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“Oh, I am. I need to get home and get my life as a mom of two started. This hospital is too constricting.” She stood up and took the baby from the older lady. “Stacey, this is my mom and dad. They’re here from Pennsylvania.”
Stacey shook the lady’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Her face glowed. “We’re ready to spoil this little munchkin and help out as much as possible. We have a hotel room and plan on taking Markey with us for a getaway at the pool to give his mommy time to get to know this new guy.”
“They are all so lucky to have you here,” Stacey answered as she straightened up a little. The love filling the room was hard to ignore. It was easy to see the closeness of the family and the love the grandparents had for their grandsons.
A lump formed in her throat. Stacey smiled and excused herself, quickly explaining that the doctor should be there soon to discharge them and swallowed down the lump. She kept walking until she got into the break room, where she poured herself a cup of coffee and fell in a chair with her head in her hands. A lone tear made its way down her face, and she wiped it away.
Seeing grandparents’ love on grandchildren was always hard. Especially today. Her parents would have made amazing grandparents. Today was the fifth anniversary of their death. Be tough and breathe. Stacey drank her coffee and relaxed in the quiet for a bit before she got back to her work.
The rest of the day was pretty quiet and ordinary. No new moms were scheduled for births, so it was just helping the few that were there, and they spent time organizing and restocking. As she worked, she found her thoughts often wandered to her parents and everything they were going to miss. Stacey sighed deeply and moved her thoughts to tomorrow night. Seeing Tristan again. Just thinking about him sent those fluttering butterflies into her stomach.
Thinking of holding his strong, firm hands, touching his hard, chiseled chest, and kissing his soft, warm lips made her become weak in the knees.Be careful, Stacey. You need to guard your heart. You don’t have time to pick up the pieces and put them back together when your heart breaks. You don’t need a man. You have you.
“Hey, let’s get to that meeting.” Karolyn poked her head into the break room.
Stacey jumped, coming out of her daydream. “Shit! I totally forgot.”
She glanced at the clock on the wall behind the nurse’s station. She couldn’t believe her shift was over. She closed out some notes she was typing and stood up. “Okay, let’s go.”
They walked down the hall together toward the meeting room. “Bad day, huh?” Karolyn asked.
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”
They entered the room and took a seat. There were chairs set up in rows, and eight other nurses were already there, along with Nancy Trowder, the head nurse of Labor and Delivery, and another woman. Stacey didn’t know her name, but she had seen her around. Her suit and heels gave her away as someone of importance. She shot a look at Karolyn as her stomach started flopping around like she was on a roller coaster.
Nancy stepped forward. “Thank you, everyone. I know it’s difficult to stay a little later or come in a little earlier. You all work hard, and your time is important. We don’t want to keep you longer than necessary. This is Doctor Elisha Hensley, the head of the hospital board. She is here to squash any rumors you may have been hearing and let you know what is really going on. Doctor Hensley.”
Elisha stepped forward with a smile plastered on her pretty features. She was tall and thin. She’d pulled her dark hair up on top of her head in a neat bun with wisps of hair framing her face and her bright brown eyes.
Dr. Hensley reminded Stacey of the lawyer who read her parents’ will—one hundred percent business with no consideration of anyone’s feelings. The flopping in Stacey’s stomach now felt more like a fish out of water than a bad roller coaster ride.
Elisha squared her shoulders. “Hi, everyone. I’m going to get right to the point.” She paused, her gaze passing across the room. “The board is well aware of all the rumors that have been flying around about the hospital. Unfortunately, they aren’t all rumors. As you know, the hospital has had to make deep cuts to deal with a money shortage and financial constraints. When looking at the daily running of the hospital, we look at each department, the need of the community to have that department, and the amount of use that department gets. Unfortunately, we have noticed that there has been a decline in the use of County’s Labor and Delivery.” She stopped and again, looked around the room. “With the larger hospitals increasing their L and D floors and putting more money into their women’s centers, our patrons have been going to other places to have their babies. Because of all these issues, the hospital’s administration has made the difficult decision to close the Labor and Delivery wing.”
Nancy’s gaze met Stacey’s. She was friends with Stacey’s mom and helped get her the job after their accident. It was important for Stacey to stay as close to home as possible. But now Labor and Delivery was closing. Her stomach dropped. What did this mean for her job, for the career she has worked so hard to build? She glanced at Karolyn. Their eyes met. Karolyn reached over and squeezed Stacey’s hand. She squeezed back. Karolyn needed this job to help her family. What was she going to do?
Elisha continued. “I know this will come as a shock to you, and I want you to understand that this decision was not taken lightly. The administration recognizes the impact this will have on each of you, as well as the community. The floor will be used at full capacity for the rest of this month. We’ll work hard transferring you either throughout County or into other hospitals. Nancy and I will be scheduling meetings over the next couple of weeks to discuss with each of you individually what you are looking for to further your careers.”
Hands shot up all across the room, and a murmur rose through the crowd of nurses. Dr. Hensley raised her hand to hush all the noise. “I know you each have many questions and concerns. Here’s a packet with paperwork and questionnaires for you to fill out. Like I said, we will be scheduling meetings with each of you to discuss this further at a later date.”
Nancy passed the folders around the room and avoided eye contact with the nurses.
“Email addresses and contact information are right there. Please use that if you have any pressing questions that can’t wait until your meeting. Thank you.” Dr. Hensley nodded to Nancy and made a quick exit.
The room erupted.
Nancy tried her best to calm the questions, but she was failing miserably. Stacey’s shoulders dropped. She’ll be out of a job by the end of the month. She and Karolyn quickly left the room.
“Well, this was a great ending to a shitty day.” Stacey flipped through the folder as she and Karolyn waited for the elevator. The door opened; they got in, joined by a few other nurses. Conversation was filled with shock and questions no one could answer.
Karolyn giggled, and Stacey shot her a look. “What’s so funny?”
She shook her head as the elevator doors opened. “Nothing. Just you and your favorite word. ‘Shit.’ It makes me laugh at how much you say it in a day.”
“Shit? I don’t say it a lot.” Stacey exited the crowded elevator and walked with Karolyn the rest of the way in silence to their cars.
Once inside the safety of her car, she slumped into the driver’s seat and laid her hands on the wheel and her head in her hands. “I can’t believe they’re closing Labor and Delivery. At least one month to look for a new job and prepare to move on, maybe more, but who knows?” She turned the key in the ignition. “I gotta look for a new job. Shit.” She stopped and stared off at nothing. “Maybe I do say that a lot. Who knew?”
