Page 4

Chapter 3

Penelope

“Is it going to hurt?” Kaylah asks with tears in her big green eyes, which have a hint of brown, making her look so innocent.

She’s flipping adorable.

I give the sweet six-year-old little girl with a head full of light red curls a small smile as she clings to her mom’s arm and take a seat beside her.

“You see this here?” I ask as I gently rub my finger over the clear plaster on her hand, which is lumped out full of cream. She nods as big fat tears fall down her cheeks, and I whisper, “Well, that cream I put on your hand is magic.” Her eyes widen comically, causing her mother to smile as she runs her fingers through her daughter’s hair.

“When I put a needle into your hand, that magic cream will ensure you don’t feel it,” I promise.

She sniffles before taking deep breaths, then nods and lets go of her mom’s arm being the big brave girl I’m coming to understand her to be and holds her hand out.

I give her a kind smile, gently peel off the sticker, and wipe away the excess cream.

“Okay, sweet girl,” I whisper, picking up the needle from the tray next to me, “You’ll feel a tiny bit of pressure but no pain, I promise.”

She nods despite the fear radiating from her and as carefully as I can, I feel on top of her hand, finding a perfect vein then press the tip of the tiny needle into her hand. Once it is far enough, I remove it, leaving a small tube inside with a connector on top of her skin before sticking it down, ensuring it doesn’t come out then I grab the bandage and wrap it around her hand, providing the IV is accessible before looking at Kaylah who’s eyes are squeezed tight.

“Have you done it yet?” she asks in a small voice as I tie off the bandage. I grin at her mom before I answer her and admit, “It’s all finished.”

She opens one eye, peeking before both open, and she looks at me in shock, and I smile wide.

“See, it didn’t hurt, right?” I confirm as I clean up the tray and take it to the medical waste bin.

When she doesn’t answer, I look to see her scowling at her hand, making me giggle a little before I look at her mother and say, “The anesthesiologist should be in soon, then she’ll be taken to the theatre.” She nods, worries etching off her, and I give her a reassuring smile and say, “Doctor James is fantastic at his job; she’s in good hands.”

She nods, and I touch her arm, giving it a squeeze while smiling at Kaylah, who is still scowling, a frown marring her little face, at her hand.

Kaylah came in a few hours ago with severe stomach pains, and tests confirmed she needs her appendix removed as soon as possible, but she’s strong, and I know she’ll be a trooper.

She’s my third patient today, and even though I still have second-day nerves, so far, I haven’t messed up. It helps that I trailed another nurse for two days last week.

Giving Kaylah one last smile, I exit her room only to bump into a body, making me gasp as my body tilts. Two hands grip my arms, and a deep voice snaps, “You need to watch where you are going!” I look at him sharply, only to see the man glaring to the left. I look to see another nurse who shouldn’t be on this floor, looking at him with a red face.

“Mindy, why are you on the children’s floor?” I ask in confusion. The woman looks my way, glaring, but I don’t back down. Mindy started yesterday as well, but in the ER, meaning she has no clout over me and no reason to be on this floor.

Without answering me, she looks at the man again, but when he doesn’t give her what she wants, she huffs and stomps away as the guy lets go of me and steps back. I look his way as he states, “I’m sorry. I went to dodge her but didn’t see you.”

I nod, but my brows furrow as I inappropriately look the guy over, a sense of familiarization hitting me despite knowing I’ve never met him before. He has brown hair, and he’s tall and built like a boulder, but it’s his dark blue eyes that have me confused.

They look like Taylors.

“Let me guess, football fan too?” the guy exasperates.

I blink, trying to ignore the sinking gut feeling that comes when I think of Taylor. Regret weighs heavy on my mind, and I clear my throat and admit, “Actually, I’ve never seen a football match before. You just look very familiar, that is all. Sorry.”

The guy smirks and confirms, “You mean game?”

I frown, “Isn’t that what a match is?”

He grins, humor lacing his blue eyes. Again, Taylor comes to mind, the familiarization consuming me, and I blink, trying to squash it and clear my throat: "Never mind. Can I help you with something?”

He looks me over, and I don’t know what he sees, but he smiles genuinely and says, “I’m here to see my niece, Kaylah. She was brought in by ambulance not long ago.”

