Chapter 5
T he next few days were busy, and Nelly had a trip planned for the weekend.
When she came back home late Sunday night, she did her laundry to get ready for work the next day.
When she showed up Monday morning, she checked over the weekend’s assessments to see what was going on and what lab tests came back for various patients.
When she got to Zander’s file, she opened it to see what he had experienced over the weekend.
As she read through the notes, he was doing fine, except that he hadn’t eaten as much.
She frowned at that. He’d obviously been eating just fine before she left, so what had changed?
Deciding to find out, she got up and walked down the hallway. At his door, she knocked.
When he called out, she opened it, stuck her head around, and greeted him. “Hey, stranger.”
“Oh, there you are. I wondered what happened to you.”
“I was gone for the weekend,” she shared. “If I stay here all the time, then I tend to end up working all weekend.”
“Right.” He gave her a clipped nod. “I never thought about that. I tend to forget that, just because I’m here seven days a week, and this is my life, it’s not your life, is it?”
“Not always,” she admitted. “We certainly spend an awful lot of our time here, more than our quoted salary time anyway,” she clarified, with a smile. “Lots of times it’s fine, but sometimes it’s nice just to get away.”
“Where did you get away to?” he asked curiously. “I hope it was wildly exciting.”
“Well, while not wildly exciting , it was fun,” she conceded. “I saw a longtime girlfriend, who came to visit a mutual friend in town. So I stayed in town with them.”
“Nice,” he replied. “And I suppose you went out and lit up the town all night long, did you?”
“Oh yeah, right,” she quipped. “We went bowling, had dinner out, and then the next day went for brunch, lots of walks outside, some small hikes, generally just had a good time,” she shared. “But I see in my notes here that you didn’t do very well eating over the weekend.”
He looked down at the folder in her hand and frowned. “Those dratted notes. You should just forget about them.”
“Well, if you had eaten well all weekend,” she replied, “I could, but you didn’t eat all that well, so I can’t.”
He groaned. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” she declared. “Is something going on?”
“Yeah, one of those dark shakes of Dennis’s got a little bit too-too rich and, and, as soon as it went down, it came back up. When that happened, everything else in my system decided to revolt,” he shared. “So I’ve just stayed with water and avoided the shakes all weekend.”
“Interesting,” she murmured.
“That’s not quite the word Shane used for it, when he was called in to look after me. And I didn’t want him to be called in at all,” he stated, raising his hands. “It was stupid. I just guzzled it back too fast, that’s all.”
“Right, but more than that, how are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine,” he stated instantly. “Honest, I’m fine.”
She frowned, thought about it, and asked, “You would tell me if you weren’t feeling well though, wouldn’t you?”
“Sure,” he said carelessly.
But the tone in his voice made her wonder if something was really upsetting him. “I feel as if you’re upset with me,” she shared.
“No, not at all. You’re fully entitled to live your life as you want to.”
And then it hit her. “You didn’t know I was going away for the weekend, did you?”
He looked at her and shook his head. “No, but then it’s not up to you to tell me that, is it?” he asked.
She winced. “I should have told you myself. I didn’t even think about it.”
“Of course not,” he said. “Why would you? Why would you have anything to do with any of us here in this place?” he asked. “We all will leave anyway.”
“I hope you do,” she stated. “I hope you get well and have a wonderful life after this,” she murmured. “But that still doesn’t mean that having a little bit of advance knowledge about somebody’s plans isn’t helpful.”
“And yet it really doesn’t change anything though, does it?
” he asked. “I guess for a while there I was just jealous. You can get up and leave, go away for a weekend, which sounds like Nirvana to me,” he admitted.
“I was just stuck in a wheelchair. Not exactly sure I’ll get out of it anytime soon either. ”
Not at all sure where all this maudlin talk was coming from, she avoided putting down a note in his file. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
He shook his head. “Probably won’t either. I’m not sure how Shane’s session will hit my stomach after all this.”
“Was it all weekend?”
He nodded. “And it’s fine now. I’m feeling better.”
“And yet you just told me that you didn’t know that you can keep down food.”
“Whatever,” he muttered. “I’m just tired of being sick.”
“Got it,” she said. “Maybe I’ll discuss the contents of that shake with Dennis.”
