Sunday morning, our decision solidified when Krista called me. Only there’d be a twist.
“I have a proposition for you,” she said. “Adela quit. I need you. Please come back. The clinic will provide your quarters and give you a stipend if you’ll work. You can work in the surgery or rehab.”
I sat with my mouth open, watching Flynn watch me. He raised his palms and shoulders and mouthed, “What?” making me laugh.
“Flynn wants to know what’s going on,” I told Krista.
“Talk to him and get back to me as soon as you can. I don’t have anyone else that can do everything like Adela could.”
“I can only assist Flynn,” I protested. “What use would I be?”
“You can do everything. You worked all the departments. Stop selling yourself short.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it and get back to you,” I said doubtfully, as though my heart wasn’t racing.
“And bring more bras,” she said, snorting.
“I’ll call you back.” I ended the call without saying goodbye.
Flynn loomed over me, waiting. “Well?”
“Adela quit. I don’t know why, but I know her home life was deteriorating. Anyway, Krista wants me to come back now.”
“You can’t.”
“Why can’t I?” I asked, shocked.
“Because you go with me.” He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face I longed to slap off.
“Flynn, she said I can work any department. I rotated through all the units, even PACU.”
“You don’t have enough experience.”
That stung. I had enough to be his operating room first assistant but not to go to Lebanon and work. His tone made me even more determined. I’d made up my mind in a flash. I was going back.
“How will you support yourself?” he asked.
So, if I was going with him, money wasn’t something I needed to worry about. But going on my own, where I wasn’t submissive to him…suddenly, for a moment, I didn’t even like this Flynn.
“I’m going to commit for a year for the work permit. She’s going to pay me a stipend. I’ll live in the dorm with the other nurses.”
He walked away, his expression stony. So, this was a side of Flynn I hadn’t seen yet. The Flynn who wasn’t getting his way. I didn’t like it.
“I owe you a lot, Flynn. Thanks to you, I could pull myself out of a deep depression. I conquered a boogeyman that had haunted me for six long years. But you’re not my father. I can decide on my own.”
“You wouldn’t even know Krista or Lebanon if it wasn’t for me.”
That struck a nerve. “And you might not be alive if it wasn’t for me.”
I sputtered, laughing, and it made him exhale, laughing, too. He grabbed me, lifting me off my feet. I relaxed against him. Our first fight.
“Oh, God, that’s so true. Please forgive me. I still don’t want you to go without me, but I can’t stop you.”
“No, you can’t. I totally get the concerns. I’m not even sure how to get to the clinic from the airport. But I can research and call for a car. I have my savings account, too, thanks to the award money, so I can buy a one-way ticket.”
“I’ll help you. I’m just jealous I can’t drop everything and leave right now.”
“That’s the beauty of renting a room and working at the car wash. I don’t have six months’ worth of patient appointments waiting for me.”