Page 64 of The Candle Palace (Jamison Valley 6)
“Okay.” That was Luna’s room. I hadn’t thought of it as number 504 in months.
“Great.” His smile was polite and professional. “See you in there.”
He walked down the hallway to Luna’s former room and I followed. On the way, I glanced at Milo’s room—503. It was vacant at the moment and I was glad for it. I wasn’t ready to see another person in his bed.
It was hard enough to see another in Luna’s.
I worked alongside Vernon as he cleaned a burn and discussed treatment with the patient in 504. I kept my distance, stealing sideways glances occasionally, but Vernon avoided my gaze entirely. Except for the occasional order to hand him gauze or hold a tool, it was like he’d forgotten I was in the room.
He was focused on the patient, as it should be.
“All right. I’m done here for today.” Vernon pulled off his gloves, the latex snapping as he wrapped one inside the other and deposited them both in the trash. “Sara will take good care of you the rest of the day.”
“Thanks, Dr. Vernon.” The young patient sighed, settling deeper into her bed. She’d gotten a nasty burn from a pot of boiling oil—she’d been making french fries at home when the pot had spilled onto her bare feet. Luckily, she wouldn’t be here for long. We’d treat her burns and show her how to care for her toes, which had suffered the worst. She’d be free to go home in a few days.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked.
“No, thank you.” She shook her head, closing her eyes.
I dimmed the lights and drew the curtains. She was asleep before I eased my way out the door.
I walked to the nurses station, taking a break from patient care to update charts. But as I approached the counter, Vernon was talking to Kym. Spinning around, I hoped to make an escape, but he caught sight of me. “Oh, Sara?”
I turned. “Yes?”
“I’d like to run a new set of labs for 501. Would you ask them to put a rush on it?”
“Um, sure.”
Why was he acting so . . . normal? This calm demeanor had to be a façade, right? Was he biding his time, waiting for a moment to find me alone and berate me for turning him in?
Well, he wasn’t going to get the chance. I spent the rest of the day making sure I was never alone. I only did charts when Kym was at the nurses station. I spent most of my time in patient rooms. I made it through nearly the entire day without a one-on-one encounter with Vernon, working furiously as the clock wound down to four.
I only had fifteen minutes to go when I went to the supply closet to grab a fresh blanket for a patient who’d said he was cold. That’s when a white lab coat appeared in my peripheral vision.
Vernon. I’d been gone from the patient’s room for ten seconds and he’d trapped me by the supply closet. I hated that my body’s first instinct was to lock up. I hated that he had the power of my fear.
“Welcome back,” he said. “Did you have a nice week off?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “It was wonderful.”
If Vernon was going to pretend that everything was hunky-dory, then I was too. If my hands would stop shaking, I might be able to pull it off. I held his stare, trying to keep the smile on my face. Nothing in his gaze gave anything away. No anger. No resentment. Nothing.
He looked . . . bored.
What was he playing at? What was his game? Was he trying to get under my skin with this nonchalant approach?
Asshole.
The least he could do was apologize.
Hey, Sara. Sorry for kissing you in the locker room and scaring the shit out of you. Whoops.
I was never going to get an apology. His ego was much too engorged to utter the word sorry.
He looked down his nose at me. With that smug smile, he declared me inconsequential. If I had to guess, I’d say HR had reprimanded him. Not that it mattered. We both knew if one of us were to get reassigned, it wasn’t going to be him.
“Was there something else you needed, Dr. Vernon?” He didn’t deserve such a noble title.
