Masquerade (16 page)

Her stomach dipped and for a moment, she thought she was going to be sick again but the feeling passed.

She must have eaten something that was off yesterday. There was no way she could go into work feeling like this.

Work.

It wasn’t food poisoning at all; she’d succumbed to the bug that was running rampant through the staff. She’d been so careful and it had been pointless, she’d gotten the bug anyway.

She staggered out of the bathroom and down to her bedroom. The bed was like an oasis in the desert and she sank down on it. Nausea rolled through her once again.

She hated being sick.

Sophie pushed herself to get off the bed and out of her work clothes. Once again dressed in her nightgown, she reached for the bedside phone and called the hospital to let them know that she was sick and wouldn’t be in for a couple of days. There was no point going back to the hospital after one day. It was always best to give herself another day to fully recover.

As she hung up the phone black spots started to appear before her eyes. Sophie groaned and closed them. The room started spinning and she gripped the bedside table in the hopes it would stop. Mercifully, it did and she said a silent thank you.

She lay still for a few moments, trying to empty her mind and not think about the churning that was still happening in her stomach. It wasn’t long before she was racing to the bathroom once again.

She hauled herself to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of water. Wobbling all the way back to the bedroom, she took a couple of sips and placed it on the bedside table. She needed to make sure she didn’t get dehydrated. But if she did she had some electrolyte sachets in the cupboard if she needed them.

She lay down and closed her eyes again. Fortunately, this time the room didn’t spin and her stomach seemed to have settled down.

She fell into a restless sleep.

She was standing in a street that was empty except for two people. Alex and a faceless woman were kissing. Sophie was watching on the sideline. Her heart exploded into tiny pieces as she watched them walk away, arms closed about each other. She called out to Alex. He ignored her. Her cries became more frantic until eventually he turned to her.

“I’m sorry, Sophie, but it’s not going to work. I’m getting back with Amanda.”

“No,” she wailed.

Sophie jolted upright in bed, her heart racing. She glanced around the room. The reassuring sight of her bedroom furniture greeted her. She sank back against the pillows. It had just been a dream, only a dream. But it was enough for her to realize what her heart was telling her.

She was falling for Alex.

Just the thought was enough for Sophie’s stomach to somersault again. She took a couple of deep breaths, willing that she wouldn’t have to make a dash for the bathroom. She sat perfectly still and after a few moments her stomach settled, the somersaulting stopped.

She breathed easier; hopefully her bout of sickness was over and she’d only contracted a mild case of the virus. Gingerly Sophie placed her legs over the side of the bed. She sat for a few seconds before putting all of her weight on her legs. She stood, swaying slightly but was able to right herself.

So far so good, the room wasn’t spinning and her stomach was behaving itself.

Sophie made her way to the kitchen with slow, measured steps. Her throat was so parched it was as if she’d run a marathon. She opened the cupboard and reached up for a glass — her hand shook slightly, but she gripped the glass and brought it safely to the bench.

She added an electrolyte sachet to her water and stirred. A quick glance at the clock showed she’d only slept for a just over an hour, but a yawn overwhelmed her and her eyes still felt gritty. She took her glass back to her bedroom, sipping slowly as she went.

She’d just settled herself back in bed when a phone buzzed. She had too many phones, she thought, a cell, a landline, and an internal house phone. It was her landline ringing — it didn’t ring often and it was usually a family member, namely her dad. She braced herself for her dad’s gruff tones.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded weak to her own ears.

“Sophie, I’ve been so worried. I had to ring.” The concern and surprise in Alex’s voice had her stomach turning somersaults again. With excitement, not sickness. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

She closed her eyes, imagining he was in the bed beside her. Holding her. Caring for her. Loving her.

“Sophie?” His voice sounded urgent.

“No, Alex, you didn’t wake me. I’m feeling a little better. A bit shaky and woozy, but apart from that I’m okay.”

“Do you need me to come over after work? I can pop in and give you a shot if you need it or, I don’t know, anything.”

