Page 34 of You Found Me
I have to fight to keep my eyes closed and not laugh. I'm really not Shiloh's type.
She pulls back, with a grin. “Sorry. I'm not actually into kissing men I just met.”
“Same here,” I tell her with a smirk. “I’ll be in touch once I talk to Bastian.”
“Thanks so much. If you follow through with that, I promise to limit the amount of smut I encourage June to read,” she says with a wicked smile.
“Sure, Shiloh.”
I watch as she gets in her car and turn back to look at the house before doing the same. Mom doesn’t bother moving from the blinds and is instead smiling.
The women in my life never give me a moment’s peace.
Chapter 11
Emmaline
Work has been absolutely hectic this week.
All I wanted was to have the week to decompress before Mia’s birthday dinner tonight. But lo and behold, my boss, Marie, called last night to ask if I could cover for Linda, one of the Friday day shift nurses.
Of course I agreed, because I have an issue with saying no. Sue me.
When I accepted, I let Mia know I would be a little late. And because she’s Mia, and gracious as ever, she told me not to worry about what time I get there.
We went back and forth a little bit before she told me to shut the hell up and there was no way they’d start without me. Mia even sent out a group text letting everyone know she’s pushing the time back by an hour.
So with some renewed sense of calm, I came in to work this morning, hoping it would be an uneventful day. But of course, nothing is ever uneventful in this town, and it seems as though everyone in the county is developing some chest pain, when really the majority of them only have gas. The lab was down to only one tech, causing her to run herself ragged for the first eight hours of my shift.
Whatever was going around the hospital, has very obviously hit the public of Meadow Springs hard. But absolutely none of the symptoms they are experiencing warrant a trip to the emergency room.
The cherry on top of this hellacious day has to be when I was trying to eat my lunch three hours before my shift ended and answered my cell on a whim. I normally send unknown numbers to voicemail, but I’ve been waiting to hear back from a couple different nursing programs, so I accepted the call.
Unfortunately for me, it was Chance. He got a new number just to harass me since I blocked the old one. Right away he started demanding to know why I was ignoring him. Quickly shoving my frustration down, I told him I couldn’t talk at the moment because I was busy with work.
“Babe, I know you keep the same schedule at work, you always have. So I know you’re not doing anything, which means you’ve got nothing but time for me.”
I don’t get a response out before a code blue comes over the PA system.
“Chance, I have to go.Pleaseleave me alone. It’s time for you to move on.”
Thankfully we were able to get the patient back, sending her up to the ICU for stabilization—just in time to clock out. After giving the report to the incoming nurse, my exhaustion hits me. I’m so glad I thought to pack a bag with a change of clothes and my toiletries.
This day kicked my ass, and if I walk into the apartment, I won’t want to leave.
I haul myself to the sink to wash my face, take a quick shower, put on one of my favorite rompers, throw on concealer, mascara, and blush, and lastly re-braid my messy hair. After about five minutes of fussing with the tangled waves, I give up, because this is as good as it’s gonna get.
On the way out I see Faith still at the desk talking with Marie and give them a wave goodbye.
“Thanks so much for filling in today! There’s no way we’d have been able to deal with everything without you,” Faith says. She notices that I’ve changed and smiles. “Got a hot date?”
Hopefully not for a long, long time,I laugh to myself. “You’re welcome. And no, it’s Mia’s birthday today. Theo’s having a dinner party at his place per birthday girl’s instructions. I’ll see you next week!”
At this point in the night, the main parking lot is deserted, except for a handful of cars. I take the path to the staff parking lot and while there are more cars in this lot, I can easily spot someone standing by my car.
Ugh.
I swear if someone dinged my car, I’ll beg them to run me over at this point. I’m not even sure I care if there’s a giant dent. I just need to get out of here.
