Whiskey Girl

Chapter 1

*This book has not been edited, I'm sure I've made minor grammar mistakes, story line mess-ups. I do apologize, but certainly feel free to give constructive criticism.

I hope you enjoy this fast paced romance! I promise a few sexy cowboys will be involved..

Chapter 1

"Lacey!"

The charge nurse yelled my name for the fourth time tonight.

It was my third night shift ever, and thankfully my last one until my four day weekend. I was a brand new nursing grad and unfortunately it showed. I was scared, nervous and looked like a complete idiot running around trying to figure everything out. I hadn't expected this small town in Texas to bring so much chaos to the emergency room but for three nights in a row there was quite a bit of action.

My first night an eldery woman had wrecked her BMW into the back of a tractor after leaving the local country club. Thankfully each of the drivers weren't critical but the woman lost not only her fancy sports car but her license after the police got a blood alcohol level in her. Worst part about that night was she almost tore my head off when she overheard me tell the ER Physician I smelled whiskey on her breath.

Last night was hard in a different way. In nursing school they tell you that you can't judge a drug addict unless you plan on judging a diabetic, cardiac patient or any other person's health issue. So when the young woman came in with her round baby bump, high off her mind I did my best to keep my face clear of emotion as I took her vitals. She wasn't a pretty girl, in fact she was so underweight she didn't look to be 27, and her face was full of scabs and sores.

I stayed with her a while, relating to her in an odd way. My birth mother was a drug and alcohol addict. She used the entire time she was pregnant with me. Due to that I was born premature and at 21 years old I weighed 115lbs and stood at 5'4. I never met her, she ended up taking her life the day after I was born.

"Lacey!" The charge nurse, Carrie hollered my name again. "Come on baby girl! We've got a lot of stitchin' up to do!"

I liked Carrie a lot. In fact I liked all the nurses and physicians here. So far they made me feel welcomed and needed. They taught me what I needed to know and even complimented me on my skills.

Shoving the last of my granola bar in my mouth I grabbed my stethoscope and wrapped it around my neck.

"What's going on?" I asked as I joined Carrie and the other young nurse, Piper in the empty waiting room. We all wore teal colored scrubs, Carries traditional while Piper and I jumped on the new style joggers and long sleeve top. Carrie was definitely a seasoned nurse, smart, quick and damn good at her job. She had about thirty-thirty five years on Piper and I.

"Clark Baron and his men have been out all night trying to wrangle their livestock. The storm tore down most of their fence and the lightning spooked a dozen or so of the horses and most of their cattle." Piper spoke up, reaching up and fixing my curly brown hair out of my face. Her touch was gentle just like she was. "Clark called in and said he's bringing four of his men who got caught up in the barbed wire, cut up pretty badly. Tree fell on his dad, Old Man Chris." She ran a hand down her face as she grumbled, "We're gonna have a long night with these men."

I shivered but not from the cold, and wet weather that pounded against the hospital doors. I wasn't very confident when it came to men, in fact I'd rather deal with that drunk, sports car drivin' lady a million times over. Men scared me. Especially powerful men like the ones she was describing. Men were stronger, taller and meaner.

"Just do your job, they won't hurt you." Piper whispered intuitively. "They are tough men, ain't too nice but they'd never hurt a woman."

I nodded, thanking her with a shy smile and focused back towards the ER doors. Just then two big old pickup trucks seemed to fill up the empty parking lot.