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I pulled my gloves off and stuffed them in the garbage as I walked away from the patient and closed the curtain behind me. I was almost done with work for the day, but I had a bad feeling that my day was about to get a whole lot worse.
Denise spun in her chair, narrowing her eyes at me. “You have a visitor.”
“Who?” I asked, looking around.
She sat up, steepling her fingers as she stared me down. “You know, this isn’t social hour. If you want to meet men, do it on your own time.”
“What are you talking about?”
She jerked her head toward the ER doors, then stood and walked over to me. “Associations with addicts will get you fired.”
Jack turned at that moment, his hand stuffed in his pockets as he studied my boss. I could see the disinterest in his eyes, as if she was an annoyance he didn’t want to deal with.
“Your car is done,” he said, walking over and sliding the keys across the counter.
“Oh, thank you. You didn’t have to bring it over here.”
“Well, you needed a way to get home,” he shrugged.
Denise scoffed in disgust.
“Is there a problem?” Jack asked.
“Yes, we don’t fraternize at work,” she said snottily.
“I wasn’t aware that dropping off a vehicle was fraternizing,” Jack snapped.
“Thank you for dropping it off,” I interrupted, hoping to defuse the situation.
“No problem.”
He turned to leave, but shot Denise another hard look before finally walking away.
“I could write you up for this.”
“For what?” I asked. “For having my car delivered after it was in the garage to be fixed? I’d like to see you try.”
“For ignoring patients. You may be sucking the dick of every man in this hospital to get your way, but that doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to shirk your job.”
My face flamed at her accusation. “I’m not…sucking anyone.”
“Yeah? Then how is it that you get the best shift and fewer hours than every other nurse around here?”
“If you want to know that, I suggest you talk to the administration.”
“I already did. It seems you have everyone wrapped around your finger. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to go to them to have you written up,” she smiled maliciously.
“For what? I haven’t messed up even once on the job.”
“Tardiness. Having a personal relationship while on the job.” She then added, “How about your relationship with that cop?”
“I don’t have a relationship with a cop, but if I did, it would be none of your business.”
“Not when he shows up in my ER,” she said, storming off in a huff.
I didn’t know what she was talking about, but the moment I turned around, I understood. Pete was in the doorway talking with Jack, and when he glanced my way, it was clear he was here to see me. This was not going to win me any points with Denise.
Ignoring them both, I grabbed another chart and headed off to seemy next patient. The next hour dragged as I struggled to wipe Denise’s scathing words from my brain. She could cause a lot of problems for me, which could delay how soon I could leave this godforsaken town. I needed to start over, to live someplace where I could be myself without worrying about backlash from a coworker who had it out for me.
