What We Find (Sullivan's Crossing, #1)(94)

“Isn’t Colorado Springs closer?”

“It’s a tie,” she said. “And I know the hospital and staff in Denver. I know who to call.” There was a shout and the basket was lifted over the lip of the cliff. The men carrying the basket to the helicopter were moving quickly and carefully. She jogged after them. “I’ll be in touch. Drive safely.”

She jumped into the helicopter behind her patient.

*



Her hands only shook when she was being lowered down a steep hillside or trying to get into a harness on a thin shelf. When she was with her patient, she was steady.

Terry met her in the OR. “You’re on call?” Maggie asked.

“Hell no, it’s a holiday weekend. I was having time off. I got a call that you were coming in with a critical patient you’d rescued off a cliff. I decided I could party later.”

“I didn’t rescue him,” she said, hurrying to the locker room. “I did drill a couple of burr holes in his cranium with a shop drill, however. Go prep him, Terry. We need a CT. And thanks for coming in. I need all the help I can get.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said. “Good to have you back.”

“I’m not back,” she said. “I’m just helping out.”

“Me, too,” Terry laughed, her short round form jogging off in the direction of the OR.

She came in for me, Maggie thought. She was probably hosting a barbecue at her house for her grown kids and grandkids. No one would have scheduled surgeries for a holiday weekend, but there would always be emergencies. One of her favorite colleagues, Jake Morris, was the neurosurgeon on call and he joined her at the sink to scrub. “Your case, Maggie. I’ll be in there with you if you need anything.”

“I need this kid to be okay,” she said.

“Rumor is you shimmied down a mountain to get to him,” he said.

“Mostly true,” she admitted. “That was a lot more terrifying than this. I think he’s stable. Let’s go see what the CT says.”

“Did you notice his hands are scraped almost raw?” Jake asked.

“I did. I’m hoping that means he was able to lessen the impact of his fall because the kid got a bad head knock.”

*



Two hours later Maggie walked into the OR waiting room. Tom and Cal both jumped to their feet.

“He’s stable, Tom. He’s still unconscious and we’re not rousing him right away. We won’t know the extent of his injuries until he wakes up and has a little recovery time but I like his chances for a full recovery. There was a second small epidural hematoma and that’s all that showed up on the CT. His brain was slammed around inside his skull—there will be issues. Hopefully issues rehab can resolve. But he’s stable, his reflexes are good, he’s going to make it.”

“Thank God,” Tom said, sinking to the chair and holding his head in his hands as he wept.

“Someone’s going to take you into the recovery suite so you can see him, though he isn’t awake and he won’t be for a while. You can sit with him, if you want to. I’ll stay with him until he’s out of the woods.”

Tom looked up at Maggie, tears running down his cheeks. “How’m I ever gonna thank you for this?” he whispered hoarsely.

“That’s not even an issue,” she said. “You’re my friend. You have to know I’d do whatever possible.”

“Come with me, Mr. Canaday,” a nurse said.

Maggie was left looking at Cal.

Cal smiled at her. “Long day, Maggie?”

“The Canaday boys tried to get the best of me but I was one step ahead of them, I think.”

“I think you were.”

“I’m going to be stuck in Denver for at least a couple of days.”

“I’ll check on Sully, get you some clean clothes and a couple of overnight supplies and come back. I’ll stay with you, if you like.”

“I might be mostly at the hospital, but I’d like it if you were in Denver. If I have any time at all, I want to spend it wrapped around you.”

He grinned largely. “I don’t have any pressing appointments.”

“This,” she said. “This is who I am. I have to find a way to be this person.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve a lot of cliff scaling, it’s doable,” Cal said. “It’s just details. I’m really good with details.”

*



The leaves began to change in mid-September and by the second week in October, the hillsides were resplendent with color. The crossing had just about twenty weekend guests in residence, most in RVs and cabins. They were seasoned leaf peepers, all. They toted around their cameras, binoculars and wore thick sweaters and socks.

Most people regarded spring as the fresh new start but Maggie didn’t. Her favorite season had always been the fall—the color, the crisp air, the new snow on the tallest peaks. She loved it this year, more than ever before because she had started her life over, something she had wanted to do for quite a while and didn’t really understand was possible. But California Jones, as it happened, was an expert. He showed her the devil is in the details.

As they were driving back to Sully’s after a couple of days in Denver, Maggie described each case she’d handled. She was seeing patients on Wednesday and Thursday mornings in her friend Dr. Morris’s office. There were several neurosurgeons in the practice and they were more than happy to add her name to the marquee, even though their contracted agreement was still being studied by Maggie’s lawyer, one very detail-oriented California Jones. Maggie would see patients and operate from Wednesday to Friday afternoon, two to three days a week. She would be on call for emergencies one weekend a month. It was a very manageable part-time schedule, leaving her plenty of time off. But there were a couple of doctors in the office who were spending some time in small towns that served rural areas, seeing patients who didn’t have any other access to neurosurgeons. They provided services at a reduced fee scale, giving back. Maggie knew at once she’d like to be involved in that.