Pandemic Love

Another One Gone, and Another One Gone

I was still reveling in the feeling of Shawn's touch the next morning walking into work.  I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't actually dreaming.  Being that close to him; alone; made me nervous but also kept the butterflies in my chest.  He had been so gentle and sweet with me. 

As I walked into the office I could tell something was off.  The vibe didn't feel the same and when I found myself walking into the dungeon, Mandy and Alexis were already at their desks; uncertain looks on their faces.  Something isn't right, I thought to myself.  None the less, I attempted to start out my morning like every other one.

"Hey girls!  Ready for another day?" I asked, extra chipper this morning because of what my gut was feeling.

Silence.

No answer from either of them.

April entered the dungeon, a confused look on her face as I stood in the middle of the space looking at Mandy and Lexi.

"What's up girls? Everything okay?" She asked.

"I don't know, they won't talk" I shrugged.

April shrugged as well and went about her morning.  We decided to let things slide for now, but the tension in the room was becoming unbearable.  I secretly hoped Shawn would make his appearance soon to cut the tension like a knife.

Except Shawn never came.  Not even before lunch to talk to Dr. Rider and the other make physicians in the clinic.

This day just keeps getting weirder.

Finally, after lunch Mandy and Lexi pull April and I aside, away from the eyes of everyone else, away from the dungeon.  In fact, we end up walking to a secret spot we'd found shortly after we all started.  April and I followed them like cows to water in the heat of the summer sun.

Silence took over yet again.

"Ok!  Will someone please tell us what is going on?" I say sternly, very annoyed at this point.

"We're leaving." Mandy blurts out.

"You're what?" April snaps.

"She said, we're leaving.  We both got new jobs.  Our last day is in 30 days.  The bitch is making us stay that long, but after that we are done here." Lexi speaks up.

"Where are you going?" I question, my heart sinking to my stomach.

"Anywhere but here." Mandy smirks trying to lighten the mood.

Mandy and Lexi were a few years older than April and I, both married with kids.  The stress of this job had been eating at them for months, so I'm not surprised, but still heartbroken.  I feel like the band is breaking up.

"What she means is, we both took jobs at corporate.  We'll be helping the health system in other ways, but it's gotten so bad here, we need to get out." Lexi offers.

"Damn." April sighs.

"Thanks for telling us." I interject as I pull them all into a hug. "We better head back!" I say finally, letting them go, wanting this interaction to be over.  Tears steaming down all our faces now as we climb the stairs and head back to the dungeon.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur.  I had to walk a patient's daughter through CPR on the phone until the ambulance arrived, I had to send another patient to the emergency room for a potential heart attack and the cherry on top was the boss telling me I wasn't working fast enough.

Bitch, not working fast enough?  You trying doing this job! On top of helping everyone else because I've all a sudden become a point person for literally everyone.

Fuck!

After that conversation I was done.  I had to get out of the dungeon even for a few minutes.  I slammed my phone down, threw off my stethoscope and stormed down the stairs to the same place I had seen Shawn the night before. 

I filled my cup with ice and tried to calm my beating heart, but I couldn't.  My breathing became shallow and I tried to take deep breaths with little luck.  I had to grab the ice machine to stabilize myself before I finally closed my eyes and willed myself to calm down.

The news of Mandy and Alexis leaving was starting to stress me out, the feeling of the pit in my stomach growing worse now.  Hot tears streamed down my face and as I succumbed to my emotions I knew I needed to be alone.

Turning on my heel to find a quiet place, I started to run towards the stairwell hardly anyone ever used.  I heard a door open and before I could process what was happening, I rammed right into a hard chest.  Tears blurred my vision as I mumbled "Sorry" before breaking into a dead sprint to the stairwell.

I faintly remember hearing someone yell "Camila" and I faintly remember that voice sounding like Shawn, but I didn't care. 

Things were falling apart, and another one and another one were gone; leaving only two of us behind.  Things couldn't get any worse...

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A/n:  Oh Camila, they can... and they will honey... just wait..

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