Chapter 3

Ava's hangover was more crazy than she had expected. And for some reason, she couldn't call in sick.

Being a nurse could be the most stressful occupation ever. She had never liked her job anyway, she had always wanted to be an actress but her parents wouldn't have heard of it. No. Their daughter, Avalyn Celine Drew should be in the line of the family's perfect Career. And when she couldn't pass Medicine, Nursing was her second choice and surprisingly, she did good.

So here she was, getting herself ready for work as early as 4 because she has a shift by 6; and there was a new Neurologist joining her team today.

Worst, she had to look her best, atleast, make a nice working impression and add a smile that she hated to use.

One more look in the mirror, She was satisfied. She had used enough foundation to hide the bags beneath her eyes. And had dunked painkillers to make her headache mild.

All for Herit, she thought.

Now she remembered she hadn't contacted Herit since last night and hadn't checked if she went home fine.

But that could be later. She rushed to her car and started it.

She got to the hospital in 30 minutes, beating the traffic. Her shift was due and by 10, she was done.

She needed to sleep but not until she was dismissed.

Her phone beeped with a reminder: Boring meeting

She picked up her things and headed to the hallway, walking with a colleague down for the meeting.

"Morning Gents and Ladies," The only man without an uniform spoke, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

She glanced around the room, they all had Thier uniforms on, only a few of them had sethoscopes on Thier neck.

Hmph! Proud Doctors.

"Not to waste any of our time this morning" He continued, "I've seen the schedule that was drafted recently and it hasn't worked out so fine."

He made to pace around the room, observing their clothings.

"We'll be having a few doctors joining us, from each department, some of the superiors might be leaving too, then we reshuffle."

He then sat across the room and held out a file of papers towards them.

He then divided the papers in three folds and passed it to them. Each of them took a paper and passed round.

"That's the new shuffling we'll be using for now. One superior, two neurologists, two cardiologist and four nurses in each team. You'll work together except for emergencies"

He looked around the room for questions or objections. None seemed to be coming so he dismissed the meeting.

Outside, Ava looked at the paper she had gotten, searching for her name through the list was not that hard, it was arranged alphabetically.

She found it, along with a few others in her team. All of her teammates would still be working with her. She sighed with relief.

Then she checked for the new Neurologist, if he made it tonther team alright.

She looked at the name. Zach Windfred.

Whatever, she tucked the paper away

She quickly gathered her things and went to where she had parked. Ushering herself in the car, she thought about calling Heritage.

But then, she changed her mind to just drive over to her apartment instead.

A normal Ava might just call through the house and wait for whoever was in to open up, but today, she was just tired for that.

She reached for Heritage's spare key and opened the door herself.

Finding her way to Heritage's room after throwing her keys on a settee, she took off her shoes at the front door.

To her luck, the bed was empty. Perhaps she had gone to the store or something or maybe in the bathroom. She didn't care.

She needed sleep.

Heritage came out of the bathroom, a few minutes, with the scent of papaya trailing her movement.

"You again" She turned to Ava

"Good morning," She said sarcastically, trying to pin down the fact that she didn't say good morning.

"Good Morning to you too" She replied, sitting at the edge of the bed, reaching for her hair dryer. "How was your shift?"

"Ugh, boring as usual" She turned over to the other side if the bed. "We got a new Neurologist on our team. Uh his name is Za… Windfred"

"Oouuu soft, what's he like?"

"I don't know, didn't get to meet him". "We all didn't meet him. He might look like poop but who cares?"

"First impression, bitch" She grabbed a shirt from her closet.

"I said I didn't get to meet him!" She turned back to her. "Why do you even sound like I could have something with him? Listen, I'm not in need of a man. They're all heartbreakers"

Heritage chuckled.

"Right, right, I see" She narrowed her eyes back to her friend "The last time I checked, you're the heartbreaker. You've had two guys crying for you"

Ava narrowed her eyes. "Just because I've had a thing or two with some mummy boys doesn't mean I'm a heartbreaker! Herit, look at me, I mend your heart, I'm your heart mender"

Heritage scrunched up her nose. "What? You?" She added another laugh "just fix your single life"

"So whose side are you on?"

