Page 12 of Trust in Me
The man stepped out of the room without saying anything. I ran through my usual questions, then examined Anna’s belly. There didn’t seem to be much wrong, and Anna told me she was on her period.
“It’s probably just cramps. It happens literally every month. I don’t know why he thought we had to come to the ER. I’m sorry.” Anna shrugged, embarrassed.
“Period cramps can be really bad, I get it. I’ll order you some ibuprofen, okay? And we’ll draw some labs to make sure nothing else is going on.” I pulled the curtain around the bed, then stepped out of the room.
The stepfather was standing too close to the door, right in my face as I closed it and turned. I took an involuntary step back.
“So, Anna is fine. Normal woman stuff. We’ll get her some ibuprofen, and have you guys out of here in not too long.”
“Oh, yeah, glad she’s okay.” The man nodded, seeming unconcerned. “I just wanted to have you check her out. You seemed like such a good doctor last time we saw you. I was also hoping to get your number.”
Oh, hell no. He dragged his daughter— sorry, stepdaughter, which implied that he was married to the girl’s mother— to the ER to get my number?
I shook my head. I had to stay professional, right? This was not the time to knee him in the balls. “Thank you for the compliment, but no. I don’t date patients’ family members.”
Heavy footsteps followed me as I walked away and down the hall.
“Don’t be a bitch. You know you’ll be mine one day.”
I tried to ignore him and quickened my steps into the workroom. I closed the door behind me, breathing heavily.
“Avery, you okay?” Dr. Johnston’s eyebrows drew together in concern.
I exhaled, then turned to face my supervisor. “I’m okay. The parent in room eight is seriously out of line. He just hit on me, and then followed me down the hall. The patient is fine, seems like just period cramps, but can you finish this one up while I call security to get them out of here?”
Dr. Johnston nodded as she rose and took the chart from my hands. “You hang out in here and work on your charts until security clears them out. Your shift is almost up anyway, so once they’re gone you can head out for the day.”
Three more crazy shifts had me dead on me feet. My Friday shift ended at seven today, so I would have plenty of time to change and head to Blackstone. My phone buzzed in my pocket as I walked into the workroom. I pulled it out to find a text from Emma. Two nights at Blackstone and I’d managed to make a friend. Emma had given me her number as we left for the night last time I was there. For someone who had always kept people at an arm’s length, this was huge for me.
Emma:See you tonight?
Avery:Yep! See you soon! Think I should wear jeans just in case?
Emma:Better not, you’ll just lose your pants altogether!
I sent back a laughter emoji and slid my phone back into the pocket of my scrubs. I took my time finishing up my charting, sipping on a Diet Coke to give me fuel for the night. When I finally headed out the main ER doors toward my Jeep, the sun was starting to sink over the Rockies.
I took a minute to admire the view before digging in my purse for the keys. I fished around for a minute. My hand closed on a lip gloss. I pulled it out. It was the one that I thought I’d lost. I needed to clean out my purse, huh? I smeared a layer of pink gloss over my lips and dropped it back in the bag, resuming my search for keys. I’d organize all of this later. I finally grasped the mass of keychains as I neared my car. I sorted through the pile of charms to find the car key, coming up with the right one just as I reached the driver’s side door.
A piece of folded white paper on the windshield caught my eye. Dear God, I hoped it wasn’t a parking ticket. I couldn’t afford a fine right now. I grabbed the paper and opened it to find a note in scrawled handwriting.
Nice to see such a beautiful girl the other day. See you again soon.
What? I shivered despite the warm August evening, looking around. A few families coming and going, but no one familiar, and no one who was looking at me or seemed interested in any way. I shoved the note in my purse, not willing to stick around, and climbed into the driver’s seat of the Jeep and locked the door.
I laid my head back on the head rest, closing my eyes for a minute. I took deep breaths to calm myself, counting as I inhaled, held the breath, and exhaled, the way they taught us in that stress management class that was mandatory. At the time, the very fact that we had to go to the class stressed me out. At least I was finally using the skills, right? I exhaled again. The note was probably meant for someone else. I took one more breath—in, two, three, four— then exhaled again—out, two, three, four— and opened my eyes.
I started the Jeep, then let out a short gasp at the clock on the dashboard. 8:15? When had it gotten so late? Shit. I threw the car into reverse. I was cutting it close.
Get home, eat something, change, get to Blackstone…
My list-loving mind ticked off the things to get done as I pushed the speed limit on the short drive back to my apartment. Rush hour was over, so at least the traffic wasn’t bad.
I went back to the last item on my checklist. Blackstone. 9:00. Brax—oh, crap. I hadn’t texted him back. Oops.
11
Brax
