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She leaned into me, melted into my arms, her body soft and shaking, wracked with sobs. Sophie turned her head until her nose nuzzled into my neck, and I didn’t care that her tears were soaking my shirt, or that her nose was cold and wet, I just wanted to take her pain away. To promise her that everything would be perfectly fine.
But a promise like that carried the risk of being broken. Instead, I held Sophie a little tighter and said, “I’m sure Vicki will calm down in a day or so.”
CHAPTER 17
Sophie
Although I wasn't the strongest person, I was determined to take care of my babies. I had a job that I loved and even planned on getting a dog. While there were moments when I felt unsure and vulnerable, it felt comforting to have Alex by my side last night, holding me tight when I needed someone to talk to. His hugs could wash away my sadness, at least for a little while.
"Your five-month baby bump is coming along nicely," Becks said, rubbing her palm over my belly. "It looks like you've swallowed a cantaloupe."
“It feels like I’ve swallowed something much bigger,” I replied, stepping back before Becks forced me to do that stomach trick again—the one where I sucked in my gut and pretended I wasn’t pregnant at all.
“How’s the nausea thing going? I haven’t seen you dash to the bathroom in a while.”
"Mostly gone," I said, bending down to set cones up for one of my recovering hip replacement patients. "I've just got these constant headaches. Although I have a feeling they're more Vicki-related than anything else."
Becks widened her eyes and shook her head, her jaw dropping slightly. “It’s getting worse, Soph. Like way worse. Vicki isliterallyout to get you.”
“I know.” I sighed, trying to get the dream I had the other night—Vicki, a relentless shark, hunting me, a poor stranded swimmer, down in the deep wide ocean—out of my head.
“I swear it’s been like a pressure cooker here the last few months. Every day I come to work, I think this is the day. This is the day Vicki chops your head off.”
I moaned at the image, not at all in the mood to lose my head. “I think I might have to get another job. She’s making my life hell. I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”
Becks settled into a wooden chair usually reserved for the patient's family and crossed her legs. “What does Alex—”
The end of her sentence was cut off by the gym doors suddenly flying open, followed by what could only be a mighty, havoc-creating storm.
“Sophie,” Vicki barked, her voice like the sharpest knife in the set. She waved a patient file in the air. “I thought I made it clear that the patient notes are to be completed properly after each session. Your notes have been poorly documented all week.”
I dropped another cone to the floor and shook my head. As far as I was concerned, my notes were perfect, pristine, nothing to get into a tiff about—especially since I’d been writing my notes in the exact same way for over three years now.
“They’re not, though,” I defended myself, knowing full well that I was walking a very dangerous line. “I’ve written them out exactly as I should’ve, as I’ve always done.”
Vicki’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits, her anger radiating off her like heat waves off a sweltering pavement. “That’s a joke right?” But she didn’t laugh. No one did. “Your notes are sloppyand incomplete. We’re dealing with patient safety and continuity of care, and you’re jeopardizing both of those.”
I felt my frustration mounting. If Vicki wasn’t so intent on hating me, this conversation would never have happened. “Show me my notes,” I said, stepping forward. I stuck out my hand, hoping she’d give me the file. “I want to see what you think is wrong with them.”
“You want examples?” Vicki spat, her glare unbending.
When she didn’t hand over the file, I dropped my hand to the side and braced for the consequences of my brashness.
“I’ve got plenty,” Vicki continued. “But frankly, I don’t have time to babysit you. I’m too busy running after your mistakes. Mistakes you shouldn’t be making. I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re pregnant, Sophie. It doesn’t make you immune to our policies.”
HR would have a field day. Swearing at a colleague, plotting murder—though not yet proved—, Vicki was at risk for a warning.
Alex was the reason I wasn’t fighting back, why I hadn’t yet told Vicki,Get the fuck over it. It’s been like three months since we told you. You’re taking this too far. It’s not like either of us betrayed you, not really. You’re acting childish, and it’s getting embarrassing.
But Alex was sure Vicki’s fuse would soon die out, that she’d reach rock bottom and grovel her way to the top. If only he knew her fuse was more likeGrey’s Anatomy—neverending.
But I wasn’t going to go against Alex.
For three painfully long months, I endured Vicki's relentless onslaught of harassment. Her sharp words and piercing glares were like daggers to my back. But amidst it all, Alex had become my saving grace. His presence was a balm to my wounded soul. He would show up at my house unannounced, his car engine humming outside my window like a sweet melody. As he madehis way up the walkway, his eyes would scan the towering sycamore tree in my front yard with a sense of longing and nostalgia. And every time he knocked on my door, my heart fluttered with excitement like a butterfly taking flight.
If I had to be honest with myself, like really honest, I'd say I was starting to like him. Not in the casual, fleeting way you liked a good first date, but in a way that felt immense, all consuming. The kind of sensation that made my heart feel like it was going to leap out of my chest whenever he was near, whenever he kissed me hello on the cheek or stared at me when he thought I wasn't looking. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once, as if I was about to jump out of a plane and I had no idea if my chute was even working.
But it wasn’t the right time for a relationship, or anything along those lines, not with all the chaos and my lingering reservations. If I weren’t pregnant, would Alex even care about me?
