Page 13 of Revived

“I really couldn’t have,” I denied.

“And how’s that?”

“I had no clue who you were. My patient was Chevy Kendrick. Still is. You only matter to me as to whether or not you help him get better, faster, or hinder his improvements. Otherwise, you aren’t even on my radar.”

Kendra laughed at Gabe’s expense and then turned to go back to her son’s room without another word. I wondered what her relationship was to Gabe these days, but truth be told, it was none of my business. “Mr. North, I assure you that I take my job seriously. I will be here for your son, and as long as he allows, I will help you out as it pertains to Chevy. Otherwise, what you do or say is none of my business. Just like you wouldn’t step in my world and try to perform my tasks, I won’t step into your world and make assumptions or announcements for you.”

“Fine,” he huffed and started back to the room set up for his son. Kendra had wandered back, and having heard what she did, gave me an appreciative once over.

“He’s not really a surly person. This is all new to him.”

“Having a hero for a son?”

“Having a son,” she corrected by shortening my original question.

“Looks like he’s doing well enough.”

“Yeah, it does,” Kendra admitted, though I could tell that her thoughts had fled far afield of where we currently were. Maybe she was reliving a past that ended with a different future.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” I asked her before a door opened to the restroom that was just off to the side of us. The big biker man I’d seen before when Chevy was in the ICU was coming out while growling at someone.

“I don’t hit women, but bitch you are pushing really close to breaking me on that point.” Sophia came out behind him, pretending to straighten her scrubs. “Get your ass over to that desk, apologize to my woman for coming on to me – again – and then leave your credentials on the desk because you won’t be coming back to work here.”

“You don’t get to decide that” Sophie stupidly argued.

“He might not, but I just witnessed inappropriate behavior, on your part, and will see to it that you’re removed from rotation here,” I interjected.

“Brian is top dog around here and he would never-”

“Brian,” I hissed his name out, “has a boss to answer to as well, and what they won’t want to hear is that one of our nurses was sexually assaulting a patient’s family member while he tried to use the restroom.” I had already hit the button for security and once they stepped onto the floor, Sophie noticed.

“You bitch!” She yelled at me as they approached.

“All day, every day,” was my retort to her. Sophie had been one of the nurses to give a witness statement against my friend, Amanda, for Dr. Clout when Amanda filed a sexual harassment claim against him. I had zero qualms about having her thrown out by security now. “Nurse Blankenship broke protocol and is no longer allowed on this floor,” I explained to them. “Her credentials are to be confiscated and she needs an escort out of the hospital. She probably also needs a reminder that while HIPPA violations are an issue, should she talk about the patient, the nondisclosure agreement she signed covers all parties on this floor. That includes the friends and family of the patient.” I turned to look at Sophie then. “Talk about anyone or anything here and I will give testimony against you when you’re sued, and when your licensure is up for debate.”

Sophie gasped, somehow shocked that I would go against her. Security did their job and got her out of what was essentially used as the VIP floor. Beyond that, I didn’t know if they continued escorting her away or not. “I’m terribly sorry for any trouble she may have caused you,” I told both Kendra and the biker who appeared to be her man.

“Thank you. That woman has been a pain all day long. When Gabe ignored her, she set her sights on Josh thinking he must be famous too.” Kendra giggled as she said that.

“Couldn’t just be that I’m dead fuckin’ sexy?” Her biker-man drawled out.

“Oh, I’m sure that was it,” Kendra teased.

“What happens when your shift is over?” Gabe asked from somewhere behind me. I hadn’t even noticed he was back. Then again, he had apparently been back to escort Opal’s mother out of the secured area.

“I’m going to alert the Chief of Staff now,” I told him, cringing as I did so because Dr. Clout was my least favorite person in the hospital, and I basically just fired his fuck buddy from her job, even though I didn’t have the authority to do so.

“Is he the one who chose that girl to work in here with us?”

“He is.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening again. I’ll call my lawyer and get him involved. No worries about what will happen in the morning.” Gabe looked me over then. “Do you have any children? A man? Family or pets to go home to?”

I shook my head as he rattled off the questions in rapid succession. “Why?”

“No reason,” he mentioned as he turned away with the phone to his ear, already making calls.

Kendra and Josh – the biker – smiled at one another before heading back to Chevy’s room. Despite Gabe stating that he would handle things, I still had a duty to report what happened. Then I needed to check on my patient again, since the previous nurse was no longer around to pass down information from the earlier shift. From the sound of things, she wasn’t doing a great job of being there for Chevy anyway.

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