If I had just one more day
I would tell you
how much I've missed you
since you've been away

Ohh it's dangerous
and so out of line
to try and turn back time

I'm sorry for blaming you
for everything I just couldn't
and I've hurt myself
by hurting you

Hurt by Christina Aguilera

The third shift is the shift she owns. She has been here on this shift for over ten years and knows the ins and outs of this department like the back of her hand. She works with three other dedicated men and women here in the ER at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and together they can provide care for just about any type of injury or burn that comes through the door. They are a level 1 trauma center and have been awarded the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program four times since 2004. And as recently as of this year 2018 they received their fourth designation.

She loves the overnight shift. The reason being is that she could concentrate on her patients and not worry that much about the bosses and how they micromanaged the personnel on the day shift. Life was good. Well almost good. There were exceptions to the times. On July 7th about two years ago it was like a war was declared on the city of Dallas. Four DPD officers and one DART officer were shot and killed at an anti-police brutality march. They were all transported to Baylor, but they never arrived alive.

"Kate, three more hours and we're out of here!"

Kate is drawn out of her thoughts when one of her friends calls to her from the exam room across from her.

"Kim, you sound like you're counting down to something special." She teased.

"Kate! Come on we've been waiting for this all month. Today is the day!"

"Kim, it's only Luke Bryan."

"ONLY LUKE BRYAN?" She shouted. "Kate he's the hottest, newest, most handsome country star out there!"

Just at that moment, Jess Martinez walked between them with supplies for the ER's crash cart. He looked at Kate and said,

"Kate let me guess she's rambling on about Luke Bryan, again isn't she?" He asked as he passed her.

"Yep Jess you could say that. But don't forget she belongs to the younger set. Us older folk need to stick together."

Jessie Martínez who just turned 35 had an edge over Kate by only three days. He was born on November 14th, 1983. Kate was born just three days later. He has been an ER nurse for Baylor since he graduated nursing school at the age of 22. He was one of Kate's closest male friends. Kim Santacruz had transferred into Baylor from Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. She was going to turn 23 in about three and a half months from now. She has a heart of gold but had a hard time making critical choices when it came to patients, but she was working harder to be better in her decision making. And to round out her group of friends was Mackenzie "Kenzie" Reid. She was a spunky, short, blonde haired, spitfire who took on every case with the attitude that anything could be solved given the right information. She was going to be turning 28 next year. Each of them had their BSN degrees and were more than capable to handle anything. They are a great team of people to work with and Kate wouldn't trade them for anyone else.

"You can say that again Kate. What is the obsession with this Luke guy anyway?" Jess asked her.

"I'm not sure. He must be some kind of a hottie. I'm just going with Kim for moral support."

Kate finished with replacing the sheets on the stretcher after their last patient and walked over to the nurse's station where Kenzie was. She sat down next to her and updated the patient that she just discharged on the computer.

"So, are you and Greg going to the concert later tonight too?" Kate asked her friend.

"Kate, getting tickets to this thing has been next to impossible. It was sold out about four minutes after it was announced."

"You might be in luck Kenzie. I just so happen to have a pair of tickets for the concert that I won from 99.5 The Wolf that you might want."

"You have tickets? Spare tickets? Wait a minute there's no way you're going to give me tickets for tonight's show. There's got to be a catch somewhere."

"There's no catch. All I need from you is a body. A body to watch Eli for me so I can go to the concert too."

"That sounds like a catch to me Kate."

"Come on Kenzie I'm sure you can ask your sister if she's available tonight before you go to sleep this morning."

"Maybe. Where are these seats for tonight?" Kenzie asked.

Kate pulled out the tickets from her bag and told Kenzie the location.

"Row 4, seats 9 and 10. They look to be on the right side, aisle."

"Okay I'll ask Ann what she's doing tonight but I'm not guaranteeing anything. Is your fridge stocked?"

"Yes," Kate answered.

"Good. I'll call you before 8:30 so I won't disturb your beauty sleep with an answer."

"Thanks …." Before Kate could complete her sentence, a call came in over the radio.

"Baylor ER… this is Dallas Fire-Rescue 37…. Requesting the trauma team to be on standby in ER bay…. ETA 8 minutes…. Two car MVA first patient: unconscious at the scene, BP 117 over 78…. Respirations normal… Pupils responsive and dilated. Patient two: Multiple cuts and abrasions, broken femur, possible internal injuries…. BP 80 over 40… respirations are shallow… right pupil is blown."

"DFR 37 ensure lifesaving procedures are in place for patient two. Transport immediately. Monitor patient one and advise of any changes in route." Kenzie replied.

"Rodger. DFR 37 ETA 5 minutes out."

"Well, there goes our night. Jess get everything ready. Two patient MVA arriving in less than five minutes." Kate said.

