With his head spinning, Francis tried to make sense of what he was hearing. “Sexual harassment? That’s what he’s going with?”
“It would seem so. He doesn’t have any proof, of course, just his word against yours. So I have to ask you this, Nurse Archer: Did you touch Mr. Walker inappropriately?” Talia’s voice was pure steel, yet Francis still knew that she didn’t believe Josh’s claims.
Francis summoned every bit of confidence he had left. “No, I did not. Not today and never before,” he replied. He was telling the truth. He had nothing to hide.
“All right. I believe you. I never doubted you in the first place, but you know, on the record and all that.” She gestured with her hand. “I’m just trying to figure out what to do here. You know we have to take these kinds of allegations very seriously.”
“Yeah, absolutely. Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed?”
“Well, I know he won’t go to Mitchell with this, because he knows he doesn’t have proof.” Harrison Mitchell was the Big Boss of Lakeview Maternity, and he was a hardass who took no prisoners. Josh would be committing a career suicide if he went to Mitchell without definite proof.
“Right. It’s Thanksgiving next week,” Francis mused out loud. “Could I take some of my vacation days now? I don’t think I could work with him around….” The mere thought of having Josh do his orderly duties while Francis took care of patients was horrible to him.
“Of course. That works for me. I’ll juggle the others around. I know at least Melissa was thinking about taking extra shifts, so I’m sure she’ll take yours gladly.” Talia clicked something on her computer and nodded. “I think I can postpone this mess until after Thanksgiving. We have family coming over to celebrate with us, and the first ones will arrive on Monday. I can definitely tell Josh that this needs to wait until the Monday after Thanksgiving.” She looked at him. “Can you figure out your end of it, what you want to do, before that?”
Francis sighed. “I have to. I….Fuck. This seems so unfair. I’ve been here for five years now. He’s been around for, what, a little over a year? I’m a good employee. I’m liked. Talia, I don’t know what to do if—”
“Hey, Francis, look at me,” she commanded, and he did. “Nothing is concrete yet. If I have to let you go to keep this off your record, I will. As much as we love you here, I can’t have this on your record, you know that, right?”
“Yeah….”
“So this is why I need time to think. Whyyouneed time to think. Come back at midday on Monday, and we’ll have a proper meeting.”
“With Josh there?”
“Yes. I know it sounds like a daunting thing to do right now, but once you both have enough time to cool off, we’ll figure it out then.”
“Okay.” Francis huffed out a breath as he got to his feet and put the glass on the table. “Okay. Happy Thanksgiving, I guess?”
“Happy Thanksgiving. And don’t let this break your spirit. One way or another, we’ll figure this out.”
“Thank you.”
With that, he left the office, hoping he wouldn’t bump into Josh, or anyone else, before he reached the locker room, changed into his street clothes, and made it to his car.
* * * *
Francis got to his apartment without having to talk to anyone. The gossip would spread quickly, especially because one of the other nurses had seen him leave in the middle of the workday.
It was Thursday, and not even midday yet. Panic clawed at him when he closed the door. He didn’t want to stay in town. He needed to go somewhere, anywhere, to get away. Thank goodness he didn’t have any Thanksgiving plans for next week.
Working on autopilot, he started to pack a bag. It took him maybe thirty minutes to be ready to go, but he still wasn’t surewherehe was going. By the time he was filling up his tank at his usual gas station, he realized there wasn’t anywhere else to go but to his best friend, Padraig.
He should call ahead, but he wasn’t sure if he’d make it to Wisconsin anyway. He might change his mind halfway there and just turn back toward New Jersey.
Something settled inside him, and he began the drive he hadn’t taken for a few years now. To distract himself from thinking about the current situation, he thought about Padraig, and he thought about Marcus too.
* * * *
When they were kids, Marcus had been his best friend. They’d run wild around their Edison, New Jersey, neighborhood like kids still had in the seventies. They were pretty much inseparable, Marcus and him, to a point that when Francis had figured out he might like boys when he was ten, he’d told Marcus first.
Francis had been terrified. Marcus came from a more religious home than he did, so they already knew that being gay was bad and evil. But Marcus, well, Marcus had held him close that night and told him he’d never, ever let anyone hurt Francis, even if he was gay. He also told Francis that they were still kids, that they might change their minds when they got older. That was when Francis knew Marcus liked boys too.
It wasn’t until they were thirteen and snuck into a movie theater to watchOnce Upon a Time in Americathat Francis realized he had a crush on Robert DeNiro, and that was partially because his best friend Marcus looked a lot like the actor.
It didn’t take Francis long to know that he’d fallen in love with his determined, kind, courageous best friend. The worst thing was, he couldn’t tell Marcus. Not when Marcus went home to his bible-thumping parents. Not when he’d whispered to Francis one night that he thought an older boy in their neighborhood, Jamal, was so cool and handsome. Especially not when Marcus had gotten his heart broken when his dad saw him talking to Jamal one day and forbade him from talking to“any niggers.”
Francis didn’t want to risk his own heart, but he really,reallycouldn’t risk Marcus’s.
