River
I woke to an empty bed. And when I glanced at the time on my phone, I knew why I was alone; it was almost noon. Even though I’d slept for close to thirteen hours, I felt groggy and sluggish, but I forced myself to get out of bed.
I stumbled to the kitchen and clumsily made myself a cup of coffee. “I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” Jonah said from behind me causing me to scream and spill what was left in my mug.
“Holy shit,” I gasped.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said apologetically.
“Why’d you let me sleep so long?”
He shrugged. “I figured you probably didn’t get much sleep the night before and needed it.”
“Shit! Tina said she’d call me today,” I said and moved to retrieve my phone from the bedroom, but Jonah stopped me.
“I’ve already talked to her this morning,” he said and grimaced causing my heart to sink.
“Just tell me,” I said and braced as best I could for whatever he was going to say.
“She just said there’d been a new development and things might take a little longer than she’d originally thought, but not to worry.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, right.” A new unknown, at least to me, development that was going to make clearing my name take longer was most certainly something that was going to make me worry.
“I know it’s easier said than done, and she does, too. She said she’d call this evening with an update.”
I looked at him curiously. “Why aren’t you at work?”
He slid his thumbs into his belt loops and rocked back on his heels. “Because I’m the boss,” he said cockily.
I sighed. “I don’t want my mess to disrupt your life any more than it already has.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to leave you here alone all day. I can’t do it every day, but I can occasionally work from home,” he said and then his face lit up. “This is completely up to you, but I could use some help at the office. It’s nothing much, just answering phones and helping with invoices, maybe ordering some equipment, but it’d give you something to do during the day, and I’d pay you.”
I quickly mulled it over. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to generate some income. After all was said and done, there was no guarantee that I’d be allowed to resume working at the hospital to complete my contract with the agency. “I’ll do it on one condition; you’ll pay me whatever you’d pay anyone else to do this job.”
He held out his hand for me to shake. “Deal,” he said with a small smile. “Do you want to start this afternoon or wait until tomorrow?”
I knew he was trying to keep me busy so I wouldn’t have time to dwell on the new development or the whole situation in general. “Tomorrow. I need to make some phone calls, which I’m sure will result in more phone calls,” I explained.
“You don’t need to do anything. Tina will take care of anything you need.”
“I know, but I want to call the agency and speak to my manager myself. I’ve worked for them for almost four years, and I think they deserve to hear from me. Plus, I need to find out exactly who to notify since I’m licensed in one state, the agency is in another state, and the arrest occurred in this state.”
“Why do you need to report anything? You’ve only been charged with a crime, not convicted.”
“Most states require a nurse to report criminal charges to the board so they can begin their own investigation.”
“That doesn’t seem right. How would they’re investigation be any different from a criminal investigation?”
“I can’t think of an example off the top of my head, but not being convicted of the crime you were charged with doesn’t automatically mean you didn’t violate another law or regulation pertaining to your license,” I explained.
He nodded. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be in the office if you need anything,” he said and kissed my forehead.
I was grateful for the privacy he gave me because I had no idea what I was going to say. I didn’t want him watching me fumble over my words while I begged and pleaded for my job.
By the time I finished my last phone call, I was emotionally exhausted and felt like I didn’t get anything accomplished. If I was being honest, I was a little hurt, too. When I spoke to my manager with the agency, she informed me she was already aware of the situation and was in the middle of completing my termination paperwork. She also told me she would mail everything to my attorney, including the final amount of penalties owed.
“You okay?” Jonah asked as he entered the kitchen.