Free Behind The Mask (Nurses Book 2) by Renee Adams Page A

seem like I truly am insane. In my head, I know that here on the floor laughing like a banshee isn’t normal, but I’ve never been normal. The scars across my lips hurt because they are pulling tight. Laughing isn’t something I normally do, so this is a new thing for my new face.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Gage’s gruff voice rings out behind me.
    “What does it look like? I fell down, hurt myself, and now I’m laughing because this is the shit that I do. I fall down and I laugh.”
    “Need help up?”
    “Not from you. I’m good.” Not trying to be a bitch, I just don’t want to deal with him right now, not when my heart is light from laughing.
    When I look at him, he looks defeated, as if someone kicked him in the gut. I don’t know why he has this wounded puppy dog look on his face. Good, serves the pompous ass right, he should be wounded, and he should feel remorse for the way he acted. You don’t mean that, Cori. Stop being a bitch, that’s not you. Stupid inner voice, always trying to be the voice of reason.
    “Don’t mean to be a bitch, the words just fall out sometimes.” There, that should be a good enough apology.
    “It’s okay, you deserve to be a bitch to me. I was nasty to you yesterday when all you wanted to do was help me. I should be apologizing to you. But I have more jokes for you if you need them.”
    Wait, was that an apology? I don’t know how I feel about it if it was. He looks sheepishly at me as if he expects me to respond to him. I don’t quite know what to say.
    “Yeah, you were a dick yesterday.” There we go.
    “I have a habit of being that way, just my sunny disposition I guess.”
    You could say that again. But even though he apologized, doesn’t mean I will be going out of my way to talk to him unless it is his recovery related. I don’t need his kind of attitude in my life, whether he tells me jokes or not.
    Getting up and dusting myself off, I walk away leaving his words just hanging in the air. Maybe he will rethink how much of a dick he really is when he sees that he doesn’t affect me. Probably not, but the hope is there. 
    At lunch time, Gage sees me sitting and eating with Allyn, and wheels himself over. The residents have the option of having lunch brought to their rooms or to the day room. Allyn being Mr. Social seems to always pick the day room, so I figured I would sit with him and eat.
    “Can I sit with you guys?” His husky voice seems unsure. Definitely not a good sound for him. A man like him should exude confidence.
    I look at Allyn who nods at Gage. I put my head down and finish my meal. Gage tries to make small talk with us, but Allyn is the only one who really answers. When Allyn starts telling old stories of him and his beloved wife, CC, I excuse myself. I still have fifteen minutes of lunch left, but Allyn can talk forever and I wanted to escape.
    Later in the day, Gage came up to tell me how cold that was for me to “throw him to the gossip wolves.” I giggle because he sees that, that is exactly what I had done.
    “Payback is coming for you, beautiful. Oh and you should laugh more, it’s a beautiful sound.” Then he wheels off, leaving me at a loss for words. I guess Sam was right, he really is a flirt. Just never expected that he would direct it towards me.
    Work flies by in the blink of an eye, and now I get to face another challenge. I used to have blonde in my hair, and I still do, but these roots are out of this world! I haven’t been to the hairdresser since before the riot, so today is the day that I go back. I have wanted to so many times, but the thought of someone putting their hands on me scares the living daylights out of me. Plus, when you sit in that chair and put the cape on, you are essentially locked in. I don’t want to feel locked in, ever again.
    Driving over to my hairdresser, a panic starts to set in. I’m trying to remember all the breathing exercises that the shrinks tried to teach me. My anxiety is