Ronnie stared at it for a few more seconds before grabbing her toothpaste and pushing the cabinet closed. She didn’t want to dwell on something that easily could have been something as Kenny grabbing one and forgetting to put it on before Ronnie and he enjoyed themselves. Maybe the extra few missing were already damaged and Kenny had thrown them away.
Yeah, that had to be it.
Ronnie brushed her teeth and rinsed out her mouth, putting her toothpaste on the counter and starting to walk back into her bedroom. Before she could get more than a few feet, she felt a tug on the comforter. She looked behind her to see Reagan curled up in a ball, her eyes narrowed into slits and her teeth bared as Ronnie tried to shake her off.
Ronnie smiling at the cat apologetically before leaning down and picking her up. She went back into the bedroom and put Reagan on the bed before tossing the comforter up. Reagan jumped onto the blanket and curled up again, putting her paws over her eyes to fight off the light streaming through the blinds.
Ronnie leaned down and kissed Reagan on the forehead before going over to her closet and grabbing her scrubs. She pulled out an extra pair of clothes to change into after work and got dressed, grabbing her purse and shoving her extra clothes in. She threw on her scrubs and grabbed her phone, clicking it on and checking her messages. There wasn’t any messages from Kenny, but there was one from Amy about a movie that she thought Ronnie might like. Ronnie replied before grabbing an apple and a granola bar from the kitchen and heading out.
***
When Ronnie got to work a half-hour later, she was anything but enthusiastic about work. Traffic had been bumper-to-bumper, some sleazy teenager in a Mercedes almost ran her off the road, and her head was pounding so awfully that she thought her eyes would explode.
Ronnie got out of the elevator onto her floor, wincing at the bright florescent lights that lined the hall. She kept her fingers pinched on the bridge of her nose as she made her way to the employee lounge. The external pressure made the throbbing subside only minutely, making the nausea and pain only slightly more bearable than it had been the moment before.
She opened her locker and tossed her purse in before going over to the vending machine and getting out a Mountain Dew. She couldn't remember ever having a headache as bad as this one. She grabbed two packs of Excedrin off the counter and opened them, throwing them in her mouth and guzzling them down with the soda.
Ronnie went out to the nurses station and picked up the stack of clipboards that were beneath her name. She only had four patients on her rotation, but the clipboards felt heavy in her hands, and the names were blurring as she tried to read through her caseload. She grit her teeth and forced herself to focus on the first file which, after staring at it for almost a full minute, Ronnie realized was for a girl named Maia.
Ronnie’s heart sunk. She had worked with Maia a little over a year previously, when the girl had been sick with leukemia. She had gone into remission after almost two years of treatments, and the doctors had really thought that she was in the clear for the long-haul.
According to the file, not only had Maia’s leukemia come back, she had caught a case of pneumonia that had severely compromised her lung function. She was on oxygen, and she was getting worse by the day.
Ronnie sighed and closed the chart before walking over to Maia’s room. She peaked inside, biting the inside of her cheek as she looked at the scene in front of her. Maia was lying on the bed, her heart monitor beeping slowly and her breathing shallow. Her skin was ashen and sunken in, and Ronnie could see even across the room that Maia had not gained any weight or any height in the year since Ronnie had seen her. Maia’s father was sleeping on the couch next to the bed with a newspaper on his chest, and Maia’s mother, Meghan, was sleeping in a chair in the corner of the room, her head hanging and her mouth open.
Ronnie walked as quietly as she could over to Meghan and crouched down, clearing her throat and startling her awake. “Hey, I didn’t mean to scare you. Do you remember me?”
Meghan stared at her for a minute before rubbing her eyes and nodding. “Yeah. You’re the nurse that Maia was so attached to last year.”
Ronnie smiled. “Yeah.” She pushed herself up, wincing as the movement caused a pulsing sensation behind her eyes. “I need to check Maia’s levels. Is that okay?”
Meghan nodded. “That’s fine.”
“Thank you.” Ronnie went over to the bed and started checking all of Maia’s levels and adjusting things on the IV pole, the sinking feeling in her chest getting worse as she wrote down everything that she observed. She forced a smile and turned back to Meghan. “I will come back when Maia wakes up. Do you need anything?”
Maia shook her head. “No, thank you.” She yawned again and rested her head on her hand.
Ronnie nodded and walked out of the room. She shut the door quietly behind her before leaning against the wall and taking a minute to collect herself before moving on to her next patient.
***
It took nearly an hour and a half for Ronnie to check on all of her patients and to give them their medicine. She went back to the nurses station and started to type in all the information she had written down on her charts, but after only a few bullet points the words were swimming so badly that she had to look away. She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths and trying to force the dizziness away.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Ronnie let out another breath and sat up, wincing as she nodded at Laci. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a headache. I took some Excedrin, but it hasn’t kicked in yet.”
“Well, you look like crap.” Laci leaned on the nurses station, putting her hand out and putting the back of her hand on Ronnie’s forehead. “When did you take it?”
Ronnie glanced at the clock. “Like, two hours ago?”
