Mercy & Mayhem: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

for a second. She understood how things ran in this field. Telling a nurse what to do probably didn't go over well with her coworkers, but I was so desperate and she was a friendly one, so she nodded signaling for me to follow her to Nubbin's room.
     
    It wasn't until I stepped into the threshold of his room, did I remember that he all but threw me under the bus just a little while earlier. I hesitated, contemplating whether or not I wanted to add any more fuel to the fire, but it turns out I didn't have to. As soon as Tina walked in, properly I might add, he asked for me.
     
    "Not you, dumpling. Where's my friend Chrysler?" I heard him ask.
     
    I'm not much of a crier, but I felt all sorts of emotions well up in my throat. I fanned my eyes before I started blubbering and Tina came out into the hallway to get me.
     
    "Mr. Schmeckpepper wants you. He's asking for you." Tina smiled.
     
    "I'm right here, Nubbin." I called into the doorway.
     
    "Good. Now, tell me something, Camaro. What do you make of all this snow? Where are you from again?" He asked.
     
    I hadn't mentioned to him where I was from, but I was thrilled that he was asking me. That was more than any of the other people here had done, except for Officer Friendly and Tina, of course.
     
    Tina left us alone to talk. I was so relieved. I needed this moment of peace to gather my strength to move on and I wanted to see if I could jar his memory enough to tell me what happened after I went into the office. I wasn't going to push too much, but there were so many unanswered questions swirling around in my mind.
     
    I heard when Kathy returned to the unit. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that where some people had vocal chords, she had two megaphones installed. She spoke louder than anyone I'd ever met and for no good reason. It was mind-boggling, not to mention, highly unnecessary to say the least.
     
    "Where's Mercedes?" Kathy yelled.
     
    I let my head fall to my chest in defeat. There was no reason for me to feel defeated, but there were a million new reasons for me to not feel so happy to be here.
     
    "Guess who?" Nubbin laughed.
     
    "I guess, I'll see you in a bit. Don't get lost now." I teased Nubbin as I walked out to see what Kathy was bellyaching about.
     
    "I'm right here." I tried to not sound annoyed, but as the day went along, I could feel my last nerve, begging for release. It needed a break from reality, just about as much as I did.
     
    "I need to talk to you." She didn't even bother to lower her voice. I mean, I was only about fifteen inches from her, but maybe she thought I was hard of hearing. Hey, now there's an idea. Maybe in all the commotion, I hadn't noticed it, but maybe she was the one that was hard of hearing. Now that would explain everything. I felt a tinge of guilt for thinking badly of her. How could I have not noticed? It was my job to notice these things. Maybe I'd been at this job for too long and I needed a vacation.
     
    "Follow me," she bellowed.
     
    I nodded, making sure that she could see that I responded to her demand. I mean, request.
     
    I was a little reluctant to walk back into the Charge Nurse's office. Things had already proven to not be working in my favor. The last thing I needed was something else to happen and for me to be the one to take the fall for it, especially where this not-so-friendly nurse was concerned.
     
    "Okay, well, I called the family. They live about forty miles outside of town and with the snow and the road conditions, it might take them a bit to get here. This is what I need from you - when they do get here, I'm going to need you to stay clear of them. Let me handle this. They know me. We have a good relationship and you're new here. That won't look too good on your part."
     
    Kathy wasn't kidding. I thought that she was for a moment, because she almost seemed a little happy, but then, I considered it and finally figured out that she was happy to be able to find a way to get rid of me