Page 24 of You Found Me
Confused and worried something has happened, I rush to pick up the phone.
“This is Emmaline.”
“You know, I don’t appreciate finding out my fiancée changed jobs without telling me.”
I freeze.
Why didn’t I think to ask Faith who it was before I ran off?
“Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to call the hospital here asking to speak to you, only to be told you quit last week?” Chance practically spits out. “You’re lucky I was able to play it off by saying I forgot to change your work number in my phone.”
“Chance, it’s been over a month since I ended things, which means I’m not your fiancée.” I take a breath, calming myself so I don’t cry at work. “You need to start telling people we’re no longer together.”
Clearly ignoring what I said, he goes on, “I think we can spin everything in a positive way as to why you decided to quit your job so suddenly, and why you aren’t living here.” I hear the snap of his fingers. “Maybe we can say you went back home to deal with a sick family member. That could work and garner sympathy for us, especially if I make sure photos are taken of me comforting you outside of the hospital. I’ll ask Kari.”
Kari is the head of Public Relations for the football team and his teammate’s girlfriend. The first time I met her, she was completely rude to me for no reason. Her boyfriendGrayson apologized profusely, claiming she’d been under a lot of pressure since taking the job. Even if that was the case, I highly doubt she’d paint me in a good light.
“No. Kari can’t spin anything for us because there is no us. You ruined that when you decided to bring some other woman intoourbed. I’m coming to the apartment at some point to pick up the rest of my things—it would be best if you weren’t there. Please stop calling me, Chance. We’re done.”
After I hang up, I put my head in my hands taking in slow, controlled breaths. I’m at work and it’s my first week. I refuse to be that person who brings all of their personal baggage with them on shift.
Why won’t he let me be?
Approaching footsteps drag me out of my head, and I wipe a few tears away before turning to see who it is. “Are you okay, Emmaline?”
“I’m good, Faith. It wasn’t anything of importance actually,” I say, trying to brush the whole thing all off.
“I’m not gonna lie. I heard the tail end of the call. Do I need to talk to Hank about keeping the person on the other end from coming into the emergency room?”
Hank is one of the security guards for the hospital during the day. I wave her off. “No, don’t bother worrying him with this. My ex will be too busy to come around. Thank you for asking though. And I promise this won’t be a regular thing with me.”
“Girl, don’t even worry about it,” she says with a small smile. “We all have not so fun stuff in our lives and that can sometimes creep into work.”
“My last coworkers weren’t the best and didn’t want to know anything about me until they realized who I was engaged to. Suddenly they all wanted to be besties.” I roll my eyes, causing her to laugh.
“I know that working in healthcare, some nurses in particular, can be cliquey and hard to navigate. This place isn’t like that—we take care of one another in whatever way we can. And it helps that most of us here knew you before you started working here. Just know I’m here for you,” she tells me andsqueezes my shoulder. “Take a few minutes to yourself before coming back out on the floor.”
Nodding, I say, “Thanks, Faith.”
Chapter 8
Spencer
Like most people, Monday is my least favorite day of the week.
You get the weekend off to do whatever you want, even to do absolutely nothing, but that’s never actually possible when it’s the only time you get to do errands. This Monday exponentially sucks more than others because Theo is currently driving me to the ER, while I’m fighting to keep blood from getting in my eyes. I might even be a little delirious because I think Theo is freaking out in the front seat, and I’ve never seen the guy get rattled.
As soon as we pull into the parking lot, Theo’s bolting out of his truck like he’s the one bleeding profusely from their head. He runs inside, leaving me behind with his truck. I take the keys from the ignition and pull myself together to step out with some dignity. I lock his truck as I walk up and find him talking to Emmaline, whose brows furrow with worry.
In all the chaos with work, I completely forgot Theo told me she transferred to the hospital here. He must’ve told her the reason why we’re here because she looks back at me, taking one glance at my forehead, and is in front of me in a flash.
“What happened?” Emmaline asks.
“I was leaving the trailer to ask one of the guys a question, and as I walked by the side of the house, someone on the roof dropped a hammer,” I explain.
One side of her mouth ticks up, as she assesses me. “Isn’t wearing a hard hat on site like rule number one?”
“You’re right about that. It’s really not that bad. I only came because Theo was freaking out over the blood.”
