Amy’s head popped into view, but there was a strain to her smile. “Morning, Lynnette.” Her eyes widened in a more genuine expression as they bounced down to Lynnette’s hands then back up to her face.
Lynnette opted to lean sideways on the desk and prop her elbow up, letting her hands hang against her body. “Morning. What’s new?” She probably needed to work on her tone, too. It wasn’t a good sign if she hadn’t started and she already wanted a nap.
Amy seemed to deflate as she passed over the tablet. “Actually, the nurse manager wants to see you first thing.”
Dread sank like a rock to the depths of Lynnette’s stomach. The one time she’d spoken to the older woman their conversation had been stiff and curt. She’d had the distinct impression the nurse manager wasn’t any more thrilled with her presence than the rest of the unit. Which begged the question of how she’d come to be the arranged temp in the first place, but she wasn’t overly interested in pressing for that answer.
Lynnette straightened and scooped up the tablet. “Awesome. Well, if I’m fired for some unfathomable reason, thank you for being the only friendly person in this unit.”
Amy winced and tried for a smile. “I’m sure you haven’t done anything to be fired for.” Her eyes fell to Lynnette’s hands again. “But, um, are you…?”
“Fine,” Lynnette said. “Wild story, long night. Hopefully I can tell you later.” She offered Amy a finger wave and started down the corridor. She wouldn’t tell her the real story, of course. Butshe’d known she would need to excuse her state somehow, so she had concocted a story of sorts on her way in. That didn’t mean she liked the idea of having to lie to someone she respected.
Del stepped out of Kara’s room before Lynnette could pass by and his eyes mimicked Amy’s as he looked her over. “Holy shit,” he gasped as the door at his back clicked shut. He reared back like he was afraid she might attack him.
Lynnette arched a brow at him before turning her head forward to keep walking. “Staring’s rude. Whatever you’re doing is worse.” She left unsaid that she wasn’t in the mood.
It was another solid minute before she reached the office she needed, by which point another sour thought had taken root in her mind. If shewasabout to be fired—for bullshit reasons that would absolutely have her seeking a lawyer—how would she see Lance again?
That was the last nonsense she should be thinking and she knew it. But the pang in her chest told her the loss would linger. She supposed she might have time to think about that soon.
She tapped carefully on the door and waited for her cue.
“Enter.”
Here we go.Lynnette stepped inside and eased the door shut behind her. She moved up to the front side of the desk but opted not to sit. “I heard you wanted to see me?”
The nurse manager, Gayle, squinted over her thick-rimmed glasses as she raised her head. “Garver,” she greeted, the tone as welcoming as a glacier. She motioned to the pair of thinly padded wood-framed chairs. “Sit. We have something to discuss.” Her gaze lowered and her lips pursed. “Multiple things, it seems.”
Knowing better than to start their interaction off with an argument, Lynnette set the tablet down in one chair and pulled the other a bit more center for more direct eye-contact before lowering herself into it. She made sure to move calmly, didn’tallow herself to wince when she overstretched the arm beneath her upper bandage, and kept her expression neutral. She refused to look guilty when she wasn’t and she refused to give a reason for an overreaction she didn’t deserve.
It shouldn’t have to be like this.It hadn’t always. But things had changed.
Gayle folded her arms on the desk. “I’ll be frank. Doctor Bishop came to me yesterday with a very disturbing accusation.”
Lynnette’s hackles rose but she bit her tongue to keep from interrupting.
“He said you cornered him in a vacant room, then started talking like you were recording with your tablet and accusing him of assaulting you. Of course, I asked if he’d touched you, and how that made sense when a camera would show as much. He said you’d put the camera onselfiemode and were holding it low, as if you hadn’t been able to raise it properly. He assured me he exited the scene swiftly and only words were actually exchanged, but I must say, Garver, that sort of behavior is intolerable.”
Her jaw ached by the time Gayle finished trying to filet her with a false blade. “Did anyone try looking for that video?”
Gayle’s eyes narrowed. “Of course. Bishop and I went through the nurse’s tablets together, even swapping out with the ones in use. There was no video to find.”
That hardened ball of dread ripped through her stomach to crash between her feet and Lynnette was sure she’d gone pale.That bastard!He must have found it first and deleted it. That was the only explanation. Or … had she been so rattled she’d hit the wrong button? She’d never checked her email.Shit. Fuck.
Lynnette swallowed hard and moved to wring her fists together on reflex, but pain jolted with the movement, reminding her of the other problem. She pushed out a shaky breath and willed herself to stabilize. “Ma’am,” she said, fightingto keep her tone civil. She knew her information didn’t hold the details and she was damn sure Bishop had spun a different tale. “I have no idea what all Gavin Bishop—”
“DoctorBishop,” Gayle said sharply.
Lynnette hardened her tone. “You want to be frank? I’ll be frank as well, then. It’s incredibly short-sighted and narrow-minded of you to come at me with the presumption of guilt based ononestory. I’m sure you’ve looked over my file. I’m sure you’ve seen that the CMO has directed neither Bishop nor I are supposed to be working together, and that there is no end date to that order. Yet you blindly took Bishop’s side without considering he might have an ulterior motive? You sit me down to treat me like a criminal?”
“You stepped into my office looking like one,” Gayle snapped, cutting a glare to Lynnette’s hands. “Why should I treat you any differently?”
“Wow. I guess when I do file my lawsuit, I’ll include your name, then.”
That got Gayle’s overplucked eyebrows leaping up her forehead. “I beg your damn pardon?”
Lynnette held up a hand and ticked off fingers. “One, Gavin Bishop twisted the truth when he came to you in an effort to get out from under the problemhecaused by luringmeinto that empty room. Two, he did, in fact, put his hand on me. He was careful not to leave a mark, but I had raised the tablet between us, so I turned on the camera. I have no idea what happened to the video if it’s disappeared—I can only guess he found and destroyed it. Because I got him on camera threatening me audibly and visually too in my space to argue he wasn’t violating the distance order.” She drew a short breath as Gayle’s eyes widened, but Lynnette wasn’t done.
