He could definitely provide the support she might need in that situation.
Chapter eleven
Downward Spiral
The idea of Lancebeing released so suddenly depressed Lynnette more than she was comfortable admitting to herself. On any other day, that would have been her biggest problem. Part of her wished it was.
She’d walked with him through the assigned lap, watching him closely while he prattled on about something that was probably only half true. She watched the way he held onto the IV stand as he was instructed, and the way he carefully applied a portion of weight to his injured leg with each step. She watched him for signs of disguised discomfort, signs of distress, signs of muscle fatigue—all the usual things a stubborn and determined patient might try to power through. And while he didn’t put an equal balance of weight on both legs, the truth was they didn’t walk at a snail’s pace, either. He hadn’t hopped, limped egregiously, or needed even one break.
As impossible as it seemed, she understood Doctor Garland’s thought process. Somehow, he was already healed enough tomanage the rest from the comfort of … well, in his case, anywhere else. Within reason.
Hospitals were notoriously slow with release paperwork, but as Doctor Garland had set up parameters ahead of time, Lynnette was able to get that ball rolling once Lance was resettled. Despite the odd, sharp pain in her chest. He’d be there for a few more hours still, so she’d promised to return with lunch and headed off to resume her circuit.
She hadn’t expected to nearly bump into Claire outside the next patient’s room. Claire, who was supposed to be off that day.
Claire curled her lips as if she were looking at some diseased creature and moved to the side. “Stay out of my way, Amazon.”
“Seriously?” How was that even supposed to be an insult?
Claire lifted her chin and started walking off. “Don’t talk to me or I’ll report you,” she said in a taunting sing-song tone.
Lynnette ground her teeth, flipped to the notepad she’d stuck beneath the patient reports on her damnable clipboard, and started a fresh page. She spotted the nearest clock, jotted down the time, and scribbled a quick note of the exchange.
Handwritten notes weren’t going to mean shit to anyone, but it made her feel better to keep them given the current state of everything.
With that done, she attempted to resume her normal duties and crossed her fingers for some good luck. Or even just some neutral luck.
She popped in on a new arrival, spoke to the spouse who was sitting with him, then slipped out and made her way to her least favorite and longest-term patient. The creepy, perverted old man. She debated, as she reached his door, whether or not it would make her day worse if he was awake and therefore had his dick out. Normally it did. In the grand scheme of things, she wasn’t sure she cared. She almost thought she’d accept thewrinkly, unimpressive sight if it meant the rest of her day might see an improvement.
Giving herself a shake, Lynnette pushed into the room. He was awake, and considering the proximity to lunch, that wasn’t really a surprise. So, she quickly moved her eyes up toward his shoulders and head. “How are you fe—”
He hurried to cover himself and made a sloppy stopping motion with one hand. “Not you,” he said, a little winded. His chest heaved. “Go away. I don’t want you here.”
Lynnette balked, her feet stopping. “Sir, I have to do my jo—”
“Someone else can do it,” he snapped, narrowing his bushy brows at her. “Get out or I’ll push this button and call for security!”
Stunned, Lynnette held up her free hand in a pacifying gesture. “Okay, okay, I’m leaving. I’ll have someone else check on you.” She stepped backward until she reached the door, turned, and let herself out, pulling it shut behind her.
Not fast enough to miss his last hurled exclamation. “And don’t come back!”
She stared at the closed door, her heart beating hard as the shock washed over her.What the hell was that?She hadn’t seen a sign of anyone else in the room. And sure, he wasn’t her favorite patient, but she’d always been polite and professional with him. Always accommodated his requests when it was within her power and not against doctor’s orders. She hadn’t seen any signs of dementia, or any other mental break.I’ll have to report it.
Lynnette flipped to his set of pages as she moved to put her back to a wall, grabbed the attached pen, and went straight to the extra notes section. She jotted down a summary of what had happened, again noted the time, and decided that this incident needed more prompt reporting than whenever someone wentthrough the papers. So, she pivoted and made her way back to Amy’s desk.
Amy smiled. “Hey. Lunch break?”
“Not for me,” Lynnette replied. She set the clipboard down just to not have to hold the thing for a moment and leaned forward. “Something bizarre just happened, and I wanted to make sure it got straight into the patient’s record.”
“What’s the matter, Garver?” Del called as he walked by, de-scrubbed and clearly done for the day. “Forgot how to use your tablet?”
Lynnette frowned his way. “If you’re only going to speak to me when you feel like acting like a high school bully, then please don’t bother. And if you would also pass that on to Claire, that’d be great. Have an awesome day.” She put her back to him without waiting for his response.
“So,” Amy prompted after a beat, “what’s the issue?”
Lynnette quickly briefed her on the experience, and the need to notify someone else to handle that particular patient, at least until a higher power could evaluate the situation.
Amy’s eyes bugged and she started typing. “That’s really weird. I mean, not the worst thing that could happen for you, but definitely weird.”
