Cedar Bluff's Most Eligible Bachelor (Cedar Bluff Hospital)

by Laura Iding

  And the role he’d played in the fallout. The memory still tortured him.

  No, he couldn’t tell her everything. Not his deepest, darkest secret. But he had to tell her something.

  “It’s not a bad rule,” he muttered defensively. “If you date people you work with and then something doesn’t work out, it’s a mess. Everyone ends up affected, not just the people who were in the relationship.”

  She stopped so abruptly he almost knocked into her. She swung around to pierce him with her direct gaze. “Is that what happened to you?”

  The fiasco with Erica was so much more than that, but it was easier just to nod. “Yeah. And it was bad. So I made up my mind not to repeat that mistake ever again.”

  She continued to stare at him for several long seconds. “You’re right,” she agreed softly. “It’s not a bad rule.”

  His mouth dropped open in surprise, and disappointment stabbed deep. For a ridiculous moment he wanted her to argue with him, to reassure him that things between them could work out. That even if their relationship didn’t last, they’d always be professional enough to work together without dragging their personal lives into the mix.

  What a load of rubbish. He really had it bad to even attempt to rationalize this.

  Hailey resumed walking and he followed more slowly, scrubbing his hand over his face, knowing he should be glad she wasn’t making this difficult for him.

  Yet irrationally annoyed that she could drop what had just transpired between them so easily.

  When they reached the lakefront, Hailey stopped and gazed silently out at the rhythmically rolling waves. For several long moments neither of them said anything.

  “Thanks for bringing me out here, Simon,” she finally said. When she turned to face him, her earlier irritation seemed to have vanished. “I…really hope we can remain friends.”

  Friends? Was she kidding? The urge to sweep her into his arms again, to kiss her senseless, was overwhelming. Every cell in his body protested the idea of simply being friends.

  But he forced himself to nod. “Of course, Hailey. I value you as a friend.”

  Relief flooded her gaze. “I’m glad. Now that we have that settled, do you mind if I sit on one of these rocks to rest a minute? I’m exhausted.”

  Without waiting for a response, she made her way over to a large, flat rock.

  And despite knowing she was right, he couldn’t ignore the devastating sense that he’d just lost something precious.

  Hailey kept up the pretense of being Simon’s friend throughout the events of the day—the trip to the library, where she discovered they had identical taste in fiction, to the video store, where she discovered they had completely opposite tastes in movies, and throughout the impromptu dinner at a small Italian restaurant that seemed a little too cozy and romantic to be just a dinner for two friends.

  Not until Simon had dropped her off at home did she collapse onto the sofa and close her eyes in despair.

  There was no way in the world she could do this again. Pretending to be just friends with Simon was too difficult.

  And painful.

  Despite her exhaustion, images of their day together continued to flash in her mind, like a slide show. Simon intensely discussing the latest novel he was reading. His grimace when she’d picked out a couple of romantic comedies from the video store. The blatant desire in his eyes after he’d kissed her.

  She did her best to block them out, especially that last image, but when she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling she felt like crying.

  Maybe she didn’t deserve happiness. After Andrew’s death she’d truly believed she’d suffer for ever. She had punished herself for what she believed had been her fault.

  But then she had learned that life really did move on. And the bouts of self-pity came less and less frequently. She’d even found herself laughing on occasion.

  For a few minutes there on the path, when Simon had kissed her, she’d begun to believe she might be ready for another relationship.

  Only to have that hope brutally squashed.

  Okay, enough self-pity, she told herself sternly. One kiss did not a relationship make.

  The fact that she’d responded to Simon at all was good news. If she was attracted to Simon, surely she could be attracted to someone else?

  Of course she could.

  The role she’d played in Andrew’s death had changed her. But maybe she’d been changed for the better?

  Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself upright, groaning under her breath as her aching muscles protested painfully.

  No matter how sore she was from being out all day, she refused to regret one moment. At least in Simon’s arms she’d felt truly alive.

  The next two days were excruciatingly long and boring for Hailey. Despite the books she’d picked up at the library and the movies she’d watched with Rachel, the two days seemed like a lifetime.

  How she’d get through two full weeks, she wasn’t sure.

  On the third day her cell phone rang and her heart irrationally leaped in her chest as she grabbed the phone, peering at the screen.

  Her hope deflated. Not Simon.

  Her boss. She forced a cheerfulness she didn’t feel into her tone. “Hi, Theresa. Did you get my leave-of-absence paperwork?”

  “Ah, yes, I did.” Theresa cleared her throat on the other end of the line. “But, Hailey, I’m afraid I have some bad news. I don’t think your leave of absence will be approved because you’ve only been working here two months. Normally, you have to be working for a full twelve months in order to get approved for a leave of absence.”

  She sank into her kitchen chair, her crutches dropping to the floor with a crash. It took a few minutes to find her voice. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” Theresa admitted. “I’m waiting to hear back from Human Resources. The good news is that your health insurance will cover the costs of your treatment for the accident. But normally we have a return-to-work program for staff on medical leave so they can do light-duty functions, and I’m afraid you won’t qualify.”

