The Love of Lies

Severance

Ashton's POV

On the way to work, I tried to make small talk with Cori, but she was in and out of sleep, so I left her alone.

I'm not surprised that she's still tired, in fact, I'm surprised that she was able to force herself to get up and go to work, despite the fact that I know she's not getting the amount of sleep necessary while pregnant.

I bought my own copy of the pregnancy guide that I found on Cory's laptop, but because it referenced things that I didn't really understand, I ended up buying several other books to help educate myself.

I’ve only finished one of the guides, and it had no clear definition of healthy eating habits, but I know what they are for the average person, and if I'm going by that standard, then Cori isn’t eating what she should.

I've noticed that she’s been gravitating towards cookies and cakes, and I probably didn't help by coming home with more pastries than necessary. It was a dumb decision that I made to make the woman happy, and now it's making me miserable because I can't tell whether or not the girl is eating herself into gestational diabetes.

Her fatigue also worries me, but not to the point of me forcing her to quit her job just yet. I do, however, want to have open lines of communication with her, that way if while at work she starts feeling too tired, she's comfortable with calling me.

Cori doesn't know that I've been suspended from my accounts, which means that I have no reason to go into the office, so I’m essentially at her disposal, and in order to help that, I've gone ahead and activated a new phone on my plan after bringing her home this morning.

I don't know if Cori’s phone number is important to her the way my phone number is important to me, but I still made sure to port it over. However, I refuse to have her carry her old phone while she's living with me.

It was a smartphone, but it only had basic features, meaning that she could check her email, and browse the internet, but that's really about all her phone could do. I don't blame the woman for getting a forty-dollar device, but I can afford a good phone, and because my family has been customers of our carrier for many years, I didn't pay anything for Cori’s line.

I hope that it helps to make her feel less guilty about accepting the phone, but I’m too cowardly to hand it to her directly, so I slipped it into her bag when we came to a stop.

Cori’s POV

Ashton woke me gently again, but I’m so tired that I still might’ve glared at him while getting out of the car.

“Check your purse when you get a chance.”

“Is something wrong with it?”

“No, I put something inside.” Ashton wouldn’t be asking me to look into my bag for no reason, but I’m afraid to, so I go inside, not wanting to be late.

I get the courage to check while on the elevator, and find a mobile device that looks new. There’s already an unread text message, and it's from Ashton who must have saved his number before giving me the device.

[I knew that you wouldn't accept this phone if I handed it to you, so I slipped it in your bag. It comes at no cost to either of us. Please call me if you need anything at all. ANYTHING!]

I can't imagine a phone as nice as the one Ashton got me being free, but then again, I've never gone out of my way to investigate buying one.

As I’m holding the device, another text comes through, and it’s Ashton, telling me that my number is still the same, but the carrier has changed.

Few people have my number, and I’m still trying to compose a reply when I walk toward the nursing station.

“YOU GOT A NEW PHONE!” I had forgotten that I told my colleagues that I lost my device and was saving for a new one, so they’ve been contacting Troy or Julia to get to me.

“I literally got it a minute ago.” The charge nurse on duty comes to take a look at the device, then snaps a picture of me.

“It’s got a good camera.”

“It better,” says another one of the nurses. “That phone cost twelve hundred dollars.”

“How much?!” All the women look at me like I’m crazy, but one of the other nurses realizes quickly that I didn’t pay for it.

“Oh, looks like Cori has a boyfriend.”

“He isn’t.”

“But there ‘is’ a man?” Most of the women here know that I’m pregnant, but instead of explaining, I walk away. “Someone’s in a bad mood.”

“Leave her alone. You know what it’s like at that stage.” I work with older women who have children of their own, so they’re likely talking about my irritation, but I’m just tired.

“Did he give you that phone?” I turn to see Mirabel, one of our CNA’s, who’s been in an extremely similar, albeit tragic, situation to mine. I nod, and the woman becomes suspicious. “Are you safe?”

Mirabel was attacked by the longtime girlfriend of the man she was with, and subsequently, she lost her baby. However, shortly before that, the man was selling her pipe dreams of a family and a future.

