We get to talking, and I tell him I’m working the extra hours because I need the money. He doesn’t ask why I need the money, and I don’t tell him that I have so many student loans I have no idea how I’m going to get through it. But it isn’t long before he has me forgetting all that and laughing until my sides are hurting.
“Stop, you have to stop,” I tell him as he does another impression of one of the other nurses. Before I know it, we have a group of people watching us, and Jason is taking requests, doing impressions of all the nurses working. He’s obviously paid attention because he portrays all of them almost perfectly. He doesn’t even have to say who he’s doing because everyone guesses.
“What about Nurse Berry? Do her,” someone calls out, and that’s when I put a halt to the shenanigans.
“No way. I think we all need to get back to work.” And luckily, everyone goes back to their stations.
“You’re scared, aren’t you? About how I’d do an impression of you.”
I giggle but shake my head. “No, I’m not worried at all. I know exactly how you’d do me.” My cheeks heat at my choice of words. “I mean, ya know, how you’d portray me.”
He smiles even bigger, no doubt catching my innuendo. “Oh yeah, how is that?”
“Probably as a drill sergeant or something, if I was guessing.”
He laughs, and I can see he’s thinking about it. “Maybe.”
“Hey,” I say with a smack to his shoulder. He catches my hand then and holds it.
“I’m just joking. Not a drill sergeant. Maybe a cross between an angel… and a drill sergeant.”
He’s laughing, but I’m frozen in my spot. He’s holding my hand, and I know I need to pull back. He’s not my patient, but the way I’ve been working with him, he sometimes is. This is totally inappropriate.
I pull my hand away and look over at the clock on the wall. “Oh, I’m running late for my next patient,” I tell him before taking off, walking briskly across the room.
Jason is so easy to talk to that I almost forgot that I’m still on the clock. I’m sorry to have to say goodbye to him and get back to work and my next patient, who has been kept waiting.
Jason
The next update I get from my doctor makes me feel like even with all the “great work” I’ve been doing with PT it’s highly unlikely I’ll be able to walk without a cane. It’s devastating to me because if I can’t walk without a cane, I won’t be able to ride a horse. If I can’t do that, I won’t be able to help on the ranch, and I refuse to be a burden to my brothers.
“So there’s no chance I can walk without a cane?” I ask him bluntly, wanting him to just lay it all out there for me.
He shrugs and doesn’t even look upset when he answers. “There’s a slim chance.” And he stresses the word slim, drawing it out way longer than necessary.
I grab the walker that I’ve come to loathe and go back down the hallway.
I’m not scheduled for PT, but since Karly told me she’s working a lot of hours, I go to the PT room to see if I can catch her. I feel like if I talk about it with her, she’ll be able to give me a push that I really need so that I don’t give up. She seems to work her magic on all her patients. I heard another nurse talking about Nurse Berry having a 95 percent recovery rate with her patients. I can’t help but believe that a lot of that has to do with her attitude. Heck, she even had me convinced that walking again was going to be possible. That was until I met with the doctor today.
When I get there to the PT room, I stand against the wall and see Karly talking to another doctor. I figure I’ll just wait until she’s done and see if she has a minute to talk.
I hear two male doctors talking about the third doctor of their group and how he’s going to score easily with Karly. The doctor they are speaking of is talking with Karly, and she’s smiling and being friendly with him as they talk. One of the doctors that’s next to me says, “I’m going to try for her if Doctor Stevens strikes out.”
Seeing her smiling like she is, I’m sure she’s enjoying their attention, and I think that she isn’t going to want to really have anything to do with a loser like me when she can have her pick from three doctors. I feel angry about how much I’ve grown to like her and trust her and feel stupid that I read so much into it. But even knowing that, I can feel the raw, unadulterated jealously coursing through my veins. But what can I do? Go over there and tell the doctor to back off, she’s mine? He’d laugh, and probably Karly would too. No, I can’t do that. All I’d do is embarrass her and myself in the process.