Natasha snatched up the phone receiver. Her pulse already raced. The only time her developmentally disabled brother’s caregiver called during the workday was when something was wrong.
“Hi, Natasha. It’s Amy.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked hurriedly, already knowing the answer to the question.
“No, I had to call the ambulance for Joey. We were making lunch, and he just doubled over in pain. He couldn’t bring himself to stand up straight...” the woman’s sob stifled her words for a moment. “Then he started throwing up, non-stop.”
Natasha’s heart lurched into her throat. It had to be horrible for Amy to be so shaken. The woman was a rock and had worked with her brother for better than twenty years now. There was a bond between the two. Amy had other clients, but her history with Joey spanned longer. Natasha, her sister Barbara, and her other brother, Steven, helped as much as they could with their brother, but Amy was his primary caregiver.
Natasha’s pulse pounded, “Is he okay now?”
“I don’t know. I followed the ambulance to the hospital, and I’m in the waiting area. He complained of a stomach ache yesterday, but he didn’t make it sound like it was that bad. I’m sorry, I should have asked more questions… I had a slight stomach ache as well. I just thought that something we ate at the church potluck the night before didn’t agree with us. Maybe one of the food dishes was bad.”
“I’ll be right there,” Natasha replied as she sprang from her chair while simultaneously handing up the phone receiver.
She snagged her purse from her desk lower drawer and her coat from the hook on the back of her office door. She spun fast to head for the doorway, taking only one step into the hallway before her body crashed into what felt like a steel wall, sending her tumbling back. Two large hands wrapped around her flailing arms and pulled her forward.
Once she regained her footing, Natasha took notice of the concerned amber gaze fixed on her.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Dax asked.
“My brother. He’s at the hospital. I need to get up there.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No, that’s okay.”
“I wasn’t asking,” he said firmly.
He grabbed her hand and led her through the hallway, but released her before they entered the front office. She informed her staff that she’d be leaving for a while. The surprised expressions on both Jean and Terri’s faces let her know she wasn’t hiding her distress very well.
Dax had paused, waiting for her, then, as if he realized they shouldn’t be seen too close together, he stepped out of the front office and into the lobby area separating the city administrative staff department from the police department. She followed him at a short distance as he cut through the police department, then exited through the side door. She climbed into the passenger seat of his city-issued SUV, and he drove off toward the hospital.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I really don’t know much. Joey’s provider called and said he had a lot of stomach pain so she called an ambulance for him.”
“Provider?”
“Yes. Joey’s the oldest of the four of us. He’s developmentally disabled. He lives on his own in those apartments on 15th Ave, but he has a provider…caregiver assigned to him to help with his living skills. She, Amy, was with him and called the ambulance. Then she called me.”
“I see. How’s his health in general?”
“Actually, pretty good. Amy is a stickler. She tries to keep him eating healthy and even makes him go to the YMCA several times a week. They walk on the track. But he is fifty-five years old and with his condition…” Her words trailed off. She knew his life expectancy wasn’t the same as what she and her other siblings might be. Her mom agonized at the thought of losing Joey early in life but he defied the odds.
“That’s good.”
Dax flipped on the blinker and turned right. Another right had him pulling up to the emergency room doors.
“I’ll park, and then come in.”
“No, that’s okay. I’m sure you have more important things…”
“I don’t. I’ll be right in,” he interjected.
His intense gaze silenced her argument. Deep down she welcomed him and was thankful for his support. She nodded and exited the vehicle.
Amy met her at the door. “They say he’s asking for you.”
Relief washed through her from knowing Joey was of sound enough mind to ask for her by name.
The woman at the registration desk acknowledged her. “I’ll let the nurse know you are here.”
“Okay.”
Dax entered through the double set of sliding glass doors and walked up to her. “Did they say anything yet?”
“They just let the nurse know that I’m here. I guess he’s been asking for me. So that must be good.”
He nodded.
Amy’s gaze ran over the length of Dax. Natasha couldn’t blame the woman; the man was handsome and fit. The wonderment in the woman’s eyes was evident.
Natasha gestured toward her company. “This is Chief Mertz. He gave me a ride up here.” She gestured toward Amy and looked at Dax. “This is Amy, my brother’s provider.”
“Nice to meet you, Amy.”
“You, too.”
“Natasha,” someone called out from behind her, drawing her full attention.
The woman wore red scrubs with little Santa hat designs scattered all over the shirt.
“Yes.”
“You can come back now.”
Natasha flashed a glance to Amy and Dax, then followed the nurse out of the waiting area and through the doors to the ER rooms. The woman flung a curtain back to where Joey lay on a bed.
His gaze lit up, and he flashed a slight smile. “Tashie.” His voice was hoarse.
