Start a War (Saint View Psychos #1)(45)

Vincent opened his mouth, clearly ready to volunteer, and I knew Kellan would probably have preferred him over me, but in the absence of Josie, I was the senior member of the staff. Vincent had only worked here a week. It needed to be me.

I put my hand on Vincent’s arm. “I need you to go call Kellan’s parents and ask them to meet us at the hospital. And then I need you to help Sarah until the temp gets here, okay?”

Vincent seemed torn, his gaze glued to Kellan. But he eventually turned back to me and nodded. “You’ll keep me updated?”

I nodded. “My number is in the staff files. Find it and text me your number, and I’ll send updates when I can.”

The paramedics had finished up their assessments and made way for me to get in with Kellan.

I smiled at him. “Hey, kiddo. Wave bye to Vincent. Aren’t we lucky, going for a ride in an ambulance?”

The doors closed with a bang, and then in a wail of sirens, we left Vincent behind, staring after the ambulance helplessly.





Kellan was already looking better by the time we got to the hospital. The swelling in his eye hadn’t gone down any, but it had seemed to stop growing. I ran along beside the stretcher, keeping up an endless stream of overly animated chatter to occupy him, until we found ourselves in a curtained-off bed in Emergency.

“This is the end of the road for us.” The paramedic locked the wheel on Kellan’s bed. “But he’ll be just fine. The nurses and a doctor will be here in just a moment to get him going. High five, little dude. Thanks for being a top patient.”

Kellan grinned and slapped his palm against the paramedic’s. I thanked them profusely then climbed up on the bed with Kellan, who scrambled into my lap, and we watched YouTube until Josie, Kellan’s frantic parents, and the doctor all arrived at once.

“Mrs. Simpson, I’m so sorry this happened! I was at lunch and then I got a call. I got here as soon as I could,” Josie babbled, though no one was really paying attention to her, Kellan’s parents too focused on him.

“Hi, Mommy! Miss Befany-Melissa and me got to go in a ambulance ‘cause I got allergies again.”

I gave his mother a weak smile, expecting her to yell at me, but she just ran her hand through Kellan’s floppy blond hair, pushing it back off his forehead while she checked the swelling in his eye. She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. This isn’t too bad at all. He’s had much worse reactions. He didn’t need the EpiPen?”

I shook my head. “I was worried, but the paramedics said he was okay. He’s had some antihistamine medicine though. I told the paramedics, and they gave him something else too, but I’m sure they’ll tell you all about it.”

I shuffled Kellan off my lap and slid off his bed, leaving him in his parents’ and doctor’s capable hands. I backed out of the curtain, and Josie followed me quickly, calling reassurances we’d write up a full report and check into the entire incident thoroughly.

Just a few feet down the hospital corridor, she yanked me aside into a quiet alcove. “What on earth happened?”

I filled her in, Josie’s stunned expression turning to anger the more I spoke.

“So he was in Vincent’s care? This is unacceptable.”

I frowned. “Well, yes. But I was there too. One minute he was fine, the next minute his eye was blowing up like a balloon. We went through all the correct procedures. And the paramedics assured me Kellan will be just fine.”

“That’s hardly the point. This shouldn’t have happened at all!”

I blinked. “Josie. We knew Kellan had allergies, and nobody knows what set him off. It’s not like we fed him a peanut butter sandwich then sat and had a chat when he had a reaction.”

Josie paced the tiny space. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let you interview him. I should have been there to do it myself. I’m going to need to fire him. The Simpsons need to know we took fast and extreme measures to ensure their child’s safety. Perhaps if we can get in front of it, they won’t get on that damn Facebook group and tell all the other parents.”

My mouth dropped open. “What? You can’t fire Vincent. He was doing his job.”

She whirled and stared at me. “And what was he doing this morning when he threatened to gut your fiancé, Bethany-Melissa! Sarah and I heard every word. He gives me the creeps.”

“Since when? You were practically drooling over him a few days ago, acting the fool and flirting with him like you aren’t a married mother of two with a husband at home.”

Josie’s eyes widened. I was sure mine had too, because even though it was true, I had not meant for all of that to come out.

I had definitely not meant for it to come out sounding slightly jealous. Vincent hadn’t shown Josie any sort of interest other than professional. Even if he had, that wasn’t my business.

I owed her an apology. What I’d said was completely out of line. “Josie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But you really can’t fire Vincent. He’s very good at his job. What happened this morning was a personal matter. He was simply standing up for me.”

But her features had frosted over, her shoulders and spine ramrod straight in her anger. “I’ve made my decision, thank you.”

Anger on Vincent’s behalf rose inside me. “Vincent’s fast thinking might have saved that boy’s life today. He was the one who noticed the reaction first. And he stood up for one of your employees, deescalating a potentially dangerous situation that could have easily spilled over into the daycare itself if he hadn’t been there to keep Caleb out. But you’re going to repay him by firing him?” Guilt mixed with the anger. I wasn’t letting Vincent go down for standing up for me. “Josie, if you fire Vincent, you might as well just fire me too. I was there for both incidents. Both were as much my fault as his. If not more in the case of Caleb. That’s entirely on me.”