warning, his eyes filled.
“He hasn’t told you anything, has he?”
My stomach dropped.
“Told me what?”
Arnold glanced toward the nurses’ station. Two women suddenly became very interested in their screens.
I tightened my grip on the lunch bag.
“He hasn’t told you anything, has he?”
“Arnold.”
He swallowed.
“He’s leaving, Chelsea.”
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
“Leaving who?”
His expression changed instantly.
“He’s leaving, Chelsea.”
“No. Chelsea, no. I meant the hospital.”
Relief hit me so hard I had to grab the counter.
But then confusion followed.
“What are you talking about?”
“He accepted another position.”
I waited.
“No. Chelsea, no. I meant the hospital.”
“Where?”
“Oregon.”
The relief vanished.
“What job in Oregon?”
Arnold closed his eyes.
Arnold had worked beside Ben for years. He’d eaten at our table often enough that I knew what his silence meant.
What job in Oregon?”
“You’re
