Chapter 9
EVETTE
When we pulled up to the hospital so I could meet with human resources for a few hours of orientation this afternoon, I was shocked by how run-down the place looked.
I knew the assignment was in a rural location when I accepted it, but I still expected it to look more like the other hospitals where I had worked so far.
Or at least remotely like somewhere that provided decent medical care.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Leyton asked, his brows drawing together while he scanned the front of the building. “It’s a dump.”
The hospital where I’d met Leyton wasn’t much bigger than this one, but they looked worlds apart.
From where we were sitting, I could see cracks in several windows and even one in the bricks to the left of the main entrance.
The concrete of the sidewalk leading to the door was crumbling in places, and the grass on either side was brown.
There were no plants in sight, except for dead ones with brown leaves hanging over the sides of the large planters flanking the doors.
And the rusty water stains to my left, where one of the gutters was broken, had me concerned about the roof.
If I was here for an interview, I would have had Leyton turn the car around instead of parking. But I’d already signed a contract, so I tried to be optimistic. “Maybe it’ll be better when I go inside.”
“It’d have to be if they let women give birth here,” he muttered, shaking his head.
The disparity between urban and rural maternity outcomes was already bad enough. If the obstetric unit was in as bad of shape as the entrance to the hospital, I was afraid to look up their maternal mortality rates.
“Who’re you meeting with?” he growled, a wrinkle popping up in the middle of his brow as we got out of my car. “I don’t feel good about letting you go in there alone.”
Remembering how he’d acted when Dr. Charron had done something as simple as pat my shoulder when complimenting me on a job well done, I was relieved that the person from human resources was a woman.
Having Leyton come inside with me felt like the right decision, but I didn’t want to risk my assignment over a misunderstanding sparked by him being territorial around another guy.
Although I wasn’t sure about working here, I wanted the decision to leave to be mine if it came down to that. “Mrs. Hatchett.”
His bark of laughter held no humor. “Her name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”
I hadn’t thought much of it when my supervisor sent me the information, but I couldn’t disagree with him while staring at the saddest-looking hospital I had ever seen. “Walk me up?”
“Sure,” he agreed.
Unfortunately, the inside of the hospital wasn’t any better than the exterior.
If anything, it was worse. Instead of the familiar mixture of disinfectant and artificial fragrance that I had encouraged at other facilities, the scent of illness and death lingered heavily enough in the air that I almost gagged on it.
I couldn’t imagine how bad it was for Leyton, but he just breathed through his mouth without complaining.
Nobody at the front desk welcomed visitors, and we didn’t encounter any security as we made our way to the fifth floor, where my supervisor at the travel nursing agency had told me the human resources office was located.
By the time we made it to Mrs. Hatchett’s office, I knew there was no way I could fulfill my contract with this hospital.
That turned out to be a good thing since she wasn’t even there.
We waited for half an hour before I went looking for someone to ask about where Mrs. Hatchett might be.
I spotted a nurse hurrying out of a patient’s room and called, “Excuse me!”
The woman turned and glared at me, making me question why I hadn’t just left without talking to anyone.
“Keep it down!” she hissed. “You’ll disturb the patients, and I’ll go yet another shift without eating my lunch.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Um…I’m looking for Mrs. Hatchett.”
The nurse huffed and threw her hands in the air. “How should I know where she is? Do I look like a secretary?”
Her eyes drifted behind me and suddenly went wide, and her jaw dropped. Then it snapped shut, and she spun on her heel and hotfooted it away, muttering under her breath.
I had a pretty good idea of what had happened. I turned, and one side of my mouth lifted when I saw Leyton behind me, glaring daggers in the direction where the nurse had disappeared. I could imagine how intimidating he looked to others, but to me, he was sweet, and sexy, and amazing.
“I don’t think we should stay any longer,” I told him. The relief in his eyes had warmth blooming in my chest. I loved that he was so protective of me. “I’ll leave a message for my boss while you drive us back to the hotel.”
Leyton didn’t waste any time getting me out of there and back to our suite.
“I’m going to take a quick shower while I wait for my supervisor to call me back.” A shiver raced up my spine and not a sensual one. “I feel gross, and that’s saying a lot since I’ve had patients pee and poo on me when they were in labor and was able to finish my shift without freaking out.”
“Go ahead, baby,” he urged. “You do what you need to so you feel better. I’ll get us some dinner since you barely ate anything at lunch.”
I appreciated how he took such good care of me.
“And it turned out to be a good thing. I’m not sure what would have happened if I’d gone in there with a full stomach.
I don’t understand how that place hasn’t already been closed due to serious health and safety violations.
Poor cleanliness can have such a negative effect on patients.
No matter what my supervisor has to say, I’m going to have to file a report with the state.
The local officials have to already know how bad things have gotten. It’s impossible to miss.”
“You do what you gotta do, baby. And I’ll help however I can,” he offered.
Feeling lucky to have his support, I lingered in the shower longer than I planned. The hot water felt especially amazing as it pounded down on me, and I filled my sinuses and lungs with cleansing steam. I felt a little better when I stepped out to dry off.
After pulling one of Leyton’s shirts over my head, I padded into the other room and joined him at the table to eat the dinner he’d gotten for us.
As I was finishing the last bite, my phone rang.
Filled with dread, I answered. My supervisor wasn’t the most understanding of people, but I assumed she would at least listen to my concerns about my new assignment.
Especially since I sent her a few photos that Leyton had snapped with the camera on his phone.
Unfortunately, she quickly proved me wrong.
When the call ended, concern for me shone from Leyton’s dark eyes. “What did they say?”
“I either honor my contract or they’ll never give me another assignment again.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he growled. “They can’t be okay with sending you into an unsafe environment. And that woman didn’t even bother to show up for your meeting. How are you supposed to work at a place like that?”
I set my phone on the bedside table with a sigh. “My supervisor didn’t seem to care.”
“Then we’ll just have to go above her head.” Raking his fingers through his hair, he stood to pace back and forth in the small living area of our hotel suite.
I shook my head. “I don’t think that will do any good. The agency is small, and she reports to the owner, who she said already gave her blessing for the ultimatum.”
“There has to be something we can do to change their minds.”
“There isn’t. It’s done.” Knowing that I had Leyton’s full support went a long way toward easing my disappointment over what happened today. “With how hard I worked to be able to land contracts as a travel nurse, I should probably be more upset over being dismissed by the agency. But I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?” He strode toward me, interlacing our fingers. “Because we can figure this shit out, even if it means me coming to work with you every day so you can honor that damn contract.”
“You have no idea how much it means for you to offer to do that for me.”
“I’d do anything for you, baby.”
There was no missing the sincerity in his dark eyes. “Then how about you take me home and introduce me to your pack tomorrow? After we get some rest because I’m exhausted from the emotional highs and lows from today.”
“Whatever you want.”
A few things we could do in bed before we fell asleep came to mind.