“Are they causing damage?”
I looked at her, wondering what was going on.
“Has the sheriff been called?”
Jesus, what was happening?
“I’ll be right down.” She looked up at me. “There’s some sort of commotion outside and I need to go make a statement.”
She didn’t say it was about Ms. Mason, but what else would it be? And just like that, the reality of our situation was fully wedged between us again.
“I’ll do down the back way,” I said.
She nodded. “I’m sorry, Nick. I’d like to talk—”
I held up my hand. “One issue at a time, Mia. Go do your job.” I didn’t mean it to sound snarky, but the way her eyes flattened, I was afraid it did. “We’ll talk later.”
She nodded again, but I knew I’d firmly put our problems right back between us again. Fucking moron, I said to myself as I left her office and headed to the stairs at the end of the hall.
I took my time getting down to the ER again, wanting to make sure Mia and I didn’t arrive at the same time and cause suspicion. I hated the situation we were in. Not just because it made what we had seem sordid. But also, I hated not knowing where she stood with me. It had to be more than sex because she was risking her job, but at the same time, neither of us were discussing leaving our jobs to free ourselves from breaking the rules. Was she biding her time until this relationship, such as it was, petered out? If I told her how I really felt, would she tell me she felt the same? And if she did feel the same, which one of us would leave our job so that we could pursue it? The fact that neither of us had already considered it suggested it was wishful thinking on my part to want to rekindle what we once had. As I walked through the back hall to the ER, I worked to let go of the dream of us once again.
28
Mia
There had been a moment when I thought perhaps Nick and I had crossed over to something more in our relationship. At the very least, I hoped we were going to talk about it. But then came the reminder that I was breaking the no-fraternization rule at work, and once again my job was between us.
I hated how he always seemed to accuse me of putting my job before him. I suppose he was wrong. After all, I was leaving him to deal with some sort of issue for the hospital. But I didn’t seem him quitting his job to eliminate the barrier between us.
As I rode the elevator down to the first floor, I realized that we hadn’t made any gains in our relationship after all. We were exactly where we’d always been since I came back to town. We couldn’t go on like this. We either needed to make a change in our career or end it altogether. I didn’t want it to end, but I couldn’t see myself changing my job. I suspected he couldn’t either. What I knew was that we’d both continue to choose our jobs over us, even if we continued to have trouble keeping our hands off each other.
I exited the elevator and made my way toward the emergency room. “What’s going on?” I asked Dick who was standing with a couple of security men.
“We’ve got a good size group outside who are demanding answers to Ms. Mason’s death and Dr. Foster’s continued work here. We need you to make a statement.”
I looked up at him. “Why me? Wouldn’t this be better from a hospital admin?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Nick coming up the hall, but he didn’t approach us. He met a nurse, took a folder, and then headed to a patient.
“These people know you, Ms. Parker. You’re one of them. They’re more likely to listen to you than me,” Dick said. “We just need you to calm them down a bit. We’ve called the sheriff—”
“Sheriff? Are they getting violent?” I looked out through the double glass doors again.
“Pushy,” the security guard said. “We just need someone to diffuse the situation. I’ll go out with you, but I think he’s right. If they see someone they know, they’re more likely to listen.”
Or see me as a traitor, I thought. But it was my job. “Okay. What talking points do you want me to cover?”
“Just that we can’t give details while there is a lawsuit, but reassure them that we’ll get to the bottom of what happened,” Dick said.
“Have you thought about putting Dr. Foster on leave?” the security guard asked.
“No!” I realized after the word was out how forcefully I’d said it. Even Dick’s brows rose at how vehement my objection was. I measured my tone. “That would be like admitting guilt. Nick nor the hospital did anything wrong.”
“What about appeasing them?” Dick said.
I stared up at him. “W
hat about standing by the good doctors at Goldrush Lake Hospital? Do you have a beef with Dr. Foster? I should remind you he now has his own counsel. Anything you say or do could be used by her to make the hospital look bad.”