Her heart warmed as the sound of his nickname for her rolled off his tongue.
“We gave him something to make him more comfortable. He may doze in and out on you. The doctor will be in shortly to talk to you.”
The nurse’s ease calmed Natasha’s nerves a bit. But still, what was wrong with her brother?
She walked over to Joey and gave him a peck on the cheek. He smiled that beautiful smile of his as his greenish-blue eyes sparkled.
Feeling the air of the curtain as it flung open, Natasha turned her gaze to a young doctor.
“Joey, are you feeling any better?”
“My stomach still hurts,” he said as he placed his hand over his belly. He pulled a frown. “And I don’t know why.”
“Does it hurt as much as it did while you were at home?”
“No. Better. No more puking.” Her brother’s answer was short and clipped, but that was normal for him.
She was thrilled to know he felt better.
The doctor nodded, then looked at her. “We’re running some tests. From what he and his caregiver said, we’re probably looking at food poisoning. Between his fever, dizziness, slight dehydration, and vomiting, it seems pretty evident, but we’ll know more when the tests come back.”
“Tests?”
“Since his symptoms seem a bit more acute, we drew blood, and we’re running some tests on that and his stool. Just to make sure.”
Thinking the worst, her pulse ratcheted up a notch. “What else could it be?”
“Other things to think about could be his gallbladder. But, let’s just wait for the tests to come back before we worry about too many other things.”
She didn’t at all like the sound of that but knew for her brother’s sake she needed to stay strong to keep him calm and worry-free. There was no sense in jumping to conclusions and stressing over what may not be. She focused on her brother.
“I’m tired,” he said as his eyelids drifted shut.
She assumed that was a good sign—that his pain had subsided.
“I’ll be back when the results come in.” The doctor stepped beyond the open curtain.
The same nurse from before returned, looked at some of the monitoring equipment, and dimmed the lights. “You can stay in here if you want or go back into the waiting area with your friends. I can come get you if he needs you. Once he calmed down, he seemed to be okay in here by himself,” she said.
“They’re still out there?” she asked, assuming they’d left.
“Yeah.”
She studied Joey for a moment. His slow, even breaths let her know he was comfortable and might be out for a while. She refocused on the nurse. “Thank you, I’ll wait in the waiting room and let his caregiver know what is going on.”
The nurse led her back out to where Amy waited.
He stood. His arms lifted slightly, but, as if catching himself, he lowered them. Guarding their budding relationship from Amy, she presumed.
She updated them both on her brother’s condition.
“Amy, you mentioned that you had had a stomach ache, too, right?”
“Yeah, but I feel fine now. Everyone’s different. I still can’t help but wonder if something at the potluck was bad, and maybe Joey just reacted more harshly to it than I. I wonder if anyone else there got sick?”
Natasha glanced around the waiting area. “I would think if the food was bad more people would be in here, and the doctors would have noticed a pattern. In any case, I hope it was the food and not anything more serious.”
“I hope so, too,” Amy said, then glanced at her watch. “I’m really sorry but I have to go. I’m due to work with another client in fifteen minutes. Please call me with any updates.”
“Absolutely.”
“Dax, I know you are busy at work. You don’t need to sit here.”
He shook his head. “I’m exactly where I need to be.”
The man always spoke with conviction. There was no use arguing with him. Truth be told, he was exactly where she wanted him to be as well. It was nice to have someone care.
She and Dax sat in the faux leather chairs facing the doorway. Her gaze stayed glued to the opening, willing the doctor to walk through with a good report on her brother. Nothing.
She pulled her phone from her purse and then looked at Dax. “I’m just going to call my brother and sister to fill them in. For Steven, I’ll have to leave a message because he doesn’t answer his phone while working.”
Dax nodded.
Tapping the screen, she selected Steve’s profile and left a message. Next, she selected Barbara’s profile.
Her sister answered on the first ring, “Less than twenty-four hours to go time!”
“Yeah, about that, something’s come up, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to go.”
As disappointing as that sounded to her own ears, her brother was the priority.
She immediately caught Dax’s concerned gaze as her sister’s voice rose in her ear. “What? No!”
“It’s Joey—”
“Did something happen to him?” her sister interjected. Alarm laced her tone.
“We’re at the hospital now. He was having extreme pain in his stomach, and Amy called the ambulance for him. They think it might be food poisoning. I’m waiting for the doctor, or it could be his gallbladder. So, I just don’t know right now.”
“Do you want me to drive up?”
Barbara only lived an hour away, so it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but there was nothing she could do for their brother anyhow.
“No, that’s okay. Why don’t you just wait until we know more.”
“Okay. Can I talk to him?” her sister asked.
“He’s resting. I’m actually in the waiting room.”