I nod to the room behind me and say, “I’ve just inserted her IV. You can go on in.”

He nods and looks at the door before he asks, “Is she okay? I mean, my sister didn’t say much when she called, just that Kaylah was in pain, and she had to call 911 and couldn’t get a hold of our other brother.”

I give him a small smile, hoping to reassure him and open my mouth to explain I can’t tell him about her condition but can assure him she’s in good hands when the door behind me opens, and I hear a relieved, “Dylan, thank God.”

I turn and see Kaylah’s mother, and I give her a smile and state, “I’ll leave you both to it,” she smiles back, her light brown eyes looking at me with kindness.

“Thank you,” she replies, and I reach out and squeeze her hand, reminding her, “She’s in great hands,” and she nods, fear still blazing off her, but there’s a little bit of calmness now that she has someone with her.

I give the guy, Dylan, a smile, walk past him, and head to the nurse’s desk, noticing Kaylah’s doctor over there.

“Kaylah’s IV is in,” I say to Doctor James as I place the clipboard on the desk.

“Thank you, Pen,” he replies as he signs off on something and then grabs my chart. “Has Doctor Philips been in yet?” he questions, and I look to Kaylah’s room to see said doctor walking into her room in her scrubs.

“She’s in there now,” I confirm. He nods and then looks my way, his light hazel eyes assessing me, making me frown in confusion.

“I didn’t want to distract you from what you were doing, but an Avery Calvins came into the ER looking for you, claiming to be your sister. Her cheek is double the size it should be,” he says with an apologetic tone, and my eyes widen. He winces at my reaction and confirms, “You can go to her Pen. Just make sure you are back here in just over an hour to do Kaylah’s observations. She’s personally been asking for you since she came in.”

I nod then quickly rush away from the doctor every woman in the pediatrics department wants, and head to the elevators.

Apparently, I’m the only nurse who hasn’t tried to hit on him, which is why he requested me this morning. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s handsome with his dark blonde hair and piercing hazel eyes, going with the boy next door look, but my mind is only on one man, and I did the walk of shame without leaving my number like the idiot I am, not that I wanted our night to go any further.

My parents would have destroyed him.

I press the down button several times, my heart pounding, knowing why Avery is here – he hit her again.

The night after their wedding, she showed up at my apartment with a split lip and swollen wrist. Her new husband expected to take her virginity and was extremely angry when he realized she’d already given it away and beat her for it, something she was well aware would happen and yet she put herself in that predicament anyway when she could have just walked away from our family’s money.

The elevator pings, and the doors open. I sigh in relief and rush inside, pressing the first floor, worry hitting me.

I know she put this on herself, knowing what he’s like but that doesn’t mean she deserves to be hit.

A few minutes later, I rush to the nurse’s desk and notice Mindy sitting on her phone. I glare at her and when I am near, I bang my hand down on the desk, making the nurse jump up in shock. Her black hair falls over her face before her dark brown eyes notice me and she scowls.

Before she can say anything, I raise my hand and say, "Unless you want me to rat you out for not doing your job, tell me where Avery Calvins is in now.”

Her jaw ticks as she flips through the paperwork, then snaps, “Room three.”

I don’t thank her; instead, I turn and rush over to the room, opening the curtain without announcing myself.

“Nurse Vine, you cannot,” The charge nurse, Kelly, starts, but I cut her off, completely ignoring my boss, and snap, “This is not okay, Avery!”

Her face is double the size, black and blue. Her cut lip has reopened, and she has a cut on her arm.

“Pen,” she whispers, but I shake my head and approach her.

“No, Avery, this is the second time he’s hit you, and the fact you’re in the ER and that you will most likely go back to him…” I rasp as I gently run my finger through her tangled up red hair, and her tears fall.

This is all because our parents wanted more money to be on top and she wanted the lavish lifestyle. They’ve become selfish and greedy making my sister was the same way, and now my sister is the one who gets the backlash.

Why couldn’t she have gone down the same route as me?

“Uh, Penelope?” Kelly says with confusion, and I wince completely forgetting about her and look her way.

I give her an apologetic look and say, “I’m sorry, Kelly, Avery is my little sister.”

