Age Gap Romance by Penny Wylder
11
We make it through the worst of the night. I wind up staying overtime, as do most of the other staff members. I hadn’t noticed before now how isolating it felt to have most of my nursing staff against me, until they weren’t anymore. Now I trade smiles with Heather, a joke here and there with Lionel. A few people bring me coffees throughout the night, and wave me off when I offer to pay them.
“I just never thought I’d live to see the day someone stood up to John Owens like that,” cackled Magda, one of the older nurses on staff, who insisted on buying me an entire donut from the caf. “Made my year, I can tell you.”
But the brief respite Russ and I got from my father doesn’t last for long. A few hours later, as the worst of the emergency rush starts to wind down, a page goes off. Not just a local one, but one throughout the entire hospital. “Margaret Owens. Russell Marks. Report to the director’s office immediately.”
My stomach sinks all the way through my feet and into the floor. Here it comes. The fallout of our decision.
But as nervous as I am to face the music, I don’t regret anything. We made the right decision. No matter what happens now, I’m proud of the work we did here tonight. We helped people, we saved lives. We’re making a difference.
I meet Russ in the stairwell up toward the floor where my father works. He reaches out to catch my hand and squeezes it gently, just once. I squeeze back, and let go before we reach the exit doors.
At Dad’s office, I let Russ knock. I’m too busy wrapping my arms around my midsection, trying not to freak out. I have very rarely ever disobeyed my father in my life. The few times I have dared to stand out in my memory as some of the worst days of my life. I just hope tonight isn’t going to be another of them. I’m so wired on caffeine and adrenaline, shaky from hours upon hours of overtime work, that all I can handle right now is to faceplant headfirst into bed.
You can do this, I tell myself, as Dad calls for us to come in. You can handle him.
I’m surprised, actually, that Dad is still here. Normally by this hour on a weeknight, no matter what was going on in the hospital, emergency or no, he’d already be headed home. I guess he made a special exception so he could be here to murder us when we got off instead.
The office is dark, the only light a desk lamp and the glow of my father’s computer. He’s sitting at his desk, ramrod straight, his hands folded on top of the desktop. He looks calm. Bad sign. The worst blowups I’ve ever had with my father have always come when he’s calm.
“Please, shut the door behind you,” he says.
Russ obeys. As for me, I stride over to the nearest chair and practically collapse into it. I know I should probably stay standing, to try and intimidate him or whatnot. But I can barely keep myself upright for another second. I’m exhausted, physically and mentally. Whatever’s coming now, I just want to get it over with.
Russ sinks into the chair beside mine. As for him, despite the bags under his eyes and the tired lines on his face, he looks every bit as stern and unyielding as my father. “You paged us, John?”
“I did.” My father looks from Russ to me, slowly. “You realize I could fire you for what you did earlier, Maggie? Ignoring a direct order from me.”
My mouth goes dry. My fists curl atop my knees. But I keep my chin firm, and nod slowly. “I realize that.”
“And Russ.” His gaze shifts back to his friend’s. “I could say the same for you. Trying to countermand my orders? What were you thinking?”
“Don’t blame him for trying to help me,” I interject. “It’s my fault. I’m the one who ignored your orders.”
“Maggie, it’s fine,” Russ murmurs beside me, but I shake my head.
“No. You shouldn’t have to risk your job for me. I can handle this on my own.” I raise my chin and stare back at my father. “You’re the one who was wrong tonight, Dad. If you want to fire me for having the guts to tell you that to your face, fine, do it. But don’t believe for one second it makes you right somehow.”
My father couldn’t have looked more gob smacked if he’d tried.
Beside me, Russ shoots me an unmistakable smile. A proud one. Like he admires me. And I realize, I admire that part of myself too. I’d finally found the strength I never knew I had or needed before.
