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3
Cora
Agnes handled the attack and the wound well. She had remained calm throughout. That was why Cora was surprised when, after the wound was already dressed, Agnes suddenly stiffened, drawing in a sharp breath.
“Agnes? Are you alright?”
Agnes didn’t reply. She was staring off into space, trembling slightly.
“Agnes?” Cora raised her voice slightly. She shook Agnes’ shoulder lightly but pulled back when Agnes flinched violently.
Cora looked around helplessly. Was this some kind of delayed shock response from the attack? She had little experience in psychology or psychiatry. She wanted to help, but she didn’t know how.
Lillian, one of the more experienced nurses, hurried over when she saw Agnes standing frozen and Cora fluttering nervously around her. She took Cora’s arm and drew her back.
“Just leave her be, Doctor. She’ll come around in a few minutes.”
“What’s wrong with her? Has this happened before?”
“It’s not my place to say.”
Cora reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled away from Agnes. Her blue eyes seemed dull and distant with pain and her slight shoulders shook slightly. As much as Cora wanted to help, she didn’t want to make things worse, and Lillian seemed to know what was going on here.
She watched from afar, though. Just like Lillian had said, after a few minutes, Agnes startled and gasped, her eyes suddenly becoming focused again. Cora thought she caught a glimpse of tears in her eyes before Agnes hurried off in the direction of the nearest on-call room.
Cora wished she knew what was going on so that she could help.
Well, she wasn’t going to find out by standing here, that was for sure.
She followed Agnes to the on-call room and knocked gently on the door. When there was no response, she cautiously opened it. Agnes jerked her head up from her hands. She was sitting perched on the edge of one of the beds. She wasn’t in tears, but she looked fairly close.
“Hi,” Cora said quietly, sitting down beside her. “Do you want to talk?”
“No,” Agnes said shortly. She was wringing her hands. She looked pale and drawn. Cora wanted to do whatever she could to help her to feel better.
“Is it okay if I just sit with you, then?”
“I suppose.”
They sat quietly for a few minutes, the only sound being that of their breathing, Agnes’ slightly more labored than Cora’s. Eventually, Agnes’ breathing quieted a little and she turned to look at Cora.
“I guess you want to know what that was all about.”
“Only if you want to tell me.”
“I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Though she was burning with curiosity, Cora didn’t think that pushing Agnes into talking when she didn’t want to would be at all helpful. “Then don’t. Let’s talk about something else.”
Agnes nodded. “Stuff like that happens in the ER, you know. I hope it doesn’t scare you away.”
Cora chuckled. “I don’t scare that easily. Stuff like this happens in all ERs. I wouldn’t say I’m used to it, but it’s not exactly new to me.”
Cora wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but Agnes seemed to be leaning closer to her. Their shoulders were almost touching, and it sent a thrill of electricity through her veins. She was fully aware of how easy it would be to turn her head to the side and bring her lips to meet Agnes’, but she was also aware of how inappropriate it would be.
Not only was Agnes her boss—a lesser worry, as far as Cora was concerned—but Agnes was just coming out of a state of distress and Cora didn’t want to take advantage of her.
Agnes’ breathing slowly evened and she shifted slightly, bringing their shoulders to brush gently against each other.
