EMAIL:
From: [email protected]
Subject: mandatory alignment meeting
Dear Dr. Brooks
Your presence is required at a meeting scheduled by HR at 10 am in room 3028. The meeting addresses matters related to your current position. Your timely presence is required. If you have any concerns, please contact us.
Best regards,
Olivia Masters
HR Administrator
Ottawa Regional Hospital
My chest tightens as I stop in the hospital lobby and scan the email for the third time. Required. Mandatory.
I make my way to the third floor, and my stomach lurches as I try to make sense of it all—what’s an alignment meeting, and why do I have to be there?
I drag my feet down the hall, desperately wanting to turn around but knowing I can’t. Room 3028 comes into view with only a minute to spare. There’s a woman standing in the doorway, wearing a navy satin shirt tucked into sleek black pants. Her face is expressionless as she says, “Dr. Brooks, please take a seat. I’m Olivia Masters, one of the HR administrators here at the hospital.”
My boss’s silhouette looms in the corner of the sparsely decorated conference room, intentionally avoiding eye contact with me. I shuffle over to the oval table in the center and cautiously lower myself into my seat, facing him.
Olivia takes a seat, straightens the papers in front of her, and lifts them up, tapping the bottom of the pile on the table.
“Dr. Brooks,” she says, her voice clipped and professional, “Do you know why we’ve asked you here today?”
My heart pounds in my chest. A creeping suspicion crawls up my neck, but I push it away. It’s only been three days since I saw Jason. There’s no way he could have gotten me fired that quickly. Right?
“Not really…no.” My voice comes out as a whisper.
“The hospital is downsizing our intern program,” Olivia continues, unfazed by my distress. “You will be let go immediately and will be transferred your remaining payment, as well as two weeks’ severance.”
My mind races as I struggle to process what’s happening.
“What?” I breathe, staring at her in disbelief. I turn to my boss, hoping for some kind of explanation or support. But he winces and looks away.
“You’re firing me?”
The weight of Olivia’s words sinks in with a sickening thud.
She shifts her posture and lifts her chin. I’m sure this isn’t the first time she’s laid someone off. “Not fired. We’re simply realigning our organizational structure. Routine protocol.”
Routine my ass. “How many people are getting let go?”
Olivia leans back in her chair and gives me a plain smile. “Dr. Brooks, if you keep getting upset, I’ll be forced to call security.”
Air hisses through my teeth as I try to take a calming breath. “I’m sorry. How many interns will be let go?”
She meets my gaze. “One.”
There’s no way this is a coincidence. Jason can’t do that? There are laws or something. What the hell had he even said to his dad to get him to pull strings like this? Screw this. “You can’t do that. I’ve had nothing but great feedback. Isn’t that right, Eric?”
My boss presses his lips together, and there’s a clear look of pity across his face.
“Dr. Brooks. The hospital has experienced a wave of regulated pain medicine thefts since you started with us. Someone has brought forth suspicions of your involvement. You should consider yourself lucky we’re laying you off. The only reason you aren’t being arrested right now, is because our internal investigation didn’t provide sufficient proof of your involvement. But, Dr. Brooks, whether we have proof enough to charge you or not, your accuser left no room for doubt.” Disgust breaks through her professional mask. It’s clear she’d rather have charged me anyway.
Shock crashes through me as her words hit home. They think I stole from the hospital? A mix of hurt and embarrassment swirls in my gut as I try to work through what’s happening. It’s so far-fetched that I can’t even process it. She said someone stepped forward, but who would do that?
The second the thought registers in my brain, I know exactly who caused this. Fucking Jason. My stomach sinks, and nausea climbs the back of my throat. He’s been stealing from the hospital, and now he’s pinning it on me. That psycho could’ve gotten me arrested!
I want to push her, force her to admit it was him. At least then I can fight this. I can pull my bank statements or whatever they need to see it had nothing to do with me. But that’s the reason they’re laying me off and not firing me, isn’t it? Because then I don’t get a chance to fight back. I’m hit with a wave of helplessness, knowing that without proof, it’s his word against mine.
“Please sign here.” Olivia slides the paper across the table, and I have to fight back tears as I sign the document.
I’m going to kill that asshole.
I walk out of the room on autopilot, not processing what’s happening around me. There’s a man dressed in a security uniform waiting outside the door, and he holds out a small cardboard box of my belongings.
“I got Dr. Kristie to double-check your locker for any loose items.” He gives me an empathetic smile, but I can’t concentrate on his words. My mind is too preoccupied with my own thoughts.
The security guard leads me through the building, and I can feel all eyes on me. Everyone is already starting to make assumptions as to why I’ve been asked to leave my residency. Out of all the guesses, none could possibly come close to the truth.