  “Does that mean I have to leave?” Ironically, the first thought that entered her mind was that if she was forced to quit her job, she wouldn’t be Simon’s coworker any more. His rule wouldn’t apply.

  But on the heels of that, practical logic kicked in. When the full realization hit, her stomach sank.

  “No, you don’t have to quit. But you won’t get any payment for being off work either.”

  No payments. And no way to return to work for the full time her leg was in a cast? “Theresa, please, isn’t there some way I can qualify for returning to work on light duty? I need to be able to pay my rent. I’d be willing to do anything—paperwork, or even a triage nurse…”

  “No, not as a triage nurse,” Theresa said firmly. “Hailey, you can’t be on crutches and take care of patients. If a patient’s condition suddenly deteriorated, you’d need to be able to respond immediately. And if you hurt yourself in the process, we’d be responsible from a worker’s compensation perspective.”

  She couldn’t argue against her boss’s logic. “Okay, paper work, then. I can’t be hurt doing paperwork. I could do chart reviews. The schedule. I’ll be your assistant. I’ll function as a unit clerk. Anything you want me to do.” She halted, realizing she was close to begging.

  “I’ll see what I can work out with Human Resources,” Theresa hedged. “We have work you can do, but the problem is that you don’t qualify for the program because you haven’t been here long enough.”

  Hailey swallowed hard. “Is there anything I can do to help plead my case?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Theresa promised. “Maybe if I explain how we badly we need some chart audits done before our joint commission visit, they’ll give in.”

  Hope flared. “I can do chart audits,” she quickly interjected. “You tell me when and where. I’ll do a hundred chart audits.”

  “I need to get appr
oval from the vice president of Human Resources first,” Theresa cautioned. “But I’ll ask and let you know, okay?”

  “Today?” She grimaced at her pathetically hopeful tone.

  “Soon,” Theresa promised. “Give me a day or two, all right?”

  “All right. Thanks, Theresa.” Hailey snapped her phone shut and tried to quell her rising panic.

  Surely they’d let her do something. Wouldn’t they?

  She buried her face in her hands and battled the irrational urge to call Simon. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him since the day of their kiss. The day she’d pretended to feel nothing but friendship toward him.

  No, she couldn’t call him.

  She tried Rachel, and ended up leaving a message. Maybe she could help sway Theresa, as Rachel had worked here in Cedar Bluff for a few years.

  Of course, Simon might be willing to put a good word in for her, too.

  Maybe.

  She tried to lose herself in a book, but after reading the same few pages several times she gave up.

  Instead, she decided to balance her checkbook. She had a banking program on her computer, so she turned on her laptop and went meticulously through her financial situation.

  The news was grim. She would only be able to hold onto her apartment for another six weeks without a paycheck and the rent was due in two weeks.

  This time, when her cell phone rang, she held her breath and closed her eyes as she answered it, hoping Theresa wasn’t calling with bad news.

  “Hi, Hailey, how are you?” The deep voice was Simon’s. She was so surprised she didn’t answer immediately.

  “I’m okay.” She mentally winced at her lackluster response. She tried to brighten her tone. “How are you? Busy at work?”

  “What’s wrong?” Simon asked. “You sound upset.”

  So much for her attempt to sound cheerful. Since she was feeling desperate, she put her pride aside. “I am upset. Apparently the hospital won’t approve my leave of absence because I haven’t worked there for a full year. My boss told me I don’t qualify for the return to work light-duty program.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous.” Simon’s outrage on her behalf made her smile. “So what if you haven’t been here a year? There are plenty of things to do. In fact, I need help with some quality reviews. I’m going to talk to Theresa.”

  “Really?” She couldn’t hide her flash of excitement. “Oh, Simon, it would be great if I could help out. Even part-time hours. Anything.”

  “I’ll call you right back.”

  Simon didn’t call right back, and in the hour that passed she convinced herself he’d been unable to plead her case. A good hour later, Theresa called.

  “Hailey? I managed to convince Human Resources to cut you a break and bend our policy. You’re approved for light-duty work but only part-time hours. You’ll do chart audits for us and quality review cases for Simon Carter. Do you think you can start with a few hours this afternoon?”

  “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Absolutely! Thank you, Theresa. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  “All right, be here about one o’clock and we’ll go over what needs to be done.”

  Hailey had been so excited about working she’d forgotten she didn’t have a bike. “I’ll be there,” she rashly promised.

  She’d crutch-walk the three miles if she had to.

  But, of course, Simon called her back almost immediately after her conversation with Theresa. “Hailey? I’ll be there at twelve-thirty to pick you up.”

  “I’ll be ready,” she assured him. “And, Simon? Thanks for going to bat for me.”

  “Anytime,” he said gruffly.

  Wearing scrubs, the wide pants legs just barely fitting over her cast, she couldn’t hide her relief as she and Simon walked into the busy emergency department. Because Theresa was busy trying to fill a sick call, Simon took her into his office.

  “Here’s a list of cases I’d like you to review.” He handed her a slip of paper with ten patient names on it. “Go through the computer records and let me know if you think the medical staff and nursing staff provided appropriate care.”

