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“I’m trying like hell not to keep going at you until you can’t walk into work tomorrow morning.”
“Oh…” Sighing, she quit struggling to get out from under him.
“Yeah… Oh,” he mimicked.
“There is another option…” Wrapping her legs around him, she gave him a teasing glance. “I can call in sick.”
CHAPTER 44
THE HAVEN
Arden clicked on her mouse while giving the patient on the other side of her desk a warm smile. “You’re all set. Your appointment is scheduled for March 17th at 9 a.m. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Not unless you can give me another shoulder so I don’t have to undergo this surgery.”
The young man might have been joking, but Arden could see the fear in his eyes. Sympathizing with him, she gave him a reassuring glance. It was one thing to be told you need to have surgery, but when a date for the operation was scheduled, the reality of it really happening, the fear factor began a countdown. Arden could sympathize as she was waiting for her own countdown to begin.
The day Doom told her he was no longer interested, or he was leaving Ohio, her fear factor, which had her constantly on edge, was that she didn’t know which would come first.
Handing the paperwork to the patient, she tried to reassure him as much as she was able. “Don’t worry,” she said as she saw Haven and another patient stop before reaching her workstation, waiting for their turn. “Dr. Dickerson is an excellent surgeon. You’ll be back on the basketball court next season.” She opened the drawer to her side, took out a certificate, and handed it to the young man. “Here’s a gift certificate for a free custard at Fran’s Frozen Custard.” Arden gave him a conspiratorial wink. “The strawberry with Captain Crunch is my favorite.”
The smile she received from the patient as he left with the certificate and paperwork was worth the reproving frown she received from Haven as she directed the older woman forward.
“Good afternoon…” Arden greeted the woman, taking the paperwork from Haven and glancing down at the name. “Mrs. Stevens. Thank you, Haven.”
Haven gave a curt nod then left the patient for her to complete the necessary paperwork.
Arden watched the nurse walk away, wondering why Haven had given her such a cold glare as she turned to leave.
She put the curious encounter to the back of her mind so she could concentrate on the patient and spent the next ten minutes scheduling her for a knee replacement surgery.
The woman took the paperwork when she finished, but didn’t immediately get up.
“Is Dr. Barr as good as the reviews say he is?” Mrs. Stevens asked worriedly.
Arden gave her a confident smile. “Better. If I had to replace my knee, Dr. Barr would be who I would get to perform my surgery.”
“Whew, that’s a relief.”
Reaching in her drawer, she took out another gift certificate to hand to the woman. “Stop at Ralph’s when you leave. He makes a mocha latte that is out of this world. Tell him not to skimp on the drizzle.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. You have a great day.”
When the woman was out of eyesight, she turned in her computer chair to talk to her coworker.
“Celia, I’m leaving for break. You want me to bring you back anything?”
“No,” she replied frostily. Her coworker didn’t even to bother to look away from her computer screen.
Taking her purse, Arden stood to leave, noticing Celia give her a once-over.
The odd behavior started to grate on her nerves as she made her way to the breakroom. What was going on? She was used to being ignored by her coworkers, but this cold behavior they weren’t making an attempt to hide felt bizarre to her. Had she messed up some paperwork she was unaware of? It couldn’t have been because she had called in yesterday.
She had called in to HR, but instead of telling them she was sick, she had taken another personal day, as she had the day Lizzie had been killed. They couldn’t be angry she had taken two personal days. It made no sense to her.
In the breakroom, she bought herself a soda before choosing a small, empty table in the corner. Taking out an apple and a book from her purse, she started reading as she ate.
Tingles of awareness had her lowering her book. Several people were talking but would glance intermittently toward where she was sitting. It was a no-brainer she was the focus of their conversation.
She was about to look back down at the book when Haven got up from the table and made a beeline toward her.
“Can I help you?” Arden asked when Haven came to a stop.
“Does Dr. Dickerson know you’re giving out coupons to his patients?”
Arden laid her book on the table at the aggressive tone. “I’m not sure if he is or isn’t. I asked Dr. Barr, and he said it would be fine. I assumed Dr. Barr would have told the other doctors in the practice during their staff meetings, but I can’t say for sure if he did or not.”
