2. Catherine

2

CATHERINE

The sound of chairs scraping across the floor and people talking fills the room as I try to eat my lunch. My friend Bethany, a nurse here at the hospital, is telling me some gory story from her morning working in the emergency room, and suddenly I’m not that hungry anymore. I point with my fork at my plate. “Really? I’m eating here.”

She just laughs and waves me off. “You’re so sensitive, Catherine. I didn’t even go into detail.”

I lean forward. “You said—and I quote—'he was cut wide open, and his intestines were hanging out. I had to shove them back in and just hold them there until the doctor got there.’ That’s quite a bit of detail… and I’m eating spaghetti, no less. ”

Bethany just laughs again. “Fine. I’m done. What about you? How was your morning?”

Since I can no longer stomach the noodles, I move them around on my plate. “Well, let’s see, Cole had workouts this morning and had to be at the school gym at six, so I dropped him off.”

Bethany holds her hands up. “Wait. He has workouts before school? He’s thirteen.”

I snort because I think I said the same thing when Cole told me he was going to start having two practices a day. “Yeah, they’re called two-a-days. They do weights in the morning before school and then after school, they have baseball practice…. Anyway, so I dropped him off and met Jeremy for breakfast—”

Bethany starts hopping up and down in her seat and wiggling her eyebrows at me. “Ooooh, yeah, get to the good part. Did he jelly your toast? Put syrup on your—”

“Shhhh!” I whisper to her. “Geez, Bethany, really?”

She sits up a little straighter and doesn’t even try to hide the disappointment on her face. “You’re right. I’ve met Jeremy. I don’t even need to ask because I know he didn’t do anything to your lady bits. ”

I push my plate away and pick up my water instead. “We’ve only been dating two months.”

“Two months, seven dates, and you’ve kissed. You have to be the most boring couple—”

Thankfully, Bethany stops talking when our friend Chrissy sets her tray down next to us. She sits down with a look at Bethany. “I hear you had your hands in guts this morning.”

“Geez, you two should come with a warning label. Can’t we just have a normal lunch without talking about internal organs and all that?”

Chrissy and Bethany both laugh, and I know they do it because they think it’s hilarious that I can’t stomach their job. Yeah, even though I once wanted to be a nurse, it was smart of me to go the physical therapy direction instead. I may have to deal with some gross feet sometimes, but at least I don’t have to worry about organs falling out of bodies.

Chrissy looks remorseful. “You’re right, Catherine. That was wrong of me, especially since I know you have a sensitive stomach.” She looks down at my plate. “Uh, spaghetti probably wasn’t the best choice for today.”

I’m about to grab my tray and leave when Chrissy stops me. “I’m sorry, okay? Seriously, though, I need to talk to you about something.”

I can only imagine what’s about to come out of her mouth. “What do you need to talk to me about? And please, don’t make it gory.”

Chrissy nods, and with a serious expression, she pulls out a file that was under her tray. “I need a favor, and I know when I say it, you’re going to say no, but I need you to hear me out.”

Intrigued, I look between her and the file she’s gripping tightly in her hands. I can’t read the name on it from where I’m sitting. “Tell me about this favor.”

Her eyes light up with hope. “Okay, it’s my brother, Holden, the baseball player. He has a rotator cuff strain, and he needs a physical therapist for the next two months.”

I’m not sure what the problem is. “Well, have him make an appointment. You know the hospital will fit him in.”

She points at me. “But I want you… I want him to be seen by you.”

“Chrissy, you’re an employee, they’d pull strings for you. Plus, he’s a professional baseball player. The hospital will eat it up and love the publicity around it. ”

She fidgets in her seat and scrunches her nose up. “That’s the thing. In order for him to get back in the game in two months, the therapy will need to be intense. We need someone that can come to him.” Before I can object, she holds her hand up. “His house has everything you’d need. He has a whole weight room, therapy table, bands, ice bath, hot tub, the works.”

