." he said and she grinned, pushing off on the floor with her foot and grabbing the device from the table before sliding back.

The boy could only use one arm so she handed it to Rio, who made sure his fingers brushed hers when he took it from her hand. She met his gaze momentarily before she focused back on his son. "Why don't you find a funny video or a game to play with your dad while I grab my stuff."

Lucy got to her feet and turned back around to ready the rest of her supplies and grab the syringe for the local aesthetic. She could hear the two of them talk softly behind her and she swallowed away her nerves. What the fuck was she doing there?

The woman readied all her supplies and turned on her heel to lay them on the table besides them. Lucy sat back down on the stool and felt eyes on her so she looked up at him. He looked at the supplies then and saw the syringe and gave her a single nod.

"Okay, honey." She focused back on Marcus. "Did you find something?" He nodded eagerly and showed her the screen of the Ipad and she grinned. "Cars? Good choice. I'm ready to begin so you can start it now."

Rio pressed play on the video and pulled Marcus towards him as Lucy gingerly took his arm and laid it on the sterile table. The cut was about three centimetres long and she looked at him to see he was already emerged in the video.

"You're going to feel a little pinch, honey." Marcus winched when she pressed the needle into his skin and Rio pressed his lips to the top of his head. It was over before he knew it and he relaxed in his fathers arms when she slid out the needle. "Wow. You must be the bravest kid i've ever seen here. You took it like champ."

Marcus's face lit up and shot her a smile before turning back to watch Cars. Rio seemed grateful at her praise and she gave him the same smile she had given his son.

"Why'd you ask for me?" she wondered after a moment when she saw Marcus was so focused on the video he probably wouldn't hear her. "There's plenty of people here."

"They're not as good as you."

"They're probably better."

"I doubt that. And I know you work with kids so it made sense."

She hummed and at that and let out a long breath, glancing at the clock. The anaesthetic should have done it's work by now so she watched the boy's face as she touched the skin around his cut. "Do you feel that, Marcus?"

"No," he shook his head and peered at his arm before back to the ipad.

Lucy grabbed some sterile gauze and poured alcohol onto it, carefully wiping at the edges as she began to clean it up for him. Marcus did not react at all so she knew the medication had done its work well.

Lucy grabbed the needle to begin the stitches and glanced at Rio, who nodded his head and ran a hand through his sons hair to keep him from glancing back as she began her work. The stitches were easily done as he was good at keeping his arm still for his age. She thread the needle through his skin and etched the cut back together with expertise.

The woman felt his eyes on the side of her face as she worked and she tried her best to ignore him. Lucy thought she couldn't face him again after what they'd done in the bathroom of his bar but now that she was in the same room as him she felt surprisingly calm.

When Lucy was finished she wrapped a bandage around it to keep it protected and threw away her used supplies. "All done, honey."

Marcus looked up from the device in his fathers hand and peered at his bandaged arm before smiling up at his dad. "I didn't feel anything."

"I told you she was good, bud." grinned Rio and ruffled his hair.

Lucy raised a brow at him as Marcus asked, "Can I still ride my bike?"

"Of course you can." she nodded and she directed the rest of her instruction to Rio. "Keep the bandage on for at least twenty four hours. He can get it wet but don't soak it in water and dab it dry, don't rub a towel over it. I'll get him some salve but he should be fine. If he gets a fever or it turns red you can come back."

"A'ight." The man ran his tongue over his teeth and nodded. "Whadda'ya say, Marcus? Wanna get out of here?"

"But Cars?" he was still looking at the screen.

"It's fine." said Lucy as she stood up from the stool and made her way toward the computer in the corner. "I need to do some paperwork and then you're free the go."

The woman logged onto her account and went to his medical file to write report for everything she had done. Onto her third sentence she felt a presence behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to see that he was reading along with her as she went on.

"What?" she wondered.

He chuckled and shook his head, hands in his pockets. "Thank you."

"No problem." she shrugged and peered at the boy still on the bed. "You have a good kid. He seems really sweet."

"I do and he is." he nodded and followed her gaze with a fond smile. He leaned against the wall beside her and she turned her head to look at him. "Does it bother you?"

"That you have a kid?" She laughed in disbelief at his ridiculous question. "Why should it?"

The man with the eagle tattoo did not reply to her as he kept his gaze on the little boy. He seemed to be in deep thought as he watched Marcus laugh at something on the screen.

Rio let out a long breath of air before he faced her again.

He pushed himself off the wall and she held her breath when he reached up to squeezed her shoulder in a gentle manner, leaving his hand there a moment longer than he probably should, before he walked towards Marcus and whispered something to him.

Marcus looked up from the ipad and shot Lucy a bright smile from the bed. "Thank you, Lucy."

The woman returned the smile. "You're welcome, honey."