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When she spoke, it was soft, her words dripping with cold, calculated anger. “I need you to leave, Sophie. Now. Before I do something I shouldn’t. Something I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
I opened my mouth to say something, to do damage control—if that was even possible— but Vicki only shook her head and said, even softer, even colder, “Now.”
I pushed back my chair, blinking my tears away, and stormed out to the gym, where Becks was waiting with her arms outstretched. "How was it?" she asked, her brows furrowed and her bottom lip curled.
“She’s going to fire me for sure,” I said and then broke down into a teary mess.
CHAPTER 16
Alex
“You have to stop trying to do everything yourself, Mrs. Guthrie,” I said, hoping she understood.
“You’ve got plenty of help at home.”
Mrs. Guthrie, a woman in her late eighties, had fallen off her bed while trying to kill some mosquitoes. The accident resulted in a broken hip and an inevitable hip replacement.
“Leave the mosquitoes for your nurse to get, alright?” I added.
She didn’t look very interested in my instruction and picked up her knitting needles, resuming her clacking. On the way out, I made a note in her file so the physical therapist would be extra cautious during her rehab, and checked my cell phone.
No call yet.
Nothing from Sophie.
Nothing from Vicki.
It was either good or extremely bad, and my gut was leaning toward the latter. When Sophie had told me she wanted to talk to Vicki alone—about us, about what we had done at the seminar and the pregnancy—I had immediately thought it was a bad idea. If I was there, I could easily step in when things got heated, but deep down, I knew that was precisely the problem.
If I had to step in, I wouldn’t be defending Vicki anymore. My allegiance had shifted. I had Sophie, who was carrying my unborn twins, whom I had grown to care deeply for.
“New patient in room six,” Janet said, heading my way. She handed me a file. “A Miss McCarthy waiting for a consult. I know you’re busy, but I can’t find Sam anywhere.”
“I’ll head there now.”
Scanning the patient details, I had just walked into room six when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It felt like an explosion had gone off—my ears popped, my heart began to race, and every muscle in my body tensed up as if I was bracing for imminent disaster.
“I’ll be right with you,” I said to the patient quickly and stepped back into the hall. I snatched the phone out of my pocket, checked the screen—it was Sophie—and headed to the small waiting area, which was mostly empty.
“Sophie,” I answered. “How are you? How did it go?”
“Terrible. Like really bad.” Sophie’s voice sounded thick as if she’d been crying. “Vicki looked ready to murder me. I think she’s really hurt, Alex. She’s even gone home. I don’t think she’s ever gone home early. Not even when she’s sick. This is serious.”
“Do you want me to come to the hospital? We can talk about it,” I asked, though my obligations to this hospital, and to my patients, made that difficult. Still, I could ask Sam to cover—if only I could find him first.
“No,” Sophie replied, her voice trembling. I heard her sniff and then blow her nose. Sophie's crying brought out an ache in my chest. I wanted to end her tears, I wanted to hold her and tell her that everything was going to work out just fine. But I also wanted to check on Vicki. We had been together for long enough that my feelings for her hadn’t just evaporated overnight. It didn’t matter that she had lied to me, that she had ended things; I still didn’t want to see her in pain.
“No, don’t come over,” said Sophie. “It’s fine. I’m fine—”
Just then, the call was interrupted by an incoming call.
I checked the screen and blew out a breath.
It was Vicki.
A quick moment to gather my thoughts was necessary, but I knew she wouldn’t stop calling until I answered. Worst-case scenario, she’d make the drive to Santa Rosa and barge through the hospital doors.
“Hey, Soph, she will be fine. Trust me, besides we didn’t do anything wrong” I said, “Take a break now and I’ll call you back after work, alright?”
