Then suddenly, as if I’m struck by lightning, my eyes meet the new nurse and my feet are cemented to the floor.
Well, I’ll be damned.
Kindra Mason.
4
Kindra
“And this is our chief. This is Dr. Quinn.” A kind resident introduces, motioning behind me.
I whirl around and hold my breath as I prepare myself to come face to face with my old love.
My Rogan.
Our eyes meet and I can see the shock on his face.
After a moment where it seems as if he forgets where he is, he shakes his head.
“Nice to meet you,” he steps forward and offers me his hand. “And you are?” he asks.
My smile changes and suddenly I’m feeling like someone punched me in the stomach. I know that he recognizes me, but the fact that he’s playing it off as if we’ve never met, hurts.
“Nurse Mason, Kindra Mason.” I say, all eyes are on us.
“Nice to meet you. There are charts at the station that you can get briefed on by one resident, and then I suspect that you will be on shift all night?”
“Yes, sir.” I nod.
“Very well. I need to do rounds. Jackson, you’re with me.” He looks around me and motions for someone beside me to follow him.
Just like that, my emotions come to the front and all the hope that I had is gone.
What was I expecting? I should have known after how I left the reception I would get wouldn’t have been the best.
Only I wasn’t expecting the full cold shoulder and that he would pretend to not know me.
The years have been good to him. He fills out the scrubs very nicely. His features are chiseled, blue eyes which were once generally glazed by the smoke are clear and bright blue as the sky, and his once shoulder length bleached blonde hair is now styled short. He looks even better than he did back in high school. I didn’t see a wedding ring, but a man that good looking can’t be single.
I shouldn’t have left all those years ago. I shouldn’t have turned my back on him or what we had.
I swallow my pity and shake my head. I need to focus.
I did as he said and reviewed the charts of the beds in the ER. The ER doors slide open and shut many times through the night, and I work side by side on half of the beds with Rogan and his residents.
We don’t do small talk. We work and then we chart.
He has been cold and has barely looked at me, unless it was to instruct me to do something. And I didn’t give up. I stayed persistent with being in his space, remained on his heel, and made sure that my presence was known.
Which I could see he noticed by the ticking in his jaw whenever I approached. There is a nurse shortage in this hospital and he needs me, whether or not he likes it. The other nurses that work here are exhausted and I’m here now to make everyone’s lives easier.
At the end of my shift, both Rogan and I step out of the hospital doors at the same time.
“How have you been?” I ask which stops him.
“I want to be clear. I don’t know what you’re doing back here. But you can’t be. I’m not the same man that you knew, and I’m certainly not interested in who you’ve become.” He shoves his hands in his jacket pockets.
“Rogan?”
“No.” He puts his hand up to stop me. “We’re not doing this. You had your chance, you lost it. We work together, nothing else. Nothing more.” He walks past me.
“Ro!” I call out.
He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t even acknowledge me any further.
“He looked right through me. Not at me, not around me, but as if I didn’t even exist.” I say into the receiver. “I was like a ghost to him.”
“What did you expect? Him to welcome you back with open arms and to push you up against the wall? I think it will take a little more than your mere presence for him to want to do that,” Cass tells me.
“I know, I know. I was just hoping that even though I fucked up for leaving without a word or any explanations that he would at least—”
“He has every right to be pissed and you know that.”
I take a deep breath. I know that what she’s saying is true. I shouldn’t even think differently. But a girl can always hope.
“This is the last straw, and you plucked it right out of the bale,” my father scolds pointing his long-wrinkled finger at me from the hospital room doorway. “You’ve continued to be a disgrace to our family name, and this just tops it. We will not be able to rebound from this. You are so reckless and I’m sick of it!”
“But dad!” I protest, attempting to move, but my stomach cramps.
“No! I’m not listening to any more of your excuses! As we speak, your belongings are being placed in your car at the house and you will no longer be living under our roof.”
“Daddy! It wasn’t my fault! There was another driver, they hit us!” I retort.
“You were high, Kindra. Your judgement was impaired, and you know damn well that excuse is bullshit. You also know that you were on one last chance with us.”
“This isn’t fair, I made a mistake!”
“You’ve made a lot of those, but this time, this time, you made a pretty monumental mistake. This mistake affects more than you. I will not deal with hiding this secret of yours. You’re out of here, as if you just moved out of town. You need to re-evaluate your life a little and get your shit together. Maybe this all is just a sign.” He shakes his head.
“But where will I go?” I cry.
“That’s no longer my worry.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You’re eighteen now, and it’s what we’ve been telling you for a while now. You’re on your own. You are
