Accidentally Yours (3 page)

The boisterous setting gave her and Gary little time to really talk beyond exchanging the standard where-do-you-lives and the utmost important what-do-you-dos, but it was fun. Besides, there was no reason to think this wouldn
’t be continued as a one-on-one on Friday or Saturday night, which wasn’t a bad way to kick off the new year, especially considering that just last night there wasn’t a single prospect in sight. In the meantime she enjoyed the sight of his lips moving whenever he talked.

When
Vivian went to the buffet table after about half an hour she noticed Glenda was still talking to Bobby in a quiet corner. The buffet was laid out on a rectangular table; appetizers, entrees, breads, and desserts surrounding a large punch bowl filled with eggnog. She helped herself to some lasagna, ignoring the strain her thickened middle was putting on the waistband of her slacks, passed on the chicken wings in favor of the pinwheel sandwiches—it would be embarrassing to smile at Gary with a piece of chicken between her teeth—and added some raw vegetables, silently congratulating herself on eating sensibly. If she kept this up the next time she wore these pants they wouldn’t leave indentation marks on the skin of her waist.

She glanced at the television area when the crowd got particularly loud and noticed circles of smoke near the twelve-foot ceiling. If there was anything she found more annoying than telemarketers who called at dinnertime, it was a room filled with people lighting up. She was allergic to tobacco, but she felt none of the usual effects of her nose running or her nasal passages getting clogged. Those high ceilings must make the difference.

The game was almost over when Glenda appeared, taking a seat on a nearby floor pillow. “Hi!”

“
Hi. What happened to Bobby?”

“
He left. The couple he rode down with only had a babysitter for a few hours.”

“
Where does he live?”

“
Somewhere in Queens. Springfield Gardens, I think.”

“
Kind of far from Baychester, isn’t it?”

She shrugged.
“It’s only geography. Plus seven dollars in tolls.”

When the game ended they decided it was time to leave themselves. Gary offered to walk them to their car. Vivian was grateful, since it was now dark and she didn
’t know how many people would be on the streets in this part of the city. “We’ll just need a minute to get our coats.”

“
This is a gorgeous place, isn’t it?” Glenda commented as they searched for their coats on the king-size brass bed in the spacious master bedroom. Space was at a premium in New York, so much so that it was not unusual for families of five or six to squeeze into three-room apartments; and it was refreshing to see that some people had living rooms large enough to play ball in. Whoever Ivy Smith was house sitting for had beaucoup bucks.

“
It sure is,” Vivian agreed. “They say money isn’t everything, but oh, how it helps.”

“
Here we go.” Glenda pulled out her winter-white coat as well as Vivian’s brown-and- white herringbone. “They were close to the bottom. They probably got tossed to the side by the people who left before us.”

Vivian glanced around to make sure they were alone.
“So how’d you make out?”

“
I’ll tell you in the car.”

Coats on, they returned to the living room,
where Gary waited, still wearing a tan crew-neck sweater. “Aren’t you wearing a coat?” Vivian asked him.

“
I put it on the rack by the door so I wouldn’t have to dig through a pile of coats on a bed.”

Glenda was saying good-bye to Ivy, and Gary and Vivian did the same. Gary, the arms of his pullover sweater pushed up to his elbows, removed his leather jacket from the rack and swung his left arm into it, but when he swung his right arm he made a strange sound, like he
’d been stung by an insect or something. He lowered his arm, and it was covered with blood.

They all gasped at the sight of his bloody arm.
“I’ll get a towel,” Ivy said.

“
What happened?” Vivian asked, dumbfounded.

“
The damndest thing. I went to get my arm into my jacket. I guess I was too close to the coat rack and one of those hooks got me. Damn, it stings.”

“
It looks awfully deep from the way it’s bleeding,” Glenda said. “It’s long, too. You’ll probably need stitches to close it up.”

Ivy returned with a clean dishtowel, which she immediately wrapped around Gary
’s forearm. “I’m sorry,” she said when he winced. “I know it’s painful.”

“
I’m bleeding all over your floor.”

“
It’s all right I’ll take care of it in a minute.” Ivy peeled back the towel, part of which was soaked red. There was still too much blood to actually see the wound. “You’ll have to go to a hospital. Did you come with anyone?”

“
No.”

“
Glenda and I can take you,” Vivian offered.

“
That’s awfully nice of you. We can go to Hudson, in Washington Heights.”

“
But that’s all the way uptown!”

“
I know, but it’s close to where I live. It’s not too far from you, either. I need to be able to drive myself home afterward. Besides, it’s not like I’m in danger of bleeding to death. It’s not quite that bad.”

He had told Vivian he lived on upper Riverside Drive, making Hudson Hospital an ideal choice. Near the mammoth Columbia-Presbyterian complex, it was a much smaller hospital and probably had a less busy ER. After he was repaired it would be an easy ride home for him
…and just a slightly longer one for her and Glenda.

She fixed Gary
’s jacket around his shoulder. “How far away did you park?”

“
I got lucky. I’m right on the next block.”

“
All right. Why don’t we go to your car first, then we’ll drive Glenda to hers, then head for the hospital.”

“
Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.” Gary turned to Ivy. “I’m sorry about your towel, and your floor.”

“
Don’t worry about it. The towel is replaceable, and I’m going to mop up the floor right now. You just get yourself fixed up.”

On the brief walk to the next block Vivian found herself curious about what he drove. From their conversation she learned he was an art director for an advertising agency headquartered in midtown. Did he have one of those cute foreign numbers that only seated two? That would be great even if she and Glenda had to squeeze into one seat
. They could manage for a couple of blocks. Or maybe he had a rugged SUV.