“She’s right,” Russ says a moment later. He holds up a hand to stave me off. “And before you tell me not to risk my job for you, don’t bother, Maggie. I’m not sure I can stop myself from risking everything for you. Not anymore.” He holds my gaze for a long moment, long enough for me to read everything else he means in that deceptively simple statement.
My whole body tingles, from the tip of my head to my toes. I feel so elated I could fly. A smile starts to spread across my face, and I can’t stop it. I don’t want to, either. I feel the same way. I want to risk everything for this man. Whatever it takes.
Across the desk from us, my father stares. Back and forth between us, like he’s doing a calculation in his head. I lift my chin and stare right back, defiant. Let him think whatever he wants. He doesn’t scare me anymore.
For the first time in my entire life, my father looks away from me first. “I see how you both feel now,” he says, softly, dangerously. I’m not sure what that means.
I’m not sure I care anymore.
Without another word, he rises and reaches for his coat.
“John,” Russ starts to say beside me. “Be reasonable.”
“I am being reasonable,” my father replies, his voice shaking with barely suppressed fury. “I am reasonably going to leave this matter to decide in the morning. Tomorrow once everyone’s heads are clearer. That is as much leeway as you’ll gather from me, Russ, so I’d suggest you take it. You are both dismissed for now.”
I’m not sure whether that means fired or just released for tonight. I can’t bring myself to worry about it, not now. Not when every limb in my body feels shaky from spent energy and adrenaline. Not when my bed is not just calling my name, but screaming it.
I rise, expecting to go with Dad, the way I do every night. But he storms out of his office without waiting for me. When I jog after him, I notice he’s already taken the elevator. Guess I’m finding my own way home tonight.
Behind me, I hear soft footfall. Russ brings a hand to rest on my shoulder. “Give him time to cool off,” he says, sounding uncertain. “He’ll be reasonable.”
I snort. Russ doesn’t disagree with the sound. But at least we’re alone now. Safe, for one more night. With one last glance at the empty hallways around us, I lean back a little. My head rests against Russ’s chest. I can hear the beat of his heart in my ear where it leans against him. A moment later, his strong arms circle my waist, and he draws me back against him, swaying gently from side to side as he does.
“Whatever happens, I’m proud of you,” he says softly. “You stood up to your father. That takes real courage.”
I reach up to loop my hands around his forearms. I trace my fingers up and down the length of his arms, marveling all over again that I’m able to do this. Touch the man I daydreamed about for so long, so easily. “You were pretty great too. Giving him a piece of your mind.”
Russ chuckles softly, and the sound makes my whole body shiver, pressed close to him as I am. “To be honest, I should have said all that to your father a long, long time ago.”
“Yeah, well.” I let out a soft sigh. “That makes two of us.”
Russ’s hand slides up to tuck under my chin. He tilts my face toward his, and I kiss him softly over my shoulder. “Come on,” he whispers, his breath warm against my lips. “I think it’ll be best if you stay at my place tonight.”
I couldn’t agree more. With a shiver of relief, I let him take my hand and gently lead me down the hallway, out into the night. This time, when we get to his place after an hour of traffick in the beat-up old vintage car Russ drives—one that, I now realize, matches his whole apartment aesthetic too, old but in a stylish, purposeful way—we don’t even undress. Both of us are too tired to do anything but just collapse straight into bed, fully clothed. But when Russ gently reaches over to tuck me against his side, I let out a contented sigh.
After the day we’ve just had, this is somehow the perfect way to end it. Cuddled up together, resting before we have to face whatever tomorrow will bring. I couldn’t be with anyone more comforting right now, or who understands what I’m going through more completely.
As I drift off into sleep, with Russ’s arm draped around my side, I feel more safe and secure than I can ever remember before. Somehow, despite the bomb I know awaits us tomorrow, I am content. More than that: I’m happy.
For once, my father can’t ruin my life anymore. Because I’ve finally taken control of it. And I have the best co-pilot I could ever have hoped for, beside me at the helm.
