Page 121 of Degradation
His eyes find me, and he looks suddenly relieved. ‘I tried to call you. I got messages from Greg and Jayce saying you were here. Are you okay?’
‘I forgot my phone.’ I close my eyes, wishing my sniffles weren’t so telltale.
Pull it together!
‘Who are you?’ The doctor demands.
‘Jack Novelle.’ He looks down his nose at the doctor.
‘Well, you can’t be in here when we’re with?—’
‘My father gave me the authorization to act as his representative in these matters.’
‘You aren’t on the paperwork,’ the nurse sneers. ‘Only her guardian can authorize treatment of this...of Miss Evans. If you aren’t John Novelle, you don’t have the authority to?—’
‘Are you the nurse who called my father?’ Shade interrupts.
‘Yes, I spoke with Mister Novelle’s secretary, who informed me?—’
‘Why did you wait two hours to contact him?’
‘I...Excuse me?’
He gestures loosely in my direction. ‘Miss Evans was here by eight-thirty this morning. But you didn’t call him until after ten-thirty. Why did you wait?’
‘I didn’t see that she needed her guardian present.’
‘You’re lying.’
The nurse gasps, but before she can say another word, Shade steps forward, eyes narrow.
‘The student who escorted her here heard you when you said to that other nurse that you were making this one ‘wait out her hangover’ and that you weren’t going to bother to call anyone until she’d learned a lesson.’
‘I... That isn’t...’ The nurse glances at the doctor.
‘The truth is, Miss Evans has a migraine. She couldn’t even walk here by herself, but you made her sit in that bright, loud waiting room for over two hours because you felt like it.’
‘Is this true?’ Doctor Stall asks the nurse.
She sputters something unintelligible.
The doctor stands and pulls the nurse aside. ‘Wait for me in the other room, Bernice. I’ll deal with you later, but this is the last straw,’ he mutters.
The nurse leaves the room, staring at me as if I’m the one to blame for her being in trouble.
The doctor sighs, waiting until she leaves before he speaks. ‘My sincerest apologies, Miss Evans. Mister Novelle. I’ll ensure that?—’
Shade raises a hand and the doctor peters off.
‘Just prescribe her what she needs, and we’ll leave.’
‘I can’t.’ Stall throws his hands in the air. ‘I’m sorry, but my hands are tied. Her guardian has denied his permission, and you can’t stand in for him. I could lose my license to practice.’
Shade looks like he’s going to start arguing, but I already know it’s no use.
I stand up carefully, pushing through the dizziness and lurching toward the door. I open it and stagger down the corridor back to the waiting room, not waiting to see if he’s following.
There are more people than there were before sitting in the seats, but Greg isn’t among them. Guess he left when theAdmiralgot here.
