Excerpt #4 – Chapter 1:
“What’s wrong with the policeman, Mommy?”
“Nothing, honey. I just had to talk to him,” said Joy. She hung a right to go north and then a left at the Town Centre.
Her ancient two-door sedan had nearly 110,000 kilometers on it. Up here, everyone drove their vehicles into the ground. The only places to go were around town, out to the airport, or along the coast twenty-three kilometers to the Arctic Studies Research Centre. She’d gotten this car from her parents when she was sixteen, but it was already well used then.
She helped Emberlyn out of her car seat and let her skip along the sidewalk towards the main doors. Her princess backpack bounced on her thin shoulders when she hopscotched on invisible squares before hitting the automatic door opener with the flat of her palm.
“His ear looks ugly,” said Emberlyn. They entered the air-conditioned building that housed every important business for the town. The Town Complex stretched for five city blocks along the shoreline.
Joy worked in the Health Centre here and loved the fact that she could leave Emberlyn in the Little Tots Day Care because it had extended hours for shift workers. They walked past the library and down the hallway towards the indoor play area, where young moms and their little kids congregated on days of inclement weather.
That’s because he got mauled by the polar bear last winter,” she said as she held the inner door open for her daughter. “Don’t say that to anyone. I’m sure Constable Koper’s self-conscious about it.”
“I won’t.” Emberlyn skipped into the day care foyer, her light-up runners flashing pink and purple lights. “Can he hear out of it?”
“I’m sure he can, or he wouldn’t be back at work.” She stood by while Emberlyn hung up her backpack in her cubby and toed off her runners. Fatigue washed over her. Her Saturday overnight shift had been busier than usual. A fight at the Legion and two domestics. It made it harder when she knew the victims.
“Okay.” Emberlyn shrugged and reached up for a quick hug and kiss. “Love you,
Mommy.”
“Love you too, baby.” She squeezed her daughter tightly. It was so hard to leave her in the care of others besides herself or her own mother. She straightened as Shannon appeared.
“Hey, Emberlyn. Are you ready for breakfast, or did you eat at Gramma’s house?”
“We had chocolate chip pancakes,” said Emberlyn, beaming. “Gramma let me pour the pancake batter because I’m six now and big enough.” She clutched her princess doll to her side. “I can help you make breakfast.”
Shannon laughed. “Well, aren’t you wide awake this morning. Sure, you can help make breakfast for the little kids.” She took Emberlyn by the hand and smiled at Joy.
“Looks like you could use a decent sleep. Rough shift?”
Joy shrugged. “Eh, rough enough. I didn’t get much sleep before I went on.” She ruffled Emberlyn’s hair. “I’ll be back to get her by 5 p.m. Bye, squirt.”
“Bye, Mommy.”
Joy watched the two of them disappear into the kitchen, then headed back out to her car. Every part of her ached from being on the run all shift. But it was the middle of summer, which meant staff shortages from holidays. After this next shift, she’d be able to collapse into sleep while her mom took Emberlyn for the night again.
Joy watched the two of them disappear into the kitchen, then headed back out to her car. Every part of her ached from being on the run all shift. But it was the middle of summer, which meant staff shortages from holidays. After this next shift, she’d be able to collapse into sleep while her mom took Emberlyn for the night again.
Driving back down the hill, she remembered the feel of Ben’s hard shoulder under her hand. Something about it wasn’t right. She touched her throbbing nose ruefully. Served her right for scaring the poor man. He’d been having a full-blown panic attack. She hoped for his sake, he’d had some therapy back in Winnipeg. No one here expected to see him again after his close brush with death.
They’d stabilized him with two blood transfusions and a quick surgery to put his shoulder back in place, before helicoptering him down to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg for proper reconstructive surgery. Her boss, Dr. Will Stedman knew the plastic surgeon who’d reattached Ben’s right ear and fixed the scarring on his face and right eyebrow.
Emberlyn was right. His damaged ear was noticeable—but only because as a police officer, he had to wear his hair short, and it was uncovered. Kudos to him for being brave enough not to care what people thought of his looks. And for coming back here where he was injured in the first place. She didn’t know if she would’ve had the guts to go through with it. On the other hand, her return to Churchill had taken a different kind of courage.
She wheeled around the corner of the building into the Health Centre staff parking.
Time to grab another coffee and get back to work.
Have you ever had an injury that disfigured you or disabled you in any way? How did you cope with it?
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