AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I splashed some cold water in my face, blinking in irritation at the empty paper towel holder. What kind of hospital ran out of paper towels? I blotted my face dry with the hem of my scrubs. A hospital overdue for a Quality Compliance Inspection, that's what.
Clipboard in hand, I popped a TUMS as I flagged down Teresa at the nurse's station. “Do you know if the new IV catheters come in yet? I found some expired ones in supply, and rumor has it there might be a QC team lurking around.”
Teresa hummed and tapped away on her computer. "I heard that one, too. I've got a friend over at Mass General, they were hit last week."
I groaned. QC checks were necessary, of course, but the buildup was exhausting, everybody walking on pins and needles until the team had come and gone. At least today was relatively quiet, so I could get some prep work done. Jerome was pretty good about helping out where he could, but as his resident, I was working with the nurses to make sure we were locked, stocked, and ready to rock. Safely, of course.
“They were delivered to pediatrics. ” Teresa rolled her eyes. "The box is probably sitting in their storeroom. I can grab it after I finish logging these dosages."
"I can go grab it, you've got enough on your hands. Thanks for looking it up, I haven't gotten the hang of PARS yet."
"You just about have to be a private eye to find anything in that database," Teresa chuckled. "Good thing I've got a nose like a bloodhound."
I hummed absently and popped another Tums. My stomach had been acting up lately, and today was the worst day yet. Teresa's eyes flicked to the Tums bottle.
“You feeling okay, Cassidy?”
“Just an upset stomach, nothing else. Must’ve eaten something dicey, Connor and I have been branching out in the kitchen lately.”
“I think it’s so cute you two cook together.”
“Yeah.” Just the mention of food made me want to run right back into my towel-less bathroom, so I hastily changed the subject. “What’s on the docket for today?”
We were gathered at the nurse's station. It was the same way we started every shift. Of course we all knew what was scheduled, but it still helped to make sure we were all on the same page, especially when it came to some of the more delicate cases.
“Sorry I’m late, guys!" Jerome's white coat was askew, and he was out of breath like he'd run here. "But I come bearing bagels and coffee. Cassidy, I snagged you the last everything bagel--"
“Thanks, but, uh, could you put it over there?” I cut him off, waving absently to the table furthest from the little cluster of desks. The smell alone made my stomach gurgle threateningly.
Teresa and Jerome glanced at each other, but said nothing.
“Well, looks like a slow morning so far, two drunks sleeping off the rest of their banana bags, one concussion waiting on a CT scan in bay three, and a high fever in bay five,” Teresa began. “Waiting room's looking pretty sparse, but you know how it can be.”
"Cassidy, I want you to do the rounds on three and five," Jerome said around a mouthful of bagel. "You've been gone for a bit, let's get you back in the saddle again, yeah?"
I took a sip of coffee that hit my stomach like battery acid. "Sounds great."
He frowned. "You feeling okay? You look pretty pale."
Damn Jerome and his onion bagel. I could smell it from where I was standing. My stomach gave another heave.
“Uh, I’ll be right back,” I said hurriedly as I rushed from the room.
Back in the towel-less bathroom, heaving up more clear bile. My stomach didn’t have anything left to bring up, but it was still trying as hard as it could.
I didn’t understand it. No fever, no chills, no other symptoms whatsoever. When Connor had gotten sick, it was from an infection, not illness, so it couldn't have been that. I had been throwing up nearly every day for the past week--I tried to eat bland foods to keep my strength up and to make sure there was at leastsomethingin my stomach, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t keep the nausea at bay.
Jerome was lingering outside the bathroom when I exited. I halted in surprise, but he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back inside.
“When was the last time you had your period?”
I blinked at him. "This is the women's bathroom."
"I don't care. Answer the question. When was your last period."
The question hit me like a bucket of ice water to the face. “Um. A month ago?”
“You don’t really seem too sure about that.”
