Chapter 1 – The Coming Storm3:21 p.m.
Morgana glanced at the clock, then back at the front door. He would be home any minute now.
On the outside she was emotionless, her face an unreadable mask as she waited patiently for her husband's arrival. On the inside, though, she was an absolute mess. Morgana's mind raced with a thousand rampant thoughts and wildly conflicting emotions as she tried to reconcile what had happened.
It had been a tiring week...and it was
far from over.
Monday morning started off on a sour note when she found out that her application to join the paramedic program was filed one day too late thanks to exams, which meant she would have to wait until early Summer to reapply. “My hands are tied, Morgana,” Doctor Landgraab told her. “I wish I could bend the rules, but human resources would have my head for it.”
“I...understand, sir.”
Geoffrey smiled. “Don't be so hard on yourself. You are one of the best students we've had in a while. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that you will be accepted into the program come June. And besides, by then you won't have exams holding you back.”
Her boss's words gave her some measure of confidence, at least. Morgana didn't really mind being a nurse's aide, but she looked forward to the days when she would be saving lives instead of emptying bedpans.
At least her new assignment was a pleasant one. Geoffrey knew how much she loved working with children, and as sort of a consolation for what had happened he assigned her to the pediatric floor for the next two weeks. As much as Morgana loved being around children, however, dealing with them in a hospital environment was always a bit trying. She hated to see anyone suffer, least of all a child.
The rest of her morning was a bit chaotic as she tried to familiarize herself with the patients on her floor, though it would have been a lot
less so if the young man in room 21 hadn't been so unruly.
According to VJ's chart he had undergone a routine tonsillectomy but reacted badly to the anesthesia, hence the decision to keep him overnight. He certainly wasn't acting sick, and after he got hold of a couple of surgical gloves and filled them with water Morgana and the other nurses found themselves on the losing end of a one-sided water balloon fight.
Fortunately, none of her other patients were quite so trying on her nerves. Morgana actually quite enjoyed looking after the little girl in room 23. How Darlene managed to be so bubbly and cheerful with a pair of broken legs and a concussion was anyone's guess, but she was more than eager to tell her story to every doctor and nurse that entered the room. “I was climbing on top of the jungle gym at school and slipped and fell off, and Bella ran to go get the teacher and Morty and Malcolm and Kay were there and I didn't even
cry!”
But the second that her
father entered the room she went from bubbly and cheerful to teary-eyed and whimpering.
“Daddy...it hurts.”
“I know, Pumpkin...I know.”
Morgana smiled inwardly but said nothing. She made a mental note to come back later when she had more time. One of the things she loved about working pediatrics was being able to socialize with the patients, and this little girl seemed like quite the character.
The rest of the day went well and Morgana arrived home that afternoon feeling very satisfied. She had even beaten Thornton home and, for the first time in weeks, had time to make dinner. When her husband walked in the door he gave her a big smile and a soft kiss.
“Let's go dancing,” he told her.
And they did. Three hours of absolute bliss at her favorite dance club. Morgana couldn't remember the last time that she and Thornton had had so much fun together, and that night as the two of them cuddled in bed she couldn't stop smiling.
The next couple of days were a dream. For the first time in months she actually looked forward to coming home after work. Things were finally starting to look up, and any doubts about the future of their marriage had faded comfortably into the background.
And then came yesterday...the day that it all began to fall apart.
It began pleasantly enough. Her morning rounds were easy and she managed to get in a bit of coloring book time with Darlene before her classes. One of the hospital's benefactors had even catered a fantastic lunch for all of the staff so she didn't have to brave the cafeteria (or their version of stu surprise...which she swore must have been a lab experiment). With only one class and another set of rounds left to do the afternoon seemed to fly by, and before Morgana knew it her shift was over and she was headed home.
As she walked up to her front door she heard Thornton's voice inside. He was on the phone, which wasn't all that unusual. The tone of his voice, however, made her hesitate as she was about to touch the door handle. He sounded almost...panicked?
“Are you absolutely sure?” A pause.
“And there's no way that it's...? Oh Llama...”Who was he talking to this time?
“Of course I know it's not something that can be kept a secret.” Another pause.
“I've got to go. Morgana's due home any minute, and she really doesn't need to hear this. Yes of course. Good night.”Morgana quirked an eyebrow. Exactly
why was Thornton so worried about her hearing the conversation? She opened the door and saw her husband standing there, staring at his phone as if it were some foreign object.
“Hi.”
“Hey babe,” Thornton greeted her as if nothing had happened. Morgana managed a half-hearted smile as he embraced her.
“What was that all about?” Morgana asked.
