“Don’t bother.” Mark started crying. “My wife...”

“Yeah, I know.” Daniel motioned to Crista as he continued to address Mark. “I need you to focus.”

“Daniel, he’s...uh...got a child.” Andy didn’t meet Daniel’s eyes.

Daniel froze. The words came to him as if from a tunnel, shattering his fine-tuned focus, and transporting him instead to the scene of a hectic ER filled with doctors and nurses frantically trying to take care of a little girl. Daniel suddenly felt as though Andy were speaking a different language, and he couldn’t decipher the words and numbers the EMT was rattling off.

“Daniel. Hey, Daniel, are you listening?”

“Give me the vitals, Andy.” Crista stepped in front of Daniel, and he let himself be shoved aside as she took over.

Daniel registered Andy saying something to him—maybe an apology—just as Crista barked, “Forget him. Just give me the rest of the information.”

Daniel caught her eye as Andy finished speaking. Her gaze was fierce, but her words weren’t without concern. “You working tonight, Daniel?”

“Yeah.” He snapped out of it. “Yeah, I’m working.”

“Well, let’s get to it. It’s going to take us both.” She turned to her patient. “I hear you got a kid?”

“Yeah. A little boy.” Mark turned his focus to Daniel. “You have kids?”

“No.” Daniel needed to say something to Mark, something comforting, but he couldn’t do it. Silence hung in the air for a moment before Mark started wailing his grief once more.

Yet again, Daniel froze.

He felt, rather than heard, Crista’s curse before she addressed Mark herself. “Listen, Mark. What’s your little boy’s name? Huh? Look at me, Mark. What’s his name?”

“Nick.” Mark stopped thrashing about. “His name is Nick.”

Crista grinned as she stabilized Mark for the chopper ride. “Nick. That’s a great name. How old is he?” She leaned closer to Daniel for a split second, elbowing him painfully in the ribs. “Snap out of it, huh?” she hissed.

Daniel grunted, glaring at Crista for the jab, though it was well deserved. To say she looked unapologetic was an understatement. He took over caring for Mark’s wounds as Crista continued to talk.

“He’s seven.”

“Well, Mark. Seems that little Nick needs a father, don’t you think? I mean, who’s going to teach him to throw a ball?”

Mark looked away as he considered her words. Daniel continued with the business of medicine. He could not participate in a conversation where a father needed to be goaded back to caring for his child.

Mark looked at Daniel. “You married?” Why did this guy feel the need to keep talking to him?