Chapter 2

"Nicole are you good?". asked Kate who usually drove Nicole to work, they had become friends on the very first day of their duty assumption as nurses at the Wayfire hospital. Snapping out of her deep thoughts she said "yes, yes I'm good, I was just thinking about something ". Kate looked at Nicole with a sarcastic stare and said "I hope you're good cause you've been like this for some time now, Are you okay?" Kate asked. Nicole smiled at her and said "Kate I'm good trust me". Kate just sighed and looked away from her and back to the road.

Arriving at the Wayfire Hospital, Nicole and her friend Kate walked to the changing room hastily because they arrived late.

After some minutes they both came out of the changing room and headed to the staff lounge. Getting there they saw few of the nurses and doctors discussing among themselves. Kate said"

"oh my gosh!! I can't stand some of these sad twats". Nicole laughed a little, looked at her and said "You don't have to call them twats, that's just being rude".

They heard a voice from behind saying "Thank you Nicole, Kate is just rude and unmannered" . Immediately, they turned around and saw doctor Shamen walking towards them. Doctor Shamen is a white middle aged doctor known for his brilliance, annoying nature and pride, he goes about posing like he owns the place where as he was just like every other doctor in the hospital.

Kate with a tiring face looked at him and asked "hey, hey excuse me, who was speaking with you?". Nicole just giggled as she reached into her bag to get her employee ID. Kate and Dr. Shamen kept on throwing funny insults and jokes at each other. Using her elbow Nicole hit Kate on her arm signaling her to stop being rude and she did this with a smile on her face. Then Kate said "well he started it" as she walked away from Shamen to fetch her handbag.

Smiling at doctor Shamen Nicole said "Good afternoon Dr. Shamen, how are you doing today". He replied her saying "well I'm fine Thank you Nicole, I hope you're doing good yourself".

"Yes I am Thanks for asking " She replied.

Doctor Shamen turned to Kate and asked "why can't you be like her?. Kate wagged her head as she looked inside her bag searching for her employee ID.

"I guess you're searching for your ID?, Oh Kate when will you ever be responsible " Dr. Shamen said deliberately to annoy Kate. Nicole looked at her and said "deep breath, remember...you're a black queen and he's not worth it". Kate took a deep breath and said "I am a black Queen and he's not worth it" then she continued searching for her ID. "I've seen it!" said Kate who tapped Nicole telling her to fix the ID on her nursing outfit?

Ring-Ring" goes the telephone on the wall. Dr. Shamen walked towards the telephone, picked it up, listened and then said "Nicole it's for you" Nicole was a little bit hesitant as she tried to figure out who the call could be from. Dr. Shamen moved his mouth away from the phone and whispered "it's doctor Richards (Doctor Richards is the Head Doctor at Wayfire Hospital). She was a little bit worried and wondered why the Head Doctor would want to speak with her. She took the phone from Dr. Shamen and said "hello" and the Head Doctor said "Nicole be in my office as soon as possible ".

As she hung up the phone, she tried to figure out what she could have done that would make Dr. Richards request for her. Doctor Shamen held up his coffee and said with a little high pitched voice "someone's in trouble ". Kate smacked his head with her bag and said " I really hate you" and he replied nonchalantly "Thank God for that".

"Nicole welcome, how are you doing?" Asked Doctor Richards. Nicole looking at him with a suspicious stare replied slowly "I'm good". Dr Richards saw how nervous she was as she stood before him, he smiled and said "Nicole relax just have a sit". She walked nervously to the chair before her and sat down quietly. Sitting on the lovely leather chair, she felt relaxed and less nervous. She leaned back and sat on the chair like she owned the place. Dr Richards noticed how relaxed and comfortable she was, smiled and said sarcastically "oh no Nicole feel at home ". They both giggled and she being a little bit ashamed and embarrassed sat up straight

" Nicole why are you coming for work at this hour?" Dr. Richard asked. Surprised by the question, she said "sorry I don't understand "

He said "you were due for work by 6am this morning but you didn't show up".

With confidence she told Dr Richards he was wrong and she was certain she came to work at the right time. Mr. Richards unlocked his computer and opened the file showing the working time for all staffs in the Wayfire Hospital. Using the cursor he pointed out her name and said

"Ah there you are, you were to come in for work at 6am today but you didn't.......what happened?"

"Oh my.....I'm so confused right now.....I did not know honestly.....6am really?"

"Oh I think I see the problem.......Kate was assigned for 2:30pm and you probably thought you were assigned to that time too....correct?" Doctor Richards asked.

Confused and remorseful, the once confident young lady apologized for her actions and promised Dr. Richards that it would never happen again.

Dr. Richards feeling so much pity for her, stood up, walked towards her and asked "Nicole are you feeling okay?". She said she was okay but as he looked at her face she had a sad look on her face. He said " Nicole you know Wayfire Hospital expects the best from it's staffs.

"Yes Doctor Richards I know but I've been feeling really tired lately". Said Nicole.

"If that's the problem you can go to Martha downstairs and ask for a leave if you want" she hurriedly replied saying "I can't do that, I would give everyone the impression that I am not up to the standard of this hospital and I don't want to give anyone that impression".

He told her he understood her point and where she was coming from but he said there was no harm in seeking for a leave from work for a few days. He continued by saying it was normal for workers everywhere in the world. "Nicole I'll even vouch for you, I'll tell everyone that you're the most hardworking staff here and I'm serious about it" said Dr. Richards

"Forgive me for asking Doctor but why would you do that for me? I know I'm not as hardworking as you're implying" Nicole said smiling, and she had a little bit of curiosity on her face.

"Nicole why I'm doing it doesn't really matter, does it? I just want to help you out and make sure you're okay". Nicole smiled and said "thank you very much Doctor I really appreciate your concern but I wouldn't take the leave I'd rather work"

"Okay if you say so, but please take care of yourself" said Dr. Richard with a concerning look on his face.

"Yes Doctor I will. May I leave now?" She asked, "Yes you may" said Dr. Richards who pointed his hand towards the door.

She got up waving Dr. Richards goodbye but he was focused on the work he had on his computer so he wasn't expecting the wave and it seemed a little bit awkward. He stared at her weirdly as he raised his hand slowly and gave her an awkward wave with an unsure smile, she felt embarrassed and immediately walked out of the office.

Looking at her hand she said "oh my gosh Nicole what the hell did you do? Oh Hey! I'm Nicole and I'm walking out of the office, and guess what? I give unexpected waves and put myself in an awkward situation. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!!!!" She said all this looking at her hand with so much anger and disappointment.

Two nurses who walked by (one male and the other female) stopped and stared at her while she spoke to her hand. "What's wrong with her?" The female nurse asked. "I don't know but she sure seems crazy to me" the male nurse replied.

After much discussion with her hand Nicole turned around and she saw the two nurses staring at her like she was a crazy person. She stared at them awkwardly and she put a smile on her face making everything awkward. The scenario was just strange and weird so she decided to add a wave to the awkward scene. While she raised her hands she thought to herself

"Nicole what the hell are you doing? Drop down your hands Nicole, this is so weird".

The nurses smiled at her and waved back but the male nurse gave the female nurse a tap and said silently as he kept waving at the psycho nurse "Move, move, this nurse is a crackhead".

They both left the scene instantly as Nicole kept on waving at them. "Damn Nicole, you're an Idiot" she said to herself.