Page 68 of Nothing to Lose: Lost Trilogy: Part 1
Steve smirks in the corner of his mouth, looking like the cat that ate the canary. In the current situation, I am said canary.
He takes a couple of steps forward until the tips of his expensive shoes touch my comfortable, nurse friendly ones. He leans into me, making me fight the urge to step back. I refuse to give him any satisfaction.
“You have no idea,” he murmurs close to my ear. “Babe.”
The gasp of shock coming out of my mouth seems to echo all around me, over and over again. I can’t move, and I can’t speak. My eyes are fixed on a speck on the tailored dress shirt Steve has on.
I’m sure he is about to say something else, but squeaky steps sound against the hospital floors, and before long, my boss’ voice calls out.
“Excuse me, sir, did you need anything?”
In an instant, Steve pulls back and turns to charm Morgan Foster, the coldest bitch I have ever encountered.
“I was just saying goodbye to my girlfriend,” he tells her in the friendliest tone that always works on everyone. It used to work on me, too. Morgan doesn’t buy it, though.
“You’ll have to wait until she is on break or with you at home, sir. This is not social hour. We work to keep people alive here.”
“My apologies, Miss…” He takes a moment to check out the name tag she has on the white lab coat covering her scrubs. “Foster. Are you a new doctor here? I don’t remember seeing you here before when I came to visit Emily.”
He really sounds so convincing even when he lies about coming to visit me at the hospital. In the two years we were together, he only picked me up twice from here, and he never came inside. It’s full of disgusting people, he would say.
Morgan ignores his comment. She is good at stuff like that. “Emily, I was looking for you. You’re late from your break.”
I shake my head to clear my thoughts, then walk away from Steve, never looking back. I head toward the round counter that’s sitting in a central location on our floor. This is where all nurses and some doctors come to type in their notes into patients’ charts.
“Don’t be late again, Emily,” Morgan spits at me, then walks away.
God, I hate her so much. And she knows I do, so she gives me all the crappy tasks just because of that. Like she’ll sometimes make me work the front desk where we receive patients. That’s one of the things we all dread, and we rotate to do it. But when one of the other nurses is running behind or calling in sick, Morgan always seems to think I’m good for it.
I drop in a chair behind the desk and log on the computer by putting my thumb on the fingerprint reader. A few clicks later, I am scrolling through one of my patients’ charts, making notes of the times they need to take their medication.
My mind is all over the place, and, in a moment of weakness, I pull my cell phone out of the pocket of my scrubs. We are not supposed to carry our personal phones around, and Morgan would no doubt write me up if she caught me right now.
With my hands under the desk, I unlock the screen and open the text app. I need to talk to Puck.
Me: hey, do you have a minute
I wait until my impatience gets the best of me, then send three more texts in a row.
Me: I need to tell you something
Me: kind of important, I think, not sure
Me: Can you call me?
The adrenalin running through my body is making me shaky and unfocused. I’m almost scared of administering anything to any of my patients. What if I mess up and someone dies?
I check the phone again to see if maybe a message came back without me realizing it. And as I’m watching, one does.
Puck: not a good time, stay the fuck put and be patient
I am shaking even more now with how badly I want to cry. I put the phone back in my pocket and manage to log off the computer. I stand up and walk toward where the restrooms are located.
As I enter, someone is coming out. Morgan. Fuck my life.
With an aggressive move, I check her with my shoulder and continue walking until I reached a stall. I get in and slam the door locked behind me, then wait.
Morgan stops to wash her hands, yanks paper towels out of the dispenser, then she is finally out.
