Small Town Nurse, U.S.A.: Book One of “Nurses Love Cops” Series

Chapter 1

THE SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN of Mayville, West Virginia, was nestled between the tall, beautiful mountain terrains of the Appalachians in the southern part of the state. The town’s people were warm, friendly folks you felt you could trust. They were never in a hurry to get to their destinations and always willing to stop for a chat or to sit a spell on the many benches provided throughout the Main Street area. The town welcomed everyone. It was a wonderful, safe community in which to raise a family. People watched out for each other in Mayville.

Life for Maggie Harrison, registered nurse, had been an interesting and satisfying one, although it was stressful at times. She had been a pediatric nurse at Mayville General Hospital in Mayville for twenty-five years.

Things happened fast with children, but kids usually bounced back as fast as they went down. Occasionally there were the times when something terrible happened to one of the children, but the majority of them returned to their carefree selves. Children played, with no regard for their futures, living only for the day and the fun they could have. Tomorrow was a long way off for children. They did not see the future. Kids were great that way.

Maggie’s personal life, on the other hand, had been hard to deal with at times—especially the last ten years with raising a teenager alone. After Maggie’s divorce, the long hours at the hospital and dealing with her vivacious daughter Chastity sometimes took its toll.

Chastity had moved into the adult world three years earlier. At the age of twenty-three, she worked as a computer whiz in a large company in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Maggie rarely saw her baby girl, but they talked on the phone several times a week. Chastity’s work and social life kept her busy most of the time.

Maggie’s parents had helped her a lot with the transition from being married to being a divorced, single parent. Maggie had taken her maiden name back after the divorce, so she would not have anything binding her to her ex except her lovely daughter.

Maggie had thanked heaven many times for the loving parents who had helped her with her headstrong teenager. At age fifteen, Chastity would stay overnight with her grandparents, but she often argued with her mother about being old enough to stay home alone while Maggie worked. Maggie did not agree with that idea at all, and in the end, Chastity lost.

Allen and Annette Harrison were in their mid-sixties and still very active at work and in the community. They owned their own grocery store in Mayville, Harrison’s Grocery. It profited well and kept them very busy. As their only child, Maggie often helped them at the store whenever she was off work. When small, Chastity loved to go there while Maggie worked, despite her arguments about staying home. Chas adored her grandparents dearly and now called them several times a month.

At forty-five, Maggie was an attractive woman of five-foot-one with shoulder-length, brown hair. On first introduction, her eyes caught people’s attention first; they were a strange shade of bright green that seem to look into the depths of your soul. Her firm, quiet manner made her even more attractive. Some of the doctors and interns at the hospital followed her around with their tongues practically hanging out of their mouths as they tried to get her to go out with them. She had refused them all. Maggie did not see herself the way others did.

Family and friends had tried to set Maggie up with a variety of men from the community over the years, but no one came up to her expectations at all. Her high standards stemmed from being with a man who had cared only for his own pleasures and not at all about Maggie or their child. Thankfully, Jerry Kerns had been out of their lives for the last ten years with no known address—and good riddance to him, too, as far as Maggie was concerned.

It was morning, and Maggie got ready for another long day at the hospital. Sighing heavily, she finished the last touches to her hair. Grabbing her lunch and purse, she ran out the door, locking it securely behind her. Although Mayville was a quiet community that rarely had any crime, she wanted to ensure Cleo’s safety.

Cleo perched on a kitchen chair, watching Maggie, seemed not a bit concerned about being alone. She was a black-and-white cat with a mind of her own, who thought she owned Maggie and not the other way around. Cleo made the evenings bearable when loneliness came into play late at night.

The cool morning air of April hit Maggie’s face as she went out the door of her cottage home. Birds were chirping all around her as she headed toward her SUV. Pausing briefly, she noticed the flowers and trees coming to life after the God-given snows of winter and warming April days. Spring was in the air and an over-whelming loneliness suddenly engulfed her. Quickly she shrugged the feeling off, sprinting the last few steps to her SUV.

