Page 14 of Aftershock

“As I got older, I realized some people don't deserve to be helped,” I stated flatly. “I wish I could go back to when I was a teenager and pick a different career path.”

“I have a feeling this isn't just about some random, mean patient.”

“You'd be correct,” I sharply replied, ending the conversation there.

She looked at me questioningly before deciding against pushing the topic further. Taking the hint, she continued with another question.

“What are the names of my two best friends?”

I pursed my lips, then answered, “According to the internet, your two best friends are Danielle Ciaro and Nolan Carter.”

“Wow, I’ll give you a slow clap for that one,” she applauded. Lexi half smiled and nodded her head, then motioned toward me, prompting an answer of my own.

“Oh, me?” I asked. “Well, I have work-best friends.” I didn’t have time to meet anyone else. I wasn’t the type to go to bars or mingle online. The only place for adults to really meet was at work. Not that I ever even really wanted to go out and seek friendships. People could be assholes sometimes. I'd always been comfortable being alone. That was, until I needed a shoulder to lean on, which I would never admit to, anyway. “The coworker I am closest to is Natalia. It’s funny, though, because we actually didn’t like each other at first.”

I met Natalia around a year ago. When I first started, she was the nurse who trained me. I didn’t like her much during the beginning because of her strict teaching style. As time went on, we grew closer as I began to learn more about her, and she learned more about me.

“If you don't know what you're doing, you need to tell me because we can’t afford to make mistakes here,” she demanded while breaking open the ampule.

“You’ve said that already,” I mumbled as I continued to draw up the epinephrine.

“Make sure you're careful with the needle. You don’t want to end up pricking your—” she stopped mid-sentence. “Ow!”

Looking over at her, I noticed her finger dripping with blood as she sat the needle down. I laughed in victory while continuing to prepare my epi.

“Maybe you should take your own advice.” She began mumbling curse words under her breath. Walking toward the sink, she rinsed the wound, and bandaged her finger before returning to my side. “This is the story of how the student becomes the mast—”

All of a sudden, a sharp pain radiated through my hand. I had poked my thumb with the needle. A stifled laugh echoed from beside me. I pursed and turned to look at Natalia. I was met with her smug expression as she stood with her hands on her hips.

“What were you saying?” She raised her eyebrow.

We broke out into a fit of laughter as the tension between us lifted.

“You think we can get workers-comp for this?” I speculated while grinning.

That was how we learned that we had similar personalities. It was the beginning of an odd friendship since Natalia was fifteen years older than me, but it worked, nonetheless. Natalia was slightly shorter than me at 5'2, but still way more intimidating than I'd ever be. She had long black hair with dark eyes and frequently wore an expression that looked as though she could murder you at any minute. She was the only person I ever considered opening up to about my dad. When I told my coworkers about his passing, she was the only one who didn’t try to spew positive comments at me but rather support how I was feeling. That’s what I truly needed. Just before I left to catch my flight, she gave me a tight hug and made me promise I'd call her if I needed to talk. She also told me I didn’t have to be afraid to open up to her about my dad. Maybe after all this was over, I’d take her up on that offer.

Lexi brought me back to reality by waving her hand in front of my face, as I clearly had not been paying attention to her question.

“If I’m that boring, I can leave and go back to the other side of the room.”

“Lexi Harlow is many things, but boring is definitely not one of them.”

“Oh, yeah, then what exactly am I?”

Without hesitation, I began, “Witty, sarcastic, funny, successful, vocally gifted, lyrical genius, inspirational, badass bitch—” For every characteristic, I put up a finger, counting each one then pausing almost as if I were pondering which words to say next…but I wasn't. I knew exactly what I wanted to say because those were things I had always thought about her. Now, it was just a matter of if I should say them or not. I could see her lips curl into a smile from the corner of my eyes, and that was the only sign I needed to keep going. “And Lexi?” Pausing one more time, I stifled a breath as I continued, “You are so beautiful. In every single fucking way.”

Her eyes lit up at my words as she quickly averted her gaze. “Thank you,” she smiled in response, her cheeks tinged with pink.

Did I just make Lexi Harlow blush?

“Aw, are you blushing?”

“Shut up. Next question.” I could almost see her physically racking her brain trying to come up with something to ask before I could interject. “Uh, what are my dog's names?”

“Nemo and—” I stuttered while frantically recollecting everything I knew about her. I even knew her stupid fucking bra size because of some celebrity gossip website and I didn’t know her dogs name? “Shit, I don’t know.”

“Wow,” Lexi sighed. “Wow, I’m disappointed,” she shook her head and clicked her tongue.

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