Chapter 118: You Abandoned Me

It was rare for Irene to be genuinely surprised any longer. With everything that happened at her job on a regular basis, and with all the recent surprises of her personal life, she had come to the conclusion that anything was possible. Expect the unexpected, that is.

And even though Talia was accusing Dr. Swift, the one person she originally suspected all along. It was still a shock to hear, to have someone she knew and trusted allege this person with such confidence.

Maybe this was how Brenden felt. Or he might have felt more, since he actually knew the culprit.

“So, she confessed?” Irene asked Talia quickly. She was trying to wrap her head around exactly what happened. She wanted to know how she reached this conclusion.

“Well, no…” she carefully replied.

“Then how do you know?”

“I saw her with the pills.”

“What? You saw the pills? Why didn’t you tell someone?”

“Because I couldn’t prove it,” Talia explained, somewhat defensive. “They were in a prescription bottle without a label. But I know what I saw. She bent over and the bottle fell out of her pocket and rolled across the hallway. I tried to grab it for her, but she snatched it up so fast I thought she was going to tear my hand off.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Irene agreed, mildly exasperated. It was weak evidence, as far as she was concerned.

“Yes, it was. I saw the pills. They were small and round and looked exactly like the pills that were stolen.”

“You can’t know for sure.”

“When I asked her, she got flustered and didn’t give me a straight answer. Finally said it was a vitamin. Yeah, sure. Why would anyone carry vitamins in a prescription bottle with no label?”

“Talia, she might not want to divulge whatever sickness she has, you know. Maybe she needed a smaller container to bring to work or something.”

“OR… she is a pill popper.”

“Talia…”

“What?”

“God, please tell me you didn’t do anything stupid. You didn’t accuse her, right?”

“Do I look like an idiot? No, that’s a huge allegation. We have to go to administration and you should talk to Brenden.”

“Nope,” Irene said immediately. “I am not bringing this up again. Not without a written and signed confession.”

“Well, then. When are you coming home? I say we talk to Haley. Surely they can drug test her or something. Oh, did you hear they admitted Dr. Warren to our floor?” Talia asked immediately after. “Andy admitted him and Dr. Warren pissed him off within the first five minutes. It was hilarious.”

Irene heard Suzie’s voice down the hall and suddenly remembered her original task. Scooping up the first clothes she could find from Brenden’s bag, she made a beeline down the hallway and closed herself in her dad’s room.

“That sounds funny. We might come home tomorrow. Look, Talia, I have to go. I’ll call you later.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any suspicious activity, girl.”

“You do that…” Irene chuckled.

She ended the call right before entering the bathroom. Brenden looked slightly startled to see the door flying open, but he immediately relaxed when he saw it was Irene. There was a towel wrapped around his waist and the air in the small room was thick with steam. He looked unoccupied, like he had been waiting around.

“I thought you abandoned me,” he half-whined while taking the clothes from her hand. “You even took my old clothes.”

Irene pushed the thoughts of the phone conversation from her mind, determined to keep it to herself for then. “Scared Suzie was going to get you?” she teased, wiggling her brows maliciously.

Brenden threw her a dirty look. “That’s not funny.”

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll protect you.”

Irene broke the news to her dad early. He was disappointed but understood. For dinner, he arranged for them to have some of the best Chinese takeout the military town offered. He wished they had fish, which was one of the few things he knew how to cook, but apparently, they didn’t have time to catch any before Suzie took a dive off the side of the boat.

Suzie and Marie didn’t join them, and Irene had a feeling it was because her dad wanted her all to himself for at least one night. Brenden retired early, saying he would pack their things, and her Dad and she spent the remaining evening just talking and catching up.

The next morning, they ate breakfast at the local diner and left around ten. Brenden stroked her palm with his fingers for most of the ride home, his touch soothing, and the trip passed quickly.

They stopped at the hospital first so they could visit Vin. When Brenden pulled into an immense garage, creeping through the levels in search of a parking space, Irene couldn’t help but ask him why he didn’t use his parking spot. Because she knew he had his own parking spot, just as well as she knew he got free food and coffee and someone to wipe his ass if he wanted.

“I’m not working today,” he answered with practiced patience.

“So?”

“So we can park in the garage like the other visitors.”

“You’re not doing anyone a favor. You’re taking a parking spot from us regular folks, so now we have fewer places to park. It’s not like we could park in your spot,” she eyed him.

“Stop doing that,” he said as he eased into the parking place.

“Stop doing what?”

“Putting yourself on a different level than me.”

“I’m not doing it. It’s just how things are.”

He parked the car and cut the engine. “I don’t like you thinking that way,” he said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. “Because it is not true. A good nurse is worth their weight in gold to a doctor.  They wouldn’t be nearly as successful without them.”

Irene liked the way he said ‘they’ and ‘them’ instead of ‘we’ and ‘you.’ He was right. In their case, it was just them. They were not doctors or nurses or on different sides.

He kissed her before getting out of the car, and she followed his lead, suddenly a little nervous. While they hadn’t tried to hide their relationship, it seemed like visiting his father together while they were both off-duty was a pretty loud proclamation that they were a couple. Not to mention it would take place on the floor where she worked.