Sophie imagined him raking his hands through his hair as he spoke.

“No, Alex, it’s fine, I’ll be fine. I don’t want you to catch this dreaded bug.”

“I don’t mind, you know, Sophie. It’s not like it’s out of my way to pop in and see you. Besides,” he lowered his voice and she heard the faint sound of the door closing, “it would give me a chance to practice my bedside manner.”

Sophie shivered at the connotation. The lure to test out just how good his bedside manner was extremely tempting, but at that moment her body temperature changed and she became all clammy. Clearly her stomach wasn’t ready to handle anything, even sips of a drink.

“Umm, I’ve got to go, Alex.” She slammed the phone down and rushed for the bathroom.

It was going to be a long day, she decided as she rinsed her mouth out. Making her way back to her bed she climbed between the sheets and curled into a little ball.

She fell asleep again, only this time her sleep was dreamless.

When she woke up next she was feeling ravenous. A quick glance at the clock showed she’d slept soundly for about four hours.

Deciding to take a risk because she was over lying in bed, she got up again and padded into the bathroom. Maybe a shower would make her feel better.

Stripping off her nightgown, she stepped under the spray. It was like being reborn again. The water refreshed and revitalized her as it washed away the remnants of the past morning.

She flicked off the water and dried herself. She already could tell that she felt a hundred percent for the first time since she woke up.

Sophie decided to test something — each time she’d thought about Alex and where their relationship was heading, nausea overtook her and she was sick. As she changed into some yoga pants and a sweater, she emptied her mind of everything but Alex. His words from last night and the words he spoke to her on the phone filled her mind.

Her stomach stayed quiet and still.

She laughed at the absurdity of her theory. Alex hadn’t made her sick, a virus had — but at least her stomach seemed to have settled down.

Twinges of hunger pierced her senses and she made herself some toast. She took it to the couch and picked up the television remote. She would indulge herself with daytime television that had no meaning and no sense — just what she needed.

Fortunately, the toast stayed down and so did her second attempt at an electrolyte drink. She whiled away the afternoon with trashy television and little cat naps.

When the knock at the door came at six in the evening, Sophie knew exactly who it would be.

“I told you I’d be fine,” she said good-naturedly when she saw Alex leaning with one arm resting on the wall beside her door.

He straightened and cast a “doctor’s” eye over her, taking in her casual dress, disheveled hair, and, she was sure, a still pale face. She tried not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze. Finally she had enough.

“Are you done, because I’m getting pretty tired of standing with the door open.”

“Sorry,” he gave a small smile that melted her heart. “Hi Sophia.”

He went to make a move toward her but she held up her hand to ward him off. “Alex, I’m fine, seriously, and I’m probably still contagious. I don’t want to risk you getting this bug. We don’t need you being sick as well.”

She could see the indecision on his face. It was clear to her that he wanted to come in but if she was truthful, she did want to be alone. She needed to tell him that.

Sophie took a little step forward and touched his arm briefly. “Alex, I really appreciate your concern but I just want to be alone. I haven’t been sick again since this morning so I’m obviously on the mend.”

His answer was to reach out and pull her in for a hug. He held her close and rubbed his hand up and down her back. It took all of Sophie’s determination not to succumb to his hold. She stayed pliant for a few seconds and then straightened up and pulled away.

“I don’t want to see you at the hospital tomorrow,” he ordered. “I’ll let admin know you won’t be in.”

He reached into his pocket and extracted a card. “Here’s my home and cell number.” His warm hand engulfed hers as he pressed the card into her palm. “Use it any time, for any reason. Promise me you’ll use it, Sophie.”

“I promise,” she said as she placed the card on her entry table. “Thanks for stopping by, Alex.”

Tingles raced up and down her spine as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Goodnight, Sophie, sleep well.”

Sophie stood at the door and watched as he made his way down the hallway, her heart aching for her to call out to him, to invite him back. He must have sensed her looking at him because before he stepped into the elevator he turned. They communicated silently through looks. She told him how much she wanted him to stay but needed alone time. He told her he understood and respected her for her strong will.

