Page 1 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca
PROLOGUE
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Luca asked as he slipped on his jacket before his night shift.
He rarely worked nights, but the pediatric ER attending was on vacation and the department was short-staffed. Instead of being on call, he was covering the weekend overnight shifts.
“I’m fine,” Zoe said. She gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s just a headache. You know I get them all the time. I’ll take something, do my breathing, and enjoy the quiet. I’ll be out like a light.”
He hesitated, studying her a moment longer than necessary.
“Text me before you go to bed,” he said.
“I will.”
He wrapped an arm around her narrow waist, pulled her close, brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, and kissed her once, then again, before murmuring, “I love you,” against her mouth.
“I love you too.” Her hand reached for his and gave it a little squeeze like she always did.
Two hours into his shift, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked it between patients and smiled despite himself.
It was a picture from Zoe.
Candles were lit across the kitchen table.Power’s out, but it’s kind of cozy. Going to bed in about an hour.
She was feeling better at least. He slid the phone away and went back to work.
An hour later, a nurse hurried toward him. “Car accident incoming, Dr. Brewer. Two pediatric patients. Multiple fractures. One unconscious.”
Luca exhaled once, then a second time harder. This was why he hated the ER now and was glad that he’d given himself options in his career. “Got it.”
He jogged alongside the gurney as it burst through the ambulance bay doors. There was blood, screaming, and somewhat controlled chaos by the EMTs.
“Compound fracture to the left leg,” one called out. “Get the OR prepped now.”
His phone vibrated again. It kept going, but he ignored it. If it was important, someone would track him down. They always did.
Three hours later, after both children were finally stabilized, his name echoed over the intercom.
“Dr. Brewer to the nurse’s station.”
He stepped out of another exam room and approached the desk. “I was paged?”
“There’s a call on line three,” the nurse said. “They said it’s an emergency. The caller was… hysterical.”
Cold slid down his spine for no reason at all. People were always hysterical in the ER.
Yet this just felt different.
“They didn’t give a name?”
She shook her head.
His hand went to his pocket to pull out his phone.
Missed calls. Too many to count.
All from the same number.
His neighbor.