Laci raised an eyebrow and stood back up. “They should have kicked in by now.” She went over to one of the supply closets and pulled out a disposable thermometer. She walked back over to Ronnie and pulled the cap off before holding the thermometer out. “You’re a little warm. Open up.”
Ronnie rolled her eyes, but opened her mouth anyway. Laci put the thermometer under her tongue and waited a few seconds before looking at the screen. “Well, no fever.” She took the thermometer out and tossed it into the trash. “Do you want me to grab you some chocolate or something? A soda?”
“No. I think I’m going to see if Yvonne is okay with me lying down for a little bit. Do you know where she is?”
“I last saw her in the rec room, like, twenty minutes ago. Do you need me to go with you?”
Ronnie shook her head. “No, that’s okay. Go help your patients.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay.”
Ronnie watched Laci leave before she pushed herself away from the desk and stood up, wincing at a sudden throb in her head. She started in the way of the rec room, making sure that she moved as slowly and as steadily as possible so she wouldn't make herself worse.
Unfortunately, Ronnie only made it halfway down the hallway before her vision started to swim and her mouth filled with saliva. She darted to the bathroom, barely making it to the stall before she dropped to her knees and heaved, acid spilling out of her mouth and onto the porcelain toilet seat.
She dry-heaved several more times before rocking back onto her heels. She put her elbows on the seat and rested her head against her fingers. She took several deep breaths and forced herself to get up. She went over to the sink and grabbed a paper towel to wipe her mouth off before pulling her granola bar out of her pocket. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, pulling the wrapper apart slowly and shoving the snack in her mouth. She desperately did not want to eat, but there wasn't any way she could take more medicine if she didn't have some sort of substance in her stomach.
Ronnie slowly made her way the rest of the way to the rec room. Yvonne was sitting at one of the tables with a young boy, hard at work coloring
a picture that was nearly as large as the table itself. Ronnie pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, smiling weakly at Yvonne as she looked up.
“Honey, are you all right?” Yvonne asked, her brows furrowing and her lower lip jutting out.
“I have an awful headache.” Ronnie shrugged, wincing as another sharp pain shot from behind her left eye. “I was wondering if it would be all right if I went and laid down for a little while, just until it starts to go away.”
Yvonne waved her hand. “Go ahead and just go home. We are more than fine for today.”
Ronnie shook her head, using all of her willpower not to wince again. “I'll be fine in a little bit. I don't need to go home.”
Yvonne shook her head, pushing at Ronnie's hand. “Don't be silly. You always come in whenever we need someone; we can cover for you for once. Go get a bottle of water and eat a bar of chocolate, or a bag of chips, or something , and go get some rest. You're off this weekend, right? We'll see you in a couple of days.”
Ronnie stood up, gritting her teeth at the nausea. “Okay. Thank you.”
Ronnie went back to the nurses station and clocked out before going to the employee lounge. She did as she was told, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and getting a king-size Hershey from the vending machine. She sat down at the table and put her head in her hands, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took a few deep breaths before downing the water and eating the entire chocolate bar.
She waited for the uncomfortably full feeling in her stomach to pass before getting up and refilling her water bottle. She grabbed her bag from her locker and pulled out a few more Excedrin to take before making her way down to her car.
Hopefully this all would be over soon.
12
Ronnie startled awake, hitting her knee against the steering wheel and her head against the window. She looked around with wide eyes, realizing with a shock that she must have fallen asleep. She had planned on closing her eyes for just a few minutes, but she didn't expect that she was going to fall asleep.
She rubbed her eyes and turned her car radio on to check the time before glancing at the gas to see how much she had ran through during the two hours that her car had been idling. Her head was still aching, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been when she had gotten left work. She yawned and rubbed her eyes again before putting the car in drive and pulling out of the spot to make her way back home.
Ronnie had driven two streets away from the hospital when her phone started to ring. She glanced over to the passenger seat to see who it was, her lips quirking up to the side when she saw that it was Amy. She swiped up on Amy's picture and put her on speaker before tossing her phone on her passenger seat. “Hey, Amy, what's up?”
“Are you still at work?”
“No. I had a really bad migraine earlier so Yvonne sent me home. I'm in the car, currently.”
“Oh. Never mind.” Amy sighed, her voice losing some of its enthusiastic tone. “How are you feeling now?”
“It's not completely gone, but I feel a lot better than I did earlier.” She slowed to a stop as the light turned red, putting her hand down on her phone so that it didn't fly into the dashboard or fall onto the floor.
“Good. That's good.”
Ronnie furrowed her brows. She wasn't used to Amy sounding so out of it. “What's wrong?”
Amy was quiet for a moment before answering. “It's stupid. I just haven't seen you in a few days, and I miss you. I was hoping that you would be able to come by after work. I'm heading to the cafe in an hour, but I'm picking up Morrison and Tommy in around five or so. They miss you, too. Morrie was asking about you last night, during bath time. She was playing with those bath-fizzies that you got her for Valentine's Day.”
Ronnie grinned. She had found the bath toys on clearance when she was hunting down chocolate to give Kenny, Amy, and Laci. They were in the shape of butterflies, and they were supposed to change the color of the water. “Did they work?”
