“Nurse Williams.”
Georgia tried to force herself to not flinch when she heard her supervisor’s voice. Her head still ached despite the two sets of aspirin she had taken earlier that day and she wasn’t sure if she could politely handle much criticism from her boss tonight.
“Yes, ma’am.” She turned around, steeling herself for what was to come. The fact that the woman had thought she was sleeping with Dr. Allen still bothered her. She tried to let it go in light of what she had done with Christian. But that wasn’t the same.
Nurse Chestnut didn’t know what Georgia was doing with Christian, but Georgia knew she wasn’t the type of woman her boss thought she was. She’d thought that once she left her father’s home, she would be free from that kind of persecution. She had been wrong. And ever since the confrontation with Dr. Allen, Nurse Chestnut had been extrachilly to her. She went out of her way to check on Georgia’s work.
“Your review is coming up. I need you to make an appointment to see me so we can sit down and discuss it.”
“Of course.” It was a meeting that she dreaded, but she knew she did good work. There was nothing much Nurse Chestnut could take exception to.
“I’ll need you to come in early because I will not be staying late to conduct reviews.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, even though coming in early was a hardship for her. It was less time she would get to spend with her baby. But she would come anyway because she would not give her supervisor any more ammunition against her. “I’ll sign up for a slot that’s before I begin my rounds.” She turned to leave.
“One more thing, Nurse Williams.”
Damn.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I need you to work a double shift next week.”
Everything inside of Georgia rebelled in that moment. There was no way she would go an entire day without seeing her daughter. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but that I can’t do that. You know I have a baby at home.”
“Lots of other nurses have children at home. They do not seem to have a problem pitching in to help out.”
“Well, maybe they don’t, ma’am, but they have husbands or families to help them. I am raising my child alone.”
“This is your job, Nurse Williams. We are not here to accommodate your poor life choices.”
“Excuse me?” Georgia’s hands curled into fists. Her father had taught her to speak softly, to never raise her hand in violence to another person. But her father had been wrong about a lot of things. She wanted to knock this woman right on her behind.
“That was uncalled for. Your personal life choices are none of my concern.” Nurse Chestnut studied her, her narrow lips pursed. The disdain on her face was clear, and it had Georgia wondering what she did to deserve this treatment. “Just to be clear, you are telling me that you are not going to work the double.”
“No, ma’am. I am not. I have worked more hours than any other nurse on this floor. I cannot work anymore. And if you check my contract you will see I’m only supposed to work three twelve-hour shifts in a row, not four, but I do it because you have so few nurses willing to work the night shift.”
“Is the time getting to be too much for you? You are looking a little...stressed. Maybe this unit requires more work than you can handle. A transfer might be in order.”
“No, ma’am,” Georgia said firmly. “This unit is not too much for me. I have been doing my job well. All my patients are happy and all my paperwork is done on time. You have no grounds for a transfer. And frankly, I do not appreciate you implying so.”
Nurse Chestnut let out a small frustrated huff. “Well, I see this is a discussion we should have at your review. Please sign up as soon as possible. The sheet is at the nurses’ station.”
“I will sign up. And maybe I will bring a union rep with me.”
Georgia was still fuming by the time she walked into Christian’s room. She was so caught up in her own problems she forgot to greet him.
“I never thought I would say this to a woman, but I’m a little afraid of you right now.”
He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed just like he had done last night. She wanted to go to him, to bury her head in his shoulder and squeeze him until all of her irritability seeped out of her. But she couldn’t. She’d promised she wouldn’t touch him again. And she had to be careful around him now. She couldn’t risk her job. Especially when she knew he was only temporary in her life.
“I have a headache,” she said truthfully. “But I’m fine. I bought you some pajamas. Your grafts are healed. You can wear real clothes now.”
He took the pajamas from her and stared down at the T-shirt and sleep pants in his hands. “You bought these for me?”
“No, I stole them from the store. Of course I bought them for you.”
“Why?”
“Because you need them, you ass,” she said, exasperated.
He grinned at her. “Sit down, Georgia. I thought you might go all shy on me after last night, but I’m glad to see you still have it in you to call me names.”
“I think I’ll always have it in me to call you names.” She sat down and allowed herself to shut her eyes. She’d thought things would be awkward between them, too. She’d thought that as time passed she would feel wicked about what she had done for him, but it had never come. She would always remember last night with fondness. “Talk to me, honey. You know I can’t sit down without falling asleep when I’m this tired. I might not wake up if I do.”
“I don’t like how exhausted you look. I don’t like you working all night.”
He sounded possessive. It pleased and annoyed her at the same time. “I don’t like tomatoes. There. Now we both have things we don’t like.”
“What’s the matter, Georgia?” he asked quietly. “Something happened to you today.”
