The administrator slid a blue ballpoint pen toward her. The plastic felt cold. Eleanor slowly signed her name.
In that moment, she felt the physical severing of her connection to the place. No more night shifts, no more comforting scent of antiseptic, no more rhythmic beeping of monitors that gave her the illusion of control over life while her own was spinning out of orbit.
Walking into the hallway, Eleanor leaned her back against the cool, painted wall. Two young nurses from the ER hurried past, their scrubs rustling.
“Poor old lady,” she heard one of them whisper. “Can you imagine? They told her about her son’s death over a landline. Just blurted it out. The paramedics barely got her here in time. Her BP was 210 over 120.”
“Sterling’s mother? The billionaire’s mom?”
“Yeah. They say he hadn’t spoken to her in five years—ashamed of his blue-collar roots, I guess. When she heard the news, she collapsed right there in her little apartment. She’s in the ICU on a vent now. It’s heartbreaking.”
Eleanor instinctively moved toward the ICU. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She wanted to check the charts, to offer help, but a burly security guard stepped into her path.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Vance. Orders from the top. You’re no longer authorized to be in the clinical wings.”
After packing her few belongings into a cardboard box—a chipped mug, an old medical reference book, and a wilted potted plant—Eleanor walked out into the parking lot.
The November wind slapped her face, biting through her wool coat. The sky over Oak Creek hung low and gray, like dirty fleece. Eleanor didn’t go home. Her feet led her toward the flower shop near the bus stop.
“A dozen lilies, please,” she said, handing over a crumpled twenty-dollar bill.
The bus ride to the city cemetery took forty minutes. Eleanor stared through the fogged window at the passing suburban sprawl, wondering why she felt drawn to the grave of the man who had just ruined her career. Did she want to ask for forgiveness, or did she want to scream at his headstone for what he’d done to his mother?
