The corners of his mouth lift. ‘That we’re driving together today.’
He’s not going to fool me with that. I saw the names of the colleagues in my car and his wasn’t on the list.
For a moment I forget my fear and even have to laugh. ‘Only in your dreams.’
‘Well, sometimes dreams come true.’ His gaze rests on me. ‘Ask Mia, she just changed the assignment.’
I search his eyes for some sign that he’s pulling my leg, but I don’t find one.
He nods toward the door and reaches for the two cups of coffee he filled earlier. ‘If you don’t believe me, follow me discreetly.’
I do, and sure enough, a little later I find out from his colleague with the oversized zebra glasses that I’ll be spending today—and thus all the remaining thirteen days of the exchange program—with Jaden.
Now she points her index finger at him but keeps looking at me. ‘He has a tendency to do stupid things, so keep a close eye on him, okay?’
‘Stupid things? What an exaggeration!’ Jaden protests.
I throw his colleague a conspiratorial look. ‘Don’t worry, with me, he’s in good hands.’
‘I’m fine, I told you.’
‘And you keep an eye on his laceration, okay?’ Mia pretends she doesn’t hear a single one of Jaden’s words.
‘It’s just a scratch…’
‘Of course,’ I reply, as if it were only the two of us here. ‘I stitched the laceration yesterday, so I know what I’m dealing with.’
‘Oh, you already know our hero? Well then, nothing can possibly go wrong.’ She adjusts her glasses, amusement sparkling in her eyes, and probably in mine as well.
Watching Jaden beside us grow more and more frustrated as he tries to set the record straight is more than amusing. So much so that my worries don’t start crawling back up inside me until minutes later, when we’re running toward the ambulance—and then all the more violently.
In this vehicle there’s nowhere I can withdraw to recharge. I’m the only doctor; if we have a critical patient, there’s no one who can take over for me if I keel over.
‘You already know Ray,’ I hear Jaden say beside me, and I quickly lift my eyelids. ‘He’s driving us to the end of the world today, if that’s what it takes.’
To the end of the world? Please no.
‘You ready for the harsh reality out there?’ he asks.
‘Of course,’ I answer, and once again all the horror scenarios that have been building inside me for hours in ever new variations threaten to overwhelm me.
‘All right, then hop in.’ Ray walks around the vehicle.
As always before starting my shift, I take off my jewelry. I’ve barely stowed the bracelet and earrings in my bag when Jaden gallantly opens the passenger door for me. I get in, Jaden sits down next to me. The bench seat is so narrow that our thighs touch. His warmth feels like safety, and yet I can’t get a grip on the restlessness inside me. And that doesn’t change when we leave the headquarters parking lot.
Fortunately, the shift passes without any major incident, so I manage to relax more and more. We have no strenuous emergencies, no complicated locations, and good weather. Jaden chatters nonstop, debating with me in mock seriousness about which season is the best and which music fits which mood.
Three hours after we set off, we hand over a patient for evaluation of his breathing difficulties to the team at Halifax Harbor Hospital. I fill out the necessary paperwork and then step through the sliding doors of the emergency department and outside into the open air with Jaden and Ray.
‘How often do you have runs this relaxed?’ I ask, hoping that at least now and then I’ll be able to calm down.
Jaden buries his hands in his pockets. ‘Way too often.’
I wink at him. ‘You’re not happy unless you get to play the hero, huh?’
Ray claps him on the back in a friendly way. ‘You can definitely put the superhero costume away for today, you’re not going to need it.’
A cold gust of wind brushes against me, and I pull my jacket zipper up. ‘Why?’