On Call | JENLISA

Chapter 6

"I'm not going in there," she said, keeping her seatbelt buckled.

She knew exactly what she'd get if she went in there. She knew Jennie was working, and she knew that Jennie would be angry. She knew it because she knew she'd been stupid. Maybe brave, maybe even a good person, but still stupid. And she'd promised her that she'd be safe.

"Like hell, you aren't. Don't make me carry you in," Frank warned, getting out of the car and walking around the front over to the passenger's side. He wrenched the car door open and waited ten seconds for Lisa to get out on her own. When she still didn't move, Frank reached around her and unbuckled the seatbelt for her before leaning back out. "Lisa Manoban, get your ass out of this car right now," he warned.

She didn't even respond. She didn't need to. If she didn't get out, Frank would carry her in, and if she had to face Jennie anyway, she'd rather walk in on her own two feet and hopefully quell some of the worry that Jennie would have. She slid out of the car, wincing as she got to her feet and trudged across the parking lot with Frank at her elbow.

Fortunately, the E.R. was busy. Doctors and nurses and interns ran every which way, treating patients in a sort of organized chaos. Unfortunately, Jisoo caught sight of Lisa and Frank right as they stepped through the doors.

Alarm clouded her face when she caught sight of the soot and blood all over Lisa and she immediately caught the attention of two nurses and hurried over to the doors.

"What do we got?" Jisoo asked, looking between them, concern making her words soft.

"Dumbass here went into a burning building without gear and jumped out of a window," Frank huffed, lifting Lisa's arm and pointing at the bloody shirt she was still gripping.

"Take them to exam room two. I'll be there in a moment," Jisoo instructed the nurses. She gave Lisa a look that was a mix of admiration and apprehension. "You're lucky she's in a seminar right now," she added, spinning on her heels and heading for the nurse's station to grab paperwork.

And she did feel somewhat lucky. She knew she'd have to explain herself to Jennie. She'd have to explain why she had stitches on her arm and small scrapes on her legs and a sore back. But at least she could clean up before Jennie saw her. She could make it look a little less dramatic, a little less scary.

So, instead of arguing about not really needing treatment, about not needing medical attention, she walked to exam room two and let the nurses pepper her with questions about what was hurting and what needed attention.

Once Jisoo had stitched up the large gash along the back of her arm, treated the minor burn on her ankle, and patched up the dozens of cuts along her arms and back, Jisoo had left with strict instructions to take it easy since her lungs had undergone enormous stress.

Silence descended the room as Frank stewed in the corner and Lisa fidgeted with her tattered shirt, clothed in just her sports bra and the ace wrap around her torso.

"You're on probation," Frank muttered as he looked over at Lisa with worry clear in his eyes.

"What?" She asked, looking up at Frank, her jaw tightening at his words.

"You heard me. Two weeks starting tomorrow."

"If I hadn't gone in there, that kid would be dead," Lisa said, her voice lower and quieter than normal.

"I'm not punishing you for saving that kid's life," Frank replied sternly.

"But you're punishing me. What else was I supposed to do? Just stand there and watch her burn alive?" Lisa asked, her voice bitter and her eyes burning.