Chasing Luck Read Online Free PDF Page A

retrieve my keys to sitting in a hospital emergency room?
    I’ve just stood to leave when a man in blue scrubs approaches the nurse behind the counter and looks around the waiting room. He says something to her that I can't make out and the nurse points at me.
    "You're a family member waiting for Malerie Toombs?" He walks over without waiting for me to answer. "She's out of surgery."
    "I guess I am. Waiting for her, I mean." I ram my fingers through my hair. "Is she going to be all right?" A feeling of stifling unease and responsibility has settled in my core and I want to shake it. Staying here has been a mistake.
    "She's recovering now, but we did almost lose her. She flat-lined on us, but we were able to bring her back." The doctor’s eyebrows pull to the center. "She’s a fighter. I’ve never seen anything like it. Of course, she’s not completely out of danger. We’ll monitor her progress and there’ll be tests."
    Tests. The word gives me a headache. I stare at the wall beyond him.
    "But she's all right now? Good." I rub my hand along the base of my neck. "I don't really know her. I wanted to make sure she made it and I felt bad for her. Her uncle was killed tonight in the restaurant."
    I glance over at the bag. That stupid bag. I decide to give it to a nurse the minute this doctor walks away from me and I'll be free of any obligation.
    "She's very lucky. She's stable now."
    "Good. I'll probably leave now that she's okay." The guy frowns at me like I've kicked a puppy into ongoing traffic. I watch him turn to leave and I grab the bag. I hand it to a nurse seated behind a horseshoe shaped desk. "This belongs to Malerie Toombs. Could you see that she gets it?"
    "You can give it to you herself if you want. I know you want to go back to ICU now that she's stable."
    This woman is obviously not with the program. She's going to let a complete stranger go back to see Malerie? The nurse only knows I came in with Malerie and nothing else about me. I'm two seconds away from telling her that I’m not family or anyone who should get visitor privileges when an old man rushes through the ICU double doors.
    A young nurse in brightly patterned scrubs runs to catch the old man's arm and stop him. She succeeds in grabbing him, but it does nothing to slow the guy down.
    "You are not allowed past this area, sir," she says with a stern schoolteacher voice.
    "I know the girl back there and you will not stop me from seeing her." The old man's voice is rising. "I have to make sure she's okay," he says to her in a voice more pleading than threatening.
    The nurse exhales loudly. She looks pointedly at me like I'm the one doing something against hospital rules. "Why don't you two wait together until the doctor comes out again?"
    "I'm leaving," I say without looking at the old guy.
    "So, give Ms. Toombs this bag? What's your name?" the nurse asks.
    The old guy roughly grabs the handle of the bag Malerie had thought so valuable and I think for a minute the nurse is going to wrestle him for it. She's determined and he releases it.
    The old man glares at me. "I don't know who the hell you are, but you don't know Malerie. Why does this nurse think you're here with her?"
    I narrow my eyes at the guy and breathe through my nose. I don't need this . My good deed for the day's turned into a good-Samaritan headache.
    Even if I keep hearing Malerie’s small voice ask me to stay.
    "I'm Ace," I say and extend my hand, but he doesn’t take it. "I was at the restaurant. I also rode in the ambulance with her. She asked me to stay and make sure to hang onto this." I point to the bag, feeling stupid. She was out of her head at the time and I'm not sure what this guy will think about me hanging around. Should I try to explain that I had met with John Toombs before he died?
    The old guy rubs his face, visibly working to regain his self-control. "You came with her to the hospital? I apologize. You never know who’s a scam artist these days. Thank God she