She opened her eyes to find him studying her with concern. None of her other patients noticed, or if they did they didn’t bother to ask what was wrong. He could always read her, and the guilt for taking her anger out on him rose up inside her. “I’m sorry, sugar. My boss is on my case and that, combined with my headache, has turned me into a crank pot.”
“Nurse Chestnut.” He frowned, his face twisting into an expression some might call ugly. “Want me to beat her up for you?”
She smiled at his joke. He could be funny at times. She wondered why so few people saw that. “I think she could take you in a fight, love. But thank you for asking.”
“Thank you for bringing me pajamas.” He stroked the soft gray T-shirt in his lap as he looked at her. For a moment she imagined that his fingers were stroking her back. If she ever got married she was going to find a man who liked to give back rubs.
“I’m a little tired of having my ass hang out of these damn gowns.”
“I should have bought you some underwear, too. I’m sorry I didn’t think about it.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’ve done enough for me. I want to give you your money back for these, but I know you won’t take it.”
“You’re right. I won’t. It’s something I wanted to do for you. It’s nothing big.” She rose and held out her hand. “Let me help you put them on.”
He locked eyes with her and then his gaze fell to her lips. When she offered her help she did it purely as a nurse, but when he looked at her, she remembered what happened when she got near him. Tingles broke out all along her skin.
“You’re offering to help me strip down naked and then put your hands all over my body while we try to get these on?”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. “Yes. I don’t mind. In fact, it would be my pleasure.” She had never seen him fully naked. She dreamed about what it would be like to see all six foot six inches of him without clothes on. To run her hands all over him. To have that big body beside her or even on top of her.
But those thoughts would have to stay in her dreams. It couldn’t happen in the hospital. It could never happen at all.
“No.” He shook his head. “Don’t touch me.”
“You’re no fun,” she teased, crossing her arms over her chest. Her nipples had gone hard from the moment he’d looked at her with need in his eyes.
She sat back down, hoping that the slight extra distance between them would turn her thoughts pure. “How was your day? I heard General Lee came to see you.”
“Is it news every time he walks into this place?”
“Yes. It’s not often that we have two-star generals walk through here, and the fact that he comes to see you makes us think that you must be pretty important.”
“The general has been like a father to me. Especially after the attack. A lot of my superiors have a hard time looking at me.”
“It’s not because of your burns, love. It’s because they feel guilty that you have to go through that while they run their wars from behind the scenes.”
“Georgia.” He took a deep breath. “You are entitled to your opinions about war, but I do not want to argue with you about them.”
She nodded, not wanting to upset him, but another soldier had come in that day. His arm had been blown off. The bones in his leg were crushed. It was getting harder and harder for her to see these young men coming in.
“It makes sense that the general likes you. You’re both terrifying.”
His lips twitched. “I thought you weren’t scared of me.”
“I’m not. Not in the way you think, at least. But I can see the similarities between you two. He probably sees himself in you. What do you talk about anyway? Where to find extrabig shoes? How to scare the poop out of lower ranking soldiers?”
Christian smiled and Georgia’s insides warmed. She loved it when he smiled. It transformed his often grim face. She would like to think he smiled more since he had been here. She hoped he wouldn’t stop smiling once he left.
“We usually talk about baking and wallpaper, but today he had some news for me.”
“Oh?” She braced herself.
“I’m going to be released in two weeks.”
She nodded, knowing that this moment was coming. “That’s wonderful for you. I’m sure you’re sick of it here.”
“I’ve felt useless for so long. I’m glad to finally be able to do something with myself.”
“And what will you do with yourself?” She looked into his beautiful green eyes, wanting so badly to hear the right thing.
“I’ve been promoted to captain. I’m going back to serve.”
Her stomach dropped. She’d known this was going to happen. She’d known that Christian wouldn’t feel like himself unless he was in the middle of a war-torn country. But she couldn’t take it. She couldn’t think about him going to the place where he almost lost his life.
“Congratulations.” She stood up, the need to cry coming on hard and fast. She didn’t want to do it in front of him. She didn’t want him to know that he mattered that much to her.
“Wait.” He grabbed her wrist, stopping her flight. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She tried to shake him free but it was useless.
“Don’t lie to me, Georgia,” he said softly. “Tell me.”
“This is your news. It’s not about me. I have nothing to say.”
“I thought you were my friend. I thought if there was anybody in the world who would be straight with me it was you.”
“Okay,” she snapped. “I think it’s stupid for you to go back. You did your time. You almost died for your country. I think you did all you could for the marines.”
“That’s not true. I can still serve.”
“You can and you will, but what’s the point? You alone aren’t going to stop the war. All you’re going to end up doing is dying. And you think it won’t matter because you have nobody here to mourn you but that’s not true, Christian. I will mourn you. I will cry for you. Why can’t you be done now?”
“It’s my life.”
“No! It’s your job. You don’t have a life. You use the marines as an excuse not to make a life.”
