Page 10 of Rounds
The things he told me about Glover had caught me by surprise, but I supposed I was judging him by the things I’d heard. His reputation had proceeded him and blinded me to a lot of his good qualities. Maybe my own issues had me blind. He’dbeen nothing short of a gentleman with me, but I perceived it as a game, especially after the bullshit I dealt with last night.
Knowing that he’d been talking to his dad about me was flattering. Mr. Israel said that he’d never talked to him about a woman. I was already feeling emotional, but that talk with him didn’t make me feel any better. I’d barely slept last night, because I was over analyzing myself and what I could have done differently to prevent this heartbreak I was going through. People said that you couldn’t say what you would do in a situation until you were in it, and I was definitely feeling that, dealing with Jaunté’s bullshit. I thought I would have been beating his ass by now.
I was in a horrible mood, but I was somehow able to disguise it in front of the patients. Glover Israel brought it out front and center. I supposed it was because I didn’t have a reason to be pretentious around him. It was only ten o’clock, and Jaunté had called several times. I just wanted him to leave me the fuck alone. At the same time, I knew I owed Glover an apology for my attitude. He only wanted to get to know me, and I was showing him a side of me that wasn’t very becoming. I craved what he had to offer, but my mind was telling me to push him away because he was toxic.
I huffed then pulled my phone from my pocket and found the missed call from when I’d called myself from his phone. I saved the number then sent a text.I’m sorry for my attitude. I’m not in the greatest mood.
Patient traffic wasn’t as hectic, but I knew that could all change in an instant. I went to the lab and sat at my desk to see what, if anything, had come in for Monday. We didn’t just make rounds. We had people that actually came to the lab for blood work. So far, we only had five appointments of that nature for Monday. Hopefully, it stayed that way. After setting a couple of items on my desk, I headed back to the emergency room.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a response from Glover on my lock screen.It’s cool.
That was all he said. I supposed if I wanted him to say anything more, I would have to initiate the conversation. Since I was working right now, I couldn’t do that. Knowing that his mother died so suddenly caused my heart to go out to him. I could imagine that he was slightly irritated about his dad telling me all that information. However, it forced me to look at him differently. My defenses had come crashing down in that moment.
Mr. Israel said he wanted Glover to have companionship before he left this world. Once he died, Glover would be all alone. He wasn’t close to any of his other family members, being that they didn’t live here. Mr. Israel was all he had left. I knew the feeling. I was acquainted with being alone. I just didn’t think I would be revisiting it. I thought I would be married with kids by the time I was thirty-five. That was no longer possible.
When I entered the emergency room, I noticed Dr. Wilder heading my way. He put his hand to his chest, and said, “I’m so glad you’re here. I have a patient that’s a tough stick. She’s threatening to go into labor early.”
“Say no more. Have you given the orders to the desk yet?”
“I just did, and I’m going to walk back over there with you to make sure you get them. You never work Saturdays, so I’m so grateful you’re here today.”
I gave him a tight smile as he accompanied me to the nurses’ station to get the orders. Once I did, I grabbed the computer to pull up her chart, then went to her room. She had her hand rested on her stomach as she lay on her side and was taking deep breaths. I could clearly see she was afraid. “Miss Thompson? I’m Delaney. I’m here to get blood from you.”
“Okay,” she said softly as she stretched the arm she was lying on out to the side and rolled to her back.
I checked the orders in the computer to make sure they matched the paperwork then began preparing the vials. “Is this your first baby?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I nodded. While she seemed nice, I could tell she didn’t want to really talk, so I remained quiet as I prepped her arm. As I put my finger on her vein, I felt it roll beneath my touch, like literally roll right out of the way. I frowned slightly, then felt around for another one as she stared at me with a frown on her face. She didn’t say a word though. I chose one in her forearm.
After sticking her there and drawing the blood I needed, she asked, “Why didn’t you choose the first one?”
“It rolled. I only wanted to stick you once,” I responded, then winked at her.
“Thank you. They always have to stick me two or three times. It’s frustrating, but I’ve come to expect that now. You’re really good.”
“Thank you.”
I gently rubbed her hand between mine then quickly left out, being reminded of my own miscarriage years ago. However, the minute I went through the curtain, I bumped into someone, experiencing a moment of déjà vu. When I looked up, I saw Glover. I swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s cool. I guess we’re even now.”
As he was walking away, I asked, “Are you working or just coming back to check on a patient?”
He turned to me, and said, “Both. My shift starts in an hour. My dad went to sleep, and I couldn’t, so I came down here.”
I nodded as he turned and walked away. It seemed he was being short with me, and I knew why. He didn’t know what all his dad told me and probably felt that I was being extra friendly because of what I knew. That was partially true. I felt sorry for him. He was always here because he had to be, not becausehe was a workaholic. He probably needed companionship . . . someone he could lean on. Unfortunately, I had my own three-act drama going on. There was no way he could lean on me without me breaking.
As I made my way to the next patient, I glanced back to see he was at the nurses’ station, reading paperwork. Before I could continue to the next patient, he slammed the paperwork on the countertop and ran to a patient’s room. “Code!” he yelled.
I quickly abandoned my computer and got the crash cart, since I was right in front of the room it was in. I ran to the room he was in and pushed the cart inside as a nurse damn near pushed me out the way. Had the patient not have been dying, I would have pushed her ass back. I was doing their fucking job. I nodded repeatedly as I made my way out of the room, trying to calm my nerves. A couple of other people went inside as I went to the patient room I was heading to. I was too petty to work here, because a time would come when we would definitely revisit this moment.
After getting the blood sample from the next patient, I brought the computer back to the desk to see they’d gotten the patient stabilized. Glover left the patient room, clearly pissed. He shot daggers at the nurses’ station then stormed out. I wanted to go after him, but I didn’t want to end up getting the aggression that was meant for someone else.
When I saw there was nothing left for me to do down here, I went to the lounge to get a snack. I only had a couple of hours left to work. I walked in to see Glover seated on the couch with his face lowered to his hands. I didn’t disturb him. I went to the vending machine and got a cinnamon roll. Those things were so good. They were definitely my guilty pleasure. As I turned to leave out, I saw him staring at me. It was like his eyes summoned me to him.
I gave him a soft smile then went to sit next to him. “You okay?”