“We already did that too,” Zander replied. “It’s all taken care of. It’s just a matter of letting my stomach calm down. So I’m fine.”
And he was obviously getting upset at this conversation.
She nodded and tried backing out. “Well, I’ll go get a coffee.
Do you want me to pick you up one?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized it was the wrong thing to say.
Without even needing to see or to hear a word from him, she added, “Never mind.” And she was gone.
As she strode to the dining room, she found Dennis there and a few other people just milling about, getting coffee. She walked over and asked Dennis, “He had a bad weekend, huh ?”
Dennis nodded. “Honestly, I think it’s because you were gone. He didn’t know that you weren’t here. He kept looking for you.”
She winced at that. “It would have been such a simple thing to let him know,” she noted. “I keep forgetting that we have a life out of here and that they don’t and that they don’t necessarily think about the fact that we aren’t always here.”
“And I think he cares a little bit more than maybe is good for him, or you, considering I haven’t seen any sign that this is a relationship that you’re looking to take any further. So maybe he just needs to back off a little bit.”
She frowned at Dennis. “I really like him,” she shared, “but I don’t think he is ready for anything.”
“Well, I wouldn’t suggest you tell him that,” said a man from behind her. “Because these guys don’t like to think of themselves as being that far behind.”
She turned to face Shane. “Do you really think that’s what happened on the weekend?”
“I don’t know if that was all of it,” he clarified, “but it was definitely a large part of it, yes.”
“Wow.… I really like the guy. He’s funny. He’s cute. He’s great company, but…”
“ But exactly,” Shane declared, frowning. “Maybe we need you to back out of the scenario a little bit more.”
“I’m happy to go either way to help him reach his goals here,” she stated.
“Yet I certainly don’t want him to feel as if I’m rejecting him.
I think rejection right now would be very tough.
And honestly, I’m not rejecting him. I really like him,” she confessed.
“But he’s here, he’s injured, he’s a patient.
All kinds of things in my head tell me that’s not something I should be going forward with.
At least right now. He needs to heal, first and foremost.”
Dennis nodded. “And you know something? A few years back we would have all agreed with you, but things have changed, and, with the wedding coming up, even more change is happening.”
Nelly nodded. “He mentioned something about the wedding and how all that made him lonely in a way because he had seen so many relationships happen here but didn’t think it would be something that could happen for him.”
“The fact that he’s even talking about it is really good though,” Shane pointed out. “And I can see how he would be feeling pretty miserable and upset about it all, but still, it is something that we should keep an eye on.”
“But let’s not do anything about it right now,” she suggested instantly. “As I said, I really do like him. I just didn’t expect to see this happen. I’m not the kind of person who other people would,… would fall for.”
At that, both men stared at her.
“What?” she asked. “I’m not trying to be… I don’t know what you even call it,” she muttered, trying to find the word and failing. “I’m just… I’m concerned about him.”
“We all are,” Dennis stated. “Yet, at the moment, I think the best thing we can do is give him the best way forward, whatever that means.”
She nodded. “You guys decide then. I’m happy to do what needs to be done that is the best for Zander. Still, I would hate to even lose the relationship I do have with him. However, if it’s for his own sake, then fine. I understand.”
“Good,” Shane agreed. “I’ll talk to Dani about it, and we’ll see how it goes for the next couple days.”
And, with that, Nelly had to be content. She did plan to spend some time with him, knowing that it could come to an end, and he probably wouldn’t understand. Still, at lunchtime, she walked into his room with a big sandwich, hoping to share it with him.
Zander looked at it, and his eyebrows shot up. “I’m not sure I can get that down,” he noted cautiously.
“I figured we could share it,” she suggested. “You eat half, and I eat half.” He frowned. “Or do you not share?” she teased.
He rolled his eyes at that. “Of course I do, but obviously my stomach is a whole different story.”
“And yet how did breakfast go down?” she asked.
“Breakfast was much better,” he shared. “I guess I got upset over the weekend. I had no right to do it.”
“And I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” she murmured, “particularly if you were struggling.”
He laughed. “There are always struggles, and, when you think about it, you won’t always be here anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Maybe,” she admitted, “but I should have told you. We’ve spent enough time together that it wouldn’t have been too much to tell you that I would be gone for the weekend.”