Page 8 of Ward D
THIS DOOR IS LOCKED 24/7
There’s an intercom mounted next to the door, presumably to contact the nurses’ station to gain entrance. And then a keypad below it which can be used by those lucky enough to know the code. And there’s one other thing by the door. Something that makes me dread this night even more than I was one minute earlier.
Cameron Berger.
Oh God. What the hell is my ex-boyfriend doing here? Was that what his “hey” was about?
“Amy!” Cameron is waving frantically at me like I’m not five feet away and I might have missed him. “Are you on tonight too?”
Like me, Cam is wearing a short white coat and a pair of light blue scrubs—likely also purchased from the medical student bookstore on the third floor of the hospital—except his are about ten sizes larger than mine because the guy is built like a linebacker. He used to play football in college, but not good enough to go pro, and anyway, he always wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon, not a jock.
“Cameron,” I say tightly. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on tonight.” He lifts his chin, which juts out a little more than it should and makes him look a bit like the snooty rich kid in one of those old John Hughes teen romps my mom made me watch when I was a kid. “You too?”
“Where’s Stephanie? She’s supposed to be the other medical student here tonight.” I add accusingly: “It was on theschedule.”
He lifts a shoulder. “She needed to swap.”
Great. This night keeps getting better and better.
Cam’s light brown hair is falling slightly in his eyes like it usually does. And like I always used to, I get that urge to brush it out of his face. I better not though, because if I reach up there, I might end up scratching his eyes out. “How have you been, Amy?”
“I’m fine.”
“Still living with Gabby this year?”
“Yep.”
“Great, great.” He scratches at the slight stubble on his square jaw. “Doing anything fun the rest of the weekend? After this, I mean?”
“Not really.”
“Yeah.” He nods thoughtfully. “Same. I haven’t been up to much either, you know?”
I don’t know what to say so I just stare at him. I can’tbelieveI have to spend the entire night with this guy. The worst part isn’t even that he dumped me—I’ve been dumped before and I can handle it. The worst part iswhy.
At the beginning of the summer, Cam informed me that we couldn’t see each other anymore because he wanted to focus all his energy on studying for the board exam, and he was concerned that spending time with me would get in the way of that. That’s right—he dumped me for atest. Way to strike a blow to my self-esteem.
Amy—test. Amy—test. Well, that’s a no-brainer. Never mind that I had to takethe exact same test, and yet I was miraculously able and willing to juggle studying with a relationship.
I’m glad I didn’t know he was on tonight with me. Because then I might have been tempted to break out my little bag of makeup or do something with my dark brown hair besides pulling it into a low ponytail behind my head. And then I wouldn’t respect myself anymore.
He’s got his eyes on me while I whip out my phone and bring up the number for the psych admin office. I click on it, my fingers crossed, all the while knowing in my heart that everyone has got to be gone for the night. I hold my breath while the phone rings on the other line.
“So this will be an interesting night, huh?” Cam comments.
Still ringing. Five times now. “I guess.”
“You have reached Pauline Walter, administrative assistant to the chief of psychiatry. Our office is currently closed. Please leave a message or call back during the hours of…”
Great. I knew they would be closed. And even if I had gotten through to Pauline, what would I have said? I can’t do my assigned rotation because the student I’m rotating with dumped me a couple of months ago? That’s pretty weak.
“Who are you calling?” Cam asks.
I shove the phone back into my pocket. “Nobody.”
“Look, cheer up. Not everyone gets the experience of spending the night in a locked psych unit. It’s kind of cool, isn’t it?”
