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I kept my head down, avoiding both Mrs. Smith and Dr. Hutton. Happily, I had rotated out of the ER and was now in the orthopedic ward. I made my rounds, pinning a smile on my face for the patients and going out of my way to be pleasant, engaging, and helpful.
In truth, my heart was erratic the whole time. I could feel the pulse in my neck beating against my flesh like a caged bird, and my hands trembled.
Still, as long as my patients didn’t notice, I needed to be okay.
Half an hour into my shift, my stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten a damned thing all day. I didn’t think I could keep anything down. But I needed something to keep up my energy. Heading to the vending machine, I dug into my pockets for change. I was inattentive to where I was going, I slammed into someone’s chest and stumbled backward.
“Oh! Oops, sorry!” I babbled before looking up to see Jodie, reaching out to steady me. I immediately snatched my hand out of her grasp, glaring at her.
She looked at my expression and frowned. “Nora? What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Are you serious?” I felt rage just bubbling under my skin, looking for an outlet.
“Yes, I’m serious. Did I do something? What—”
“So you’re just gonna pretend the other day didn’t happen? You’re gonna pretend you don’t know ‘Mr. Levin’?”
She sighed, looking away and shaking her head. “I didn’t know it was him. Why would you do this, Nora? This guy is dangerous.”
“Yeah, no shit.” My voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Jodie sighed. “Look, I don’t know what you think I do for this guy but—”
“Whatdoyou do for that guy?” I got right in her face, crossing my arms. I really wanted to know.
Jodie lowered her eyes, shaking her head slowly. “I store bodies for him. Fudge some cause of death reports. That’s it.”
I frowned. “That’sit? Really? You help a mobster hide hismurders, Jodie.”
“I know. I know. You can judge me all you like but I needed the money and then…” She shrugged. “I can’t just resign.”
Jodie’s mother had suffered a brain tumor and they were having issues with insurance. I’d assumed Jodie worked something out… but maybe she hadn’t. I drew a breath, reaching out to rub her shoulder.
“Look, you can hate me all you want but you should really get away from that guy.”
I laughed, my tired gaze dropping to the floor. Then a thought occurred to me, and I grabbed her by the lapel of her coat. “Was Celia one of the deaths you fudged?” I demanded.
Her eyes widened. “What? No! God, Nora what the hell do you think I am? I would never!”
I stared at her, looking for the truth in her eyes. Finally, I let her lapel go. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” I shook my head. “Everything’s falling apart.”
It was her turn to rub my arm comfortingly. “Oh Nora…” she looked so sad for me. “I should tell you that he called me, asking about you. I didn’t know what to say exactly so I just kept it as vague as I could. You told him your name was Nora Walsh?”
I nodded.
“What’d he want with you? Why’d he come looking for you? Is he on to you?”
I bit my lip, not wanting to tell her that I’d been fucking him. Nobody needed to tell me how stupid that was. I knew well enough. “I think he might be, but I didn’t give him much of a chance to—”
“Miss Young.”
I turned to see Mrs. Smith glaring at me. Again. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I hate to cut short your, no doubt,importantchat, but there are patients waiting.”
I blanched, glancing back once at Jodie before hurrying off with a quick apology. Even as I hurried off, I wondered if I should just give up now. If Alexei didn’t get me fired, Mrs. Smith surely would.
I hurried off to see my patients, dealing first with a young lady whose period was late and swore she was a virgin. After booking her an appointment with a gyno, I moved on to attend to the next patient.
