Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 99967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
“Thanks.”
With Cindy reading the menu, I get to work checking on Amelia. A lot of my job is reassuring parents because they’re terrified and sad, and I understand that. I would be, too.
Suddenly, behind me, I hear something bang against the floor. Someone screams, and then running feet pound on the floor.
“Harper!” Amy looks like she’s seen a ghost. “Help!”
I run with her across the unit and see a man standing over one of my nurses, who’s cowering on the floor.
“Call security,” I tell her.
“Already on it,” Amy assures me.
“I said don’t touch my son,” he yells at the nurse on the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with you people? It’s your fault he’s in here.”
“Whoa. What’s going on?”
I quickly survey the scene. Baby Oliver is safe in his bassinet, but his mother’s face is white, and her hands are trembling. A medical tray of supplies is on its side, everything from the top of it scattered around the area, and the dad, who I haven’t met yet, is breathing fire, his hands fisted.
Is he on something?
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the nurse in charge, and I’d like to know why you’re abusing my staff.”
His eyes narrow, his lips curl into a snarl, and I stand my ground as my nurse stands and quickly moves away.
He’s just like Nathan.
“I told her to stay away from my kid.”
“We can’t stay away from Oliver. He’s in our care. He’s a sick little boy—”
“Because. Of. YOU!” he screams, getting right in my face. “If the staff here hadn’t fucked up when my girl was having him, he wouldn’t be in here. I don’t want any of you touching him. Am I clear?”
“You’re going to need to back away from me.”
His eyes travel up and down my body, and nausea rolls through me. “Is that right? Or what? You’re not going to do anything. You’re a piece of shit. A pitiful excuse for a nurse. Who the fuck are you saving?”
“You’re a shitty nurse, Harper. I don’t even know why you bother.”
Blinking, I try to stay here and not go back there. Jesus, I thought I was through this.
“Back. Off. Or I’ll have you kicked out of here, and you won’t be allowed back in.”
“You’re not going to do shit to me. You’re nothing. I’m taking my boy.”
“No. You’re not.”
“Rich, they’re trying to help—” the mom says, but then he rounds on her, and I glance back, relieved to see that Amy is on the phone with security. She gives me a thumbs-up, and I take a deep breath because I’ve started to shake. I know I’m going to have a panic attack, but I cannot do that in front of this guy.
“You’re nothing, Harper. No one wants you. That baby probably died because you didn’t know what to do. Just give it up already.” Nathan’s lips curled up in a happy sneer when he would start in on that shit, lecturing me for hours on end, always the same things over and over again.
“You’ll shut the fuck up,” this guy yells at the mother of his child. “If you weren’t so goddamn pathetic, we wouldn’t be here. Jesus, it’s just childbirth. Women do it every day without almost killing their baby—”
“Enough!” My hands are fisted, and I’m so fucking pissed off. “Stop talking to her like that. It’s not her fault, and it’s not our fault that Oliver needs to be here. I get that you’re overwhelmed and scared, but you don’t get to abuse everyone around you. You need to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”
“Yes, you are,” a man says from behind me. It’s George from security, and two other guards flank him. “Police are on the way, too, Miss Harper. Come on, sir. You can’t hurt my girls up here.”
“Fuck off. That’s my baby.”
“Don’t care,” George says with a shrug. “You gotta go.”
All three guards have to forcefully remove the man from my unit, and I immediately check in with Carrie, the nurse who was on the floor.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She nods and blows out a breath. “Yeah, mostly I’m pissed. He didn’t touch me. He threw the cart, and I fell when trying to avoid getting hit by it.”
“Good. Are you okay to stay on shift, or do you need to go?”
“I’m fine,” she says, shaking her head. “Really. Not my first asshole. I’ve got this, Harper.”
I’m glad you do. I can feel the adrenaline wearing off and the panic rising, but I manage to swallow it down and turn to the mom.
“Can we call someone to come sit with you?” I ask her, and I can hear the shake in my voice. Hold it together, Harper. Just a few more minutes.
“I’ve already texted my sister,” she says. “I’m not with him, by the way. We’re not married. He’s Oliver’s father, but we’re not together.”