I keep my head down and my gaze locked onto the floor as I wander through the many halls for the last time. When I’d first stepped foot within this building, I was brimming with enthusiasm and eagerness; now, it feels like those walls are crumbling around me.
I push the thought down and let my mind go blank. If I go down that path, I won’t make it out of here without crying. I push through the front door and wince when I leave the shadow of the building and move into the harsh sunlight.
“Do you have a ride home, Dr. Brooks?” I glance back at the security guard. He’s standing just inside the doors.
“I’ve got my car, no worries.” I barely have the words out when the automatic doors click shut behind him, and I have to blink back tears. Not here. With my luck, Jason’s lurking somewhere, watching this whole thing.
“Hey.”
I spin and spot Kristie standing with her back close to a tall brick column that’s hiding her from view.
The second our gazes meet, I can’t stop the tears from streaming down my face.
“What the hell happened?” She wraps me in a hug, arms squeezing around my sides, and I let the box full of my belongings fall to the ground.
“They think I was stealing from the hospital.” My words wobble as I force them out.
“What the actual fuck?” Kristie hisses, and the corner of my lip twitches.
If everything wasn’t going to shit, her uncharacteristic swearing would be funny. I take several deep breaths, needing to get my shit together. “I think it was Jason. Now he’s trying to pin this on me.”
“Okay,” she says calmly in her best patient voice. “You have options. We can make an appointment with the board and tell them that.”
“There’s no way they’ll listen to me if I don’t have proof. It’s not like I can go in there and be like, my ex, who just happens to be one of your sons, is a creepy dickwad who’s probably trying to frame me for his own crime. Please give me my job back,” I say, and then my own words slap me in the face.
Oh my God. I’m never getting this job back.
I try and fail to suck back a sob.
“Listen to me, Mia. I’ll ask around. Someone’s got to know something. That bastard is not getting away with this. We’ll string him up by his balls, and then you can come back and be my work bestie.”
I bark out a laugh, some of the weight lifting from my shoulders. “I owe you.”
She gives me a mischievous grin. “Not for this, girl. This is going to be fun.”
When I finally open the door, Crookshanks meows at me and rubs against my legs until I pick him up. He purrs in my arms as dread slowly rises inside me like a tide.
I drop to my couch and bury my face in his soft fur. The reality of how screwed I am crashes over me like a wave. It will be nearly impossible to find another internship in Ottawa, and even if I could, it wouldn’t compare to the one I just lost. An overwhelming sense of helplessness sinks into me, and I hug my cat to my chest, taking several breaths before reaching for my phone.
I click to Sidney’s contact, knowing she’d want to know about this, but freeze. She’d cancel her trip if she knew, and I can’t do that to them. Instead, I send a quick text to the men I’ve been desperate to talk to.
Me: How have you been?
I watch my phone as the moments tick by, and anxiety starts to tighten my shoulders. What if they don’t answer? What if I’m crossing the line by reaching out to them when it was all supposed to be a short-term thing?
Bubbles form on the screen, and I can’t look away.
Alex: Where have you been, Kitten? Missed you.
River: Mia, are you okay?
I sniff. How does he always know?
Me: Of course I’m fine. Just checking in.
Alex: Why do we think she’s not fine?
River: Because she hasn’t texted in nearly three weeks.
Shit.
Alex: You okay, Kitten? Need me to kick someone’s ass?
I have to stop myself from typing out just how badly I want that. Knowing them, they’d be on the next flight out here, always ready for a fight. Except we aren’t in university anymore, and they’re more likely to end up in jail than anything else. Talk about making headline news. Two famous NHL players beat up a local billionaire’s son for their thief girlfriend.
Me: You two keep this up, I won’t text you for another three weeks.
Alex: Woah now. Don’t be hasty. Just worried about you. Have you spoken with Misty recently? She mentioned you the other day.
Now I feel bad for not returning her call. I’d been so caught up with my own problems I hadn’t been working with her like we planned.
Me: Things have been hectic. I’ll call her back.
River: How have you been?
Bad. Horrible. Lonely.
Me: Busy. You?
River: Busy.
This conversation’s going nowhere. I don’t even know why I started it. That’s a lie. I wanted to tell them everything and just collapse into them. I wanted River to say he’d take care of it while Alex made me laugh. But that’s not who we are to each other.
Several minutes pass in silence before my phone vibrates.
Alex: Please don’t be a stranger. Don’t make me wait another three weeks to hear from you.
My eyes sting for a whole new reason.
Me: Okay.
River: You promise?
Me: Promise.
