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“Good. He’s missing it here, but I think he really likes it. That’s what matters, right?”
Another conversation was about how the weather had been treating the crops. It wasn’t too exhilarating, and Ali abandoned that conversation rather quickly.
“How’re the nurses doing?” Regina asked, catching Ali off guard.
“Well, I’m not really too sure.” Ali took a drink from her beer. “I mean, overall, I think they’re all doing well. But I have a few misgivings about one particular nurse, Johanna. I don’t know, and I worry that she might be a distraction to the rest of the nurses.”
“Really? How so?” She turned to find that all eyes were on her, and Jason had continued the conversation.
“Well, she’s a bit flighty. She needs to stay focused on all her patients, but she latches onto just one and expects that everyone else can just maintain the rest of her workload. I don’t feel I’m at liberty to say anything, but if this continues, I’ll really have no choice. We can’t function like this. It’s too much for the rest of the team to deal with.”
“I don’t think you’re wrong in your assumptions,” Nolan admitted.
Ali frowned. “Really? I thought you’d tell me I was just being paranoid.”
Nolan shrugged. “Well, perhaps, but I’ve heard rumors about Johanna, and I didn’t think it was my place to say anything, but it really should be considered.”
Ali sat back in her seat. This was the first time she heard anything negative spoken to her about Jo. She thought that maybe she was just being paranoid, but if Nolan heard something she would rather know what it was, than guess later.
Ali leaned in toward him. “Well, you have to tell me now, Nolan.”
He sighed. “Rumor has it that Johanna left her last hospital because she accidentally killed a patient. She had been working thirty hours straight. An oversight with the hospital, I suppose, but she ultimately worked it, and one thing led to another, and a patient died.”
“What?” Several of her friends spoke in unison, but Ali just stared at him. That would explain some things, but now she had bigger things to worry about.
Johanna
It had been two more weeks in the grind of the hospital. Johanna enjoyed going in, but she also found it continuously getting harder to cope. Things were not running as smoothly as she would have hoped. She didn’t know what she expected, but this wasn’t it. As the weeks went on, Ali was all but hovering over her. Ali watched her as if something horrible could happen, but by securitizing everything Johanna did, Ali thought she could be the one to prevent it.
The highlight of each day was a morning walk with Maverick. She knew that the struggle would be too much to bear without him. She couldn’t thank May enough for suggesting getting a dog. It was true what they said. When you rescue a pet, it’s hard to know who’s saving who.
Jo reached the nurse’s station and caught Ali standing there her nose pointed towards a chart. Jo snuck around her, hoping that maybe Ali wouldn’t notice her and would just continue to stare into the abyss of the chart.
Jo pulled up the documentation and started to type away when Ali cleared her throat. “And what’s the meaning of this?” she asked. Jo continued to work, not thinking that Ali was speaking to her. Ali sighed. “You don’t feel the need to respond when I’m speaking to you?”
Jo looked up and grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were talking to me.” Ali looked from one side to the other, and Jo shrugged. “I was engrossed in my work.”
Ali huffed. “Well, I suppose I should be thankful for that, as long as it’s true. Your work is slipping, after all.”
Jo frowned. “Excuse me?”
Ali held up the chart. “You gave Chastity Hill fifty units.”
“That’s what was ordered,” Jo quietly replied. She distinctly remembered triple-checking the dosage. Too much, and the patient could be overdosed. So, when it came to meds, she was always extra cautious. “Do you want me to show you?”
“You don’t have to show me anything. I looked at this this morning and assure you that she only should have gotten forty. As she has been monitored. I’m going to have to take this to the board, and hopefully, since it’s your first offense, they’ll go light on you.”
Jo opened her mouth. She snapped it shut when Ali continued.
“I’m wondering if maybe it was too soon to let you give the doses without being monitored. This is a grave error on your part. You just better hope that they go light on you.”
Jo’s eyes burned, and she turned away. If she started crying, then she would regret that. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I don’t know what happened, but I am possible I triple-checked that.” She turned to the computer, aware that Ali’s eyes hadn’t left her. She pulled up Chasity’s orders and skimmed over them until she saw the quantity. “Fifty, see?” She turned the monitor towards Ali. Ali looked over at it, her eyes narrowing in on the computer. She frowned. “Looks like Dr. Blake had to up the quantity. It shows that right here.”
Ali fell back, her eyes darkening a bit. “Well, for now, you’re safe.” She dropped the chart back on the counter and then stomped away. Jo stared after her, so many confusing thoughts directed in her direction. Why the sudden need to watch her like a hawk was beyond Jo. She thought she had been doing well, but Ali had lost all confidence in her the past couple of weeks.
She tried to push the thought out of her mind and carry about her day, but it continued despite putting Ali in her place for the one patient. It was to the point where Jo questioned her own ability. She chastised herself, thinking that if you couldn’t trust yourself, it would be hard to expect others to trust you.
One night, after another grueling schedule, Jo just wanted to get home, let Maverick out for a minute, and then crash into bed. She would forfeit it if she didn’t get anything to eat as long as she didn’t have to see the hospital walls for at least twenty-four hours.
