Just One Kiss

Chapter 1: I Can't Say No To You

The words "You are suspended" echoed in your head as you were walking out of the hospital. Your workplace. Brock's face, when he had told you, had been smug and you wished you could have beaten that look off his face, but you were already in a whole lot of trouble. How were you supposed to know that the man, Alexander Pierce, you had tried to get arrested for abusing his son was some high and mighty person on the hospital's board. Not that that would have made any difference - you still would have reported him. But now you stood here suspended without pay. For a month. Even though you knew you eventually would be fired. It was just a matter of time. You already knew that nobody would stand up for a nurse. If it had been a doctor, then maybe, but not a nurse. Many did not think nurses were worth anything and that made you angry. Nurses were the backbone of hospitals. Sure, doctors were needed, but nurses were also needed, even though many people did not believe so. Let's just hope that the kid got the help he needed and could get away from his father. Another thing that annoyed you was that Brock was getting his way. He had wanted you fired since the moment you had turned down his advances on you. Or no, not the first seven times, but the eighth time when you had threatened to go HR and report him, after that he had wanted you gone. But there was no way you would date a sleazy doctor who made belittling comments on people's bodies as well as sexist jokes.

What were you supposed to do now? You looked around. Going back to an empty apartment did not appeal to you so you took out your phone and called your best friend. Natasha, or Nat as all her friends called her, answered on the first ring.
"Hiding in one of the patient rooms again?" she asked instead of a greeting. You sighed and before you could answer she asked you what was wrong.
"Can I come to your work?" You shifted in place.
"Yes, come on over," Nat answered.
"I will be there in twenty minutes," you said, and you hung up. It was now far too Nats office so you decided to walk. To clear your head and hopefully be able to talk about what had happened without getting angrier or without crying. Because crying was what you were feeling to do right now. What were you going to do?

Twenty minutes later you walked into the lobby of the building where Nat worked. The security guard Stan winked at you and you walked to the elevator. You could hear some guy complaining that you could go on without checking in. It made you chuckle. Stan had a soft spot for you. He said you reminded him of his late wife and on slow days he told you stories about their adventurous life together. It usually made you wish for that kind of love and connection.
When you arrived on the right floor you stepped out of the elevator and nodded at Rebecca, the receptionist. She smiled and told you to just walk on through.
Nat's office door was open and you saw that she was sitting behind her desk looking at something on her computer. You knocked on the doorframe and she smiled at you. You walked in, closed the door, and took a seat in one of the soft chairs opposite Nat.
"Tell me what is wrong," Nat tilted her head. She always got straight to the point. You took a deep breath and it all came spilling out. About Alexander Pierce's son's injuries and how you called the cops. Brock's suspending you and stating that you had gone against hospital protocols since you only were a nurse and not a doctor. Nat sat there quiet just listening and nodding. When you were finished there was a knock on Nat's office door. Nat's assistant Zack opened the door and comes in with two coffees and a box of pastries that he placed on Nat's desk.
"Thank you, Zack," both of you said and each took a coffee. He just nodded and left the room.
"Your assistant is always so quiet." You turned to Nat and took a sip of the coffee.
"I know," Nat smiled. "He is godsent." You laughed at this.
"But back to the issue at hand." Nat took out a pen and paper. "What are you going to do about your job?" You opened the box of pastries to give yourself a moment.
"Y/N," Nat knew you too well to be fooled.
"I don't know," you muttered and took out a chocolate eclair. Zack always knew your coffee order and always brought the best pastries.
"You could take legal actions against the hospital," Nat offered. You tilt your head.
"I don't know," you admitted. "If they fire me, then I might want to do that, but right now... I just don't have it in me to fight." Nat nodded but you could see that she was holding something back.
"I know you don't agree with me," you started to say but Nat holds a hand in the air.
"You don't have to say it," Nat smiled at you. "But if you want to take legal actions, know that the firm would be happy to take your case."
"What?" You sank a bit down in your chair.
"If I talked with my boss, he would say that we will take it on. If that is what you want." Nat walked around the desk and put a hand on your shoulder. "You are not alone in this. You have me as well as Matt and Foggy on your side. We would take this lawsuit and win it."
"Thank you. I really appreciate it." You placed your hand on top of Nat's and squeezed lightly. Nat's phone rang and she answered after you nodded your okay.
"Hey, Steve," she answered. You looked at her and saw how her shoulders tensed up and then she sighed.
"I get that he messed up Steve, but he is just a kid." Nat walked to the window. She had said Steve, which you knew meant that she probably was talking to her stepbrother or more like ex-stepbrother Steve. Or could a stepbrother, be an ex-brother, or were you stuck with each other for life? Nat sometimes spent the holidays with him, so maybe you should just say brother? Nat was quiet for a while, listening to what was said on the other end. "Of course, he should be punished, but I think that might be a bit too much." Nat sigh and turned around to her desk again. She pulled out her calendar from some papers.
"When is it?" Nat wondered, flipped through some pages of her calendar, and then she hummed. "Yes, we will talk more about this later. I can't come until at least five days, maybe a week. But I am coming." Nat nodded at something that was said. "Yes, I want to help. We will figure this out. Bye." Nat hung up and turned to you.
"Was that your step-brother Steve?" You wondered when you saw the face Nat made at her phone. She nodded and sat down with a sigh. "Problems?"
"It's my other step-brother Peter. He has messed up again," Nat ran a hand through her hair. "For like the hundredth time this year. It's a whole mess."
"What did he do?" you asked and Nat sat down with a sigh.
"A while back Peter created this website for the ranch, it was something that Steve and he had decided together. But what Peter failed to talk to Steve about was that he also made living on a ranch package available for people to book."
"What? Like, see how it works on a ranch kind of thing?" You tilt your head to the side.
"More like try being a cowboy, get to go on a cattle drive, and so on." Nat typed in something on her computer and turned the screen around. The site was expertly done and the pictures were breathtaking. And not even close to what you were used to. Being born and raised in New York City you had never been out of state and Montana had always been a place you wanted to visit. If it looked anything like the pictures showed, well then it just got knocked up even more on your list of places to travel to. What you missed when you looked at the pictures was Nat's calculating face. If you had seen that you would have known that you were in for trouble or something that you could not talk yourself out of.
"What are you going to do during your suspension?" Nat wondered and it brought you back to the present. You sighed and started playing with your bracelet.
"Go to the store and stock up on chocolate and wine. Then lay in bed and watch as many Disney movies that I can," you almost whispered out, feeling a bit ashamed over your lack of motivation. "And I guess I have a month to find a new job. I just know that Brock will have me fired."
"Why did you never file a complaint against him?" Nat wondered.
You sighed again.
"He is connected at the hospital and I just never wanted to take the fight or get fired," you admitted. "But now I have a month to come up with all the ways I will tell him to go to hell when I get fired."
"Do you know what you need?" Nat wondered and you shooke your head.
"You need tacos and margaritas," Nat said firmly. You knew that there was no point in arguing so you agreed.
"I have a meeting in 10 minutes, but that won't take a long time," Nat looked at her calendar. "Meet me at the restaurant in two hours?" You agreed and left her office.