Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
And now I’ve made something of myself. Something that my middle-school bully could never dream of becoming.
Of course, that’s not entirely his fault, given what—
I slam on my brakes and my car screeches to a halt.
A young woman is crossing the road in front of me, paying no mind at all to her surroundings.
I roll down the window to chastise her lack of awareness—
Shit. I know her. Dinah Miêu. One of the nurses in my hospital.
“Dinah!” I call out. “You okay?”
She turns around, her face flushed. “Oh, gosh. Dr. O’Rourke! I didn’t realize that was you.”
“Who else would be driving this beauty?” I tap the steering wheel. “You should watch where you’re going, Di.”
She swallows. “Yes. I should. So sorry. I guess the coffee hasn’t quite kicked in yet.”
Poor Dinah. She’s been taking on a lot of extra shifts lately. One of my favorite nurses, Alissa Maravilla, just banked in all the vacation time she’d allotted over the last few years to go on some sort of romantic escape with Maddox. Yes, the same Maddox of Hathaway fame. Still crazy that the two of them met. Talk about worlds colliding.
“No worries,” I say. “Just be careful. I’ll see you upstairs.”
She nods and heads into the building.
I turn the corner and park in the hospital garage catty-corner to the front lobby.
This garage spot is great. I’m often downtown after hours. Sometimes I like to go to the theater, and every so often I snag a ticket to a black-tie gala for some charity I’ve never heard of. And then there are the clubs, Aces Underground chief among them, but there are others as well. They’re great places to pick up women. Flash your medical license and they’re putty in your hands.
I get out of my car, making sure the window is rolled back up and the doors locked. This garage has twenty-four-hour surveillance, but you can never be too careful in the city of Chicago. I walk out onto the street, into the lobby of the hospital, and take the elevator up to my ward.
I cross over to the nurses’ station where Dinah is sitting, drinking what I’m guessing is her third cup of coffee of the day. She looks up and smiles at me. “Dr. O’Rourke. So sorry again for that… I mean… I’ve just been so busy ever since Alissa up and ditched us for her little rendezvous abroad with Maddox.” She sips her coffee. “Do you know when she’ll be back?”
I raise an eyebrow. “I figured you’d know. Aren’t you her best friend?”
She sighs. “I’d like to think I am. But I’ve heard so little from her since she left.” She pulls out her phone. “Just this, a text from nearly a month ago. February the fifteenth. Hey girl, just a heads up that Maddox and I are going on a little trip. Going to be away from the hospital for a while. Lots of love!” She scrolls down. “And then, a week or so ago, after not responding to a dozen messages I sent trying to check in, she said Vacay is going great! Will let you know when I’m heading back.”
I scratch the side of my head. “That’s pretty vague for Alissa.”
Dinah nods. “Right? Like, all of this is so unlike her. Taking off last minute on a trip with a man she’s been dating for, what? Two weeks?”
“It’s unlike Maddox, too. He must really have it bad for this woman to abandon his shop for so long. It’s not like he has paid time off. He’s the boss. So every day he’s not opening the shop, he’s not making any money.”
Dinah sighs. “Yeah, but he has plenty of that Hathaway money.”
I shake my head. “His father disinherited him. Left all his money in a trust, available only to Maddox if he ditches the shop and follows in his father’s political footsteps.”
Dinah widens her eyes. “Then how on earth are they affording to go on a trip for nearly a month? I mean”—she shifts her gaze—“I know what nurses make here. It’s not poverty wages or anything, but a luxurious month in Europe or South America or wherever it is they’ve flown off to…”
I shrug. “Could be they know someone whose place they’re staying at. Then they’d just be responsible for their airfare and incidentals.”
Dinah bites her lip. “So they could just be out of town indefinitely?”
I grab a patient’s chart. “She only has so much vacation time left. I imagine we’ll be hearing from her soon.”
“Or else, what? You’ll fire her?”
I run my hands through my hair. “It won’t come to that. Alissa is a wonderful nurse. She cares so much about the people in this hospital. She’s just having some sort of…liberation moment.”
Dinah crosses her arms. “I don’t know, Doctor. Two of her favorite patients, Carol and Lou, are here. They just went home a week or so ago after their transplants. I’d think Alissa would at least want to check in and see how they’re doing.” She frowns. “This is just so unlike her.”