An Impostor in Town (Colorado Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

on-duty labor and delivery nurses and then reported to Brian. “Sounds like a ruptured uterus.” She couldn’t tell him she was afraid Shelly might lose her life or her unborn child’s life. The words lodged in her throat and refused to budge. “I’m going to scrub in.”
    After she scrubbed, she entered the operating room where Shelly was already prepped. The girl stared up at her with bleary pain-filled eyes. A thin smile creased her ashen face. “I’m so glad you’re here. I couldn’t find my mother. I was so scared.”
    “It’s going to be all right.” Peyton pushed the hair from Shelly’s forehead. She hoped she wasn’t lying to the girl.
    A surgical nurse adjusted Shelly’s drip line. “Just a few more seconds. The meds should be working soon.”
    Her eyes fluttered. “If I die, will you take care of-”
    “You’re not going to die!”
    “Please, promise me.” Shelly mumbled something else too low for her to hear. The girl’s eyelids drooped. “Take care of my baby. Don’t let my mother…”
    As soon as Shelly fell into unconsciousness, Peyton rushed out of surgery and down the hall to the restroom. As she passed Brian he shot her a questioning look, but she ignored it and kept walking. Once inside a stall, she threw up. Shelly’s mother’s treatment of her daughter reminded Peyton too much of her own mother.
    ****
    Peyton turned into the lot across the street from the hospital, weary from her fruitless trip to Albuquerque. Johanna never showed. She returned from New Mexico more apprehensive than when she left. Had Johanna received her letter? What if someone intercepted it?
    She had traded duty with another nurse and barely made it back to Durango before the shift started at eleven. She would be in the emergency room until at least three a.m. It was going to be a long night.
    She parked her vehicle in her assigned spot and sat for a moment to collect her thoughts. Her position demanded concentration. The emergency room wasn’t constantly busy, but it had its moments of chaos. She couldn’t afford to let her mind stray at a critical moment. She hoped it would be a slow night.
    Her hopes shattered as she walked in through the side entrance. The crowded waiting room meant full exam rooms. An orderly wheeled a crash cart through the double doors separating the emergency room from the main part of the hospital. The irritating ring of an unanswered phone jangled through the chaos. Cries of pain and shouted orders vibrated against the walls. She drew in a steadying breath and headed for the admitting desk.
    The pace stayed brisk until around two-thirty in the morning. She scratched notes and studied doctor’s orders on medical charts as she finalized the documentation for the new cases that arrived on her shift. They’d seen it all tonight. Ruptured appendix. Mysterious stomach cramps. Broken arm. Multiple injuries from a car accident. Stab wounds. Heart attack.
    The strident wail of a siren assaulted her ears. Flashing red and white lights lit the entrance to the emergency room. The doors flew open and a paramedic wheeled another accident victim into the now almost vacant ward. Peyton nearly collapsed as she recognized the woman on the stretcher. The face was twelve years older but still very familiar.
    “Take her in there.”
    The light of recognition flickered in her eyes as Johanna Caldwell gazed up at Peyton. Johanna tried to rise, but Peyton pushed her down. She grabbed the woman’s wrist and counted the beats. Her pulse was slow and thready.
    “Jake,” Johanna whispered.
    She shook her head, just the slightest of movements. Would Johanna reveal anything in her disoriented state? She chastised herself for the selfish thought. The woman’s condition was the more pressing issue.
    Johanna wrapped weak fingers around her wrist. “He’s with someone I trust.”
    She acknowledged the message with a slight nod. “Of course he is.” She forced a smile, relying on her most professional