I can see how desperate she feels about this. I’ve known Chrissy for a little over a year now, and even though I don’t know her whole story, I do know that she loves her foster brothers and would do anything for them. “Look, I get it, I do. But I have a case load right now, and there’s no way I can do it and drive back and forth to—where does he live?”

“Whiskey Run. He lives in Whiskey Run.”

I’m startled because I live in Whiskey Run and had no idea that Holden Gray from the Jasper Bears lives there. If Cole knew, he’d flip. Heck, he’d also flip if he knew I was turning down an opportunity to heal one of his favorite big league players. “Right, I can’t drive back and forth to Whiskey Run.”

Chrissy’s face is set in determination. “But that’s the thing, you wouldn’t have to drive back and forth. You could stay with him. He has four guestrooms.”

I sit back in my seat, and my mouth drops. If she was making this offer to any of my colleagues, they would drop everything to do it. I mean, what woman is going to say no to staying at the home of the Holden Gray? Ugh, me, that’s who. “I can’t stay at his house. I have Cole… and Jeremy.”

Bethany lets out a snort. “Yeah, like Jeremy’s going to care. He’s gotta put some work in before he can have a say in where you spend your time, Catherine.”

I stick my tongue out at her. It’s not very ladylike, but it’s all I’ve got. It’s not like I can flip her off in the middle of the cafeteria. But the sentiment is the same because I know she’s right. Quite honestly, Jeremy probably wouldn’t care if I stayed at Holden Gray’s house. He would find some way to compute the overtime and how it’s good for my business or something.

I hold both hands up in front of the two women that are looking at me expectantly. “I’m not staying at Holden Gray’s house.”

“But—” Chrissy starts, and I shut it down real quick .

“Nope, it’s not happening. I cannot stay at his house.”

Chrissy deflates a little, but she’s not giving up. “Okay, fine. Well, you live in Whiskey Run, too, right? You would be close anyway, so surely we can work something out.”

I’m about to say no. She has to see it, and she leans over and wraps her hand around mine. “Please, Catherine. Baseball is his whole life, and I’ve never seen him like this. You can help him, I know you can.”

Bethany’s looking at me like she already knows what I’m going to say. Chrissy is giving me the most pleading look, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to cry if I say no. The truth is, I don’t want to say no. I feel stuck lately, and maybe this is what I need. It would be a challenge, for sure, but I could do it. “Let me see his file.”

Chrissy thrusts it at me, and Bethany stands up and pats Chrissy on the back. “Smart woman. If she looks at the file, there’s no way she’ll say no. I’m heading back, ladies. See you later.”

“Bye,” I mumble as I flip through the pages of Holden Gray’s file. I can do this. I can help him. I close the file. “I’ll see what I can do. ”

“Yes!” Chrissy yells, pumping her arm in the air.

She jumps up and comes around to hug me. As she squeezes the life out of me, I try to not get her hopes up even higher. “Stop. I said I’d see what I can do. I have to talk to the hospital and get it approved by them, and then I’d have to move my workload. I would like to meet him and get a feel of him and his attitude. There’s a lot of moving parts here, and we’ll just have to see what happens.”

She pulls away and sits down in the chair next to me. Her whole body shudders as she takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I know it’s a lot to ask, Catherine, but you’re the best, and Holden… well, let’s just say that he’s a hard case. He’s having a hard time with it all, and he feels like his career is up in the air… it’s just…”

I pick up the file and tuck it under my arm. “I get it, Chrissy. I know… I promise, I’ll do my best… okay?” I pick up my tray. “I’ll call you this afternoon.”

She’s holding her hands together in front of her, and she doesn’t have to tell me how much this means to her. I can see it on her face.

As I’m walking back to my office, I think about everything I know about Holden Gray. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things. I know he’s one of Cole’s favorite players, and I know he’s one of Chrissy’s foster brothers. I can imagine what it means to him to be injured and unable to play. This isn’t a hobby for him; this is his career. The pressure has to be immense, and like I told Chrissy, I’m going to do what I can. I just need to convince the hospital to take this on.