The Exception by Lauren H. Mae

Thirty-six

Sonya didn’t cry at work. She’d made a list of professional rules for herself as soon as she’d graduated nursing school and that was one of them—never let your emotion get the best of you because there’s always someone who will use it to diminish your expertise.

It wasn’t easy in her line of work. Good occasions were rare here, and these halls had seen a lot of pain. But today she fought back a different kind of emotion.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see that scowl, Frank.”

Her favorite patient—if she allowed herself to have such a thing—adjusted the recliner he’d claimed while she read through his chart. He’d checked himself back in that morning citing a renewed commitment to group therapy and detox, and his bloodwork determined that the two weeks he’d spent away hadn’t done too much damage.

“Yeah, well… I figured if I want my family back I should give this a real shot. They deserve that at least.”

Sonya’s eyes burned with the tears she refused to release. What would she and her mother have done to hear those words from her father when he’d been lost in his own head for so long that they barely recognized him?

She swallowed hard and nodded. “You deserve it too and if you’re all in, we’re going to do all we can to help you get there.”

Frank considered her quietly for a minute before clearing his throat.

“You’ve always been good to me, Nurse Pope. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me for doing my job.”

“Where’s the kid today?”

She found it amusing how he always referred to Trav as the kid. Frank was only a little over a decade older, but she did understand those extra years, and his experiences, had aged him.

“Intern Travis is taking care of a task for me but I’ll tell him you’re back.”

Sonya really thought she was in the Twilight Zone when Frank’s lips tightened and one side lifted almost imperceptibly.

Is that… a smile?

She had to bite her lip to stop her own grin from taking over her face as she continued making notes on his chart.

Frank lifted the lever to take his chair into a full recline. “Let him know I decided to stop being a stubborn ass as he called it the other day.”

Her hand stilled and her smile faded as she processed Frank’s words.

“The other day?”

That couldn’t be right. Two weeks had passed since Frank had checked himself out, so any conversation with Trav couldn’t be described as taking place the other day.

Frank’s eyes widened for a split second before his face went completely neutral.

“Yeah. When I was here last.”

Frank’s obviously false answer felt like someone pulling the rug out from underneath her feet. Even in his state, he was protecting Trav, and Sonya didn’t want him to think he was betraying him. It could be bad for his recovery if Frank thought he was getting Trav in trouble for helping him. But it could also be bad for his recovery if Trav did something stupid.

It could be bad for all of them.

Sonya grinned and kept her voice as light as possible. “Frank, you know I’ve got a built-in lie detector.”

Frank groaned. “How could I forget? Alright, the kid came by and we had coffee and talked.”

Sonya’s heart sank as every bit of the joy she’d felt was replaced by an anxious knot.

Frank continued, “He meant well. You should go easy on him.”

She wanted to scream. Frank was talking like she had control over all of the potential consequences of Trav’s actions. He had no idea how bad this could be if it was reported. Going to see a patient after discharge was against protocol. If Trav used hospital resources to get the information, his career would be over before it even began.

Oh God. This had the potential to be bad, and not just official reprimand bad. She needed to find Trav as soon as possible.

Sonya gave Frank a pat on the shoulder, mindful to keep her emotions from showing on her face. “You get settled in and I’ll be back later to check on you.”

Her mind was so busy going back and forth between being pissed beyond all logic and coming up with a recovery plan that she almost trampled over Dr. Lewis in her hurry to get out of there.

After offering little more than a mumbled apology, she continued down the hall to find Trav.

* * *

Trav was standing at the pharmacy window when she found him a few minutes later. His lips spread into a wide smile when he saw her like they always did. Usually she’d worry about that smile giving away their secret, or if she could last the entire shift without kissing him, but not this time. Today, she was trying to inspect him for any sign of the secret he’d been keeping from her.

“Hey, I was just about to go to lunch. Wanna join me?”

“Did you know Frank is back? He just showed up and checked himself in.”

Trav must’ve been working on his poker face because his smile didn’t falter. “That’s great. I’m glad he came around. Did he say what convinced him?”

Sonya narrowed her eyes. “He said he had a visitor who helped convince him.”

