still didn’t look convinced so Eliza decided to appeal to her sympathy, if nothing else. “I appreciate your concern. Everyone here has been really great. I can highly recommend the hospital and will be happy to post good reviews on Angie’s List or wherever you hospitals need reviews, but I have had a really miserable day. The worst.”
The doctor gave her a sympathetic look. “The paramedics told me you were supposed to start work at the Lake Haven Inn. I’m so sorry. What rotten timing.”
“Almost as bad as being in the crosswalk at the exact moment a driver coming down the hill hit a patch of ice, right? Haven Point hasn’t been really great to me. Right now I just want to take my daughter and go.”
The doctor frowned again, looking torn. She studied the computer screen again and studied Eliza carefully.
“If I were to release you, where will you go?”
“I was going to drive back to Boise. I have friends I can stay with for a few days, until I figure things out.”
That was a blatant lie. Yes, she had plenty of friends but she wouldn’t feel comfortable calling any of them a few weeks before Christmas and inviting her and her daughter over for an open-ended visit.
She didn’t like the bleak option of an extended-stay hotel somewhere, but she would figure out a way to make it work for a while.
Dr. Shaw chewed her bottom lip, looking more like a middle-school student prepping for an algebra test than the attending physician at an emergency room.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t feel good about you driving two hours back to Boise when we haven’t properly assessed your injuries, especially with that storm. It’s already snowing pretty hard out there and I can imagine the mountain passes between here and Boise are restricted to chains or four-wheel drive only.”
“I have four-wheel drive on my vehicle and chains in my trunk.”
She also had a pounding headache that would make even driving to the mountain pass an interesting exercise, but that was another thing she decided not to mention to the physician.
“How about this. I’m all right with releasing you from here but I don’t feel good about sending you out into the storm. Do you know anyone in town you could stay with tonight?”
She shook her head then fought a wince as her pain cells reacted quite negatively to the gesture. “Megan Hamilton is the only person I know—besides the nice EMTs and your staff here, of course. I imagine Megan has her hands full right now, dealing with the fire at the inn. I can’t add another burden onto her plate.”
“We’re at a stalemate, then.”
“What if I were to find a hotel room for the night and drive back tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid that might be easier said than done. A lot of our hotels are only open seasonally, during the summer. With the fire at the inn, we lost half the available hotel rooms in town. All their guests had to scramble to find lodging here or in Shelter Springs, from what I understand.”
She sighed. Finding a way through this quandary was more effort than her aching head wanted to handle right now. “I suppose that’s our answer, then. I can’t stay overnight in the hospital simply because of a lack of hotel rooms. Not with Maddie to think about, too. I’ll drive back to Boise to stay with friends. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
The doctor was quiet. “I’m still not crazy about that option. You’ve got a sprained wrist and a concussion. We both know you’re in no shape for driving under perfect conditions, forget about driving at night during a winter storm. Give me a few moments to see if I can arrange something.”
“I may have the solution.”
The sudden masculine voice in the room startled both of them. Only Maddie, happily watching her show with her headphones on, didn’t jump.
Eliza and the doctor both turned to find Aidan Caine standing in the doorway, looking lean and sexy in a blue sweater, jeans and worn leather boots.
She knew who he was now.