Page 38 of Mason

“You know I got some cash saved…”

“No. I’m not taking your money. I got to go or I’m gonna be late. Thanks for the ride.” Jo jumped out of the car before her brother could make any more offers. She appreciated it, she did, but she didn’t want anyone paying her bills. It wasn’t fair to take money from her family for an accident she in part caused.

She sat down with five minutes to spare. Thank God. Ms. Gaines strolled by not two minutes later. Jo gave her a wave and an overly bright smile, to which the woman scowled back.See? She is a Grinch.

“Hey!” Beth said from behind her, and Jo nearly screamed, not having seen her back there.

“Don’t do that,” she said, her heart in her throat. Good God, she was jumpy tonight.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I was waiting for Mrs. Grinch to leave.”

“It’s okay.” Jo waved her best friend to the seat opposite her. That cubicle was closed, Nancy having already clocked out and left to get home before the snow storm they were expecting started.

She and Beth had met a few months ago. Beth had been her intake nurse when Jo had her accident. They’d clicked right away. Beth had been her first friend in New York, outside of Mason.

“Is it snowing yet?” Beth asked. “I haven’t had time to even go outside. I really shouldn’t be down here now, but I wanted to check on you. Mason texted and said to keep an eye on you.”

Jo rolled her eyes. Leave it to Mason to always want to know where she was and how she was doing. It’d be cute if it weren’t irritating.

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Beth looked doubtful. “You look a little pale.”

“Yeah, I just need to catch up on my sleep.”

“Good luck with that. Whenever there’s a storm, it gets crazy in here.”

“Don’t I know it.” Right before Christmas break, they’d had a massive snowstorm, and the ER had been flooded with people. “Lisa is supposed to be here by eleven to help out in case it gets crazy.”

“That girl is useless in a triage situation.”

Jo cocked an eyebrow. “How so? She’s not a nurse.”

“No, but the last big emergency we had, she got so flustered, she went into a panic attack.”

“She can’t help that.” Mason’s sister-in-law, Becca, had severe panic attacks in crowds. She and Jo had gotten to know each other over the last few months. She liked Becca a lot. Being around her, she’d learned quite a bit about the condition and how to help someone come down from one.

“I get that, but this job requires someone with a steady hand. People’s lives depend on us, Jo.”

“True, but maybe she just needs someone to lend a hand to steady her instead of dismissing her?”

Beth frowned. “I sounded pretty bitchy, huh?”

“A little.”

“I’m cranky tonight. Sorry.”

“You’re forgiven, but what has you so cranky?”

“I broke up with Steve.”

Steve and Beth had been going out for over a year. She’d been expecting a ring soon. “Oh, no! What happened?”

“He met someone else.” Beth’s shoulders drooped. “I almost called in sick tonight, but I knew the storm was coming, and they’d need all hands on deck.”

“I’m sorry. He’s an asshole.”

“Yeah, but he wasmyasshole.”

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