trash cart and go to clean out my locker. I toss things in, one by one, until it’s empty. Then I turn to leave the room, my box of belongings hitched under my arm.
Suddenly, the door bursts open, and a loud voice booms out, “That bitch better not think she can just stay here and that the rest of us will just accept what she did to you!” My friend and fellow nurse Camille rushes at me and grabs me in an embrace I can barely accept. She hugs me tightly, and then stands back so she can look into my face, her hands on my upper arms as she holds me tight. “Are you okay?”
“Did you know?” I ask. I watch her face, because I feel like I’ll know if she’s lying.
She shakes her head. “If I had known, I would have told you, right after I let the air out of her tires.” Her face tenses. “But a lot of people did know,” she says quietly. “I only found out today.”
“She’s pregnant,” I say blandly, but I blink back tears that are threatening to fall.
“I heard,” she spits out. “That backstabbing bitch. If she wasn’t pregnant, I’d kick her right in the cooch.” She mimes a karate kick, her shoe flying through air. “Whoops,” she says as she goes and retrieves it. She looks toward my box. “Wait… What are you doing?” She looks from the box to my empty locker and back. “Why do you have your things?” She points toward the locker. “Put your things back. Don’t you dare let her run you off!”
“They terminated my contract.”
She jerks her thumb toward the reception area down the hall. “They terminated your contract because that backstabbing acquaintance of yours fucked your husband?” She shudders dramatically. “I can’t figure out why either of you wanted to ever fuck Charles, but to each his own.”
“They said they wanted to avoid problems,” I explain.
“Then they should have fired her lying, cheating ass,” she rails on.
I shake my head. “It’s okay, really. I can find another job.”
She huffs. “I’ll go give them a piece of my mind.”
One good thing about Camille is that she’s loyal. One bad thing about Camille is that she’s loyal. To a fault. I catch her arm as she spins to leave, presumably to go give the boss a piece of her mind. “Don’t,” I say. “Don’t mess anything up for yourself.” I force myself to smile. “I’m going to be okay. This is all going to work out.” I don’t know if I’m trying to convince her or to convince myself. Either way, I’m failing, because I’m not at all sure everything is going to work out.
“So what are you going to do?” She stares at me.
I have no idea what I’m going to do. “I’ll start looking for a job. No big deal.”
“You know most of the hospitals in this area have a hiring freeze right now.” Which is why I have been a temporary, floating nurse for so long.
“It’s all going to be okay,” I say again, but I have a feeling deep inside that it’s not. “It’ll all work out. I don’t want to stay where I’m not wanted.”
“I want you,” she says, and her eyes fill up with tears.
I point my finger at her as mine fill up too. “If you make me cry, I’m going to kill you.”
She waves her hand in front of her face. “Sorry! Whew!” She breathes out. “That was close.” She continues to wave air into her face until she pulls herself together. “For what it’s worth, you’re a better nurse than she is.”
“That’s not hard to be,” I toss back snidely. Sandra is lazy and thinks she’s entitled. But she’s also well-liked by most of the nurses, who overlook her flaws because she ingratiates herself to them in other ways, like covering their shifts and bringing surprise lunches on hard days. “I thought we were friends.” I’d taken Sandra home with me for a backyard brunch, and after that initial bonding, we’d spent many evenings in large groups sitting around the backyard fire pit. “I guess we weren’t as close as I thought.”
The door to the lounge opens and I find two security guards standing there. Mrs. House sent security guards? “Hi, John,” I say. “Michael.” I recognize them both from the front desk and I know them by name. “Are you here for me?”
“I’m afraid so,” Michael says. He winks at me. “We’re going to give