Page 1 of Eternally Yours

Chapter One

Loren

As I dragged my feet to the nurses’ desk at 5:30 a.m., my white, slip-on sneakers squeaking on the tiled floors, and my mood in the pits, I had to remind myself of exactly how lucky I was. Sure, I could’ve been enjoying an early jog through Central Park, taking in the cool morning air, but in the end, affordable rent wasn’t a word combo you found in a sentence next to the words New York City.

I had a job. And that’s what mattered.

So I had to bear the night shifts and Cruella DeRoommate while reminding myself not to complain about it. Even if my feet hurt like hell and I'd be going home to her snarky mouth, grocery pilfering, and whoever she decided to let couch surf without my consent.

I’d get used to it eventually. I had when I was in my rookie years.

Puffing out an exhausted breath, I leaned against our nurses’ station and peeked over at the older, kind-faced RN who was braving the night with me.

“Hey, Connie,” I said, taking my cell phone out of the pocket of my blue scrubs as I did a quick, brainless scan of social media notifications. Sometimes I wondered why I bothered. “Just finished my rounds. Miss Maggie needs her meds in fifteen, and we’re waiting on CT to call for Terence next door.”

“Go take your break, hon,” she said as she scribbled notes onto her legal pad, knowing my true reason for stopping by.

I smiled and placed the phone down on the counter, already dreaming of my daily mocha latte. “Thank you. I won’t be long. Just heading down the block to Fairgrounds. Want anything?”

“I’m good,” she replied, lifting a Styrofoam cup to take a sip of some kind of dark, muddy-looking liquid.

“Don’t tell me you drank that crude oil from the instant coffee machine in the break room.” I scrunched up my nose just thinking about how vile that stuff tasted.

She chuckled. “It’s not that bad.”

“Con, that stuff tastes like battery acid. We need to tell Bob to replace that thing.”

She looked up from her notes, an eyebrow hiked. “Bob? He still hasn’t gotten the toilet paper dispenser fixed in the ladies’ bathroom, you think he’s gonna get us a new coffee machine?”

True. Bob was not only cheap, he was mind-bogglingly incompetent as a facilities manager. We still didn’t know how he hadn’t lost his job yet. Shrugging, I said, “Well, if you want anything, just text me.” But as I turned toward the elevators, the call light flashed on another room down the hall.

My chest caved.Well, there goes that.

“Don’t worry about it, Loren,” Connie said, waving me on. “I got it. Go.” She winked, her blue-eyes twinkling. Connie was a godsend. And not just because she covered for me when I took my breaks, but because she was like a second mother, always looking out for me. She’d been working for the hospital for close to thirty years and still preferred the night shift. When I started working on her wing, she took me under her tutelage and showed me the ropes. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have survived the circus of the hospital’s politics. Felt great to be working with her again.

Scurrying away, I mouthedthank youas I pressed the call button for the elevator and made my escape. She shook her head and offered me one of her bubbly smiles. Her dark hair highlighted with gray and laugh lines a little more pronounced than when I met her, she was still the same cheery woman I’d grown to love. I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what my mother would have looked like if she were still alive. Perhaps that’s why I felt so drawn to Connie.

Pushing the grim thoughts back into the past and eager for fresh air, I exited the elevator with a tiny bounce in my step. Caffeine beckoned. Known for their dark roast, Fairgrounds probably had the strongest coffee in all of Manhattan. They’d rescued my ass on more than one occasion for sure, especially when I was in nursing school.

The moment I stepped outside through the hospital’s double doors and onto the city’s sidewalk, I relished the mid-summer breeze brushing through my hair. As I looked up, I caught sight of the sky lightening beyond the cityscape. There was something beautiful in the way the dark and starry night sky clashed with the fiery pinks and golds of day. Being surrounded by death and sadness every day made one look at things a little differently. Made one appreciate the little things a bit more.

Guess that’s why I loved the sun so much. And why I missed it just as hard. Soon, I’d be off the clock and plunging deep under my covers to sleep the day away, the sun a forgotten memory. A small piece of my heart broke every day when I went to bed. It would all be worth it one day, though, when I could finally afford my own place.

The small bell hanging on the doorknob of the coffee house jingled as I pulled the door open, the aroma of newly brewed beans swathing me in its warmth.

Mmm. Nirvana.

“Loren,” Tony called from behind the counter as he noticed me amble through the entrance. The shop owner shot me one of his gentle smiles as he emptied a tray of his famous, freshly baked giant bagels into a metal rack by the window, his eyes crinkling with mirth. “This is a surprise. They put you back on the late shift?” The man was probably in his late sixties, but he didn’t look a day over fifty, which was remarkable given he worked like a dog around the clock to run his business.

“Yeah. Probably for a while,” I said as I eyed the doughnut display behind the register. “Michelle is due in two weeks, so she’s not coming back for at least three months.”

He walked toward me and placed his forearms on the countertop, his weathered hands clasped together. “I’m sorry to hear it, sweetheart. Already paid your dues but still back to working nights.”

I shrugged. “I need the extra money. But at least I get to still do my job and see my young patients.”

His blue eyes softened over me. “They are blessed to have you, you know that?”

Smiling at him, I said, “I’m the one who’s blessed.”

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