Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 71226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Hux frowned at her.
Black headed toward a table, and I followed suit, taking a seat in the back corner where the Dixie Wardens had an unofficial assigned table.
Whenever one of us came in, we tended to take this particular seating area. The locals knew to steer clear. The ones that came in that weren’t local got told really quick that the seating was taken.
“What’s your take on the Bernice/ Hux situation?” Black asked as he took his seat and dug in.
I ate my own sandwich, thinking about what he asked before I admitted, “I think that the two of them would have to admit to themselves that there’s an attraction there. And seeing as Hux still thinks that Bernice has a thing for Odin, and Bernice thinks that Hux has a thing for anything that has a vagina…”
Black chuckled.
Black took his fourth bite of sandwich when his radio went off.
I continued to eat while he stood up and started to leave, taking his plate with him.
“Day off?” a local asked from my side.
I nodded.
“Gotta love it.” She smiled. “Hey, I heard that you were married.”
I shoved another fry in my mouth instead of answering, giving a grunt of ‘maybe so’ in answer.
She smiled at my grunt. “I heard she’s a good one. Though I’ve also heard that the hospital makes it hard to work there. You should try to get her into Doc’s.”
I took another bite, hoping that she would take the hint.
But, obviously, she didn’t.
“I mean, it’s not like the hospital is horrible. They’re good pay, and the money makes up for the company. But sometimes, it’s miserable enough there that not even a good paycheck will be enough to make you want to stay.”
I’d heard that the hospital wasn’t all that great.
They had a high turnover rate, and I swear I never saw the same set of nurses twice.
And when I did see someone new, I never saw them again.
Maybe it was just because I was mainly interacting with the emergency room department, and oftentimes they had a higher fluctuation of staff.
“And the food there is terrible,” the woman kept going. “Plus, when I was there for a few weeks before finding a different job, I found myself going home and being so dang angry. It was like the people there got something out of sucking all the life out of you.”
She eventually tapered off, but for the rest of lunch, I thought about nothing but the environment at Sage’s work, and whether she could use a decent sandwich.
Thirteen
I’m going to hell on a full scholarship.
—Sage’s secret thoughts
Sage
Luckily, I was in the triage area of the emergency room today instead of the actual ER.
Being in the triage area meant that I saw any patients before they went back to be seen. I took their vitals, decided if they were emergent enough to be sent straight back, and sat the ones that weren’t.
Even better, today had been a fairly slow day.
Not that I would be admitting any of that aloud.
It was always best to pretend like you didn’t notice than acknowledging it.
Because if you acknowledged it, shit tended to go downhill.
I was balls deep into my investigation of Sarah and Ismael Pollard when I heard a throat clear.
I looked up, expecting to see a patient, and found Gentry standing there instead.
I would not admit how freakin’ excited it made me to see him.
Then the panic set in.
“Is Neo okay?”
Gentry and I were currently working opposite shifts so that one of us could be home with Neo in case something happened.
If he was here…
“He’s fine. I fed him before I left to grab lunch,” he said as he placed a plastic sack of food down on the desk in front of me. “While I was there, there was a woman who told me about how bad the hospital sucked to work at, and how their food was nothing better than school cafeteria food. She kind of implied that I should bring you lunch.”
I wilted slightly.
I wouldn’t admit to myself that I had wanted him to want to bring me lunch.
Then I berated myself because why would he? He wasn’t anything to me.
Hell, I wouldn’t even call him a friend at this point.
More like acquaintances, no matter what our previous marriage license said.
“Oh, hello, Officer.”
I gritted my teeth when I looked to the side to see one of my least favorite nurses, Camille Rhodes, standing there looking way too done up to be a nurse at a county hospital in the middle of nowhere.
I mean, she was wearing diamonds, for Christ’s sake.
No sane nurse would wear her entire diamond collection to work as a nurse.
But apparently, Camille hadn’t gotten that memo.
Gentry made my entire day by nodding his head at her but not speaking.
Camille looked taken aback.
“Are you here to give me a lunch?” I asked sweetly.