Page 29 of Wreckage of Me
“Hi, Morgan,” Emily waves at the head of the nursing staff, Morgan Foster. She is a bitch, always looking for ways to pick on us. At least we feel that way.
“If you’re just taking space in the hallway to chit chat, I’d suggest you took it elsewhere,” she waves us off. “Unless you’d like to work a double shift tonight. I can always use a couple of extra hands on deck.”
“We were just about to leave, Morgan,” I assure her, grabbing Emily by the arm and dragging her all the way out of the hospital.
“Oh my gosh,” she gasps when we’re finally out of the building. “She is such a bitch,” she points to the automated doors behind us like they’re Morgan. “Why are all the beautiful girls like that bitches?”
Morgan Foster looks like a model off the runaway, and all the doctors and male nurses on staff, a lot of the female ones too, have the biggest crush on her. But she always seems to be cold and bitter, and she never pays much attention to anyone.
Also, it doesn’t hurt that she is very smart. She’s got an impressive collection of degrees hanging on the walls in her office. In all honesty, I don’t know why she didn’t continue her studies to become a doctor. Being a nurse practitioner brought her as close to being a doctor as you can get in the nurse capacity.
“Do you think we’ll ever be smart like that?” I sound as insecure as I feel when I ask that. We’re both going to school to become registered nurses, and I feel so incompetent sometimes. Emily is already ahead of me in a couple of classes, and she dove into the labs like a pro.
“I heard that’s why her daughter’s father broke up with her.” I can always count on Emily to bring me all the hospital gossip.
“Why?” I’m confused. My earlier question has nothing to do with why Morgan is no longer with the father of her child.
“Because she’s too smart,” Emily bobs her head up and down like it’s obvious. “She drove him crazy correcting him all the time, I bet,” she starts laughing like the goofball that she sometimes is.
“Em, quit,” I push her away but can’t help the laughter bubbling out of my chest. “That’s not very nice,” I chastise her.
“And the way she always talks to us is?” she deadpans.
I have to admit that we don’t have the best relationship with our boss. But I always go out of my way to be nice to her because I don’t want her to give me the graveyard shift on a regular basis. So, I kiss ass. Big deal.
“I can’t wait to get my Master’s,” Emily sighs when she’s finally calmed down enough to speak normal.
“Yeah? What are your plans after?” I ask jokingly but almost choke on my own spit when she answers.
“I want to get married and have a baby,” she chews on her bottom lip when she says that. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Are you seeing anyone?” I ask her point blank, our conversation from earlier coming back to me all of a sudden.
“I… yes,” she finally admits.
“For how long?” I almost feel betrayed that she never said a word about any of this.
“Six months,” she whispers.
“Sixmonths?!” I can’t even process what she just said. How could she have seen someone for six months and I know nothing about it? That’s also around the time we came home from Texas. Chances are, I would not have been good company.
“I’m sorry,” she puts her hands up in supplication. “I wanted to tell you. But you were so upset over the entire thing with Dylan. And then things happened with me and…” She stops talking and crosses her arms over her chest. “I just didn’t know how to tell you,” she finally finishes.
“Em,” I touch her arm gently. “I’m really happy for you. I wish you said something. Are you happy?”
“I really am,” she grins back like a fool. “I promise to tell you more about it when we’re not this tired.”
“Good deal,” I mumble back. I probably couldn’t process much now anyway. I feel dead on my feet.
We start walking toward the parking lot, happy that we parked next to each other.
“Let’s do lunch this weekend,” I tell Emily right before getting in my car, and she gives me a thumbs up.
I wait until she’s got her engine on and she is ready to pull out of the parking lot, then start driving my new SUV toward where I live. I love this car even though I always seem to leave the fob for it inside the car when I’m not in it. So weird not having an actual key. Colton bought it for me as soon as he signed his paperwork with Michigan. He used money out of his college fund, and I cried for three days afterward, begging him to take it back.
I feel happy and content as I drive, and I am about to switch lanes when I look in my rearview mirror. The scream escaping the back of my throat sounds scary even to my own ears, and I almost drive off the road and into the nearby ditch.
“Took you long enough,” Dylan’s voice calls from the back seat, almost chuckling when he does it. Now that I heard his voice, I can smell him too. The scent of peppermint and tobacco fills my car, making my heart beat faster.