During the short drive to work, she thought about her loneliness and how she wanted a relationship with someone special. Time went by so fast when you were in your forties—much too fast. Would she ever meet the right man, a kind and loving one who would be there for her and the ones she loved?

After living with her ex for fifteen years, she had decided there would be no more terrible fights or looking for a husband who did not come home at night; no more wondering about which woman he was with; no more worrying about the dad who neglected his child while his wife was working those long shifts at the hospital; no more worrying if he had a job from day to day or year to year. Enough was enough! No more! Never again, not for all the tea in China, would she put up with such a man again.

Thick ice crystals had formed heavily around Maggie’s heart. Would anyone ever be able to warm her frosty heart again?

Maggie would rather be lonely now than worry about someone who didn’t care for her or those around her. She had gone through a lot of emotional pain while dealing with Jerry and his crap during their marriage. Remembering how he had neglected their darling child still made her insides ache. She had high regard for her daughter, her family, and her friends; they all meant the world to her.

Finally arriving and parking her SUV, she headed into the hospital to Pediatrics. She used her badge to enter the colorful unit that was locked down for the kids’ safety. She greeted the two nurses from night shift, Cassie and Pauline, and her friend Lou, who worked the day shift with her and had already arrived.

After getting a report on the sick children, her mind was preoccupied, and she pushed away the thoughts of her loneliness for the time being. She has children to care for whom she loved and who needed her. She was a dedicated caregiver and able to easily calm the most frightened child with her soft quiet voice and gentle ways.

Grabbing a much-needed cup of tea, she loaded the computer with her assigned patients for the day. One particular child had caught her interest yesterday when she admitted him. Sammie Parrish. There was something not right …

Lou interrupted Maggie’s thoughts. Maggie, are you able to take Sammie down to radiology for his CT scan? They are ready for him now, and you promised him yesterday you would go down there with him. His grandmother signed the consent when she was here last night, and it is a good thing, too, because she has not come in yet this morning. She knew he was having the x-rays.

Absolutely, Maggie responded. I most certainly did tell Sammie that yesterday. She pushed herself away from the desk and headed around the corner to get a small child’s wheelchair. She proceeded down the hall toward Sammie’s room.

Maggie had known Lou Grey since she’d started on Peds at the hospital. Lou had showed her the ropes on the unit when she first started there. They had hit it off right from the start and had quickly become best friends. When off work, they often tried to do something together, but it was very difficult as Lou was married with three teenaged children and many mom-responsibilities. Her kids needed rides to their many school and social activities. Despite having had three kids, Lou was a tall, thin, leggy woman with unruly red hair and a temper to go with it. Lou also was in her mid-forties. Her loving husband Joe worked days at the grainery and volunteered as a firefighter in Mayville.

Sometimes Maggie envied her friend with her lovely family. They often welcomed Maggie at their home for all kinds of social events, birthdays, anniversaries, and other parties the Greys liked to throw. Maggie had watched Lou’s kids grow up as she had her own daughter.

Sammie Parrish was an eight-year-old who had come into the emergency room yesterday with new seizure onset, cause unknown at this time. Many tests needed to be done to see if they could find the cause of his seizure.

The report this morning was that Sammie had had a quiet night and no further seizures since admission. He hadn’t said a word to the other shift, and he had talked little to Maggie when she admitted him the evening before.

Sammie was a quiet, sad-looking, thin, dark-eyed, dark-haired child, and Maggie fell in love with him instantly. Somewhere deep inside her, she had an overwhelming desire to protect this sad-looking child. She was not sure where that feeling came from. Maggie had seen a sad, bleak look in the boy’s eyes when he’d first looked at her last evening. She had a gut feeling that something was very wrong with this small boy.

Lou had reminded Maggie only yesterday not to get too involved with the child’s personal life. He would not stay long, and it was possible she would never see him again.

Actually, she had never seen this child before, even in town, and Mayville was a very small community.

