Chapter 18: Kevin Lambert

It was mid-December. Steve was having a fast burger with his work partner, Kevin. They’d been assigned to work together for past three months and were becoming good friends, even though Kevin was a full twenty years older than Steve.

At this time of year, they were working on heating instead of cooling equipment. They were talking about work, but when they were in less public environments Kevin and Steve would talk about each other’s personal lives and families.

Steve was considering a complete reveal of his home situation. Up until then Kevin only knew that he shared a house (not a bed) with his wife and sister.

Going the other way, Steve had heard in frustrating detail about Kevin’s divorce and on-going custody disputes with his ex-wife. His daughter Lena was six and the apple of his eye, but he needed to fight over and over for access to her. His ex, Tammy, tried every legal and illegal means to frustrate his visitation.

Steve was almost done with his meal when his phone rang.

“That’s me, yes. I do know Vera Potts. Oh, no! County Medical Center, you said? I’ll be there right away.”

“Kevin, listen. My neighbor and really close friend Vera has been in an accident. She listed me as an emergency contact. I need to go, can you take a taxi or something back to the shop from here?”

“The hell with that, Steve, I’m going with you. The boss will be fine with it, our schedule is light this week. Let’s get moving, I’ll drive. You call Marina.”

Thirty minutes later they were in the waiting room of the emergency department. Vera was going to be released, and they were going to bring her home. When she emerged, her left leg was casted from the ankle to well above the knee and her head was partly wrapped in gauze.

“As I’m sure you heard, once they got me free from my car they realized my injuries were not life-threatening. My noggin was not dented, it was just a little laceration.

“You told Donna and Marina to wait until tonight? Good. So who is this good-looking fellow you have with you?”