After swallowing, I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, it’s just that I forget to eat sometimes.”
“Thanks for taking the shift tonight, Laney,” Skye said. “And for going out with our brother. Word has it he was being a grouch at work.”
“I can vouch for that,” Tess replied. “Huge grouch.”
“Yeah, Josie did mention that. I got a lot of dirt on your brother from her, Ian, Dylan, and Isabelle.”
“Hmm, now that gives you an unfair advantage, doesn’t it?” Tess asked playfully. “He doesn’t have insider info about you.”
“What do you want to know?” I asked carefully. I hadn’t had a clique in so long that my skills were rusty. I had no clue what to share and what was off-limits. I told Isabelle everything, but she’d been my best friend for two decades. And I rarely talked about Ryan. It wasn’t a secret or anything, but it made me sad, and that made everyone around me sad. We’d only been married for six months, but his cute, geeky love and all the dreams we’d shared left a huge void.
“Oh, lots of things,” Tess said. “But you’re working tonight, so it wouldn’t be fair to also question you.”
“Yeah, we need you well rested for that,” Skye said.
I laughed, looking from one sister to the other.
“Aha!” Skye exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. “That’s a dreamy expression right there.”
I didn’t even try to rein in my smile. I hadn’t felt dreamy in a long while, and it was glorious.
“It is dreamy,” I confirmed.
Checking my watch, I sighed. “I have to leave.”
“Are you sure we can’t lure you back here later?” Tess said. “I can head out and buy some more goodies.”
I shook my head, clutching my file with patient charts. “No can do, unfortunately.”
The shift was not without challenges, but at eleven o’clock things calmed down a bit. Since I had some free time on my hands, I went to check on Skye again.
To my surprise, she was wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Tess was asleep, curled on the visitor’s bed.
“Skye, how are you feeling?” I whispered. All her vitals were okay, but she was biting on her lower lip. She looked more worried than I’d seen her the whole day, except right when she was brought in. She clutched my left wrist with one hand, raising her head a little.
“If I stick to the bed rest, my baby will be safe and healthy, right?”
“Just take things easy and let your husband and your whole family pamper you. They seem great at it.”
“I just don’t want anyone else to worry about me.”
That’s why she was seemingly so blasé about everything today. I barely knew this woman, but I wanted to pull her in a tight hug.
“Let them pamper you,” I repeated. “Go to sleep. You had a rough day, Skye.”
“Thank you for checking in on me,” she whispered.
She squeezed my hand before fluffing her pillow and turning on one side, closing her eyes. I tiptoed out of her room, heading straight to the small room where we could lie down during night shifts. I huddled under the covers with a cup of tea and messaged Cole.
Laney: I think Skye needs more cheering up than she lets on.
Cole: That’s always the case with Skye, but thanks for confirming. How is my doc doing?
Laney: Enjoying hot tea.
Cole: Want me to bring you food?
Laney: Your sisters