When a late-night hospital emergency pulled me away, I had no choice but to leave my kids with my unreliable brother. He shocked me by saying yes — too quickly. Hours later, I came home to a silent house… what I found next made my blood run cold.
I was standing in my kitchen, chopping carrots for dinner, steam rising from the pot on the stove, when my phone buzzed against the counter. “There’s been a pile-up on the interstate and we have trauma patients incoming. We need someone to run the scanner — now.”
My stomach dropped.
The kids were just settling in for the night, and bedtime was only an hour away. As a radiology technician, I knew emergency calls came with the job, but that didn’t make them any easier when you’re a single mom with two kids under ten. I’d never find a sitter on such short notice.
There was only one option, and it was the one I never liked taking. I had to call my brother. Jake lived 15 minutes away and had babysat for me before, but let’s just say his track record wasn’t exactly stellar.
He was the kind of guy who thought watching kids meant letting them stay up late eating cereal while he played video games. Still, he was family, and desperate times called for desperate measures. “Can you come over?” I asked when he picked up.
“I got called into work. It’s urgent. The ER needs imaging.”
“Sure,” he said instantly.
Too instantly… no grumbling about his plans, or asking how long I’d be gone. No hesitation at all. It made my gut twist.
Jake was many things, but eager to babysit wasn’t usually one of them. But I had no other options. People were hurt, and the hospital needed me.
He arrived ten minutes later, hoodie half-zipped, smelling faintly of energy drinks and that musty scent that comes from spending too much time indoors. His hair was messy, and there was something jumpy about his energy that I couldn’t quite place. “You sure you’re okay to do this?” I asked, studying his face.
He waved off my concerns with a dismissive gesture. “Relax. I got this.
Go save lives, supermom.”
That should have been my first real warning. Jake never called me supermom unless he was trying to get me off his back about something. But I was already running late.
I kissed Maddie and Liam goodnight, handed over the emergency contact list, and left. Watching the house shrink in my rearview mirror, my stomach tightened with an unease I couldn’t quite name. The night at the hospital was brutal.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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