“Oh, the phone conversation?” He hesitated. “That...was my boss, actually. There's a business conference in Starlight Shores that he wants me to attend. Problem being, it's the same week as our France trip.”
“Oh...
oh!” Morgana's eyes widened. “You told him that you were busy, right?”
Thornton bit his lip. “Actually...no. I told him I'd go.”
Morgana's face fell. “Are you serious?”
“I've
got to do this, Morg. Mr. Alto has already talked to me about becoming the next manager of the western division, and I've got to make the best impression that I can and prove myself to him.” He took Morgana by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “If I make this conference, do you realize what that could mean? A promotion. A raise. An even
better vacation later. I'm not canceling the trip, per se...merely postponing it.”
The news completely took the wind out of Morgana's sails. She tried to take it all in stride. Work was important to him as it was to her. At the very least she had to respect him for that, right?
While Thornton was taking a bath a few hours later she decided to give a good friend of hers a call, hoping to let off some steam. Pauline would understand...but as it turned out she had news of her own to share.
“You broke
off the engagement?”
“Yeah. I just...I don't know if I can commit to someone like that, y'know?” Pauline spoke.
“The split is mutual. I mean, Hank and I will always be total BFFs, but as far as marriage...I dunno...I guess neither of us are ready. Heck, we're still young, right? Plenty of time to settle down at some point.”“Are you going to be okay?”
“Sure. Like I said, it was a mutual split. At least we didn't take the plunge first and then find out we weren't meant to be together. That would have been a mess.”“Even still, I'm sorry to hear it.”
Pauline laughed.
“Don't be. That means I'm a free girl for a while longer. Time to paaar-tay! Speaking of which, I'm heading over to Mick's tonight with a few of the girls. Wanna come?”“No, that's all right. I have medical journals to read through,” Morgana replied. A white lie, but she wasn't exactly in the mood to socialize.
“You seriously need to get out more, girl. Life's boring if you're stuck working all of the time.” She paused.
“Hey, I'd better let you go. Sunny's here and I still have to tell her that we're not going dress shopping on Saturday.”“All right. Have fun tonight.”
“See ya!”Morgana hung up the phone and heaved a sigh. Something that Pauline said had stuck in her mind and refused to let go.
“At least we didn't take the plunge first and then find out we weren't meant to be together. That would have been a mess.”“Hey babe, I left my phone downstairs,” Thornton called from their bedroom. “Could you bring it up for me?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Morgana plucked her husband's phone from the table, a legion of thoughts running through her head. Was he really talking to Mr. Alto on the phone when she arrived? Curiosity got the best of her and she pressed the power button on his phone, hoping that she was just being paranoid.
She didn't recognize the last number on the call list and there was no caller ID attached. Didn't Thornton have his boss on his contact list? Mr. Alto could always be calling from a different phone, but Morgana seriously doubted it. Not entirely satisfied, she checked the text messages and immediately wished that she hadn't. Most of the messages were either from her or Hank, but the most recent one, from about three hours ago, was from someone different.
Call me ASAP. I have to tell you something important.She checked the number and immediately cringed. There was no caller ID attached to this one either, but the number was all too familiar. Morgana recognized it from the employee directory at the hospital.
It belonged to Jamie Jolina.
Suddenly all of the doubts that Morgana thought were gone had resurfaced with a vengeance. On Monday everything seemed so perfect, and now with the knowledge that Thornton was talking to Jamie plus the fact that he canceled their France trip...she really didn't know
what to think anymore.
Sleep proved elusive. She was tempted (albeit briefly) to call in sick to work this morning so she could rest, but making a good impression on her superiors was far more important if she wanted to advance in her career. At least the Flying V wasn't too far out of her way, and this was one morning where a triple-shot mocha would definitely come in handy.
Morgana made it to the hospital half an hour before her shift began and made her way to the break room, where she came face-to-face with the one person whom she really did not want to see.
“Can we chat? Privately?”
Morgana was curt, but polite. “Yes...I believe that we should.”
The conversation that followed left Morgana absolutely stunned. Jamie told her everything that she needed to know and more than she ever wanted to hear. And now, eight hours later, Morgana sat in wait. A woman determined, she knew exactly what needed to be done.
She glanced at the clock again. 3:25.
Still no Thornton.
Morgana toyed with the wedding ring on her finger. She would wait all night if she had to.
At 3:27 she heard her husband's car pull into the driveway, and her heartbeat quickened as he made his way up the front steps. As he walked through the front door Morgana looked straight at him, her face stoic. The words that came out of her mouth stopped him dead in his tracks.
“So when were you planning to tell me that Jamie is pregnant?”
