Page 66 of Heal Me

“I’m not sure whether to be concerned or turned on,” Gabe says from the doorway, his eyes moving from the poppet in my hands to the hat on my head.

“Sympathetic magic,” I say, my cheeks heating as I place the poppet on the top shelf of the linen closet and close the door.

I take off the hat, but it’s now back on my head. “No, ma’am. The hat stays on,” he says, scooping me up and carrying me to bed.

Chapter 28

Charlotte

I’m in the home stretch of my premed shadowing stint. I can’t say I’ll miss anything about this place. As I’m walking to the break room to stash my purse, the HR director sticks her head out of her office. “Charlotte. A word.”

I follow her inside the office. “Morning, Janice,” I say as she closes the door behind me. And then I see Dr. Cooper standing beside her desk. “Dr. Cooper.”

“Ms. Patel,” he nods solemnly.

“Charlotte, have a seat.” I do as instructed, noticing on her desk a file with my name on it. “Charlotte, I’ve reviewed your timesheets.”

“Is there a problem?”

“You were here last week shadowing Dr. Cooper?”

“Yes.”

“Charlotte, our records show you scanned your badge and entered the SICU on Tuesday, after you had already clocked out. Why were you on the surgical floor after clocking out?”

“I wasn’t. I clocked out but then realized I forgot my badge, so I walked back to the break room after stopping to use the restroom and grab a snack in the cafeteria. I grabbed my badge and then left. The only time I was on the surgical floor was when I was shadowing Dr. Cooper earlier that day.”

“Your time records tell a different story.”

“Then there must be some mistake.”

“Charlotte, a pint of blood went missing on the floor around that same time.”

“Are you insinuating I stole a pint of blood? Why on earth would I do that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of.”

“Let’s watch the security footage. Then you’ll see I’m telling the truth,” I say.

“Unfortunately, we had a system malfunction. Our tech team got it all sorted out, but we have blackout periods throughout that day.”

“Janice, we can write this off as a spoilage issue and that can be the end of it. I was with Ms. Patel for the day and can vouch for her honesty and trustworthiness.” Not the entire day, as he let me go early so that he could go down on Jen in the break room closet. And he gives me a look to let me know it would be wise for me to keep my mouth shut.

“However you need to internally handle it, but I refuse to have this incident included in my file. I’ve been an excellent volunteer and expect my file to reflect that.”

Dr. Cooper snorts. “Do hippies even do background checks?” I then give him a look to let him know it would be wise for him to keep his mouth shut if he wants me to keep my mouth shut. “Janice, I see no problem with giving Ms. Patel a nice recommendation should the time come.” His phone goes off and he looks at it and stands. “That’s me,” he says as he hurries off.

“Charlotte, you’re lucky Dr. Cooper will vouch for you.” She takes a call and dismisses me with the wave of her hand.

I walk to the break room and put away my purse, attaching my badge to my scrubs, then triple checking to make sure it’s secured tightly.

I meet up with Meg, a phlebotomist. Meg’s in her early thirties, with long brown hair that she’s pulled back in a ponytail and makeup that’s expertly applied. “Thank you so much for allowing me to tag along with you,” I say after introductions. “I’m looking forward to getting a peek inside your world.”

“You’re a premed student, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m surprised you want to shadow me. Not that I don’t mind the company, it’s just that my job is beneath a lot of these snooty premed kids. No offense.”

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