“Yeah, actually. They were great, except Morrie came out of the bath much more glittery than she went in.”
Ronnie's smile grew. “I'm glad she likes them. Did Tommy try his shower paints yet?”
“Oh, don't get me started on those. He had a ball with them,” she paused, letting out a long breath, “but then some little puppy found the bottles, and decided that the hall carpet was the perfect spot to play with his new toy. It's washable, but still a bitch to get out of white carpet.”
Ronnie laughed. “At least they had fun!” She looked over her shoulder before merging off the highway.
“That's true. Just wish their fun had been more fun for me.”
“Yeah.” Ronnie bit her lip. Her head really was feeling worlds better than it had been feeling earlier in the day. She could last a few hours hanging out with the Vascars, couldn't she? Besides, if she started feeling bad again, she could always just take a few Excedrin to tide her over until she got home. “I can come by tonight, I don't have anything planned.”
“Really?” The excitement in Amy's voice was back.
“Yeah. I'll go home and take a nap for a few hours, then I'll come over once you and the kids are home.”
“Awesome. I'll call when I'm leaving, okay?”
“Okay.” Ronnie started driving again before slamming on her breaks when someone cut her off. She flipped them the bird before shaking her head and putting her foot back on the acceleration. “Speaking of the café, how come I didn't know that you were the co-owner?”
Amy snorted. “Ronnie, my name-tag says ‘owner’. There is a picture of Tony and I on the wall.”
“Well, I guess I haven't spent much time looking at what everything in the cafe looks like. I have something prettier to look at.”
Ronnie slammed on her break again, only this time, it was out of shock at the words coming out of her mouth. She held a hand up as the car behind her honked at her. She cleared her throat and started to apologize, but Amy cut her off. “I'll see you tonight, okay? I can't wait to see you.” She hung up the phone before Ronnie could say anything else.
Ronnie glanced over at the phone before looking back at the road, worrying her lower lip. She hoped that she didn't make things awkward by saying that to Amy. She really hadn't thought before speaking.
She pushed the thought out of her head and finished the drive home, making sure to pay more attention than she had been when she was on the phone.
Ronnie pulled into her street and went to her parking lot, which was almost empty. She smiled as she pulled in her spot, seeing that Kenny's car was there as well. With how bad she had been feeling all morning, she was sure that she could convince him to take a nap with her for a little while before she went to Amy's.
She organized everything back into her purse before going upstairs and into her apartment. The door was unlocked (Kenny never locked it if he was home) and set her purse down on the counter, shaking her head. The only light in the apartment was coming from their bedroom, where Ronnie could hear Kenny loudly watching porn.
Ronnie rolled her eyes and took her hair down, running her fingers through the strands to separate the tangles as she walked toward the bedroom. She had forgotten how loud Kenny liked to have the volume when he was enjoying himself. They had watched it together quite a few times early on in their relationship, and Ronnie's eardrums were nearly blown out each and every time.
“Hey, baby, I'm ho－”
Ronnie trailed off as she pushed the bedroom door open to find that Kenny was not alone. He rolled off the bed and grabbed his boxers from the top of the dresser, tripping over himself as he struggled to pull them on. His supervisor, Carrie, had pulled the sheets up over her bare chest and was doing her best to melt into the bed, her bright-red hair shooting out on all sides of her like Medusa. Kenny's back was covered in scratches, and the parts of Carrie's upper body that Ronnie could see were covered in dark-purple love bites.
Kenny cleared his throat and started to walk towards her. “Hey, Ronnie, wha
t are you doing home so early? I thought you were working until－”
Smack.
Kenny pressed his hand against his now-red cheek. He started to walk toward Ronnie, but Ronnie held her hand up. “I want an explanation. Why are you sleeping with your supervisor?”
Kenny gaped for a moment before answering. “It was a mistake, baby, I love you.” Carrie scoffed. Kenny looked over his shoulder and glared at her before looking back at Ronnie. “I'm sorry, baby, I love you.”
Ronnie shook her head. “Unbelievable. Is this the first time?”
Kenny didn't answer. Ronnie studied him before looking at Carrie, who bit her lip in shame before shaking her head. Ronnie pursed her lips and nodded. “How long has this been going on?”
Again, Kenny was silent. Ronnie growled in frustration and looked at Carrie, repeating her question. Carrie stared at Kenny's back before looking back at Ronnie. She sighed as she answered. “A year and a half.”
Ronnie's eyes widened. Kenny and she had only been engaged a little over eight months! She turned her glare back on her fiancé. “Why the hell did you propose to me if you were sleeping with her?!”
“Because, baby, I love you－”
“Clearly not, or you wouldn't be having an affair!”
Ronnie looked back at Carrie, who was trying to use her foot to reach her sweatpants and her panties. She took mercy on her and went over to grab them for her, grabbing Carrie’s shirt and bra, as well. She tossed them to her. “Here.”
Carrie tucked her hair behind her ear and gave Ronnie a tight smile. “Thanks.”
Ronnie nodded at her before turning back to Kenny, keeping her back to Carrie so the woman could get dressed. She crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the man for a minute being making up her mind.
In Her Hands Page 8
