Chapter 322
She didn’t recognize the panel, but they recognized her. Word had spread about how her interference helped push Rylie out of the Kirk family, proof, in their eyes, of questionable character. Hiring someone like her could bring trouble down the line. As soon as the door closed behind her, the interviewers quietly set her resume aside, silently agreeing that she wouldn’t move forward.
After leaving the hospital, Stacey headed to a café down the block for afternoon tea. She wrapped both hands around her coffee cup, her fingers tapping an anxious rhythm as she waited for the final results to be posted. Those who made the cut would be called back later to fill out paperwork and prepare for onboarding.
In her mind, the position was already hers. With her credentials and polished background, getting hired at HaloFlow felt like a formality. But the group at the next table made her uneasy.
A handful of middle-aged men and women sat close together, their clothes faded from too many washes, some patched at the seams. Their sun-worn skin and quiet presence clashed with the sleek surroundings.
One man was missing three fingers on his right hand. Another moved with a stiff, uneven gait, likely walking on a prosthetic.
A faint smell followed them — a blend of herbal salve and ocean air — that made Stacey wrinkle her nose and inch her seat farther away.
“Lennie, are you really going through with it?” asked a man with a deep scar etched across his cheek, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I don’t really have a choice,” Lennie Brown replied, his gaze dropping to his hand as he gave it a slow squeeze. “My wife’s condition can’t wait. The benefits at HaloFlow are way better than what the government’s offering.”
“But with bodies like ours… can we really keep up?” a woman with a limp said with a dry laugh. “Back then, we saved lives at sea without degrees or diplomas. Everything we knew came from our team leader. Now? Those young doctors probably see us as fossils.”
“Look down on us?” the scar-faced man scoffed. “We pulled people out of storms with nothing but our hands. No fancy tools, no meds — just grit. And now these fresh-out-of-school types think they’re above us?”
“Anyway, the benefits are solid — thirty percent better than what regular doctors get,” he added, his tone softening. “And with today’s tech? The job’s practically a breeze compared to what we dealt with.”
“I just worry people will see me as unfit. We’ve been out of practice for years… I’m not even sure I can hold a scalpel steady anymore.”
From her seat nearby, Stacey overheard every word — and couldn’t stop the slight curl of her lip. Seriously? A group of washed-up veterans hoping to land a job through pity and connections?
Stacey assumed that HaloFlow Hospital must be desperate if they were giving out doctor titles to anyone who just walked in.
“If I had known they needed people that badly, I’d have applied for a doctor’s job myself,” she muttered under her breath, her eyes glued to her phone. The results of her interview at HaloFlow Hospital were due any moment now. With her degree from a prestigious medical college’s nursing program, there was no way she’d be turned down.
Just then, her phone buzzed with a call from a friend asking about the interview.
.
.
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