“I’m busy,” she said, turning away.
“Leave him alone!”
Abby’s eyes scanned the room for Joe, and she found one of the other security guards, Curtis. She raised a hand to call him over.
“She needs to go,” Abby said. She was met with a dirty look from Kelly, but she shook it off as she walked to the group of waiting men nearby.
The smile on Chris’ face as he came through the ER’s double doors disappeared when he looked at Abby.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Can we go somewhere that doesn’t require going back in there?” she asked, pointing to the doors he had walked through.
“Sure,” he said, leading her across the waiting room to a hallway. “We’ll go to the cafeteria, it’s pretty dead by now. Are you okay?”
“Someone gave me a hard time at work tonight.”
“Again? What happened?” Chris asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
“No, not a customer. Your ex.”
“What -- Kelly? Oh, shit, Abby, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, well, now I know why everyone in there stares at me. They must all know I’m a stripper.”
“Fuck them if they have a problem with it. Who cares?”
“She said it won’t be good for you if people find out you’re having a stripper come see you here.”
Chris’ dark eyes blazed with anger.
“She’s a head case. I’ll file a complaint with HR before I leave tonight.”
He resumed walking and Abby fell into step beside him.
“How’s tonight here?” she asked.
“Steady. Hey, I’ve got a favor to ask. Reed and I managed to both get next weekend off, which is rare. We want to go stay at his parents’ beach house in Malibu.”
“You need me to take care of Molly?”
He grinned at her, looking confused.
“No, I want you to come with us.”
“Oh. Really? I have to work, though.”
“Come on, live a little. Take it off. We’ll have a great time, I promise.”
“I have Audrey and Sara, though.”
“I’ve got an idea for that. One of the nurses I work with has a daughter who teaches kindergarten and needs to make some money for her wedding. I can hire her to babysit.”
“I don’t want to leave them with someone I don’t know.”
“I know her, Abby. I’ve worked with Kim since I started here, and I’ve met Amy several times. She babysits for some of the other doctors here. She’ll come to your house if that would make you feel better. You can call the girls as much as you want to check on them.”
Abby sighed, considering.
“When would we go?”
“Fly out Thursday morning and home Monday morning.”
“That’s a really long weekend. I’d have to take time off both jobs, and Marla has a big presentation coming up.”
“Just think about it, okay? Do you want something to eat?”
They had arrived at the cafeteria, and Abby scanned the menu board. She didn’t usually eat after working at the club, but the smell of cooking food was making her hungry.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“They make great omelets. Want to share one?”
“Okay. Can you get it without meat?”
“If you’ll come to Malibu with me.”
As Abby smiled at him, she saw two nurses in scrubs looking at her and talking. She looked back at Chris, thinking that as long as things stayed smooth with him, it didn’t matter if she was the object of gossip. It wasn’t the first time, anyway. Growing up the way she had, she’d been the object of teasing throughout high school. Girls could be so mean, she thought, even once they became women.
“You haven’t seen Tim around again, have you?” Chris asked.
“No, but I’ve got the girls under lock and key all the time now. Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you know something. Chris?”
“You don’t have to worry about him anymore, that’s all I’m saying.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Abby hissed in a low tone. “You make it sound like you killed him or something.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Stop being so cryptic. Tell me why I don’t have to worry about him.”
“Have you ever heard of Warden Nash?” Chris lowered his voice to a whisper as he spoke the name.
“No.”
“He’s the head of the biggest drug ring in the city. Last year he was brought into the ER because he was shot, and I treated him. I took two bullets out of him.”
Abby furrowed her brows, confused.
“Nash told me before he left the hospital to call him if I ever needed anything. I have his number in my wallet. Never, ever thought I’d use it – but I did.”