“Who are you to talk?” he said quietly. “What kind of life do you have if some scarred marine is your only real friend? You don’t work the night shift for the money. You do it so you can hide from the world, from other people. Your life doesn’t have to be like this.”
“Don’t.” She shoved his shoulder. “Don’t you dare make assumptions about my life when you have no idea what I went through. What I go through every day just to make sure my daughter is fed. You can turn it around on me if you want, but I didn’t choose this life. It happened to me, and I’m determined to make the best of it so that my daughter can have the world. You are not choosing life. You won’t be satisfied until they pull you out of the desert in a body bag.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t and I never will.” She wrenched her hand from his hold. “I hope you end up happy, Christian. I really do.”
* * *
“Hello, Miss Georgia,” Tobias called to her cheerfully when she walked into his room the next night.
She smiled at the boy even though she knew he couldn’t see her. His good humor was, at times, infectious. She could use some of that good humor today.
The argument she’d had with Christian still rolled around in her mind. It had kept her up all morning. She regretted that they had shared such angry words, but she didn’t regret what she’d said. He was just healing. He was just getting the use of his arm back and now he was prepared to go off and risk it all. But as a captain. Ten years of his life wasn’t enough time to give. She knew he felt guilty about being one of the few to survive, but when was it going to be enough?
She didn’t know why it bothered her so much. She’d known that it was coming. She’d known he was going to go back. She should admire him for his dedication. Instead she was mourning the life he could have had.
All the thinking made her headache worse. The pain from yesterday hadn’t gone away. It had intensified, almost to the point where she had a hard time lifting her head. Each noise made it worse. Every beam of light that hit her face was nearly excruciating. Every step she took was a Herculean effort.
Mrs. Sheppard had urged her to call in sick, but Georgia couldn’t. She would be off for three days after tonight’s shift and she wanted to save her sick time in case Abby grew ill.
“How are you tonight, Tobias?” She rubbed her temples, trying to relieve some of the pressure.
“Better. I can see a little more every day. I can almost see what you look like.”
“I hope I don’t disappoint you with my looks.”
“No. If you look anything like Captain Howard says you do I can’t be disappointed.”
“Captain Howard?” The mention of Christian’s name captured her attention.
“Oh, yeah, he got promoted for bravery. He probably didn’t tell you. He barely wanted to talk about it today.”
“You talk to Christian?”
“Yes, ma’am. Every day. We’ve become friends.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know that. But it made sense that he’d befriended Tobias. Tobias was a sweet boy. It would be hard for Christian not to like him. And in a way she was relieved that he didn’t sit alone in his room all day. “I’m glad you are his friend, Tobias. He doesn’t have many visitors.”
“That’s because people don’t get to know him. I can finally kind of see him now. He’s a big son of a bitch but he’s a good man.”
“He is.” She gripped the side of his bed, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded. “He’s going to be released soon, I—I hope....” She took a deep breath as her head started to spin.
“Miss Georgia, are you oka
y?”
“I’m—I’m...” Her legs gave out. She felt herself falling and she smashed her head against the nightstand just before her world went black.
* * *
“Miss Georgia!”
Christian sat up when he heard Tobias yell Georgia’s name. His heart began to race. His cry wasn’t one of excitement but of terror.
“Help me! Somebody help me.”
No more thoughts passed through Christian’s head after that. He had to get to Georgia. They had argued last night, and while he was angry with her for disagreeing with everything he stood for, he couldn’t help but notice how pale she was, how dull her eyes were or the pinched look of pain that never left her face.
“Captain Howard?” He found Tobias hovering over Georgia. “We were just talking and—and she went down. I think she hit her head.”
He gently pushed the boy out of the way so he could see her. “No.” His heart stopped. Georgia lay on the ground, her face colorless. She looked lifeless. “Baby, no.” He checked her pulse. It was weak but she was still breathing. “Georgia.” He lifted her head. “Wake up, honey. You’ve got to wake up.” It was when he felt the sticky warmth touch his hand that he noticed the blood seeping from her hairline.
“Shit.”
“Is she all right?” Tobias asked.
“I don’t know.” He lifted her limp body into his arms and ran into the hallway. It was empty. Not a doctor, not an orderly, not a person in sight.
He didn’t know what to do. Too much time was passing. She was getting paler by the second. So he did the only thing he could think to do. He started screaming for help. The patients who were mobile came out into hallway.
“Is that Nurse Williams?” he heard one of them say.
“You,” he snapped at the boy nearest to him. “Go find somebody. Now.”
“There’s an alarm, sir,” another soldier said. “It’s for codes but I can pull it for you.”
“Yes, do that.”
“There’s an empty room next to mine, sir. Put her in there,” another man said.
By the time he had put her in bed, a doctor, two orderlies and a few nurses from other parts of the hospital had arrived.
Jericho (A Redemption Novel) Page 11