“Oh. Well, let me know when you know more, and we’ll figure out what to do.”
“No matter what, you need to go with your friends. I’ll handle this end. Food poisoning or gallbladder. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Wanting, no, needing this vacation so badly, she hoped that would be the case. A tinge of guilt sifted through her at her selfish thoughts. Her brother was the priority here, not her—not her vacation.
“You don’t always have to…”
“It’s no problem,” she said cutting Barbara off, “I’ll call you back when I know more.”
She loved her brother and he needed her right now.
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Dax reached over and touched her hand. “Hopefully, it will be just a touch of food poisoning and he’ll be fine, and you’ll be able to go on vacation.”
“Hopefully. Joey…he gets scared. He doesn’t always understand what’s happening.”
Dax smiled warmly. “You’re a good sister.”
Her hand cooled when he withdrew his. Though she liked the soothing warmth of it, she understood why he pulled back. It was best they keep things under wraps for the time being. A workplace romance wasn’t ideal.
Mentally, she shook her head to clear her mind of her ex and focus on the present.
She returned Dax’s smile. God, he was handsome. “Thank you. We’re all pretty protective of Joey. He’s so sweet.”
“So, your other brother lives near you, right?”
She knew where Dax was headed. Steven could take care of Joey while she was in Florida. “Yeah, just a couple of blocks from me, and I’m sure he’d help out, he always does, but…
“But, you’re the responsible one,” Dax cut in with a knowing look in his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great, but everyone deserves a break.”
This conversation made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to men giving her credit for anything or telling her she actually deserved something. Was it a false front on Dax’s part? Was he truly being genuine?
That familiar lack of self-esteem crept up her spine as the seed planted deep by her ex-husband sprouted again just as it did every time she thought about giving another man a chance. She should bolt.
Natasha averted his gaze. “Well, that might not be possible if I don’t get back to work and finish up what I planned before I leave.” There she went, punishing herself again. Doing exactly what her sister told her she always did. It’s like she couldn’t help herself.
The kind man next to her leaned forward and craned his head to put himself in her line of sight. “You’re so organized and on top of things at work, I’m sure a few days away will be just fine,” he assured her.
“Yeah, but I lost all day yesterday to putting out fires, so I didn’t get done what I planned. I’d just about finished up yesterday’s work when I got the call about Joey.”
“Yesterday must have been the day for fires.”
“What do you mean?”
He smiled warmly. “I bet I attempted at least five times to cross the lobby to come to see you, and every time someone or something got in the way. Then, my four o’clock meeting lasted until my six o’clock one started.”
Her heart fluttered. He’d tried to come to see her?
“Ms. Kane.”
Natasha glanced up to find the doctor approaching. She stood, and Dax rose as well.
“Joey will be just fine. It seems it’s just food poisoning. We’ll keep him a bit longer, let him finish the bag of fluids, and then he should be good to go home.”
Odd how the words food poisoning brought relief to her. Those words beat ‘gallbladder issues’ any day.
A short time later, she watched as Dax helped her brother into his truck. She appreciated the man’s genuine kindness, and judging from the way Joey instantly warmed up to him, she knew her brother did, too. By the time she settled her brother in his apartment, the color had returned to his cheeks, and the lingering pains in his stomach had subsided. It’s amazing what fluids and a little bit of time had done. But Joey was still sleepy, so he tucked himself in on the couch with his television remote in hand.
“You call me if you need anything, okay?”
Joey barely nodded before his eyelids closed.
She followed Dax to his vehicle and he drove them back to work.
“Thank you for coming with me. I really appreciated your help and support.” It had felt so comforting to have someone at her side. As it turned out, all ended well, but it could have gone a completely different direction, and having Dax with her for support meant the world to her. It had been a long time since she had someone she could lean on. Sure, her siblings helped with Joey, but she took it upon herself to be his caregiver, second to only Amy. In defense of Barbara and Steven, they had families, and she had no one so she was the logical choice.
“No problem. I’m glad it worked out okay.”
“Me, too.”
Dax turned his head and looked at her. “He’s lucky to have you.”
Her cheeks heated and she looked down.
“I mean it. You’re a good sister. Kind, loving, and devoted.”
“Thank you. He’s pretty self-sufficient, and having Amy is a Godsend.”
“I’m sure she is, but it is you he absolutely adores.”
Her heart nearly exploded at his heartfelt words, and she knew deep down this man wouldn’t say anything he didn’t mean.
Dax flipped on the blinker and turned into the City Hall parking lot. Then he pulled into a stall by the entrance to the police department and cut the engine.
“Natasha, I know you’re busy and are probably going to work late now to finish up your work before you leave for vacation tomorrow, but I’d like to see you tonight. I can cook dinner for you.”
