Journey (3)

Chapter 28

i know it won't work- gracie abrams 

I have been trying to avoid Connor for the rest of my shift, although it has proven to be difficult. For some bizarre reason, we kept finding ourselves in the same place at the same time, and I would wait for him to say something, perhaps in the form of an apology, and each time, Connor would not say a word. 

Fortunately, I haven't seen him for a while, and my shift is almost over. This day feels as though it has been almost never-ending. Just as I am stopping for a moment to think, Maggie walks over to me, briskly.

"Tessa, there you are," she says, authoritatively. Maggie looks serious, for some reason. "You need to go up to Sharon's office, right now. She wants to see you." Maggie's tone indicates that this is important, so I stand up slightly straighter. Why would Sharon Goodwin want to call me into her office?

"Why?" I ask Maggie, nervously. "What is it about? Did she say anything?" I don't want to walk in to the office and be unprepared, but Maggie just gives me a blank expression.

Maggie shrugs. "She didn't tell me anything else about it. Only that you need to go up to her office right now, and that it is important." Maggie pauses. "She sounded serious, Tessa. You might want to get yourself up there, quickly."

I nod. The last thing that I want right now, is to get on Sharon's bad side. This day has already completely blown up in my face. I don't want this to go wrong for me as well. "I'll go up there right now," I announce. "Thank you for telling me, Maggie."

I walk towards the elevator, pushing the button forcefully so that it will arrive quicker. It doesn't seem to have any effect. Finally, the elevator arrives, and I am able to take it up to Sharon Goodwin's office. I still don't have a clue what, or who could be waiting for me up there. 

I open the door to the office, slowly and cautiously. The first person that I see is Ms Goodwin, standing behind her desk. As I enter the office, I see Connor, his arms folded, looking straight at me with an expression of anger. 

As soon as I see Connor standing there, my stomach twists. Is he somehow involved in this? What did he do?

I walk over to Ms Goodwin's desk, and then instantly turn to face Connor. "Did you-?" I ask him. "What did you do?"

Before Connor can respond to me, Ms Goodwin cuts in, smoothly. "He didn't do anything," she explains. "I called this meeting between the two of you, because I firmly believe that there is an issue that needs addressing, one that directly involves the two of you." Ms Goodwin looks from Connor, to me. 

"What is it?" Connor asks. He seems confused about this whole situation, and I am, too. "Ms Goodwin, I have patients to see." Connor sighs impatiently, suggesting to me that he definitely does not want to be in this office right now.

"I know, but this is important," Ms Goodwin continues, firmly. "It has come to my attention, that the two of you have been engaging in some sort of...rivalry with each other? I don't need to know the complications of your history, just that it is affecting the work being done in this hospital. I've heard about the two of you yelling at each other, slamming doors, storming off, and more. You have to understand that this is not acceptable, so I have come to find the root cause of the problem. What's the solution? Do I need to put the two of you on separate shift, forbid you from speaking to each other? What is the answer here?" Ms Goodwin asks us, speaking as though she is in disbelief.

I am the first one to speak. "Ms Goodwin, I am so, so sorry," I start. It seems like the best way to begin this. "I didn't realise that this was all having such an effect on everyone around us in the hospital." As I say this, Connor scoffs, a small sound that makes me want to snap back at him. "None of this would be happening if you didn't have such a problem with me," I hiss.