The past five days with Buck have been absolutely blissful but my mini vacation has come to an end and I can resume normal life at the hospital. Everything felt right but it feels good to be back at work. I've missed learning. I've missed the good and the bad patients. I've missed the smell of the hospital. My cheeks were hurting from how much I was smiling as I walked through those front doors. It's as if the universe decided to give me a break and all was going well. But for how long.
"It's good to have you back sweetheart, we've missed you around here" Nurse Dianne is the first to welcome me back to work and I couldn't be happier.
"Awww Dianne. I've missed you the most" I breathe in the scent of her lavender perfume as she hugs me tightly. I can feel her laugh against me.
"You've always been my favorite, but don't tell the others" Dianne winks and I seal my lips and pretend to throw away the key. I search around the front desk. It feels like forever since I've stepped foot in here. I'm not sure what I would have done if Dr. Harrison made me stay out of work for a month. Probably would've lost my sanity.
"Do you know if Dr. Harrison is in yet by any chance?" I tap my fingers anxiously on the counter. I don't know why I suddenly got nervous. Dianne shook her head.
"Not sure honey, uh yes what can I do for you?" Our conversation is cut short by an elderly man asking to see his wife. I give Dianne a warm smile before walking away to let her deal with the gentlemen.
"Come in" Dr. Harrison's voice sounds from inside his office. I step in slowly and stand by his door.
"Moore. Welcome back" he stays behind his desk shuffling paperwork.
"It feels good to be back"
"Did you need anything from me or?" His eyes don't look up from his papers. I hesitate before answering. I'm not sure why I came here in the first place.
"Umm I uh, no actually. Just wanted to make sure everything was clear. That I was-"
"You're good Moore. Take it easy on yourself. Dr. Russell should be around. He'll let you know where he needs you."
I open my mouth but close it. Dr. Harrison doesn't notice I'm still standing by the door.
"Thank you Dr. Harrison" the door closes behind me. Why do I feel weird?
I breathe out and head to the locker room. Before I could make it to the locker room I am running into a petite body.
"Ow" Savannah rubs the side of her head. Her coat was inside out. I don't know if I should roll my eyes and walk away or point out that she's wearing her coat the wrong way then walk away.
"Oh, it's you..." she clearly sounds excited to see me. I return the energy. A smile flashes across her face and it makes me feel uneasy.
"Well. Glad to have you back. Hope you're okay."
"Yeah... sure thanks."
We look at each other for a few seconds before she walks past me in the other direction. Savannah had to be the first person I see on my first day back of course. I was about to head to the locker room, again, when Tyler comes out the on call room, hair all over the place and he's adjusting his pants. My heart sinks. Tyler's face goes red.
"Stella?" His voice shaky.
"Ty?" I couldn't hide the disappointment behind my voice. This could explain why Savannah's coat was on the wrong way and she seemed sweaty. You've got to be shitting me. I can feel my cheeks getting warm.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Stella please" Tyler tries hushing me but I swat his hands away.
"I can't believe you right now" I chuckle but none of this was funny. How could he do this to Amanda? Sleeping with the one girl who makes her feel the most insecure? The one person here who is the least decent human being here and Tyler is sleeping with her?
"Please let me explain"
"No. I'm not the one you need to do any explaining to" I push past him and ignore his calls. Tyler is sleeping with Savannah. This is unbelievable.
"Stella?" I pause in my tracks at the sound of his warm voice.
"Dr. Russell" I spin on my heels coming face to face with him. His eyebrows rise.
"Welcome back, Dr. Moore."
"Thank you Victor" I clear my throat.
"So are we doing first name or?"
"You caught me in a uh... I just.." I let out a sigh of frustration. "I'm sorry" I pinch the bridge of my nose.
"Rough first day back? Already?" He does his normal hands on his hips. I nod my head.
"Yeah but I'm ready to get back into work so, any-"
"Stella you just got back. Maybe you should do some easy work?"
"No." Victor is shocked by my tone.
"I mean, no" I say in a more kindly manner.
"No easy work please. I know everyone is trying to make sure I'm okay but I honestly want everyone to not treat me like I'm going to explode if I don't do something that is easy. I'm fine and I'm ready to do my job." My eyes avoid his eye contact.
"Okay." Is all he says before turning around and without a word I follow behind him.
*************************************************
"It was okay" I say to Gigi when she asks me how it was working with Victor again. "Nothing felt weird Umm.. we're still friends you know."
"Mhm. Does Buck like the idea of Victor being your friend?"
"I don't need permission on who can and can't be my friend. Plus, Buck can get over his dumb hatred for Victor. He didn't do anything to him and Victor should as well get over his anger with Buck. Boys are just dumb and I definitely don't need to ask them for permission of who gets to be around me" I raise my eyebrows. "And also, me and Victor work together. Even if Buck didn't want me to hang around him that's not possible." Gigi raises her hands in the air. I find it stupid how the two had one... well maybe two small encounters that didn't go well but they're grown men who can get over it.
"Alright" Gigi pouts her lips. I let out a sigh of frustration as I move on from that topic and think about what happened earlier today. Gigi doesn't know about Savannah and Tyler yet. I rub my neck before taking a deep breathe, preparing myself to tell her.
"So" I start.
"So?" She gives me a confused look. "What's up? You look upset.. what's bothering you?"
"I uh-" I clear my throat. "After I left Dr. Harrison's office I was passing one of the uh" the words fail to come to me. "The uh... on call rooms and" Gigi gasps before I could spit everything out.
"Ooo I love these kind of stories. Who'd you catch?" She giggles but little does she know she isn't going to enjoy this one. I hesitate for a moment which makes her nervous.
"Come on spit it out. You're making me anxious here"
"Savannah..."
"Yuck! Who would ever sleep with that evil two face-"
"Tyler."
Her face goes blank. We don't say anything for a minute or two. After a moment of silence I watch Gigi shove a forkful of her salad into her mouth, her expression unreadable. I wonder what she thinks of this.
"Should I beat her ass?" Gigi's mouth is full with food. I hate when she does that.
"As much as I would like to, no. It isn't just Savannah in the wrong but it's Tyler. I never expected him to do such a thing especially to Amanda."
"What I want to know is was this a one time thing or has it been going on for awhile and we just didn't know?" Gigi wipes the corner of her mouth with a napkin before shoving another bite of her food into her mouth just to get more of the dressing on her face. How is she this messy when she eats? It blows my mind.
"I don't know but I do know that I'm going to hate when we have to tell Amanda"
"We can't tell her this now!" Gigi's eyes go wide.
"She's our friend, G"
"I know that but this will kill her! She is fragile. We can't just drop this bomb on her while she's working." I sigh. She has a point.
"We need to wait until her shift is over. Or until we all have a day off and tell her together. Be there for her because we both know she's so in love with Tyler and when she finds out..." Gigi frowns at me. I feel like punching the table. I would rather much punch Savannah in her face but I just got back and there's no promise I'll be back if I were to hit someone I work with. They don't tolerate that nonsense here and it's also not worth me losing my future. But it doesn't change the fact that this all sucks.
"This is going to destroy her" I say quietly.
(Short chapter I know! But I haven't updated in soooo long!
SO. Basically, everything just goes downhill from here guys. Strap up laideaseeeeeee because it's gonna be a bumpy ride *hopefully you catch that little reference heeeheeee* )