Cassie couldn't remember how many times the busy tone had rang on her ear while she tried to call Nick. If she hadn't saved it under his name on her contact list, she would have suspected she had dialed the wrong number all this time. She tried one more time, and the same busy tone buzzed in her ear.
'Is Nick probably on a business trip abroad? Or is he just stuck in a business meeting out of the city? Why is he not answering his phone? He couldn't be that busy. What is going on with you, Nick?'
Every day that Cassie couldn't get a hold of Nick, these questions kept bugging her. The nights were even worse. She ended up tossing and turning in bed, sleepless until it was time to get up again. His absence was mainly affecting her work focus. If she only had the courage, she would have left the work in the hospital and searched for Nick desperately.
But leaving was one thing, and finding him was another. She was clueless on where she would start looking. 'His office perhaps?' she thought. 'Or maybe his house?'
Cassie laughed at herself for overthinking. She had a feeling that even if she really went and found Nick, he might still avoid her.
"Hey!" The patient's annoyed voice snapped her back to reality. Apparently, Cassie injected her at the wrong place. "Oh my!" she gasped, shocked and quickly injected her at the right place. "I'm really sorry, ma'am," she apologized after it had been done. However, the annoyed patient started cursing, "Damn! You better be sorry! I would rather have another nurse attend to me when I end up sick again."
Cassie kept apologizing, but the middle-aged patient just didn't let her go. She held onto Cassie's arm and started to threaten her, "Take me to your director. I would like to speak with her about what you just did. Such irresponsibility needs to be reprimanded."
Panic washed over Cassie's face. The head nurse had already given her a verbal warning for her poor job performance these past few days. If this patient really reported her to the head nurse, she would be in trouble and get fired.
At the thought of that, Cassie threw off the woman's hand and blocked her. "Wait!" she exclaimed.
The woman was suddenly taken aback but after she regained her composure, she got angrier and shouted, "You're just a nurse! What the hell are you trying to do? How dare you block my way! Don't you know the rules and regulations in this hospital?"
Cassie's face turned crimson in embarrassment, but she had no other choice. The woman was fiery and arrogant, but what she said made sense. Her words were like needles sticking into Cassie's heart, which made her almost breathless.
"I'm really sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean to come across as rude. I just hope that we could talk about this peacefully," Cassie said. However, she couldn't persuade the patient to change her mind and she dared not strike the woman. Cassie had no words to defend herself over this, but the last thing she wanted to happen was to escalate this matter. Her leader would surely hold her responsible for her fault and she might be sacked.
Cassie was very anxious. She kept apologizing and hoped that the woman would forgive her.
However, when the patient saw that Cassie was weak and harmless, she became more aggressive. "That's it. Let's go!" She shouted louder, held Cassie's arm and started to pull her.
Cassie was quite small and she wasn't strong enough to push the woman away. Despite her resistance, she was pulled ahead by that woman. What made her feel worse was that everyone's eyes were now on them. Some patients and her colleagues were now looking at her and discussing.
The hospital was a place full of gossips. If she still tangled with this patient, she would be overwhelmed by the rumors even though the woman decided not to blame her.
Cassie felt more worried. She almost wanted to cry. 'This could not be happening, ' she thought, but it was.
"Stop!"
That voice was so loud and strong that it attracted everyone's attention.
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