Understanding shines through her light gray eyes, and she nods, “Okay,” she looks at my sister, “your wounds are superficial, and I’ve stitched up your arm,” I scowl and look over my sister as Kelly continues, “I do urge you to speak to someone before leaving. I know I can’t convince you to call the police but just know, there is no excuse for your husband to hit you, none.” She stands, then grabs her chart and says, “I’ll leave you with your sister, and when you are ready, you can go.”

I give Kelly a small smile as she grabs my arm and squeezes it before leaving. As soon as the curtain is shut, I confirm, “He cut out your implant, didn’t he?”

I told her to do and IUD if she didn’t want kids with him or even the contraception shot, something he can’t see or feel, but she thought the implant was best.

She sniffles and says, “Yeah. He grabbed my arm when I went to walk away after an argument, and he felt it.”

I nod and ask, “And what was the argument about?”

She swallows hard, her throat bobbing as she looks my way, and admits, “I told him I wanted to work after finishing college. He admitted that he told Dad to cancel my payments, that I apparently won’t be finishing my degree that our parents forced on me, and I-I couldn’t hold in my anger, my resentment.”

I nod, trying to mask my anger while forming a plan to help her until she’s ready to admit she never should have married the guy.

“Right, did you drive here?” I ask, and she nods timidly. “Okay, drive back to mine; you’ll stay with me for a week to heal while dad has words with your husband, which he will be doing and don’t worry about college; you’ll still attend, and you’ll still go law school, I promise,” I kiss her head then mumble, “As soon as you get your next period, come see me here and I’ll give you the shot because like hell are you having that bastards kids.”

That said, I turn and leave, knowing I’m about to explode. With purpose, I speed walk outside the hospital and grab my phone out of my pocket while feeling an extreme pull to go back inside, not to my sister but to the peds floor, confusing me.

What the? Everything pulls at me, and my heart races as my palms sweat. My gut is telling me to go inside, but I ignore it and swallow hard, knowing I still have time before Kaylah is out of surgery.

Shaking the intense feeling off, I grab my phone and pull up my dad’s number.

It rings a few times before he answers.

“Penelope, this is a surprise,” he answers with confusion and curiosity, and I get it. I never call him. Heck, when he calls me, I end up hanging up within two minutes because, as always, he brings up the ‘contract’ for my supposed marriage, which I refuse to go along with.

I snap, “Ring that bastard son-in-law of yours up and tell him you won’t be pulling Avery from college, that she will be going to law school, and if she isn’t ready for kids yet, he is not to force her.”

“Now, Penelope, I won’t get in the middle of your sister’s marriage, a marriage, mind you, she knew exactly what she was getting into,” he says carefully.

I scoff and remind him, “A marriage you forced on her to suit you and Mom using money against her, and now, because of your greed, my little sister is sitting on a bed in the ER with a swollen face, split lip, and a cut on her arm?”

“What?!” he demands coldly.

“Tell Harry Calvins you are not canceling her schooling, that she will be getting that degree because you pushed that career path on her, and she wants to complete it. You, Father , tell him the next time that he raises a fist to her, you’ll end his career; otherwise, I will go to the press with that nice little marriage contract you keep forcing down my throat and ensure it is made public. Every news outlet, every paper, I’ll make everyone, including your partners, realize that the rumor is not a rumor that you are trying to sell your own daughters to strengthen your power in the city and while I’m at it, I’ll disown you!”

That said, I hang up, breathing heavily.

Enough is enough with my parents. If they sit back and watch my sister get abused, then I’ll play dirty and they’ll not only lose their reputation, but they’ll also lose their daughter.

Shaking my head, I walk back to the double doors but pause when I receive a text and scoff.

Zane-hole: Tomorrow night, I’m taking you to dinner. We need to discuss our engagement.

That son of a…. Engagement, my ass; he knows I want nothing to do with him or the so-called marriage.

Me: There is no engagement. Delete my number.

I press send and put my phone away, my anger doubling.

I won’t ever marry him; I won’t ever give in like my sister did. As soon as I’m able, I’m moving far away from New York so I can live my life without their pressures. Hopefully, I’ll fall for a guy just as hard as I fell for Taylor after one night. Though my gut screams that I never will.

I need to believe I will though; otherwise, I'll fall apart.