Sophie lifted her fingers in a small wave and he answered with raising his fingers to his lips and blowing her a kiss.

She closed the door on a sigh, holding the blown kiss in her heart.

Sophie walked through the double doors into the ER. The waiting room was full and after a quick glance at the triage nurse, she instinctively knew they were working to capacity.

She should’ve come to work yesterday. She’d woken up feeling fine, only the occasional twinge of nausea and one episode of throwing up after she’d cooked the scrambled eggs she’d craved. She’d stuck to plain food for the rest of the day and had been fine.

She swiped her card and the automatic doors opened — a cacophony of yelling, beeping machines, and phones ringing greeted her.

Just as she’d thought — it was going to be a fun day at the office.

The pungent antiseptic smell curdled her stomach and she took a couple of deep breaths to stave off the wave of nausea that crawled through her like an incipit insect. It looked like she was going to have these symptoms for a couple more days yet. She could deal with the occasional bout of nausea so long as she didn’t throw up again — she hated throwing up.

She stowed her bag and went out to the reception desk. “Morning, Dawn, what have we got?”

“Seriously, Sophie, you don’t want to know,” Dawn said on a sigh. “We had a multi-car accident overnight, two people dead, two seriously injured, and one in a stable condition, but because there aren’t any beds available, at the moment he’s in Resus One.”

“Local road or country?” asked Sophie. She’d been listening to a CD in the car on the way in so she hadn’t caught the news. Whenever there was a fatality on the roads, it always hit the news bulletins.

“About thirty kilometers north of the city. The usual suspects involved — speed, drugs, and alcohol.” Dawn shook her head and her face showed her distress. “When will they learn?”

Sophie patted Dawn’s hand. She’d lost her husband and infant son in a car accident a couple of years previous. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for her, she’d been at work at the time and hadn’t been in the car. It was always tough on her when motor vehicle accident patients came in. It was a reason Dawn worked the night shift — she had no reason to work normal hours. No one to go home to. Sophie knew Dawn wasn’t much older than her. To Sophie, Dawn was too young to live a life alone.

“Have I told you how much I appreciate that you’re happy to do nights, Dawn? To know the department’s nursing staff is competently run when I’m not here is a big load off of my shoulders.”

The smile Dawn gave Sophie was like sunshine breaking through the clouds on a rainy day. “I’m happy to do it, Sophie, it’s helping me cope.”

“But if you ever want to change, Dawn I will accommodate your needs.” Sophie gave her an encouraging smile. “You can’t spend the rest of your life being nocturnal.”

“I don’t see my circumstances changing at the moment, Sophie, but thank you.” Dawn gave a small shrug. “If the need arises I’ll let you know.”

Sophie left the subject alone after that and went through the patients on Dawn’s list with her. She sat down at the reception desk and contemplated how they could make room to start seeing the patients that were lining up in the waiting room.

She only hoped there were no major incidents for the first couple of hours.

“Hey, Chucky, how ya feeling?” Sophie looked up and saw John, one of the residents, leaning against the desk. “Hope I don’t need to bring you a bucket every half hour,” he said jovially.

She shook her head, amused. No wonder he and Phoebe got on so well, their humor was similar.

“I’m fine, thanks, John, but if I need a bucket I’ll know where to look.” She looked down at her list. “Now tell me, what’s that status of your patient with the lacerated arm?”

“All stitched up and being discharged this very minute with instructions to see his GP in a week to remove the stitches. I’m ready for the next patient.”

“Good to hear.” She smiled up at him. John always managed to lighten the mood. “How about use your bedside charms on some more patients, I know Marie would love for you to clear out the waiting room.”

“How can I resist when you ask so nicely,” he said, with a wink, as he walked off to see who he had to treat next.

“It’s good to hear you laughing, Sophie. I take it you’re feeling better?”

Sophie was imminently glad she had her head down — it gave her a few seconds to school her features and not let on to Alex, or anyone else in the department, how he affected her.