Journey (3)

Chapter 30

my tears ricochet- taylor swift 

"Then he said that we have nothing left," I explain to Maggie, as we are walking across the ED. I am describing the last conversation that I had with Connor, the conversation that ended on a bad note. 

"Wow," Maggie says, nodding. "I see. That's a lot." She looks as though she doesn't quite know how to respond. "But you know how he is, right?" she begins. "Honestly, he probably didn't think before he said it."

I shrug. "I guess. But he meant it, and that's what I'm bothered about." I sigh. "He may not have intended to say it, but he definitely meant it. There's no doubt about that."

Maggie is just about to respond to me, when our conversation is stopped. Dr Lanik emerges from behind us, his arms folded disapprovingly. "Maggie, Tessa. What are you doing?" he asks us, expectantly.

"We were heading upstairs to the ICU," Maggie explains, smoothly. Dr Lanik doesn't look satisfied with her answer.

"Really?" he asks us. "It sounded a lot like the two of you were gossiping." Dr Lanik looks over at me. "Trouble in paradise, Tessa?" he asks, with a hint of sarcasm.

I roll my eyes. "Don't start this," I tell him. The last thing that I want to do is get in between this pathetic rivalry between him and Connor. I know for a fact that this is only adding fuel to the fire. 

"Forgive me for asking," Dr Lanik says, still with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Anyway, I  don't care what your cover story is, you were clearly taking a little break to...gossip." He folds his arms again. "Look around you. Look at all those treatment rooms, all those patients. Get busy."

Maggie nods. "Okay, okay, we've got the message. We're going." She looks around, her gaze settling on one of the farthest treatment rooms. "I think I should go and check on the patient in there."

"Perfect," Dr Lanik says, interjecting. He turns back to me, once again. "And what about you, Tessa?" he asks, as Maggie starts to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"I have a patient that is just coming back from Radiology," I explain. "I'll probably go in there and check on him." 

Dr Lanik nods approvingly. "Great," he says. "Just remember that you can gossip in your own time. You're on my time now, Tessa, and you have patients to see." He says this as a joke, but the tone is serious. 

I take that as a hint and start to walk across to the treatment room that my patient will be coming back to any second now. 

Within a few minutes, my patient returns, and I am able to check in with him. I notice Dr Lanik walking past the treatment room several times, but luckily for me, he doesn't stop to look in. 

Once I am done with my patient, and just waiting for the scans from Radiology to come back, I meet Natalie at the nurses' station. She smiles, as I walk up to stand next to her.

"I haven't seen you all morning," she says, greeting me. "It looks like we've both been busy." She shrugs. "I'm just getting the forms so that my patient can be discharged. What about you? How is is going?"

"It's okay," I tell her, nodding. "I have a patient that probably still needs to go for a few more scans, but otherwise, it should be fine. I don't think I'm too busy."

Natalie nods. "And what about Connor?" she asks me, cautiously addressing what I told her yesterday. "Have you spoken to him? Has anything happened with that?"

"No," I tell her, shaking my head. The last thing I want to do right now is talk to Connor. "I haven't spoken to him today, and I'm relieved. I don't want to."