"Nah" she raised her hands in defeat "Nah, I'm definitely on your side"

"Good" She turned back to go to bed.

"Sure, sure, I'm on your side"

She slid on a shirt and a pantie and hung out her bathrobe out. Grabbing the other end of the blanket, she slipped under it almost giving Ava a spoon cuddle.

"Ew, Go wear something, you perv"

Heritage only snuggled tighter.

"I've been thinking Ava, I should get a new place"

Ava turned to face her.

Their faces were about just an inch apart.

"Why? Didn't you just pay for here?"

"I did, well he did, technically but I feel so cautious","He might be back"

She looked away.

"Well, that's true." She stroked her hair "But till then, he might not show up yet" "And besides you'll need to get a new job."

Heritage sat up.

"Yeah, I thought of that too, And I thought of resuming the nursery.

"The nursery!?"

"Not really the nursery, I could just go back to being a nanny."

"A nanny, really?" Ava grabbed her face. "Are you sure of this?"

She nodded. "I am. I'm not losing anything. That's the best I can do. I have things bottled up on me now and everything concerning Rey is now my responsibility. So I should be a responsible adult to myself now and a dependable sister to Rey."

She saw a smile twitching behind Tilda's lips. What was wrong with her?

Squeezing her in a tight hug, Heritage yelped.

"I'm so, so proud of you" she wiped an imaginary tear "I mean who would have believed that you, you of all people will say words like this."

"I'd support you love, anything for you!"

Heritage would never have understood how her words made her best friend so awaken. First, she's so dramatic for real life situations, she shouldn't be involved in things like this definitely. Then, she'd be the first to kick her own ass and caution her first the moment she fucked up, but she had been over kind lately. Always with the mother vibes.

"So, shall I send my sister over, ma'am?"

"I'm sure Liv would love to help,but no. I got this myself. And cut the formality, idiot"

All of the fatigue in Ava had seemed to disappear. She reached for the drawer and grabbed a pen with a pencil.

"Let's make a list of what you'll need. Shall we?"

"Things I'll need?"

"Yeah, like toys and children stuff"

Heritage groaned. Working to her looked simple till when action had to be done.

She hated this. All of this.

Suddenly, her phone came alive. A call was coming through. It was an unknown number.

She picked up, and placed the phone on her ear, turning to Ava, trying to hush her by putting a finger to her lips.

She waited for the receiver to speak first. Then she heard his voice, booming with masculinity.

"Um Hello, Heritage" A baritone came through "it's me, Zach"

She froze.

"Hello?"

In seconds, she remembered she had met a new Zach the night before.

Finding her voice, she replied "Hi Zach, Good morning"

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Matilda adjust for a better view even though the person in question was over the phone.

"Remember me?" His voice boomed again

Now she scoffed. He must have gotten her number from the bartender after she scribbled it down.

"Yes I do," she said lightly, trying to add enthusiasm "Thank you for the other night"

"It's fine, wanted to be sure you're good"

"Yeah. Thank you. I am"

"So, do you mind? We could talk?"

She hesitated. "Sure,"

"All good. Dinner? Tomorrow?"

"Why? We can talk over the phone."

"Can I just treat you to dinner?"

She rolled her eyes even though the man in question couldn't see her.

"Alright, dinner is fine."

"6pm? I'd pick you up."

'Great! He knows where I live....' she mumbled to herself.

"Alright. Give me a call" she replied.

And the receiver went dead.

"He's from last night."

Without waiting for Ava to ask, she offered."And his name is Zach"

Heritage said no word. Either she didn't have a perfect reply to the fact that he is a zach or she felt guilty for hiding the Zach she met earlier that day.

"I don't know what he wants, but he doesn't seem harmful" She had to look away.

"The new Neurologist at work today, whom I told you about, his name is Zach too. Zach Windfred

" She replied, expressionless.

The room went silent. It looked like there was a Zach everywhere. And for all they knew, Zachs were no good.

Each to her own thoughts, they wrapped beneath the blankets and went back to bed.