The door opened and someone in dark pants and a light green dress shirt walked in. He was carrying a tablet in his hand. A nurse entered behind him.
“Ahh, Miss Ryan, you’re awake. Excellent. How are you feeling?”
She blinked at him.
“This is Doctor Reynolds,” the nurse explained kindly. “I’m Emily.”
She nodded. “My…my cabin?”
The doctor f
rowned. “I’m sorry. We don’t have information about that. I’m sure someone will be in touch about your home. We’re just here to assess your physical condition.”
The doctor was brisk. Not unkind. But her tender emotions couldn’t handle much right now. Tears dripped down her cheeks.
“Oh, honey, it’s all right. Are you in pain? Is it your hands?” Emily asked, moving closer. She looked to be in her sixties and spoke to her soothingly.
She shook her head. “No pain. Just my throat.”
“Smoke inhalation. We need to keep you in a few days to monitor you. Your hands have second-degree burns. I’m afraid they could take a while to heal. You’re going to need help when released. Have you got someone who can take care of you?” the doctor asked.
“I…I…my phone was in the cabin.”
“Poor thing,” Emily sympathized. “We can call someone for you. Husband? Parents?”
She shook her head. “I can’t remember his phone number. My boyfriend.” She stopped to cough. “Maybe you could call his brother for me.”
Archer would be able to get hold of Issy. And maybe Archer would come himself.
“Of course.”
“Good. Good,” the doctor said. “You’re on pain relief for your hands. We’ll keep an eye on your oxygen levels. You were lucky, Miss Ryan. Too much smoke inhalation can kill.”
Lucky. Yeah, that’s how she felt.
* * *
Emily frowned.
Her stomach dropped. They’d had to google Archer’s name to find where he worked and call him since she didn’t know his private number by heart.
“Is he busy? Not there?”
“His assistant said he couldn’t take our call at the moment, but that she would leave him a note. I’m sure he’ll call back, dear.”
Of course he would. It was Archer.
“Could you also look up the number for Kent Jensen. Or JSI?” she asked. If they couldn’t get through to Archer, she’d have to call Issy’s boss.
“Right. I have a number here for JSI. Want me to call and ask for Kent Jensen?”
Emily hadn’t queried why they weren’t calling her family. Maybe she thought she had none. Which was actually pretty accurate.
“Yes, please,” she said after a moment. She felt bad about taking up the nurse’s time. But she was lost and alone.
Everything was gone.
Emily dialed the number and asked for Kent. “Yes. It’s for Caley Ryan.” She rattled off a number and hung up. “He’s in a meeting.”