Finally getting to interesting parts
Hope you're still enjoying this.. there is still plenty to go.
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"So I heard Deb got wi' Liam," Nancy muttered, taking a loud gulp from her bright green dotted coffee mug.
"Yeah, saw them at the Italian place down the road," Lisa added, smirking at her sneaky knowledge. "Real cheesy they were, Liam kissing her hands an' that."
Charlotte stayed quiet, simply listening to the nurses natter on but adding nothing to the discussion herself. She watched the clock waiting for a text from Rhett, saying when he would be arriving to talk about this 'news'.
"Honestly they are the mos' cringeworthy couple, but apparently they are happy," Nancy went on, now moving forwards to grab a cookie from the table they were all sat around. There was seven surrounding in total, each texting, eating, and managing to cross into each other's conversations without losing track at once. Charlotte often wondered how they managed to understand what on earth was going on whilst they simultaneously watched watched Snapchat stories, and threw down a bit too much coffee than needed. Charlotte just liked to have a quick pause from the stressful rounds she had to do.
"So what's new with you, Char," Lisa looked over at Charlotte, who was a little shocked by the many pairs of eyes now staring in her direction.
"Oh, the usual," she said. Small talk was her worst fear and sometimes those ladies could get so mind-numbing she would have to leave her break early to gain back some missing brain cells.
"Have ya still got that patient in.. what's the room.. 403 or somethin'?" another chimed in from the back.
"Uh, yeah I do. He's in therapy right now so I don't see him as often," answered Charlotte. Suddenly thinking about Link, she had a weird feeling something was going on five floors above her. She didn't know what, but something made her feel very peculiar as soon as she was asked about that room. As far as she knew Rhett wasn't there yet, but he didn't know that she wasn't on Link's floor, or in his room. Charlotte pushed her curls behind her ears as everyone lost interest in her thrilling answers, as she began to worry.
"I got one woman on my rota," Lisa began bringing the attention back to herself. "Insane she is, pressin' her button every two minutes wanting this an' that, ridiculous it is." All the nurses nodded in agreement, taking more cookies, sips of coffee and laughing along at inside jokes. They liked having their small get-togethers, even though they were short and most had to leave early.
The longer Charlotte sat, the more uncomfortable she became. She didn't want to be rude and leave the girls as they only managed to get together for fifteen minutes per day, but there was nothing more she wanted than to bolt up the many levels to get to Link's room. She assumed Scott was still there checking on him, and maybe even Rhett was there waiting for her, but even that wasn't reassuring enough. Charlotte always was a bit closer to Link than her other patients, as he was assigned to her as soon as he arrived. Even though Link wasn't very trusting in anyone at all (other than Rhett, she thought) he let her take blood tests and other things he usually wouldn't let anyone else do. This made Charlotte really appreciate her job she worked hard to get in college.
Quickly, she turned to her closest work friend she had, and whispered into her ear.
"Jenna, I'm gonna go and check on Charles," her voice was a bit shaky but she got the words out fine. Jenna looked at her and smiled, returning to the others. Charlotte placed her mug down and stood up, failing to leave without anyone noticing.
"Charlie, honey, where you going?" Nancy asked, with an over exaggerated frown. Charlotte hated that nickname for her, but the girls had a long habit of using it anyway. In her opinion it didn't suit her, but there was no way to change their minds to not use it.
"I'm going to start my rounds early, I'll catch up if I can later," she sweetly smiled, waving to everyone and leaving out the glass sliding door. Nobody took a second thought and returned back to Lisa, who was now talking about her recent holiday to Manila, and how she was 'ambushed and attacked' by a pack of seagulls. Nonsense in Charlotte's opinion, as she had heard that story from her almost twenty times before.
After getting out the staff lounge, she rushed up five floors, using the elevator for three and the main stairs for two. Charlotte had no idea what she was going to find, but she was hoping Link would just be lying in bed with Scott checking on him, just like he should. And maybe Rhett there too.
As she approached the main desk for Link's floor, out of the corner of her eye she saw a tall man carrying 'something' out the fire escape, right outside Link's door. It was impossible to tell who it was, or what they were carrying, but it was obvious they were holding something important by the cautious but quick way they were moving. At that moment Charlotte's mind went straight to Rhett, but she dismissed that idea immediately as there was no reason for him to be leaving out the fire escape. It was way too unlikely she did know them. It was probably a builder, electrician, or window cleaner carrying equipment. Nobody important.
Taking her aback, Charlotte felt a small poke on her shoulder as she stared down the corridor of where the tall guy once was. She spun around to see Layla, a very petite nurse with smooth red tied-back hair and a concerned look on her tanned face.
"Um, Charlotte, someone was running around frantically calling for you."