Trav shrugged, running a hand through his hair, and Sonya frowned. There it was. His tell was as clear as day.

“Anything that helped him see reason, I’m all for,” he said.

“An intervention like that could’ve gone the other way. I hope the visitor thought about that before deciding to go over there.”

Trav stopped walking and his eyes searched her face, understanding washing over him.

He blew out a breath of surrender. “But it didn’t. Frank is back where he needs to be. I thought you’d be happy about it.”

“I am. However, the ends don’t always justify the means.”

Trav’s flinch let her know that her words had come out louder than she intended. Luckily, the hallway was mostly empty except for a few nurses and they were probably out of earshot.

“Sonya, look, I—”

Sonya shook her head. “We should probably discuss this in private, Intern Travis.”

She needed to talk about this now and the anger bubbling up inside of her might boil over before they made it to her office on the other side of the floor. She glanced around, moved over to a door on their left, and ducked inside before shooting Trav a look that she hoped read as get your ass in here.

Unfortunately for both of them, this wasn’t going to be the tryst in a supply closet Dani suggested.

Once they were behind the locked door she dropped the professional tone. “What the hell, Trav?”

He folded his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the shelving. “Frank needed an extra push, so I gave him one. It’s not a big deal, especially since it worked.”

“This isn’t smuggling ice cream and making time to chat on your breaks. You went to see a patient without authorization, and I don’t even want to know how you got the address because if you used his records, that would be career-ending for you.”

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “I didn’t do that. I called some veterans organizations for the info on the halfway house he stays at.”

Sonya snorted. “Thank God you were actually thinking then.”

She must have struck a nerve because Trav’s slightly annoyed expression transformed into something else completely.

“Whoa. I did the right thing here, and deep down you know it.” His words were a harsh whisper, challenging her to disagree with him.

“If you were so confident that you did the right thing, why didn’t you tell me?”

He blinked at her question like he didn’t want to admit the reason. “Because I knew you’d react like this instead of just being happy he’s back. You overthink things way too much.”

“And you don’t think enough! As frustrating as it is, once a patient leaves this hospital we can’t interfere with their personal lives, and we especially don’t make house calls.”

He chuckled bitterly. “I’m studying to be a paramedic, Sonya. Making house calls is exactly what I’m being trained to do.”

That sarcasm was back and it grated at her nerves just like it had the last time they’d argued. This time she wasn’t so worried about analyzing what was behind it.

“Is this funny to you? Do you understand how bad it would be for both of us if anyone finds out what you did?”

Trav ran a hand over his face. “Christ, you sound just like my dad. Don’t worry. If anyone finds out, I’ll do whatever I can to keep your reputation intact. I wouldn’t want you to take the blame for saving someone’s life the wrong way.”

“You know that’s not it… ” Her words trailed off and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know you meant well, but you don’t get to decide what’s best for patients. We have a chain of command for a reason and as your preceptor, you should’ve come to me.”

Trav folded his arms over his chest. “Look, Sonya, I value your opinion but I did what I did on my own time and the only place you’re in charge is inside this hospital.”

Her back stiffened. No, she wasn’t in charge outside of the hospital but that was because outside, they were supposed to be partners. She wasn’t sure if she was more upset over what he’d done or over the fact that he hadn’t even talked about it with her. Was this what being with him would be like? Him going off and breaking things while leaving her to figure out how to fix them? The worst part was, it had only been a matter of weeks and it had already happened again.

She took a step back and folded her arms across her chest. “You don’t value my opinion too much because you didn’t think to ask for it.”

“Shit, I didn’t mean it like that,” Trav said, reaching for her hand, but she snatched it away.

“Maybe the only relationship we should have is inside this hospital as well, Intern Travis.”

“Sonya—”

Unable to look at him, she turned around and grabbed the doorknob. “Before this conversation gets any less productive, we should both get back to work.”

“I’ll come by later so we can work this out.”

It was as close to a plea as she’d ever heard from him and it stilled her hand. Maybe she should just be happy Frank was back and stop letting this come between them.

No. Trav put it between you when he did this without talking to you.

Sonya opened the door just a crack.

“Not tonight.”