"No, I'll be in class, but I don't have to work Friday night." She smiled.
"I'll pick you up at your place at six," I said as I cupped her cheek. "I'm going to cook for you, so bring your appetite."
"Oh, wow, a guy who fights fires, is kind to animals, makes my pulse race, and cooks, too?" She grinned as she feigned swooning. "Be still my beating heart!"
I leaned down and kissed her once again before I stepped back and straighten her scrubs. She laughed lightly and then grabbed the basket of supplies she'd gathered and headed for the elevator. I took it from her even as she frowned.
"It's not a sexist thing, I'm just trying to look like I was helping rather than...uh..." I explained.
Alex threw her head back and laughed loudly, and I grinned, feeling like I'd finally rejoined the world.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alex
The rest of the week flew by as I waited for the investigation into the cheating charge to begin. I knew that I had not cheated, but I could no longer speak for Liz. When she didn't show up for class on Friday morning, I began to worry that something was terribly wrong, but before I could call her, Professor Jackson pulled me aside and told me that I was to go to the nursing department and talk with the program director.
I walked over to the department and found that Dr. Gatskill and two other administrators were waiting in the conference room for me to arrive. I walked in and realized that whatever had happened was a much bigger deal than I thought it was.
"Ms. Pierce, thank you for coming," Dr. Gatskill said. She was a formidable woman who, when standing, was close to six feet tall. She wore suits that were custom tailored to fit her wide frame and a string of pearls that were triple looped around her neck. The only thing she varied was the color of the silk blouses she wore buttoned up under her suits. Today, she was wearing a coral colored blouse that gave off the appearance of spring, but I didn't feel it in the air. "Please have a seat."
I sat down in the chair across from the three and waited. The conference room felt large and intimidating with its glass windows and large, rolling chairs. I felt dwarfed by the grandness of it all, and I swallowed hard to keep my breakfast from making an appearance.
"Ms. Pierce, it has been brought to our attention that you and Ms. Baker have been accused of cheating on the practice nursing exam," Dr. Gatskill began. "Our aim here is not to accuse or exonerate you, but to find out what happened and evaluate the evidence against the claim. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." I nodded as I swallowed again. The entire process made my stomach turn, and not being certain of whether Liz had cheated or not made me feel even more queasy.
For the next hour, the committee asked me questions about the class, the exam, and my knowledge of the material we'd been tested on. I felt confident that I had prepared well, so the questions posed no problem for me, and I answered with ease, but when they started asking questions about Liz, I found myself hesitating. I ended up telling them very little about Liz or her state of mind, mostly because I didn't know it.
"Thank you, Ms. Pierce," Dr. Gatskill said when they'd finished asking questions. "We will evaluate the evidence and let you know our decision within two weeks. Please be aware that all scholarship money and financial aid will be held until such time as we make our decision."
"Wait, what?" I said not sure that I'd heard her right.
"We cannot, in good conscience, disburse funds when we aren't certain that you will be allowed to stay in the program," Dr. Gatskill explained.
"But I need to pay my tuition and rent!" I said. "I can't be late with either one or I'll lose my place in the class and be evicted from my apartment."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Pierce," Dr. Gatskill said. "It's truly unfortunate, but we have to follow university procedure on this, and part of that procedure is temporarily placing a hold on money to be disbursed."
"This isn't fair," I said as I looked at her helplessly. "If you find I'm innocent, then I'll have lost my place in the class anyway and I won't get to graduate."
"We'll do our best to work quickly, Ms. Pierce," one of the other administrators assured me. "I'm sure you can ask your family for help during this time."
I shook my head as I gathered my things and walked out of the room. My entire world was crumbling down around me, and I had nowhere to turn for help.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cam
I woke up the next morning with Alex on my mind. Over coffee, I planned the dinner I would cook for her and called to have groceries delivered on Friday morning when I got home. As usual, Tesla sat patiently waiting for me to get ready and drive her over to visit her buddies at the station.
"I'm going to bring a woman over on Friday night," I told her as I opened the passenger side door and motioned for her to hop in. "I want you to be a really good girl, okay?"
"Woof," she huffed as she impatiently looked over at the driver's side and pawed my seat.
"All right, all right, we're getting there," I said, shaking my head.
At the station, Tesla hopped out and ran into the lounge where she jumped on the sofa and licked Danny until he was laughing and crying uncle.