“No, I swapped the shift. My mom’s birthday is this weekend.” And she couldn’t miss that for the second year in a row. Besides, she was long overdue for a personal visit and talk.
“The patients will miss you, but your mom should come first.” Kayla crunched the sterile wrap into a big ball and stuffed it into the trash. “What did Watts mean, you stole his patient?”
Jess shrugged. She honestly had no idea. She saw hundreds of patients each month and didn’t need to search for more.
Before she could answer, Scott joined them, twirling his face mask in his hand. “We didn’t steal him; he didn’t want surgery. Really. Sheila said so.”
“What? Who didn’t want surgery?” Jess frowned. “And who the fuck is Sheila?”
“Um, Sheila is my girlfriend. She’s a nurse on the cardiac surgery floor.” Scott beamed at the mention of her name. “I guess Dr. Watts meant our last patient. He was scheduled for coronary surgery, but he was afraid. His son and the surgeons pressured him, and Sheila asked me to take a look at him. And I talked to him, and…” He trailed off as if he only now noticed the twin sets of glares on him.
“You mean, you really did poach on the surgery floor, and now Dr. Watts is blaming Jess?” Kayla’s voice hardened, and she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Hey, I was right. Everything went well. No harm, no foul.” Scott tried his best boyish grin.
That didn’t help his case at all. Jess clenched her fists and fought the urge to yell. “Yes, everything went well. But you don’t have a fucking clue what you did. You lied to me. You not only kept the backstory from me but told me an outright lie—that the cardiac surgeons had referred his case to us.”
“But I just wanted—”
Jess held up her hand. She wasn’t in the mood for whiny, entitled arguments. “No. I don’t want to hear any of your shit. You think about what you’ve done and apologize to Dr. Watts.” She held his gaze until he looked down.
Jess was about to turn on her heels and leave as a wave of nausea rolled through her. Oh, fuck! Not now. She tore off the vest and the restricting skirt of her lead apron and flung them on the stool in the corner, but even that didn’t help.
As if chased by a bear, she sprinted to the bathroom. Jess made it in time to lose her breakfast as well as her dignity.
After retching for what felt like hours, she knelt on the cold tiles and tried to muster the energy to get back up again.
“Jess?” Kayla’s voice came from outside the stall. “Are you okay?”
“Just a minute.” Jess rose on weak knees and flushed. She wanted to pinch her cheeks for some color and straighten her hair, but she needed to wash her hands first. Ugh. Jess shook herself. Without intention, she had clutched the yucky toilet seat like a lifebelt.
Jess squared her shoulders, opened the stall, and brushed past Kayla to the sink. She washed her hands twice and disinfected them, then rinsed out her mouth. The tap water tasted horrible, but it was cool and fresh. Finally, she finger-combed her short hair and risked a glance in the mirror. Yup, she looked like death warmed over, and no amount of cold water could help her there.
Kayla’s concerned gaze met her in the mirror. Her skin seemed even darker than usual next to Jess’s unnatural paleness.
With a sigh, Jess faced her and leaned against the sink. “I’m fine.”
“Nuh-uh.” Kayla lifted the edge of her mouth in a half smile. “Didn’t you just lecture your puppy about telling lies?”
Jess grinned against her will. “He’s not my puppy. I only took him for a walk today.”
“Not the point. What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Her gaze raked Jess from head to toe. “Did the asshole surgeon and his comments get to you?”
She could say yes and leave it at that. But Kayla was one of the few friends she had at work, and she was right. Telling lies was out of the question. But Jess hadn’t told the truth to anyone yet, not even her mom, and wasn’t sure she was ready.
“If you were anyone else, I’d ask if you were pregnant. But I guess not.” Kayla chuckled. “You’re still a lesbian, right?”
“Yeah, the last time I checked. But that’s got nothing to do with it.” The words slipped out before Jess could censor herself. Oops. She held her breath, waiting for Kayla’s reaction.
“No! Are you…? You can’t be…” Kayla’s eyes widened as her gaze swept over Jess’s sweat-soaked scrub shirt that clung to her torso and revealed more curves than usual. “You’re pregnant? How? No—scratch that. Why? Was it planned?” She pressed both hands to her mouth but couldn’t hide the wide grin.
“Yeah. Thirteen weeks pregnant. I’m due in July.” Saying it out loud was like coming out again. The weight lifting from her shoulders made her dizzy. “I thought it was past time. I turned thirty-seven last month. If I waited for the perfect relationship, I’d be too old.” At least that was the reason she was willing to admit to right now.
“Congratulations!” Kayla enveloped her in a hug.
“Thank you.” Jess soaked up the happiness emanating from her friend. All too soon, reality intruded, and Jess looked at Kayla. “Please don’t tell anyone yet.”
“Sure. I won’t gossip. But sooner or later everyone will know.” Kayla gestured to Jess’s middle.
Jess sighed. “Yeah, but you know the cath lab policy: no lab time for pregnant employees. The studies and recommendations all say it’s safe, but the chief of cardiology doesn’t care about that.”
“My lips are sealed.” Kayla made a zipping motion. “But you better hope Scott isn’t too clever and connects the dots. You looked really green.”
Jess slumped back against the sink. Time was running out, but she was determined to make the best use of her skills for as long
