Chapter Two- A break from the chaos
It was a very still day, without a single cloud in the sky, but there was a definite chill in the air. Shivering slightly, a young nurse pulled her jacket around her more tightly and took a long sip of her hot drink. She looked out into the grounds which were mostly still as well, apart from a sprinkle of patients and other staff members on break here and there. What a day- it had only just begun, but Jess could tell it was going to be a long one.
Everybody was grumpy and grouchy these days, or so it seemed. Things just hadn't been the same after that tragic day- the one which was meant to be the happiest day of Nelson and Kerry's life. The memory still bought Jess nearly to tears; it had been such a horrible, horrible ending to what should have finally meant happiness for the pair of them. She didn't know Nelson well enough to be any sort of support or comfort. She felt so useless in the whole situation; it had also seemed to upheave the whole Emergency Department and put them in permanently bad moods.
This morning had been no different. On top of everybody being very gloomy was Deanna being the worlds biggest suck. It truly amazed Jess that Frank of all people couldn't see through her, to see what she truly was. She didn't give a damn about any of the people around her; only 'looking good' it seemed. Jess guessed it would be only a matter of time before the pair of them clashed; Cate had already had a run in with Deanna and Dan a minor disagreement. Dan. The name caused a slight flutter in Jess's stomach. She didn't like the way that happened; it made her feel uncomfortable and so she always put it into the back of her mind.
It was so excruciating to watch Deanna rise in favour. Jess could already feel her cat claws appearing, and tried to dismiss them. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't like Deanna at all. What was there to like? She was so two-faced, and Frank's pet. But how did she manage to do that to people? She couldn't help but notice that Jack seemed impressed by her too. Jess sighed. There was no point getting bitchy; it didn't look like poor Nelson would return from some time and she'd just have to learn to put up with Deanna.
Slowly, subconsciously, Jess's thoughts turned back to Dan. She didn't know how that happened. She tried hard to convince herself they were just colleagues, mates maybe, and they would stay like that. Why on earth would Dan be interested in her- stupid, worrying, paranoid Jessica? He only saw girls for their looks and nothing else. Besides, Jess thoughts continued, trying to persuade herself, since when was any relationships within the Emergency Department ever even worked out? They had always ended in bad ways. Jess ticked off the bad record in her mind.
Well Nelson and Kerry, that was the obvious first. It seemed that only one of them needed to be in Emergency for the relationship to fail, turn sour or be ruined by something unpreventable. She thought about it some more; Vincent and Charlotte, who had split up years before; Jack and Terri, that hadn't lasted long; Cate and Mac, and then later Cate and Vincent- that brief time together had ruined their friendship and now it was always a little awkward between them. Jess wondered if she should count her own failed relationships in the equation. Even Frank and his ex wife upstairs somehow went towards the figures. And of course, Jess thought to herself, the famous tale she had heard of Terri and her husband, Mitch- who had spent years chasing each other and then when they had finally got together, Mitch was diagnosed with a lethal brain tumour. It all came to the same conclusion; even when a relationship came to a good thing, it wouldn't last long. That was the way it went. There was no point beginning something, Jess thought; something that you would have to end later. It just wasn't worth it.
With a slight sigh to herself, and a sinking feeling in her heart, that she knew all too much of, Jess finished her coffee and left the table, ready to re-enter the chaos. She told herself to forget Dan: it would only end in tears and a broken friendship.