Page 4 of Big Trouble
2
Lo
“Iswear, I wish I’d never moved here.”
Ciara and I made our way across the tiny cafeteria to our usual corner table. We sat down and I unwrapped the tuna sandwich I’d bought. I was starving. This morning’s sessions had been particularly tough, both physically and emotionally. My last patient before lunch was a young boy who’d been involved in a road traffic accident and suffered some damage to his spine. This had resulted in him temporarily losing the use of his legs. Today’s session had been a breakthrough and he’d managed to take a few steps on his own. There had been tears all around, me, his mum, him. I’d come away exhausted. A tuna sandwich with a crappy cup of coffee wasn’t going to cut it. But it was my only option right now.
“What’s so bad about Cali Cross?” Ciara’s brows knotted together.
Argh. I chewed on my sandwich, trying to pretend it didn’t taste like cardboard. Maybe I shouldn’t have dissed her hometown like that. After all, she’d been good enough to let me share her apartment. Hastily, I backtracked.
“Nothing. For you,” I said. “You’re the returning princess. Me, I’m some strange peasant you picked up along the way.”
Ciara snorted and almost spat her soda all over the table.
“I had no idea how tight everyone was here,” I went on. “You never mentioned it. I don’t stand a chance. Not in any way.”
“And now you’re being dramatic.” She rolled her eyes. “What’s so bad about your life? Seriously, Lo. Tell me.” Her mouth pursed into a straight line as she drummed her fingers on the table.
There was no getting away from it. I’d started telling her how I felt and now I’d have to finish. She wasn’t going to like it.
“For starters, I haven’t had more than one or two dates and even those are few and far between.” I started to tick off my complaints on my fingers. “And everyone knows everyone. It’s really hard to find someone who hasn’t already been out with you.”
“Oh no, how awful for you!” Ciara teased. “Sounds like a blessing, but please, continue.” She scooped some yogurt out of the plastic container and shoved it into her mouth.
“Second, I’m bored.” These were first world problems I knew. “There’s nothing to do here. Nothing.”
“Not entirely true.” Ciara licked her spoon seductively. Her actions made me realize why she didn’t struggle for dates with such a talented tongue. “There’s the bar, all kinds of entertainment. They have karaoke. They have music. They have…” She paused, as if struggling to find a third thing. “Well, they have beer, and really really lousy house wine.” Her nose wrinkled at the thought. “Okay, you have a point. Maybe.”
There was another thing. Possibly the most substantial issue for me. Once I said it, the topic would be out there. Which could risk my friendship with Ciara.
“Let’s not forget three,” I began. “And three may be the biggest.”
“What? The uniform makes you look fat? Your shifts clash with your natural circadian rhythms?”
I almost snickered but shook my head. When I put it out there, I knew it was going to sound stupid. But I had to say it. “I thought I’d be the big fish in the little pond,” I began, talking quickly so I didn’t chicken out. “But no. I’m the little fish in the family pond. Nepotism runs rampant in this town. I’ve been kicked out of two places so relatives could live there. I’ve lost a position I was highly qualified for because of a grandson. And while I’m salaried, I have the world’s lightest workload. I was doing more during my internship than I am now.”
“Really? I didn’t realize.”
When I first met Ciara in the PT department of the Chicago hospital I’d been working in, we’d hit it off immediately. She was doing an internship and I was newly qualified. We worked hard and we played harder. When she’d suggested I should apply for a role in Cali Cross, it had sounded like such a great move. I’d be working in a smaller place, have more recognition. Or so I thought.
Finding a place to live had been a nightmare. Anything decent went really quickly. The two places I’d been poised to move into had been pulled from under me the night before I was due to pick up the keys. If I hadn’t already have been staying with Ciara, I would have been sleeping in my car. As luck would have it, the girl she shared her apartment with announced she would be moving in with her boyfriend, so did I want her room? I almost kissed her. A month later, she finally moved out and I was off the couch and able to sleep in a bed again.
Work had been a little different. Despite my qualifications and experience, I was given the ‘easy’ patients. The ones who really didn’t challenge me. If it hadn’t been for the kid, I think I would have walked.
“You wouldn’t. You’re from around here,” I told her.
Ciara sipped her soda, her eyebrows knitting together. “I guess I’d never really thought about it. You’re right though. It’s a pretty tight-knit community. For example, we were all devastated when Wes Young was killed.”
I remembered. Ciara had asked me to go to the funeral with her. Wes’ pregnant girlfriend arrived in a wheelchair and sobbed through the entire service as did most of the assembled mourners. Even though I had no real idea who he was, I found myself sniveling into a Kleenex as well. Her four closest friends were with her the whole time, never leaving her side. My heart ached for her. If anything like that happened to me, I honestly didn’t know who I would turn to. Perhaps there was an upside to being so close.
“Such a tragic accident. So much for someone to deal with. I couldn’t imagine how Scarlett must have felt.” Ciara finished off the last of her yogurt, her eyes growing glassy as she got lost in her thoughts.
We fell silent. My issues were miniscule in comparison to Scarlett’s.
“Actually, that reminds me, you should be careful what you wish for,” Ciara said, her face brightening as she changed the subject. “I heard you have a new patient coming in this afternoon. One of Scarlett’s friends in fact.”
“So?”
