Redemption | COMPLETED

Chapter 1

*Zoey Deutch as Rachel

Five years later...

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask Rachel, my coworker, as we run around the ER like madwomen.

"Pile up on seventy-seven. That highway is a fucking death trap." She pants out as I follow her to the ambulance door.

"This is not how I wanted to start my shift." I complain as the sounds of the multiple ambulances drew closer.

"Me neither, but you better prepare. I heard there were twenty cars involved at least." She gave me a worried look.

"Any fatalities?" I ask as an ambulance pulls up.

"Three confirmed." She says quickly as she rushes out of the automatic doors and into the ambulance bay.

Walking into my shift at Carolinas Medical Center to a blur of blue scrubs and white doctors coats was not what I expected to see, but I welcome it with open arms.

This is exactly what I became a nurse for.

I originally wanted to become a nurse in the NICU, but I quickly fell in love with the hustle and bustle of the ER. During my clinical shifts back in school, I relished in the unknown of what was to come.

Also, it kept my mind off of everything. Being constantly busy helped me to not think about Noah.

I used to think about him all the time.

It took me years to move on from him. From what my mother told me, he was devastated when he found out I took off, and he broke down when she wouldn't tell him where I'd gone.

I never went back home. Not even for the holidays, I was too afraid that he'd find out I was back and I couldn't face him. I was just...never ready.

The rattling off of stats by a paramedic quickly brought me out of my daze as the ER doors slid open and a gurney was being pushed in.

Six hours later, the ER was just a little quieter. Patients from the pile up were transferred to the required units and the ones who were lucky enough to get away with minor cuts and bruises were already discharged.

"Well that fucking sucked." Rachel grumbles as she kicks her feet up on the reception desk.

"Yeah it fucking did. When is Trudy going to hire more nurses?" I see her shrug her shoulders out of the corner of my eye.

"No idea. I've been asking her to hire more nurses for months." She leans back in her chair and lets out a frustrated sigh.

"It's a level one trauma center for gods sake. We need at least five more nurses for each shift." I rub my temples to ease my migraine.

"Puh-lease. She doesn't give a shit about how busy we are or how hard we bust our asses. You know she gave me poor bedside manner skills on my yearly review?" She scoffed.

"Well, you can be kind of a bitch." I laugh.

"Whatever. Sometimes it's hard to be nice. People are idiots." She rolls her eyes.

"You got that right." I agree.

*****

When my twelve hour shift was finally over, I practically ran to my car. Tomorrow is my day off and all I want to do is go back home to my apartment and snuggle up on the couch with a six pack of beer and a large pepperoni and jalapeño pizza.

My drive home was only five minutes, thankfully. I never forget to give myself a pat on the back when I think about how close I live to my job. It seriously couldn't be any better.