She could barely conceal her shock when he stopped in front of a weathered beige Volvo that looked like it was at least ten years old, although
with a Volvo it was hard to tell; before they modified that boxy shape a few years back the car had changed little in thirty years. “I’ll drive,” she offered.

“
I forgot to tell you, it’s a stick. But I should be able to hold the wheel with my left hand.”

“
I can drive a stick, Gary.” She experienced a twinge of what felt like resentment at his assumption that she couldn’t, but she chased it away. “It’s been a long time since I have, so it might be a little jerky ride at first, but once I get to the highway I’ll be fine.”

They got in, Glenda in the back, and Vivian drove to where Glenda had parked.

“Hudson Hospital, right? Where exactly is that? I’m not sure,” Glenda said.

Vivian paid close attention as Gary instructed her; if he dozed off during the ride
from sheer pain she didn’t want to wake him to ask for directions.

*****

The ER at the hospital wasn’t crowded. There were only a few people in the waiting room, none of whom appeared to be in discomfort. Perhaps they were waiting for patients and not for treatment. It wasn’t what Vivian expected to see on New Year’s Day. She supposed all the rabble-rousers had gone to Presbyterian.

The triage nurse checked Gary in and inspected his arm. The blood flow had stopped, and a gash about three inches long could clearly be seen, as well as the inner top layer of his skin.
“Ooh, that’s nasty,” the nurse said, wrinkling his nose in a gesture more typical of a squeamish civilian than a health-care professional. Vivian could remember the days when she could distinguish doctors from nurses strictly by gender. No more. This man had horn-rimmed glasses and graying hair. He even wore sea-green scrubs. He might look like a surgeon straight out of the OR, but he was an RN relegated to triage duty, collecting unexciting information about patients’ symptoms, medical histories, and allergies.

The very thought of most nursing duties made Vivian queasy, but she believed in dressing to be taken seriously, whatever your profession. There was certainly nothing wrong with being mistaken for a doctor. She
’d take someone dressed this way over the ones who wore scrubs printed with drawings of singing stethoscopes or dancing thermostats any day.

An ER nurse showed up for Gary within minutes.
“Can she come with me?” he asked her, gesturing to Vivian.

“
Sure.”

She accompanied Gary to a curtained-off cubicle, where she felt trapped by the antiseptic smell so typical of hospitals. It offended her nostrils and made her wish she could go outside and breathe in a great gulp of filthy city air. She fully intended to provide moral support for Gary, who appeared as uneasy as she did about being in an emergency room, but when the nurse began cleaning the wound she became squeamish and felt like she had to get out of there. She hastily excused herself and wandered off. Glenda should be here by now and was probably looking for them.

She walked around the department, trying to find the way out. The scene in this ER wasn’t anything like the frantic atmosphere portrayed on the television show with the same name. Some of the curtains were partially open, and she could see an occasional patient wearing an oxygen mask or sitting on a stretcher with an Ace wrap around an ankle or wrist. One man was snoring loudly. She decided he’d had too much celebration and was simply sleeping it off.

“
Hello.”

She turned and looked into the face of what had to be the best-looking man she
’d ever seen. His skin was the color of dark honey, his near-black hair close-cropped, and in a strange but not unpleasant contrast, his eyes were electric blue. “You startled me,” she said, realizing her mouth had dropped open.

“
I’m sorry. But you look lost.”

“
I’m actually trying to find the way out.”

“
Have you been released?”

“
Oh, I’m not a patient. I’m here with a friend who was hurt.”

“
Is it serious?”

No, I just met him.
Vivian knew full well that wasn’t what he meant, but she would love to let this handsome man know she was available. “Just a rather unpleasant cut on the arm.”

“
I see. Well, if you make a right at the next hallway it’ll lead you to the waiting room.”

“
Thanks.” She wanted to say something else, but couldn’t think of anything. This man was just too fine to be real. He left her speechless.

“
You’re very welcome.”

Zack Warner watched as the woman made her way down the hall and disappeared around the corner. She was a real looker. Her dark skin had a
healthy glow about it, and her thick but neatly shaped eyebrows topping luminous brown eyes, plus the bangs peeking out from under her hat and swept to one side reminded him of a young Audrey Hepburn in that movie that was a favorite of his cousin Sydney’s, the one in which she played a chauffeur’s daughter. Her figure was concealed by her knee-length coat, but there didn’t appear to be anything that would diminish his interest.

A nurse appeared and addressed him.
“Dr. Warner, would you check on Kevin? He’s all set and awaiting clearance.”

“
Sure.”

Zack released his patient, a thirteen-year-old who had sprained his ankle while ice skating. Then he checked the patient board. There was a male patient in curtain three being treated for an arm laceration. The wound had been cleaned but not yet sutured.
“Why don’t you let me take this one,” he offered to his colleague Jeff Hertz. He might as well find out as much information about the pretty woman he’d just spoken with as possible. He already knew she wasn’t married; “a friend,” she had mentioned.

“
Sure, go ahead.”

“
Hello there,” Zack greeted. “I’m Dr. Warner.”

“
Gary Allen.”

“
I see you’ve had a little mishap.”

“
A freak accident. I cut my arm on a hook from a coat rack while I was putting on my jacket. It stings like the devil.”

“
Ouch. Let’s take a look at it.”

“
Lousy way to end a party,” Gary remarked as Zack inspected his arm.