She believed him, continued sleeping with him, and when she was leaving work, the man’s girlfriend and her cousins approached, asking why she was ‘harassing her man’. Long story short, a fight ensued, her belly was viciously kicked, and she had a miscarriage shortly after.

From the moment she found out that I was going to be a single mother, it was like her sixth sense kicked in, and she’s been asking about my safety since.

“He and I worked something out. He’ll help me save until the baby is born, but after that, I don’t know.”

“So, what’s the phone for?”

“It’s not an ‘I’m sorry’ gift if that’s what you're asking.”

“And you’re sure that he’s telling the truth about everything?”

“Positive.”

“Okay, but if you need help, you should say something.”

“I don’t think that he would hurt me now. He and I talked, and we’re going to force a friendship for the baby.”

The conversation ends, and I make it through my shift on nothing but willpower. I’ve been so tired that it hurts, so when the charge nurse tells us that we have a mandatory meeting, I almost cried before texting Ashton.

[Hey. I have a staff meeting and I likely won’t be down in time.] Troy is still out of town, and I really hope that his brother isn’t already waiting for me.

Once again, I rely on my willpower as I walk to where the meeting is. The hospital director looks ready to kill, so I quickly straighten up and find a seat, hoping that they aren’t announcing layoffs.

I haven’t made any mistakes handling my patients, nor have I been written up on anything, but I’m still a new hire, so I’ll be among the first to be let go.

“We’ve called this meeting to go over the employee guide.” I make eye contact with a few of the nurses who are on my shift, and each of us look extremely annoyed.

We’ve been up all night, and our bosses want to go over rules with us. I don’t know about anyone else, but I work tomorrow, and this is a waste of everyone's time.

It takes forever for us to get through the handbook, and at the conclusion, the hospital director has her daughter hand out sheets of paper that outline employee conduct that's grounds for immediate termination.

“It’s come to the attention of this hospital that many of our employees have been engaged in behavior that jeopardizes or damages the hospital's image. We depend heavily on the contributions of donors, who keep this hospital functioning outside of what the state allocates. With the exception of the following people, everyone else is free to go, but they are to keep in mind that we are closely monitoring the conduct of those under our employ.”

The woman goes on to call out several names, and I’m shocked when I hear mine being called. I have social media because I enjoy watching people post funny videos, but I never post anything myself, and I certainly don’t behave badly because I don’t have a social life.

The only thing I can think of is that they’ve found out about my pregnancy, but if that’s the reason, they didn’t have to pull anyone else into the meeting, they could have confronted me privately, and fired me quietly.

“I’m assuming that you ladies are wondering why you're here. So, I’ll help you out.” Again, the woman’s daughter hands us something, but this time it's folders, and I don’t miss how she tapped mine when she placed it in front of me.

I opened the folder and read what's written, shocked to see an semi-accurate write-up of my conversation with Mr. Crosby and a description of when I slapped Ashton.

“Any questions?” The woman sitting next to me states her opinion, saying that it was an invasion of her privacy for them to have someone screenshot her social media activity.

For that, the hospital director defers to the hospital's attorney, who points to a specific location on the contract we signed about vulgarities that imply or depict violence.

“But it’s my personal drama.” Again, the attorney points to another clause, and by chance, both sections apply to my situation as well.

“Because we would prefer this to remain a private matter, we are willing to offer each of you a severance package in which we will all remain quiet about the terms of your termination.” I flip to the second page of my packet and read through the letter, but I don’t feel comfortable signing it under these circumstances.

I’m in a complete state of shock, and I don’t want to sign something unless I’m positive that I’m being terminated on legal grounds.

“We will give you forty-eight hours from today to confer with an attorney and fax the signed severance agreement back to us. In the meantime, please return your badges.” I’m shocked, so I stay silent.

“You look shocked Miss Russo.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You assaulted someone in public, and not just anyone. That man and his family are some of our highest donors, and we can’t afford to offend him.”

I remove my badge and leave, embarrassed that I’m unable to defend my actions.