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Ali sighed. “Who knows? Sometimes I just don’t get her.” She linked arms with him, and they went to the elevator. “Let’s not dwell on that. I’m so happy you’re back.”
“Anything beats being stuck in bed puking,” Nolan replied with a chuckle. “Even work.”
They stepped on the elevator and took it down to the cafeteria. “Are you far behind in work?” Ali asked, making small talk.
He shrugged. “It’s never good when you’re down a person. It is what it is. I’ll just try not to get sick anymore.” He laughed as the doors opened, and they went to the cafeteria. When they got inside, she spotted the table where everyone had sat the previous day. May and the rest of the nurses were there. May looked over to where they stood, and Ali gave a slight wave, to which May replied with the same, then turned away.
“What?” Ali asked when she spotted Nolan arching an eyebrow.
He shrugged. “That was awkward, and believe me, I’ve been in many awkward situations. I was gone two days and feel like I’ve missed a lifetime.”
Ali playfully pushed him away. “Don’t be a Drama Queen.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I can be one of the best.” He then smiled. “But seriously, did I miss something?”
Ali shrugged. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I mean, since you were out, I had lunch a couple of times with Jo, and yesterday, that included sitting with the rest of the nurses. I sometimes think that maybe we get too engrossed in a division between the senior nurses and residents. You know?”
He frowned. “Guess I never really thought about it.”
Ali considered it as they went, grabbed their food, and found a table in the back. By the time she sat down, she was grinning. “I have an idea.”
Nolan laughed. “I bet you do. You tend to have a few of those.”
Ali was certain this would be a good one. As long as everything would fall into place. “We want to give everyone a voice here, right? And show that we’re all one unit. I think a good start for that would be to go out with some of the newbies. Make it a night where we can all just regress. What do you think?”
“Like go to a club or something?” he asked, tilting his head.
“Whatever. Movie, putt-putt, bowling, dancing, it doesn’t really matter as long as we do it to sort of bridge the communication with everyone.”
He shrugged. “Could be a good idea. Do you think this will help you get the promotion? They’ll see it as you guiding the new generation.”
Ali laughed. “Hadn’t even thought of it in that way. I just feel that it’s necessary for us all to grow.”
Nolan seemed to agree, so it was all decided, and Ali couldn’t wait to get back up to the floor and make sure Johanna was on board with it all. After all, she was one of the people she wanted to help guide the communication. She thought they had already made leaps, but then, when Jo was quick to avoid going to lunch with her, it was clear they still had some strides to take.
After lunch, Ali went upstairs and sought out Jo. She caught her in Vincent’s room. She was in a chair next to him and reading him a story. Ali cleared her throat to get Jo’s attention. When Jo turned, her cheeks flushed, and she quickly stepped out of his room.
“I know that you think I’m too attached,” Jo started. “But I was on lunch, and he was bored.”
Ali held up her hand. “I’m not here to scold you. What are you doing Friday night?”
“Excuse me?”
“Friday night, Nolan and a few others are going to go out and do something. We like to do things off the clock so we can make sure we are actually off the clock. I know you just happen to be off, so I thought you’d want to come. You can invite May or anyone else that you would like.”
Jo frowned as Ali waited for her response. She then fidgeted and shrugged. “You guys do this regularly?”
“Just a way to relax. No frills or anything. What do you say?”
Jo nodded. “Alrighty then.”
Ali stepped back. “Go ahead and finish your story since I interrupted your lunch.” She turned on her heel and hurried off. She shouldn’t have been so excited that Jo agreed to it. She was already feeling too involved, but she wanted to do something to have a good time. And if she got closer to Jo, who was she to argue?
Friday night they settled on going to a club, where they could listen to music and give themselves a chance to actually know each other a little bit better. As Ali entered the club, though, she worried that maybe she had made a mistake. She spotted May and Jo at the bar, chatting it up with a couple of bartenders. They were laughing and looking like they were both really enjoying themselves. Was Ali fooling herself by thinking that Jo would be even remotely interested?
Plus, if she was being completely honest with herself, she knew that things would be way too complicated if they got involved. Things didn’t work out when you fraternize with co-workers, and there were rules set in place. She was one of the reasons that the rules were put into place to begin with. Or at least speculation would point that out. She stepped in closer, and Jo released a loud laugh as the one bartender, a guy who looked to be no older than twenty-one, continued to grin. Ali was out of her element, and there wasn’t even any guarantee that Jo was into a lesbian rendezvous. She shook her head and turned away. She would rather go home, get in her fuzzy slippers, and just pretend that she had even thought that the night would be a good one.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Nolan asked, entering the club before Ali could leave.
