It's all came to a head with Jo!

She’s finally flipped her lid!!

It's been like something straight out of a Hollywood movie – with the bad guy being found out and getting their comeuppance!

Let me tell you all about it...It all started after my days off. Carla had been planning my hen night alongside my personal development plan and word had got around the ward that Susan was retiring at the end of the month. It didn’t take Einstein to figure out that I was being prepped to go for the Band 6 opening that would leave, and almost everyone offered their help towards my development.

I bet you can guess who wasn’t happy about it?!

Since her particularly cruel words in the staff room, she seemed to be laying off me a little – I think she was scared I would spill my guts to Carla, but when she realised that all was good, she started to stick the knife in as per her usual whispered taunts and subtle jibes.

To be fair, most of it rode well over my head as I was busy trying to keep up with all that Carla had planned for me. She’s booked me onto the male catheterisation course next week (yikes). Matt went a bit pale when I mentioned I would need some practice! And in March, she’s booked me onto a 4 day DCM course at Bradford Uni – as she reminded me, I am supposed to be the dementia lead for the ward! I remember asking Charisma for help to fund that course last year and she laughed/beat me out of the office!

 I do miss Charisma...I sent her a text last week to tell her about my engagement, to which she replied ‘Boy must be bloody mental’ – can’t help but love her (in a scared kind of way).

I’ve been reading up on the DCM course and it looks solid. Loads of codes and stuff to learn and then a formal assessment at the end. But, if I pass, it will be amazing to think that I am in the best position to see things from the viewpoint of the person living with dementia- even if they can’t tell me in a conventional way. I just cannot wait! 

Anyway, back to Jo.

Needless to say, she is silently fuming about all the attention I am getting at the moment. She’s like one of those comic bulls; all snorty and with steam coming out of her ears whenever I’m around. I’m really trying not to wind her up and avoid her at all costs.

But it all came to a head yesterday after the morning meds round. I usually try to time things so that I finish my round after Jo, so we don’t end up back in the clinic room at the same time. But she must have cottoned onto my tactics and as I went in to do my daily audit, there she was-right behind me. I could’ve legged it out of there but she pretty much had me trapped between the sink and the cupboard. The only escape was the little e-learning cubby hole but if I got in there I would have been proper stuck.

I have to give her credit for her boundless venom. Knowing I had no way out, she released both barrels. Told me that I was a slimy toad who was nothing more than a fake who was trying to turn the rest of the ward against her (funny that, I thought she was managing to do that without my help?). I was completely flabbergasted when she then started banging on about how she ran the ward and how she wasn’t going to have me stepping on her toes. With my big bum and my big boobs turning Steve’s head (really – has she met Steve’s wife – she’s like a supermodel) and trying to make her look bad. If I hadn’t been so floored, I might have considered that she was a bit unhinged, but she wasn’t finished there.

I swear, she was almost foaming at the mouth she was so angry, and her face was like a radish. Ranted and raved about how crap I was and how she was going to steal Matt off me cos no-one liked a fat girl – she was vicious.

When she finally paused for breath, you could’ve heard a pin drop. I won’t lie, I must’ve looked a proper moron with my mouth hanging open – I just couldn’t believe how much she hated me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d suspected it, but to come face to face with raw hatred just overwhelmed me completely.

Gone was the smart-mouth witty Flo- instead I was like the awkward girl in the playground and I just wanted the ground to swallow me up.

And then we both heard the slow scraping of a chair – it was like something out of a horror movie. I’m sure we were both holding our breath, waiting to see what, or who, was going to appear.

I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud when Steve appeared from the elearning hub with a face like a bag of spanners. The look he gave me instantly silenced me, but the look he gave Jo could have turned her to stone, and then in a really weird voice he said three words.

My. Office. NOW

Remind me never to get on the wrong side of Steve; I’d rather face Tyson Fury in the ring than hear those words aimed in my direction.

To give Jo her due, she looked proper scared. Even she couldn’t talk herself out of this one and I think she knew it. With a final death glare in my direction, she left the room and almost slammed the door off the hinges. Steve followed seconds behind without a single word or glance in my direction.

I don’t know what happened and I don’t think I want to know. Let’s just say that Jo was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the shift. There was a hushed silence across the entire ward – even the patients seemed to pick up on the vibes, and there was none of the usual fun or laughter in Eden Bay that day. Everyone, including me, avoided Steve – he was like a bear with a sore head.

I went home and told Matt all about it. It was really weird, I was like a deflating balloon, and the more I told him, the more I cried. I think part of it was relief that it was all out in the open.

We spent the rest of the evening cuddled up on the sofa eating pizza and onion rings. The healthy eating has been put on hold for now; I need all the comfort I can get.

Part of me feels sorry for Jo – how must it feel to be so hateful?  But the other part of me feels cross, with myself, for just putting up with it and letting it get to this.

Matt says I’m a nutter for feeling sorry for Jo, but then he reminded me that I was his nutter and he loved every part of me – especially my boobs and bum!!