Chapter 16 #3
“I— That is—” The words were caught in her throat like fish bones. “I can’t take the day off, sir,” she said with a tight smile. “I need the hours.”
I frowned. Amelie damn well didn’t need the money. As my wife, she was richer than anyone in this hospital. This job wasn’t a necessity. She wanted to hold on to her financial independence, pieces of her old identity, and her passion for nursing.
My gaze never left Amelie, though I addressed Kwon.
“Dr. Kwon, I hate to cost someone their livelihood. I am disappointed, though. I was thinking of making another donation to your wonderful hospital, but I can’t make an uninformed decision.
I find that nurses are the soul of a hospital, and your best one isn’t available to talk up her workplace.
How am I to make such a big decision without her help? ”
“Of course, Nurse Noble will still be paid,” Kwon responded quickly.
I ground my teeth at the mention of her old name. She’d better update her personnel files before I do it for her.
“Amelie,” Kwon continued with a big smile. “Please take the rest of the day to show Mr. Cavendish around town. And since you’ll be discussing work and convincing him to invest in us,” he added with a wink, “you’ll get paid for your full shift.”
“I wish I could, sir. But the ER is slammed today. It’s not just about the compensation but about coverage as well.”
“Oh.” Kwon appeared disappointed. “In that case—”
“You said this hospital was proficient, Dr. Kwon,” I interrupted before he could throw Amelie a life raft. “Such a capable team can surely fix a small scheduling conflict. We can ask one of the nurses who’re getting off work to stay back and cover Amelie’s shift.”
“You can’t ask a nurse to stay back for another nine hours after working a twelve-hour shift,” my beautiful wife protested.
I glanced around the table, and an elderly lady in a nurse’s uniform caught my attention. Given her age and the fact that she sat with management during lunch, it was reasonable to presume she held a leadership role and oversaw the nurses’ schedules.
“Then let’s ask someone to stay back for a few hours after their shift and have another nurse come in early,” I said smoothly, looking right at the senior nurse. She blushed when I gave her a warm smile. “We’ll have the hours covered between someone staying behind and someone else starting early.”
The older nurse nodded enthusiastically. “That’s a great idea.”
Of course it was. I was doing her work for her and fixing her schedule. If you want something done right… “Great. Why don’t we look at the schedule and message a few of the nurses?”
“No need. We have a group chat for the nurses.”
Amelie stared hopelessly as the senior nurse pulled out her phone. I smiled at her as I said, “I’ll throw in a thousand-dollar bonus for picking up this shift.”
“One thousand dollars?” Kwon echoed.
“Per hour,” I clarified. “I understand the hospital’s underfunded, and the nurses are underpaid as a result.”
The table burst with excitement. There was no need to text anyone because several people had overheard the conversation.
Nurses who were about to leave at the end of a grueling shift were suddenly enthusiastic about returning to work.
At least five people had rushed over to volunteer.
In the end, the job went to a nurse with the most seniority.
“Thank you so much,” she said, teary-eyed, jotting down her wiring information. “I can pay off my remaining student loans if I work all nine hours.”
“The clock starts the moment Amelie leaves the building,” I told her.
Amelie seemed dumbfounded, unsure how to react. There was a flicker of despair in her eyes, which was quickly snuffed out when Kwon addressed her. “Well then. I see no point for you to stick around.”
“Of course, sir.” Amelie’s face paled even as she reluctantly agreed. Stealing another glance at me, she quickly averted her eyes from whatever she saw in mine.
I rose from my seat, waiting for her to follow.
For a moment, she did nothing, and my chest tightened at the thought that she wouldn’t come with me.
The nurse who was waiting for Amelie to leave looked at her with both impatience and despair.
It was up to my wife whether her coworker made a thousand dollars an hour.
Amelie eventually stood, her legs steady despite the weight of everyone’s stares. She snatched our uneaten sandwiches and stuffed them inside the bag, fingers curling tightly around it.
“Let’s go.” With a hand on her back, I guided her away from the table.
I could feel her warmth through the thin scrubs, the faint tension of a body trying to decide whether to tolerate me for the sake of appearances or resist me at the risk of looking like a fool in front of her coworkers.
She chose to tolerate. She walked faster, trying to reduce the pressure of my palm, but I kept pace without effort.
“Have fun, you two.” Kwon was smug with satisfaction, as if he’d just handed Amelie a gift. In his mind, perhaps he had.
But Amelie only watched me with contempt as we left the cafeteria.