In silence, she stared at him, surprised by his invitation.
“You have to eat, right?” he added.
“Yes, but…”
“So, it’s settled then. You just tell me what time. Is there anything you don’t like?”
“Liver,” she replied. The one thing her mother used to serve periodically that she just couldn’t stomach.
“Well, that’s two of us,” he agreed with a chuckle.
“How about seven o’clock. I know it’s a bit late, but by then I should be home and finished packing.”
“Maybe it would just be easier if I picked up pizza and came to your house. I can cook one of my famous dishes for you another time.”
There would be another time?
“That sounds great.”
She slid out of the vehicle and followed Dax through the police department entry. He peeled off toward his office, and she to hers.
She sat down and created a mental checklist of all the things she and her staff needed to complete to close out the accounting for the month of November before the end of the day so she wouldn’t have to worry about it while on vacation. She recognized she was pushing her staff a bit because of the timing of her vacation, but when she returned, they’d be buried in year-end accounting and glad they got November behind them.
Halfway through the front office, she realized Terri wasn’t at her desk. It wouldn’t be a big deal except it looked as though her desk was shut down for the day. Her chair was pushed in, the monitor was off, and the boots she’d changed out of when she arrived at work were no longer on the rubber mat under the backside of her cubicle desk.
Jean must have caught her perplexed look. “Shortly after you left, Terri got violently ill. Doubled over in pain. She went home.”
“Doubled over?”
“Yeah. She said her stomach hurt, and she was nauseous. She looked horrible.”
“Did she say when it started?”
“She thinks it has something to do with what she ate at the church potluck the night before last.”
Oh, no. After knowing how sick her brother had been she hoped Terri wouldn’t wait too long if she needed to go to the hospital. When she got back to her office, she’d shoot her a quick text to let her know her brother had been ill, too, and that he’d been at the potluck, too.
She stepped closer to Terri’s desk to see if the documents to reconcile the bank statement were there. It was the one thing she definitely wanted to be done before she left for vacation.
“If you’re looking for the bank statement stuff, Terri put it on your desk. It’s not finished. I don’t think she hardly started, but she knew you wanted it completed so she compiled what you’d need to do it.”
“Okay.”
Natasha dumped her coat and purse in her office and then headed to the lunch room to grab her sandwich and yogurt. Being almost two o’clock already, her hunger pains were too much to ignore. She’d eat at her desk and begin the bank reconciliation.
She returned to her office and grabbed the checking account bank statement. She’d do that one first before the handful of savings and investment accounts. Giving the document a once-over, she was pleased to see there wasn’t a lot of activity, so it shouldn’t take her too long to reconcile it.
After taking a bite of her sandwich, she logged into the financial software and started clearing checks. When she finished with that, she ran the general ledger reports she’d need along with the outstanding check and cleared check reports.
Once she reconciled the bank accounts, she’d run the November revenue and expense report to see how the department’s actual expenses compared to the budget amounts. Only a few weeks remained in the year to make any budgetary corrections. More so, she just wanted this off her plate so she could relax on vacation.
The ringing of her phone drew her quick attention, concerned it may be Joey. Instead, Administrator Johnston’s name flashed on the screen.
She snatched the phone receiver up. “Hi, Clayton.”
“Hey, Natasha, I have the mayor up here, and we’re going over the financial proformas for the new tax incremental district. Can you come up here and help us sort through these? We have one of the developers coming in an hour, and we’d like you to sit in on that as well.”
Natasha drew in a long breath and looked at the clock. She knew what this meant. There goes her afternoon. A little notice would have been nice, but either way, the afternoon was gone.
“Be right up,” she responded, then grabbed her folder with the information she’d need from her credenza.
Nearly three hours later, Natasha returned to her office. She took two steps into it and paused, staring at the paperwork sprawled across it.
“Everything okay?” Dax’s voice echoed from behind her.
She spun. “Yeah, it’s just. I’m not nearly where I want to be workwise. Unexpectedly, I had to help Clayton and the mayor with a project this afternoon.”
“So, you’re going to work all night?” he asked.
She bounced her gaze between the temptation standing in the doorway and her desk.
“Let me ask you this. Are the deadlines you’re trying to meet real deadlines or ones you’ve imposed on yourself?” the wise man asked.
She fixed her gaze on the handsome man in her office. “They’re my own. Being that, I’m going to just take a minute to tidy up my desk and then leave. But I do need to run over to Joey’s and check on him before I go home though.”
Dax’s sexy smile stretched. “I’ll pick up the pizza and come over about seven.”
He shot her a wink.
“Sounds good.”
Her heart rate soared, her stomach fluttered, and the aching need between her thighs had her hoping for more than just pizza tonight.
