“Fine,” his mother said breathlessly. “That’s… fine. I guess. You should be where you’re comfortable. And if you aren’t comfortable here, then maybe you should be home.”
“I’ll go pack your things,” Cara said.
“I’ll go pull the car around,” his mother said.
I looked down at the top of Hayden’s head and watched as he nodded curtly at his family.
“When do you want me to start?” I asked.
“How does now sound?” he asked.
Chapter Five
Grace
“You’re leaving me!? Since when?”
“I got a job as a private nurse,” I said. “I technically started yesterday, but I’m working half days through the week to transition into the job.”
“Who’s it with?” Emilia asked
“To be honest? The house we’ve been delivering flowers to regularly for the past three or so months.”
“Wait, how did they figure out you were a licensed nurse?” she asked.
“Without diving into whole story, the house we’ve been delivering flowers to has a man recuperating from an accident. When I took the flowers over yesterday, he had been doing physical therapy on the floor and they couldn’t get him into his wheelchair. So I did.”
“Way to go,” she said with a grin. “But on a serious note, I’m happy for you. I know you’ve been dabbling with the idea of staying here or finding a job elsewhere, and I’m glad you found something in your field of study.”
“I’m going to hate leaving you, Emilia.”
“Trust me, I’m going to hate letting you go. But I know you love taking care of people. I know that’s why you got into nursing. You’ve worked with me for years, Grace. It’s time you got out of my shop and explored the world you chose to be a part of.”
“Am I making the right decision?” I asked. “Taking this job?”
“Depends. Are you excited for it?”
“I’m nervous.”
“But is that nervousness undergirded with positive or negative emotions?”
I picked up an apple slice between my fingers and slid it between my lips. I honestly wasn’t sure. Part of me was so nervous I could throw up. What if I really wasn’t what this man needed? What if I couldn’t help him in all the ways I thought I could? However, I was excited about helping. About giving him a quality of life during his recuperation he obviously hadn’t been getting at his parent’s home. Or sister’s. Or whoever that mansion belonged to.
“Positive, I think,” I said.
“Then that’s good enough for now,” Emilia said. “So, tell me more about this person we’ve been delivering flowers to.”
“I can’t tell you much without destroying the HIPPA agreement between us.”
“Then tell me what you can.”
“I mean, he was in an accident. A bad one. He’s looking at another hip surgery in a couple of weeks so he can start retraining himself how to walk.”
“Yikes. What kind of accident was it?” she asked.
“A car hit him,” I said.
“Holy hell. Is he okay?”