Sammie’s aging grandmother Adelaide Parrish had told her on admission that the child lived with her and that she had full custody. His parents had been killed in a car crash three years before. He had not talked much to anyone since. His school was concerned about him, too, and felt he needed to see a counselor. He had gone to counseling for a while but would not talk to them either, so the school stopped the sessions. His grades were good despite his quiet demeanor. His grandmother thought he was still just grieving for his parents and would eventually deal with their deaths as he matured.

Maggie had watched them both while talking with the grandmother. She had seemed to be very fond of her grandson.

Maggie was not too sure that the death of his parents was the reason for Sammie’s quiet sadness. Mrs. Parrish said that her son Todd Parrish also lived with her and Sammie outside of town past the grainery in one of the small housing developments. They had moved there a year ago after her son relocated to Mayville to work at the grainery.

Chapter 2

MAGGIE WENT INTO SAMMIE’S room and found the boy drawing pictures in a sketchbook. He did not look up as she entered; he continued to draw, seeming to close out the world around him for a while.

Cheerfully, Maggie greeted him. Hello, Sammie. It’s time to go to x-ray, okay?

Sammie was drawing pictures in a thick sketchbook, which was in front of him on the table. He quietly laid his pencil down and got out of bed and into the wheelchair. He still did not speak to her. This boy was sad. Why? How was she going to reach the quiet, sullen child who had quickly stolen her heart?

Last evening, before Maggie’s shift was over, Sammie’s Uncle Todd had come to see him. He’d visited for quite some time, alone in the room. When Todd left, she’d checked Sammie before getting off work. He had the covers over his head and was turned away from the door.

Sammie, Sammie. Honey, are you all right? He did not respond to her at all and pulled the covers tighter over his head. I will be back in the morning and go to x-ray with you. Good night, Sammie. She patted his back but still got no response from the little boy in that big hospital bed.

Maggie’s feeling about the relationship of this child with his uncle had her very suspicious. Maybe it was nothing, but then, maybe it was … She shuddered at thoughts that were not going to a good place for the child.

Maggie chattered to Sammie on the way to x-ray, getting only small ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers from him on the way to radiology. He did everything the radiology technician asked him to do, without comment. His small form lay very still on the table as the huge CT scanner whirled around his small, dark head. Maggie stood beside him and talked to him the whole time he was in the machine. Sammie never responded to her at all.

On the way back to Sammie’s room, Maggie asked, Sammie, is your grandmother coming in sometime to see you today?

Sammie answered quietly, No. She called. She hurt her leg this morning and will not be in today. I miss her lots, Miss Maggie. He put his head down to his chest and would not look at Maggie at all.

Sammie, is there something wrong at your house? Are there any problems with you, your grandmother, or your uncle? An overwhelming feeling of fear for the child ran through her.

The child hung his head even lower as Maggie got him back into bed. When he did speak, he spoke so low that Maggie barely heard him. No, there is nothing wrong. He simply picked his pencil up and started drawing, shutting Maggie out completely.

Last evening, Sammie had given Maggie a very beautiful picture of a meadow with flowers and small animals in it. He drew it with a black pencil only, but it was a very striking picture. She placed it on display at the nurse’s station. This child had great artistic talent.

Going to the desk, Maggie’s mind was full of questions about Sammie. Lou was there, charting in the computer on her patients. She looked up as Maggie entered the work area.

Mags, have you seen any other pictures Sammie has drawn? While you were in x-ray with him, I moved his tray stand out of the way to make his bed and accidentally knocked his sketchbook onto the floor. Several loose pages scattered across the floor. When I picked them up, I saw that some of the pictures were horrible. A big man was hitting a small child with a stick or club. There were several pages with similar scenes. There is something going on with Sammie, and I should have trusted your instincts yesterday. I charted what I found in his notes. What are we going to do? Lou finished somewhat breathlessly.

Maggie let her breath out slowly. "I cannot put my finger on it right now, either. Sammie seemed scared after his uncle left here yesterday evening. And now you’ve found those disturbing pictures. His grandmother has hurt her leg and cannot come in to see Sammie today. This does not bode well. I think I will call Mrs. Parrish later and check on her. Maybe I can get a feel from her as to what is