Broken Vows

Chapter 7

By the time Monday morning rolled around Erin hadn’t experience any great epiphanies. What she knew was that she missed Brody immensely and wanted to be with him again. She just needed to work up the nerve to call him.

She had a light breakfast and then exited her apartment through her private entrance so she didn’t disturb her parents. Then she met Brad for their run. He didn’t mention Brody at all that morning and Erin was relieved that she didn’t have to discuss it again.

She hit the showers and then made her way to the nurse’s desk to check in for the morning. There had been some health crises overnight and two of the infants were going to need watched rather closely that morning to make sure they didn’t relapse.

Erin shoved the morning’s newspaper out of the way and spread the charts on the desk, ready to brief Kelly and the other nurses when they arrived. She was thankful for the distraction that her job provided.

Kelly arrived on time, as usual, but she wasn’t her normal perky self.

“You okay Kelly Jo? Where’s all the enthusiasm? Did you use it up last week?” Erin teased.

Kelly offered her a half-hearted grin and glanced up as one of the other nurses approached the desk. “I’ll tell you later. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Erin’s brow drew together in worry but Kelly didn’t elaborate. It obviously wasn’t something she wanted the others to hear about.

So, Erin pushed it to the back of her mind and went on to debrief everyone else of the night’s events and the day’s tasks. They set about their duties, checking on the babies, taking vitals, making notes and starting feedings. She was well into her shift when she heard Kelly paging her from the nurse’s station.

Erin found that odd but figured it must be important. Kelly motioned to the phone as she approached the desk.

“What’s up?”

“Your mom’s on the line. Said it was important she talk to you.”

Erin felt her stomach drop. Her mother rarely called her at work and if she did, she just left a message on her cell phone for Erin to find when she had time. She picked up the phone with a quick, “Mom, what’s wrong? Did something happen to Dad or Alyssa?”

“No, honey, none of that. To my knowledge they’re both fine.”

Erin felt the tension drain from her body, leaving her stomach wobbly with relief. “Then what’s wrong? You never call the hospital directly.”

“Have you seen the morning paper?”

Erin had to stop a minute and switch her train of thought. Her mom’s question caught her off guard. “No. It’s here but I haven’t had time to look at it. Why?”

“You need to take a minute and read the front page. You’ll understand why.”

Erin glanced at the paper she had shoved to the end of the desk that morning, giving it a dirty look. “Okay, Mom, if it’s that important.”

“It is sweetie. Give me a call later, okay?”

“Okay. Bye.”

Erin hung up, meeting Kelly’s questioning glance with a wrinkled nose. “She called to tell me to read the paper.”

“Huh?”

“That’s what I said.” Erin responded, striding to the end of the desk and picking up the newspaper. She peeled off the front page, unfolding it and laying it on the desk. As she focused on the picture and read the caption her stomach dropped.