Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
As the nurse shook out the garment, Wyatt ducked out of the room.
CC looked at the pleasant woman and sighed. She might as well admit she needed some assistance. “Could you help me with my bra? It took me ten minutes and a few tears to get it on this morning.”
“You bet. Let’s get that torture device off and get you set up to feel better,” the nurse said, laying the garment on the bed next to CC. Her friendliness helped CC relax.
Chapter Three
“Hey. You look like you lost your best friend,” a kind voice called from the doorway.
CC looked up to see Dr. Hunter Warren standing in her room with a stuffed cat and a smoothie. “They have me so hooked up I can’t even move,” she answered desperately. “No one will come when I call.”
“Let me see if I can help,” he answered, immediately approaching her bed. The handsome doctor set the smoothie on her tray and handed her the fluffy white stuffie. “You hold this and think of a name.”
Before she could react, he was unplugging tubes from the machinery and untangling it from the bed and from where she had gotten it wrapped around her body. In a jiffy, he had her freed.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” CC said urgently, setting the stuffie to the side. She tried to stand up gracefully, but with one swollen, painful hand and the other with the IV needle, she struggled to push herself to the edge of the bed.
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Please!” She had to go to the bathroom before she wet the bed.
Dr. Warren scooped her out of bed and said, “Grab the pole.” When she had the device holding the bag of fluid draining into her, he carried her easily to the bathroom door and set her on her feet.
With an unintentional, revealing flap of the hospital gown, she hurried into the bathroom. He closed the door behind her. As she quickly relieved herself, she heard him trigger the call button that she’d been pushing for the last twenty minutes.
“Yes. I’ve already called someone to come help you. You’ll need to be patient, please,” the unpleasant voice informed her.
“This is Dr. Warren. Who am I talking to?”
“Mary.” The tone of her voice had changed from dismissive to concerned.
“I will be there to talk to you as soon as I get the patient settled.”
CC couldn’t keep from sticking her tongue out at the unhelpful woman. Even though she was far away and would never see it, CC felt better. She’d tried to explain that she could get up herself if someone would just come free her from all the cords and tubing attaching her to the bed. Finally, giving up, CC was at the point of shouting for help when Dr. Warren had shown up. He was officially her favorite person.
“Thanks,” she said, emerging from the bathroom. “I’d really like to go home. Any way I could do this as an outpatient?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from sounding like she was begging while she was on the edge of crying.
“Come here, CC.” The handsome doctor sat down on the bed and helped CC sit next to him. Dr. Warren handed her the stuffie before wrapping an arm around her.
He held her close to his side for several long seconds before asking, “How do you feel, CC? Does your hand look better to you?”
Holding the stuffed cat tight against her body with one arm, CC held out her hand to look at it. As hard as she squinted or looked at it from a different angle, it looked the same—a swollen, red mess. She shook her head.
“It doesn’t to me, either. Dr. Okino has taken over your care. I just talked to her. She’s changing the medication from a broad-spectrum super antibiotic to one focused on killing the type of infection that showed up in your bloodwork. That will be more effective. She’ll be in to see you soon.”
“Is that going to work?” CC asked.
“Nothing is one hundred percent, but this therapy should make a lot of difference.”
“I can’t go home?”
“Not yet. Look, here’s your nurse to add the new antibiotic,” he pointed out as the nurse entered.
“Dr. Warren! You show up in the weirdest places,” her nurse commented as she efficiently went about her business, adding a small bag of fluid to those hanging on CC’s IV pole.
“Did Mary at the call center let you know CC was in distress?”
“What?” The nurse pulled her phone off her waistband and looked over the calls that had come in. “I have no notifications.” Her expression flashed with anger before she reined in her reaction.
Turning her attention to CC, she asked, “Are you okay? What can I do for you?”
“Her cords and IV were tangled around her bed, pinning her in place. She called several times and was told to be patient. I know because when I called, I got the same response,” Dr. Warren shared.