Chapter 23

Jackie knew Patricia would never be cruel. Not for the sake of being cruel. She could be harsh on occasion, when she needed to cut through a cloud of denial or whining, but her roommate was never mean for the joy of it.

Which made the situation worse.

Patricia was heading to the grocery store for a split shift. Jackie was off, without a hospital shift again. Patricia had come out of her bedroom, her phone in hand, and hit her with her news. “Are you sure?” Jackie asked again.

“Vaughn saw it with his own eyes.” Vaughn Haskell was Patricia’s boss, and the manager of Greenley Grocery. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but Doug had breakfast with a woman in Winnipeg yesterday morning.”

Jackie hadn’t spoken to Doug in two days, a record. She hadn’t been asked to do that week’s winner dinner, so she hadn’t had a chance to see him after work. He hadn’t texted afterwards either. Then she hadn’t received a good morning text. Now she knew why.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Patricia said.

“It doesn’t not mean anything.”

“Call him. Ask.”

It would be the easiest way to get an answer. But it seemed so invasive. Where were you? Who were you with? It would sound like she didn’t trust him. Besides, Jackie didn’t know if they were at that point yet. She assumed they were exclusive—she wanted to be—but she hadn’t wanted to force the conversation, fearing it was too early and she’d scare him away. Doug hadn’t mentioned he wanted to see other people. But he hadn’t said otherwise, either.

It was a mess. An ugly mess. She wondered what the other woman looked like.

As if she read Jackie’s mind, Patricia said, “He took a picture.”

“What?”

“Vaughn. He got a picture of the two of them. He emailed it to me.”

“Show me.” Wait. “No, don’t show me.” She didn’t know which was worse: knowing, or not knowing. “No, show me.” Jackie wanted to know who she was up against.

Patricia fumbled with her phone. Each extra second was an eternity. Finally, she turned the screen toward Jackie. “Here.”

Vaughn had caught the pair sidelong, catching both profiles in the centre of the frame. The band around her heart loosened a bit. “I know her. I met her. Her name’s Kashvi. She’s a doctor. She and Doug used to work together.” They looked very serious in the photo. “Maybe they were meeting for work.” That would make sense. Doctors consulted each other. Generally, not at nine in the morning at a coffee shop, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“What can I do? Tell Doug he can never have coffee with another woman again?” That was ridiculous, and a guaranteed way to scare him off permanently.

“You should talk to him. Find out where you stand,” Patricia said.

Jackie loved her friend. Ever since their chat a few weeks back, Patricia had been her biggest cheerleader. When she shared that she caved regarding her timesheet in the face of Dr. Roberts’s pressure, she saw a flash of disappointment in Patricia’s face. But when she told her how she’d said no to Mr. Wisher’s cupcake request, she got a second pep talk about doing a good job about valuing herself.

This new thing with Doug was a variation on the same thing. Did Jackie want to treat herself as second-best, and let others treat her the same way, or was she going to stand up for herself? She wanted to stand up. But it wasn’t as easy as Patricia made it out to be. What if she weren’t standing at the front of the line when it came to Doug? What if she was simply convenient? Hopewell didn’t have a lot of options, especially for people their age. She knew that as well as anyone.

“I’ll talk to him,” she said.

“When?” Patricia pressed.

“Soon.” She meant it. It would be like ripping off a bandage. Better to do it fast, so the pain was over quicker.

Her phone buzzed and she checked the number. “But not right now. It’s the hospital.”

On her day off. Again. But this wasn’t an on-call page; it was an order to report for a meeting, and Mr. Lang had the nerve to say right in his text that she wouldn’t be paid for it.

He ushered her into his office quickly, like he didn’t want her to be seen by anyone in the hall. Unlike the doctors’ offices, the hospital administrator’s private sanctum was filled with large wood furniture and a massive leather-backed desk chair. Jackie thought it looked ridiculous in the small room, but it did suit the image he tried to project.

“What can I help you with today?” she asked. Be firm, she reminded herself. Your time is valuable, and so are you. Even if Doug wasn’t so certain.

“I have some bad news for you.”

A piece of her brain whispered, “Then why is he smiling?” but she didn’t acknowledge it. “What’s wrong?”

Mr. Lang handed her an envelope. “The board has decided not to renew your contract for permanent part-time employment.” He offered her a smile so fake it hurt to look at it. “I know you understand. We hope you will consent to be on call should we need you.”

She knew it. “On call? When? What rates are you offering?” The minimal compensation would be better than nothing, but barely.

“Rates? No, Jackie. We’ll expect you to come in when we call.”

How was she supposed to have a life? She wouldn’t be able to get another job if she had to wait by the phone. “That’s not fair.” It was beyond unfair. It was insulting to her and dangerous for the patients. He had to realize the position he was putting her in.

He held out another piece of paper. “Here’s the agreement for you to be on call.”

Jackie froze. If she signed it, she’d be crippling herself for—she looked at the paper—the next six months, which was when the hospital was willing to look at a new contract. If she didn’t, she’d never get a decent recommendation from Mr. Lang. In fact, she didn’t doubt he’d give her a horrible one, ensuring she’d never get another job, at Hopewell or anywhere else. She had to sign, but she couldn’t.

In the end, she did what she always did and took the paper. Her hand shook so hard she dropped the pen he offered. He handed her another. Jackie managed to get the tip of the pen to the paper before her nerve faltered again. “I can’t sign this right now. I need to review it first. I have to go,” she gasped.

She backed out of his office and then ran down the corridor, still holding the on-call offer. One good thing about living in a place her whole life was that she knew Hopewell blindfolded. With tears in her eyes, she made it home on sheer muscle-memory before she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her head.

She’d lost everything in one day.