not gonna leave?”
“I promise. I won’t leave.”
Joyce’s face relaxed, and her eyes closed. A smile touched her lips. Satisfaction and peace replaced the fear and anxiety of just seconds before.
“I need my hand,” Athena said. While Joyce’s fingers had relaxed, they hadn’t completely let go.
“Come right back.”
“I will. Maybe Liam will come out and talk to you for a bit.”
Her eyes glanced up, where Preston’s back disappeared from the doorway. She assumed he’d probably gone into the den to get Liam from where he was watching TV.
Joyce’s fingers loosened, and Athena shrugged out of her coat and hung it back up on the hook where she had gotten it from and walked into the kitchen, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
When she had been staying with Mr. Hudson before he passed away, Mrs. Hudson had been kind enough to offer her a room in their home. Mrs. Hudson had extended that offer after his death and then again after she found out that Athena would continue working in Cowboy Crossing.
Athena had taken her up on the offer. She always had her schedule laid out for Mrs. Hudson, and she wanted to text her and let her know that she wasn’t going to be home if Kevin agreed to the switch.
This wasn’t the first time she had to talk to someone who a patient was upset with or didn’t want to have, but the conversations were never easy.
She didn’t look forward to it.
“Hey, Kevin,” she said as she walked in the kitchen.
He stood up from the refrigerator and closed the door with a snap. “I thought you were leaving?”
They’d already gone over the paperwork and the information that he needed to know, and Joyce’s medication schedule and all of the other things were on the iPad in the room.
If Athena hadn’t stopped to tuck Joyce in and say goodbye to her, she’d have been out the door and on her way home now.
Her back hurt, and so did her feet. She was ready to sit down.
But once supper was over, the evening shift wasn’t usually difficult at all. Especially now, in the early stages of Joyce’s decline.
“Well, you know we’re dealing with a brain tumor patient.”
Kevin’s eyes went from curious to irritated.
Athena shrugged her shoulders, and her lip pulled back. She lifted her hands, like this wasn’t her doing. “I’m sorry.”
“Man. What’s she saying?” His voice wasn’t exactly unkind, but he sounded frustrated.
“She wants me to stay. She says you’re mean to her. I know it’s not true. You and I worked together with Mr. Hudson, and he loved you. But with a brain tumor...”
“I know.” Kevin closed his eyes. “It just reeks because I just bought a house. I need the money from my shift.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’ll talk to Catherine tomorrow and tell her that you’ve always been a perfect nurse. But she knows that, of course. And she’s familiar with brain patients as well.”
“I know. This is just life. Still, it’s frustrating,” Kevin said, turning and yanking open the refrigerator door before pulling out his lunch and closing it. “You’re good here?”
“I am. Sorry.”
“You’re going to talk to Catherine and let her know?”
“I will.” Typically, their supervisors were pretty relaxed and allowed them to move their shifts as necessary, as long as they kept track of it on the private webpage designed for that purpose. “I’ll log in and make sure everything shows up. I’ll put her comments in and my own comments about brain patients.”
“Thanks.”
Kevin left without saying anything more, and Athena gave herself a few minutes to wilt into a chair and put her arms on the table, laying her head down on top of them.
She needed to make some phone calls, needed to get her iPad out and make those changes as well. She just needed a couple minutes.
She’d also been planning to help decorate for Andrew’s surprise birthday party with Reagan. She would have to call her and let her know that she wouldn’t be able to make it this evening. Hopefully, Reagan could reschedule for tomorrow.
Pushing up, she took a deep breath and went to get started.
Chapter 10
Preston finished off the water in his cup and set it beside the sink.
Liam had actually done a really great job on his math. Once Preston had shown him how to do it, a slightly different way than what the teacher had shown him, everything had clicked in his head, and Liam did his work as fast as he could move his pencil.
Preston hadn’t