Cedar Bluff's Most Eligible Bachelor by Laura Iding

Author:Laura Iding [Iding, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780373067732
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The next two days were excruciatingly long and boring for Hailey. Despite the books she’d picked up at the library and the movies she’d watched with Rachel, the two days seemed like a lifetime.

How she’d get through two full weeks, she wasn’t sure.

On the third day her cell phone rang and her heart irrationally leaped in her chest as she grabbed the phone, peering at the screen.

Her hope deflated. Not Simon.

Her boss. She forced a cheerfulness she didn’t feel into her tone. “Hi, Theresa. Did you get my leave-of-absence paperwork?”

“Ah, yes, I did.” Theresa cleared her throat on the other end of the line. “But, Hailey, I’m afraid I have some bad news. I don’t think your leave of absence will be approved because you’ve only been working here two months. Normally, you have to be working for a full twelve months in order to get approved for a leave of absence.”

She sank into her kitchen chair, her crutches dropping to the floor with a crash. It took a few minutes to find her voice. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Theresa admitted. “I’m waiting to hear back from Human Resources. The good news is that your health insurance will cover the costs of your treatment for the accident. But normally we have a return-to-work program for staff on medical leave so they can do light-duty functions, and I’m afraid you won’t qualify.”

“Does that mean I have to leave?” Ironically, the first thought that entered her mind was that if she was forced to quit her job, she wouldn’t be Simon’s coworker any more. His rule wouldn’t apply.

But on the heels of that, practical logic kicked in. When the full realization hit, her stomach sank.

“No, you don’t have to quit. But you won’t get any payment for being off work either.”

No payments. And no way to return to work for the full time her leg was in a cast? “Theresa, please, isn’t there some way I can qualify for returning to work on light duty? I need to be able to pay my rent. I’d be willing to do anything—paperwork, or even a triage nurse…”

“No, not as a triage nurse,” Theresa said firmly. “Hailey, you can’t be on crutches and take care of patients. If a patient’s condition suddenly deteriorated, you’d need to be able to respond immediately. And if you hurt yourself in the process, we’d be responsible from a worker’s compensation perspective.”

She couldn’t argue against her boss’s logic. “Okay, paper work, then. I can’t be hurt doing paperwork. I could do chart reviews. The schedule. I’ll be your assistant. I’ll function as a unit clerk. Anything you want me to do.” She halted, realizing she was close to begging.

“I’ll see what I can work out with Human Resources,” Theresa hedged. “We have work you can do, but the problem is that you don’t qualify for the program because you haven’t been here long enough.”

Hailey swallowed hard. “Is there anything I can do to help plead my case?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Theresa promised.

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