Chapter 7: Pulse

Poppy's fever lasted two days and broke on a Monday.

On Tuesday afternoon, Carissa texted me.

"Can we talk? Just us. I hate how this is. Coffee near the hospital, my treat? I miss you both."

I read it standing in the staff locker room with my coat half on.

Marit had my daughter. I had forty minutes before my shift.

I wanted to know what she knew about the lawyer and the January meeting.

I told myself that was the only reason I said yes.

The cafe was on the corner across from St. Anne's.

It was full of nurses on break, students with laptops and a man reading a paperback.

Carissa had taken a corner table by the window.

She stood up when I came in and hugged me before I could step back.

"Thank you for coming," she said. "I was afraid you wouldn't."

She had ordered me a latte. She had ordered it exactly how I take it, with oat milk and half a pump of vanilla.

"What do you want, Carissa?"

"Peace." She wrapped both hands around her cup. "I know you think I'm the problem. I'm not."

She looked up. "I love Poppy. I love you. I only want the three of you to be okay."

"Then tell me about the lawyer."

"I can't."

"You said January."

"I shouldn't have said anything." She looked miserable.

"Nina, please. Drop the filing. Come home and let him fix this. He'll be generous."

She wrinkled her nose. "You won't have to work nights in that ER with the drunks."

"I like the ER."

"Because you don't know what he's planning." She leaned in.

"He isn't trying to hurt you. He has a plan, and you keep stepping out of it."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Keep It, We Don't Need It Anymore from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.