Page 29 of The Candle Palace (Jamison Valley 6)
“I don’t have a date either,” he said.
“Huh.” Oh, please. Please, don’t ask me out.
“I was thinking of going to get some sushi at Wave. If you’re free—”
“Sushi makes me sick.” I faked a gag. Actually, I loved sushi. “I had bad fish once. Sorry. I’ll stick to burgers.”
“I like bur—”
“Here you go, Sara.” Kym came into the nurses station, and to my rescue, with two bottles of water from the vending machine. “I thought you might want one.”
“Thank you.” I took the bottle of water and unscrewed the top. Then I took a long, long drink so I wouldn’t be able to talk. I spun in the chair, facing Kym and giving Dr. Vernon my back. And with the water bottle still pressed to my lips, my eyes pleaded with her not to leave.
Kym got the message. “I was going to go through the new procedure checklist that Amber gave us. Would you like to do it together?”
I nodded, taking the bottle away. “Yes, please. Your timing is perfect. I have some time before I need to do another set of rounds.”
Turning around, I plastered on another smile. “Do you need us to do anything for you, Dr. Vernon?”
“No.” He stood tall. “I am done here today. I’m going to do some paperwork in my office, then head out. Call me if you need anything.”
“Of course. Have a nice night.”
“Don’t stay too late,” he said, his voice hard and short.
Was that a threat? He knew I’d stopped going to Milo’s room. His warning only made me mad. I dropped my gaze to the screen, my teeth clenching tight. When his footsteps echoed away from the counter, I scowled at the back of his lab coat until he disappeared down the stairwell toward his office on the second floor.
I can’t stand him. I managed, only barely, to keep that thought inside my head.
“Was Greg about to ask you out?” Kym stepped closer, lowering her voice.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Or maybe he was just being polite?”
“That explains it,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“Explains what?” The uneasy look in her dark eyes made my muscles tense. She sat in another chair and rolled it close. But before she could answer my question, I asked another. “What happened in Milo’s room?”
“Greg took away his morphine button two days ago.”
“Oh.” I didn’t like the self-regulated dosage method, but I had faith that Milo could control himself. “Are the dosages you’re giving him not enough for the pain?”
“That’s the thing.” Kym shook her head. “He took away the IV dosage for Milo to control. But Greg didn’t prescribe me anything to give him in its place.”
“What?” I nearly flew out of my chair. “So he’s been without anything for the pain for two days?” Over half the skin on his stomach had been burned away. You could see muscle in a few places. Milo had to have pain medicine.
Kym’s face paled as she nodded. “I asked him about it again this morning and he said he’d put one in the system. But it wasn’t there the last time I checked.”
“That’s abuse. I’m reporting this.” I was ready to march downstairs to Human Resources to report it when Kym stopped me.
“Wait. Before you go, let me check the system. And if the prescription’s still not in there, I’ll report it. It would be better coming from me.”
I huffed and sat down as she clicked through to the computer. I hated that she was right. I hated that Dr. Vernon had put me in a position where I would be seen as the nurse pulling favors and showing preferential treatment. Because even though I’d developed feelings for Milo, I would have done the same for any patient.
“It’s there.” Kym’s shoulders sagged.
“Thank God.” I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “I wish I could help him. At least see him. It’s not fair.”
Kym put her hand on my knee. “It’s not fair. We all know you weren’t doing anything wrong. But . . .”
