“Nurse Berry, I would love another chance to show you that it was a mistake that I made and won’t repeat. We were making some real progress, and I thought we worked pretty great together.”
“I subbed for your physical therapist one time. You’re not my patient, so your progress was through the work you’ve done with Marven. I’ll pass on your compliment to him. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work. Let’s not talk again.”
Karly
And now I feel bad. Of course I do. I feel bad about how harsh I was with Jason, but after everything he said to me the other day, it’s built up in my head until I feel like I had to say something back to him. I needed to make a stand for myself.
I finish out my shift, looking to see if Jason will come back and am frustrated with myself when I’m disappointed that he doesn’t. After the way I talked to him, I’d be surprised if he even looked my way anymore.
The next day when I come in to work, the nurse in charge of the PT schedule and roster informs me that I’ll be taking over the sessions for Jason Keller.
“Uh, but why? He’s Marven’s patient.”
She shakes her head. “The reason is not important.”
I look around the room and find that Jason hasn’t shown up yet, so I can’t let it go. “How about Jamie? She may be a good fit with what Jason is needing.”
I don’t know why I’m pushing it this hard. And I probably shouldn’t be drawing attention to the fact that I don’t want Jason to be my patient, but a part of me is freaking out a little bit at the prospect.
“Is there a reason that you can’t take over Jason Keller’s therapy sessions?”
I’ve already said enough, so I just shake my head. “No.”
She looks at me with her eyebrows raised, and I’m hoping she can’t read my mind right now. “You do know that fraternizing with patients is unprofessional and frowned upon by management.”
I need my job and am not about to initiate a change that will get the rumor mill working on destroying my reputation. “It’s nothing like that. Jason, I mean Mr. Keller, told me he’s had great progress with Marven, and I was just worried about stepping on toes.”
I don’t even blink. I look straight into her eyes, hoping that she believes me.
“It’s not your job to worry about stepping on toes. It’s your job to help your patients. We’re done here, Nurse Berry.”
I nod my head, just thankful that she accepts my excuse, but I can feel the other woman’s eyes on me when I go out onto the PT floor to get to work.
This is ridiculous. I can’t believe I’m being forced to work with this jerk. Of course, he apologized, so maybe he’s not completely a jerk.
6
Jason
I am so pleased with myself that I managed to bribe the nurse in charge to change my PT to Nurse Berry. She didn’t want to, that was obvious. And I could tell that she was curious about my request. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not the first one that asked to be swapped to Nurse Berry. But I don’t want to make Karly look bad, so I told her I was worried about not being pushed enough, that although Marven is a great therapist, I know he’s retiring soon, and I would like to have a therapist that will be here for the length of my stay. She wasn’t completely sold on the idea, but she finally relented. It also helps that my family is pretty well known here. We donated to the pediatric wing years ago.
I expect Karly will be annoyed at first at the change in events, but eventually she’ll have to talk to me, and when she does, she’ll forget to be mad, and we’ll be talking again like we were before I ruined it. Before I was a total and complete ass to her.
I can feel my face heat just thinking about it. I mean, jealousy is an ugly thing. I know I should try and explain to her why I acted the way I did, but I don’t think she’ll be too happy with the reason.
I arrive for PT a little early because I’m so looking forward to getting things back on the right track with Karly. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since I put the plan into motion yesterday. These last few days where she’s been mad at me have been the worst.
I smile as soon as I see her. “Hey, Karly,” I say in a low voice.
When she’s flat-voiced giving me directives I am still smiling because at least she’s talking to me. As the workout continues, I find out that she pushes much harder than Marven. In addition to making me work hard enough to keep me panting for air, she leaves after delivering her instructions and starts cleaning down the other machines.