Chapter 1
Leslie scrubbed a hand over her face as she looked up at the dry erase board in the nurses' lounge that told everyone's assignment for the day. Really? The Children's Ward, again. That was four out of the last five shifts she'd worked. Somehow, she knew Damon was behind this. How he always managed to get her moved to that floor was beyond her.
It's not like he was rich and threw money around to get the hospital staff to do as he wanted. Lord knows he complained enough about not having money for the start-up for their stupid construction firm that she was tired of hearing about.
Going on seven months now and he still could barely say Daisy's name without scowling. It was irrational and never made any sense. And he would never talk about it. Sure, he brought her and Jace up sometimes, but when Leslie questioned him, he always closed off.
Sometimes she wondered if he harbored a secret crush on her blond best friend. But that didn't make sense either. All she knew was that she was tired of that floor, tired of his attitude. Tired of him. Just tired.
Johanna paused at her side and let out a huff of annoyance. "He's up there already." She didn't need to clarify whom. "He's taken to pacing."
"How is she?"
Johanna smiled. "A little better, but he needs to calm down. He's agitated beyond belief today."
"How is that any different than any other day?"
"Point taken. Well, I'm off. I don't know how you stand being up there with him every day."
"I don't want to be there. I hate that floor, yet somehow, I can't seem to get moved off it. I'm going to have to talk to Joy. She has to move me."
"Well, Joy's off today, so it'll have to wait. I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, girl!"
Leslie watched her co-worker walk away before turning and finding her locker and putting her purse up. She grabbed her phone and stuck it in the back pocket of her scrubs along with some money so that she could get some chocolate from the vending machine later. She needed chocolate and a Red Bull. She groaned as she clocked in before walking out of the room and up to the fifth floor.
Lately, she and Daisy had managed not to be on the same shift very often. She wasn't sure how they avoided that, either. Somehow, Damon and Daisy hadn't run into each other at the hospital, though she knew they had both been here at the same time.
She was already yawning as she exited the elevator and made her way to the nurses' station. She looked over the assignments and groaned out loud. Of course, her name, bright red against the whiteboard, stood out to her like a beacon. It was written by the one patient she didn't want to care for today...or ever. Her heart couldn't take it.
Leslie stopped outside the hospital room and squared her shoulders, taking a deep breath before entering. It was dark. The shades were pulled shut. The TV was on a cartoon of some sort, the speaker hanging just outside the crib bars so the little girl could hear. She was relieved Damon wasn't in the room.
She crept over to the crib and was surprised to find her patient awake. Usually, If the girl was awake, she was crying. "Hi, Chloe, girl," she said softly.
The small girl turned soulful eyes to her but didn't make a noise. She gave a few involuntary twitches before closing her eyes.
Leslie laid a shaky hand on the child's forehead, it felt warm, so she went about checking her vitals, inputting them into the computer, while the little girl drifted off to sleep again.
The door opened and Damon walked in, carrying a can of soda and a candy bar. He nodded at her before placing them on a table beside a cot that looked like no one had slept on it. His large hand reached inside the crib and touched the little girl's foot. "How is she?"
The low timbre of his voice did something to her insides, and she hated it.
"A slight fever, but I can't give her anything for that until a couple of hours from now. We already gave her something earlier. Her urine output looks slightly better, but dialysis will help with that in about five hours."
"Her heart?"
"Her heart's fine, Damon."
"The brochure said..." At his agitated tone, her eyes snapped in his direction. He removed his hand from Chloe's leg and ran it through his hair.
"I know what the brochure said. Her kidneys are the problem right now."
"Just take mine." The desperation in his voice made Leslie's heart shudder.
"She's not even a year old yet. We want to wait a little longer. Not to mention, her withdrawals are taking longer than usual. How is her twitching today?"
"What do you want me to say? Better than three months ago? You weren't here, but she had a seizure yesterday." Maybe she was projecting, but the way he said it made it seem he was blaming her for taking off a freaking day or two after Sam and Dylan's wedding.
"And that was my fault somehow?"
"No."
Her ire rose, and she couldn't stop the words from spewing out of her mouth. "Because you know whose fault it was? The whore you dropped your pants for," she seethed, her fists clenched and tears forming in her eyes. "Maybe if she hadn't had her face always stuck in a bottle or a fucking needle stuck in her arm, your kid wouldn't be in a hospital right now with kidney failure!" Shaking, she hastily exited the room and made her way to the bathroom.
She went into a stall and sat down on the toilet, grabbing toilet paper to wipe away the tears streaming down her face. She could not stay here today. She'd have to go home, even if they fired her. She didn't care anymore.
She couldn't continue to do this. She staggered out of the bathroom and somehow made it to the nurses' station. She told them she was sick and leaving. She must have looked awful because they didn't question her. She went to her locker and grabbed her purse before heading out a side door into the early morning. The sun wasn't even up yet. She didn't think she could drive safely, so she left her car and called an Uber instead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damon could only stare after her as she ran from the room. He stood frozen in place. Leslie had been vibrating with anger. There had been tears in her eyes, and she had unleashed on him.
One of Chloe's monitors beeped, and he jerked his head around to see what was wrong. He was losing it. He ran a hand over his face. A nurse soon entered and changed out a fluid bag attached to an IV stuck in his baby's leg. "Leslie um Nurse Jordan, I mean. Is she still here?"
The petite nurse smiled. "I think she left, sir. I can check for you."
"No. Will Chloe be okay by herself for an hour or two? I'll be back as soon as I can."
"She'll be fine, Mr. James. We've told you several times to go home and take a nap. You need rest too."
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks." He bent down and kissed Chloe's forehead. "Call me if anything changes."
"Yes, sir." He nodded and left the room. In the employee parking lot, he noticed her car was still there, but they had told him at the nurses' station that she had clocked out and left. He made one more pass through the hallways but didn't see her anywhere. If she'd gone home, he'd go there and talk to her...even if it meant he had to deal with Daisy.
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