Xx

By 7:35 am Kate wearily placed the key into the lock of her loft on 3333 Elm Street. She loved her loft for two reasons. First it was close to Baylor and second, it had more than enough room for her and her son Eli. Eli was the love of her life. She couldn't imagine her life without him in it he was just so precious. But every time she looked into his beautiful brown eyes she's reminded of his father. His father. She thinks back to when she first met Dr. Shaun Lockhart. He was a dedicated heart surgeon and he was in high demand and everybody wanted the best. There wasn't anything he wouldn't attempt to repair. And maybe that's what got him into the situation when he was in with Doctors Without Borders. It was his second time volunteering for the non-profit organization and they had sent him to one of the most dangerous spots on the planet, Somalia.

Of course, he being the doctor who thought he could always do everything, volunteered to make an emergency house call to a very sick child. As it turns out the child that died prior to his arrival. The child whose father was a Somali guerilla and held a high rank decided that somebody would pay for the death of his son. Dr. Lockhart was the one to pay that price. He never returned home from his last volunteer mission. She had received word about a month later that he had been killed. She, instead if welcoming him back to their loft, accepted a box with his personal effects contained within it from the State Department. It was what saddened her the most. The fact that he would never meet his son. She had just found out that she was pregnant a day after he had left.

Currently, her son is with his grandparents. She knows that it's a long-standing ritual between them that when she gets home from work she calls over to her parents' house to say goodnight to him before she goes to sleep. But since she has to wait for Kenzie to call she will make the trip to her parents' house in person. Kenzie will definitely call her on her cell phone after she talks to Ann if she can't reach her on the landline. She changes out of her blue scrubs and finds a pair of shorts and a plain white T-shirt to throw over her head. Her parent's house is only 10 minutes away from where she is in the ritzier part of Dallas as they like to call it. As soon as she locked up the front door she's back in her Ford Explorer heading over to her parents' house. When she pulls into the driveway she can see that the pitch back is still sitting on the front lawn. Her father was probably teaching Eli how to field baseballs as usual. She swears her father thinks he's going to be the next Nolan Ryan. She gets out of the Explorer and walks to their front door hesitating to knock not knowing if they're going to be awake or not. But she does anyway. Within seconds of her knock, he hears small feet running towards the front door. She knows it's Eli, so she gets down on his level before the door opens and waits. The look on his face is one she expects. She very rarely comes over after work and it will be a big surprise for him. The door opens and his eyes go comically wide.

"MOM!" He shouts.

"Hi, Eli! I have missed you so much!"

"Me too Mom I've missed you so much. Are you here for a little while or are you going to leave to get some sleep?" He said a little too excitedly.

"Actually I'm here for a little bit and then I'm going to head back home. But I will help you get ready for school how about that"

"That will be great! This way you can listen to Grandpa tell you that I'm getting so much better at playing catch with him."

"I bet you are. But you do know that there are other things in life that are more important than baseball? Right?"

"Aww come on Mom. Me and grandpa just went out in the front yard to throw the ball around. Although he does think I might be a good pitcher sometime in the future. He also said something about a guy named Nolan Ryan who was he?"

Kate just put her hand over her mouth to hide her giggle. She tried to keep it herself because she knows her son knows nothing about Nolan Ryan. It's going to be a shame to tell her father that he might be wasting his time.

"Katie what a surprise what brings you over here? Well other than the obvious?"

"Hey, Mom I just wanted to see Eli before he went to school. And I had some spare time."

"Busy shift last night?"

"Actually, it was pretty quiet until around 4:30 this morning. Then we had a two-car MVA which resulted in one fatality. 1 victim died before he got to the hospital."

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry."

"I know mom. But we did everything we could to bring him back."

"I know you did. God bless his soul."

Her cell phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket to answer. It was Kenzie with good news. Ann could watch Eli tonight so she could go to the concert.

"Good news Katie?" Her mom asked.

"Yes. Ann will be watching Eli tonight so I can go to the Luke Bryan concert at the American Airlines Center."

"I'd tell him before you leave to go to sleep. And remember he's all yours this weekend. Your father and I are going to that vineyard I told you about. We'll be there until Sunday night."

"That's fine mom because I'm not back on shift until Monday night."

"Look at you with the whole weekend off. Any plans with Eli?"

"Don't tell him, but I have tickets to Sunday's Rangers game. They're playing the Orioles and it's Ted Williams 1st Rangers Manager Bobblehead day!"

"Good now he can add that one to his collection." Her father says as he steps into the kitchen.

"Good morning dad."

"Morning bug. How was the shift?"

"Busy. I think that I'll get Eli ready for school."

Kate walked back to where Eli was getting ready in his room.

"Jim, can't you see how tired she was?"

"What'd I say? I just wanted to know how her shift went that's all."

"She lost one last night. He died in a car accident."

"I didn't know Jo. I'm sorry. I will talk to her later."

"Yes, I think you should."

A/N: Updates will be on a weekly basis. More chapters could be possible if time and job allow it.