Chapter Two

Jack

Jack ventured into the breakroom for his morning cup of coffee just shy of eight o'clock. The girls were pretty good at keeping a fresh pot made, at least until noon-time. "Good morning, ladies."

Everyone looked up from whatever it was they were doing to greet him. Everyone but Loren.

He couldn't blame her. He'd probably keep his head down too. If he wanted to be a jerk, he could say her name but that was taking it a little too far. If there was a bright side to it, at least she hadn't called him an ass.

"Anyone else before I put this away?" Lydia Vaughn held out the container of flavored coffee creamer. "I need to get started on pulling charts."

He watched from the corner of his eye as Loren looked at her empty cup then returned to her phone. If the poor woman wanted another cup of coffee, by all means, she should fix it. He wasn't going to bite her head off.

"Thanks, Lydia. I think I'll make myself another cup." Cicily walked over to the freshly made pot and poured some into her stainless steel cup.

Upon looking around the room, every single one of them had some sort of fancy tumbler. If it didn't have their initials on the outside, there was some ridiculous saying on it. He glanced back at Loren's then shook his head. Christmas. He should've known. He'd never met anyone who was as obsessed as she was about holidays. He was almost willing to bet she kept a tree up year round, swapping decorations as she transitioned from one holiday to the next.

He didn't dislike celebrating holidays, he just hated to see people get so carried away. His mother would practically suffocate him and his sister with all sorts of Christmas stuff when they were little. She even went so far as to decorate their bathroom. Loren probably did the same thing too.

Since they'd relocated to the new wing in the hospital, hopefully, they could keep things to a minimum this year. If he had a wife and kids, he might feel differently, but since he had neither, a wreath on the door was about as much as he cared to see.

"Before I forget, if anyone still needs to use their vacation time or you know of any special requests coming up, could you get it to me by the end of the week? I know things pop up, but I'd like to make sure we have enough coverage during the holidays." Jack really enjoyed their tight-knit group and they all worked well together. Every single one of them, including Loren.

"Sure will, doc."

"Not a problem, boss."

"What about a Christmas party?" Lydia asked. "Can we block out an afternoon for a little get-together?"

He should've known someone was going to bring it up. "I don't see why not. I'll take a look at the calendar and get back with everyone."

It was a safe response for now. In a few weeks, someone was bound to bring it up again and he'd be forced into setting aside some time for them to do their little thing. If it made them happy, why not.

Loren continued to avoid him the rest of the day, which he found somewhat amusing. He was sure his name was the highlight of their lunch, but he didn't really care. He had more things to worry about than a bunch of chatty nurses.

The next morning, he stopped by the cafeteria on his way up to the office and picked up his order. Every so often he liked to surprise them all with something for breakfast and today he was in the mood for something warm. Especially with the blustery cold-front that had pushed through the New England area overnight. It was time to pull out the winter coats and prepare for the colder temperatures.

With sacks of food secured in each of his arms, it was a struggle to open the front door without dropping anything. As soon as he walked inside, he immediately felt the urge to sneeze and quickly lowered the bags down into the closest chair in the nick of time.

"What the heck is that—" Jack looked around the room and shook his head. No, say it isn't so . "Ahh, choo."

"Good morning, Dr. Sewell." Cicily greeted him from behind the counter.

"Do you have any tissues—" Jack Sewell broke out into a fit full of sneezes. "Ahh, choo."

"Oh, goodness. Are you okay?" she asked, passing him the box they kept next to the sign-in clipboard.

"I was. Until I walked in here." Covering his mouth and nose, the sneezing continued. "Good God, it smells like a pine tree got into a fight with a cinnamon stick in here."

Loren walked through the side door and stopped in her tracks the moment she saw him. It didn't do her any good to slip the air refreshener she was holding behind her back. It was too late as he'd already spotted it. "Dr. Sewell."

"Are you responsible for this…this…smell?" Jack brought his hand up to his nose. "Ahh, choo."

"I can get rid of them. Let me find something to put them in." Loren rushed around the room snatching air fresheners from the wall sockets.

As he stood there watching her, he couldn't believe she'd gone and done such a thing. She knew he was sensitive to a lot of smells, but this was worse than walking into a cinnamon factory.

"I think one will be more than enough," he said, lifting one long, slender finger up for her to see. "We certainly don't need ten."

Ten was slightly exaggerating, but enough was enough. What were the patients going to think?

"Okay, I get it," she mumbled under her breath.

"Cicily, I have breakfast. Can you take it to the breakroom so everyone can eat while it's still hot? I'm going back to my office now."

"You're not going to get anything?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'll probably step outside for a few minutes. I need to clear my head."

"Would you like us to save you some?" she asked.

"You ladies enjoy."

Jack massaged his temples as he hurried down the hallway to his office and closed the door. Had the others not noticed the stench? It was as bad if not worse than walking by one of those perfume stores down at the mall. He had to admit, the hallway wasn't as bad as when he'd first walked in, but he could practically taste the smell on his tongue. Yuck !

Seeing the cinnamon-scented broom with the red and white checked bow fastened to it hanging on the supply room door almost did him in. It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet and he was already dreading what the next month would bring.