Chapter Nine
Theo
It’s going to take more than a fresh pair of hospital-issue scrubs to get me ready for my first all-night shift in the ER. I have to keep my eye on the prize. Each shift gets me a few dollars closer to my goal. Maybe when my three-year fellowship is up, I’ll have enough cash saved to take that Doctors Without Borders trip. I hope I can survive that long.
I’m going to need as much caffeine as possible in my bloodstream to make it through the night. That and a Foley catheter because I’ll have to pee every thirty minutes. I fumble my way to the cafeteria and grab the largest cup I can find. If they had one of those sixty-four-ounce bladder-buster cups, I would get it. Clutching my diabetic kit under my arm, I fill the cup to the brim and survey the room to see if anyone’s watching before I try to slurp down the coffee without scalding my tongue.
Gag. It tastes like coffee I would find in a truck stop. It’s awful, but it does the trick even before I douse it with all kinds of unhealthy additives. I refill my cup before I schlep to the cashier. Wow. I’m such a rebel, living on the edge. I’m so tired, I don’t really care if I get arrested for topping off my coffee.
As I slip the lid on my cup, Isaac from the fitness center appears. He looks at me and clucks his tongue as he cocks his head to the side. I’ve been busted by the health police. But I could get him in just as much trouble with that bear claw pastry and large coffee he’s carrying. So my only offense is that I plan to pay for a large coffee when I should be paying for an IV bolus supply.
Isaac gets in line to pay, and I stand right behind him. He turns and wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Interesting couple of days, huh?”
“You could say that. You’re here late.”
“Yeah, had a lot of paperwork to do from the orientation session yesterday, especially since Darla hightailed it out of there after y’all’s meet and greet.”
I must have really made her mad, but I don’t know why.
“Hey, Janie,” Isaac says to the cashier.
She holds her hands out. “Now, Isaac, I know I’ve said it before, but I’m going to get to the fitness center. I promise.”
He smiles at her. “Sure you will.”
“You know everyone, don’t you?” I ask him.
“Pretty much. It’s part of my job. Hey, Janie, I’ve got his too.” He pays for our coffees.
“Thanks. So… you know Darla very well?” It spills out before I know what I’m saying, but maybe he’ll know what I did wrong. Beating around the bush has never gotten me anywhere. Hence the reason Mallory still thinks we’re going to get back together.
Isaac motions for me to follow him to a table in the far corner of the cafeteria. I sit across from him and sprinkle sugar substitute into my coffee.
“I’ve known Darla since we were kids, but not like you know her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
I crack a grin.
He cackles with laughter. “What do you want to know?”
I glance around the cafeteria before blowing on my coffee. “She didn’t seem too happy to see me. That’s for sure.”
Isaac shrugs. He waves at the man cleaning a nearby table. “She doesn’t tell me everything. Some things are locked up tight in that pretty head of hers. Darla and her older sister, Diane, were my neighbors growing up. I even dated Diane briefly, but obviously that was a disaster,” he singsongs.
I can’t help but like this guy. He’s so friendly and genuine. I’m glad Darla has a friend like him in her life. If I didn’t have my brother and sisters, I don’t know what I would do.
Isaac’s happy expression fades. “I don’t know anything, but I have never seen her get this messed up over anyone before. I sense there was something special there. Maybe still is.”
I knew it. She feels it too. Sweet.
He leans in and whispers, “Don’t say I said this, but I think she really likes you. She might be afraid.”
“Of what? Have you looked at me? I’m not very scary. She could probably take me in a fight. What could she possibly be afraid of?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s you popping back into her life, or maybe it’s something buried deep that no one knows.” He rakes his teeth over his bottom lip. “Heck if I know. Damn, she’s goofy as hell, but she’s golden and about the finest person I know.”
I lean back and close my eyes. If I sit here too long, I’ll fall asleep. “I recently got out of a toxic long-term relationship, one that would have never happened in the first place if I’d had only a few more minutes with Darla. You have no idea how much I’ve thought about her over the years.”
He chomps down on his bear claw and gulps down a swallow of coffee. “Be honest with me. Do you want to pick up where you left off?”
“Yes!” I guess I said that with a little bit too much enthusiasm. Several families at nearby tables swivel their heads in our direction. “But she does seem fragile… not to mention mad at me for something. I don’t want to scare her off. Yep. I should approach this really slowly.”
“But not too slowly.” He snaps his fingers. “Her office is in the fitness center. Stop by and let her get used to you. You can find time to work out, can’t you?”
“Are you a walking advertisement?”
He shrugs. “And if you need Uncle Isaac or the Fairy Godmother to knock some sense into her, we can do that.”
A warm feeling runs through my veins, and it’s not the caffeine. I think back to the one night Darla and I had together. I was ready to have her meet my family; I was certain that she was the one for me. “No, I think I can handle this one on my own.”
We fist-bump.
“I’m sure you can.”
Not that I needed one more item on my schedule, but working out is for a good cause. I have to get another dose of the Darla drug soon, or I’ll go through withdrawals again.