  “All right,” she agreed. “Is there a reason to believe the care wasn’t appropriate?”

  He hesitated. “I’d rather not answer that until you’ve reviewed them with fresh eyes.”

  She could see his point. If she knew his opinion, she’d likely look at each patient’s record differently. He was asking for a nonjudgmental approach. “Where would you like me to work?”

  “You’ll have to find a workstation out at the main desk by the unit clerk,” he said, glancing toward the arena just a stone’s throw from his office. “I have some things I need to do in here.”

  “Okay.” She ignored the flash of disappointment that they wouldn’t be working more closely together. What did it matter where she worked? She was truly grateful for the paperwork assignment that would help pay her rent.

  She sat down at the only empty computer, not far from the unit clerk. There was so much activity, though, that she quickly became distracted by the orders that came flying toward the poor woman. Orders for labs, X-rays, consultants—it seemed like the list was never ending.

  “Would you like some help?” she asked Mary, the unit clerk on duty. The woman was close to her own age, but looked older because of her bleached blonde hair, which was cut short and was spiky with gel. Her green eyes were too bright to be real, so they had to be from colored contact lenses. She’d tried to befriend the woman, as Mary was also relatively new to Cedar Bluff.

  “No.” The rude response took her by surprise, especially when the woman pretty much ignored her. “I don’t need your help.”

  Okay, then. With a shrug, Hailey turned her attention back to the task at hand. She made a Herculean effort to block out all the noise around her, concentrating on the notes in the patient’s chart.

  Her elbow was roughly jostled by someone next to her and she looked up in time to see the tech, Bonnie, trying to reach around her, holding a full glass of water. One moment the cup was in Bonnie’s hand, the next it had been dumped into her lap, soaking her scrubs and the computer monitor.

  Hailey leaped up from her seat, trying to shake off the water pooling in her lap, but forgot about her cast until pain shot up her leg as she put her full weight on it. She fell against the edge of the desk with a cry.

  Pain reverberated down her hip to her leg, her scrub pants were soaked and the computer screen had gone completely blank.

  “I’m so sorry!” Bonnie exclaimed in horror.

  CHAPTER NINE

  SIMON overheard a ruckus out at the main desk in the arena, and as he couldn’t concentrate, thanks to distracting memories of kissing Hailey, he came out to investigate.

  Hailey was leaning heavily against the edge of the desk without her crutches, her expression a pained grimace as she tried to shoo several well-meaning staff members away. The dampness of her scrubs and the upended cup of water lying on the computer keyboard bore testament as to what had happened.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, using the paper towels someone had brought over to mop up the mess. “But we need to call a tech from IT to fix the computer.”

  He came over at the same time Theresa approached from the opposite direction, her brows pulled together in a deep frown. “Hailey? You don’t look very good. Are you sure you didn’t injure yourself?”

  Hailey’s smile was strained and he suspected the pain was far worse than she was letting on. “I didn’t hurt myself, Theresa, but unfortunately the water took out the computer monitor.”

  For a long moment Hailey and Theresa stared at each other, until Theresa finally glanced away. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  Hailey paled, her blue eyes standing out starkly against the rest of her features. Simon had the uncharacteristic urge to reassure her that everything would be okay.

  “Theresa, please,” she said a bit desperately. “I swear this wasn’t my fault. It was a
n unfortunate accident with a bit of spilled water, nothing more.”

  Simon readily jumped to Hailey’s defense. “I’m the one who told Hailey to come out to the front desk to work. I should have let her use my office.”

  Theresa looked torn. He understood. As the nurse manager for the area, she shouldered a heavy responsibility. “I don’t know, if Hailey hurts herself while working here…” She didn’t finish the thought but he knew exactly what she meant. He’d learned all about worker’s compensation laws when one of the residents had been injured on duty.

  Theresa didn’t want the hospital to be legally responsible for adding to Hailey’s injury. He could respect that.

  “She won’t hurt herself doing chart reviews,” he said firmly. “I’ll get the computer fixed and from now on Hailey can sit in my office to complete the reviews.” He was determined to make this work out, so Hailey would have some sort of income, as it was primarily his fault that she was unable to perform her normal duties as an ED nurse.

  He’d find something to occupy his time elsewhere. Heaven knew, his office was not big enough for the both of them.

  Another long silence hung in the air, before Theresa finally nodded. “All right. I guess she can do the chart reviews in your office.”

  “Thank you, Theresa,” Hailey murmured, her relief and gratitude evident. “I promise you won’t regret this.”

  The wry expression on Theresa’s face betrayed how she pretty much already regretted the arrangement, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Call the IT department,” Simon instructed Mary, who seemed to be watching the interaction with frank curiosity rather than pitching in to help. Maybe someone needed to explain the teamwork concept to her. “Tell them to replace this unit and send the invoice to me through the medical staff office.”

  “Simon, that’s really not necessary,” Theresa interjected. “The ED budget can handle the replacement of a keyboard and monitor. Hopefully the hard drive is still intact.”