A Fallen Heart by Cate Ashwood

regretted it. For someone who liked to spend all his time with people, he certainly could be socially inept. The things that came out of his mouth sometimes made him wonder why anyone wanted to spend time with him.
    Nash didn’t seem fazed, his tone teasing and light. “I do, but I choose to spend time with you for your winning personality and movie-star good looks.”
    “I aim to please,” Ford said, picking up a slice of pizza from the already substantially grease-stained box. As the flavors of tomato sauce, Italian sausage, mushrooms, and green peppers hit his tongue, Ford was unable to suppress the sex-like moan that escaped his throat. It might have been the most delicious thing he’d ever eaten.
    He silently thanked whatever deity was looking out for them that they’d caught a break and had more than two minutes to eat. They were so used to scarfing down whatever food they’d managed to scrounge that Amanda and Lissa had inhaled three pieces each in the time it took Nash to eat one.
    “Thank you for bringing us food. You have no idea how much we needed it tonight.”
    Nash eyed the empty boxes. “I think I have some idea.”
    Ford liked working night shifts. Sometimes the shit hit the fan, and with fewer staff members, each person had to pull more than their share of weight, but it also meant a more lax working environment. Rules that would be staunchly followed during the day, like food at the nurses’ station and friends stopping by for a visit, were overlooked once the day crew left.
    Ford liked having Nash there. It wasn’t something he wanted to examine too closely, but the man did radiate a sort of comfortable warmth Ford felt drawn to.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    “ANY WORD on how Joel is doing?” Nash asked a while later. “Have the police been back to talk to him?”
    “I stopped by before my shift, but he was sleeping. Helen, the nurse on shift, said he’d been out most of the day. The cops came by, and Diana was there too, but he still won’t talk,” Ford said.
    “Poor kid.”
    “Yeah. I told the nurses I’d stop by later to see if he’s awake.”
    “Why not go now?” Lissa suggested. “If he’s been sleeping all day, he might be awake.”
    “I don’t want to leave you guys alone,” Ford said.
    “Oh, like you think we can’t handle the ER on our own? Like you’re God’s gift to nursing?” she teased. “Go on. We’re fine here. Everything is calm for now.”
    “If you’re sure?”
    “Go on,” Amanda chimed in.
    Nash watched as the decision played across Ford’s face. Ultimately he rose from where he’d perched himself on the desk.
    “I’ll come with you,” Nash offered. “I’d like to see how he’s doing anyway.”
    “Sure.”
    They walked together to the psych unit. When they arrived, there was a uniformed police officer sitting in one of the plastic waiting room chairs outside in the hallway. He lowered the newspaper he was reading long enough to say hello as Ford used his card to swipe in through the first door.
    “Hey, Maddy, I’m back,” Ford called as they stepped through the second door and into the main area. Nash had been here a few times, taking transfers from Saint Joe’s to other hospitals in the area. The place had always seemed so falsely cheery to him. It kind of gave him the creeps.
    The main room was set up like a living room, with a couch and three recliners clustered around a coffee table stacked with magazines. On one wall was a TV that seemed to play a constant loop of old movies. The other walls held brightly colored landscape paintings. The nurses’ station sat on one side of the room and backed into a glass-enclosed office where there were two more desks as well as filing cabinets and supply cabinets.
    “Maddy, this is Nash. He’s one of the paramedics who brought Joel in. Nash, this is Maddy. She and I went to nursing school together.”
    “I bet you have quite a few stories you could share about Ford,” Nash teased.
    “Don’t you