An odd feeling settled in the center of my chest the morning after Ansley left. It was the realization that I didn't have the time I needed to break down her walls and destroy my own. It wasn't a quick fix or an after fuck that was going to heal either of us.

I was an idiot for thinking it was.

After drinking a cup of coffee and choking down a few pieces of toast, I got dressed and headed up to the hospital. I missed my house back in New York and my friends. Starting over sucked balls, and wasn't for me at all. I was comfortable being who I was back in New York. This new, more sensitive mother fucker was starting to get on my nerves a little.

Not that I wouldn't have been soft toward Ansley back in New York, but something about being alone made me even more willing to consider and even promise things that I knew I'd never really do. Not in the long run at least.

It was for the best that she left the night before, though a chiding voice ran through my head all morning, trying to convince me otherwise.

I got to the hospital and parked next to a car full of residents. They didn't hide the fact that I was the topic of conversation, but such was life. I was in a good enough mood to let them be. Good karma would come back my way, or so I hoped.

Ansley got out of her car about the time I walked by it, assuming she was already inside. The door smacked against me, and I stepped back, offering her a cocky grin.

"That's work place violence, Miss."

She rolled her eyes and got out. "I'm running late. File a complaint with the Chief of Staff. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear I mutilated something."

"Mutilated? That's a bit much." I smiled and moved back, closing the door for her as she walked toward the hospital. I had to jog to catch up. Seemed as though our little love making session wasn't making much of an impression on the Ice Princess.

"We have to stop by Nolan's office. He texted me a few minutes ago asking where the hell we were." She gave me a sideways glance, something like she might do to a pesky teenager.

"No one told me about a meeting with Nolan this morning." I pulled out my phone to check for messages. "We're just supposed to read minds now?"

"I was going to text you once I got inside." She walked through the door, her head held high. The saucy bitch was acting like I wasn't even there. Crazy.

Anger burned through me, and I reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Hey. Did we make love last night, cause I remember something like that happening. Nice dinner. Flowers. Wild, passionate sex. You screaming my-"

She reached up and clamped her hand over my mouth as her cheeks flushed. "Stop it. We're at the hospital, and last night was amazing, but it was the past. Leave it there."

That odd feeling from earlier woke back up. It was a chill, a coldness, the numbness of rejection. So maybe I wasn't the only one trying to think things through. Obviously, Ansley had pondered on us a little too and came up short. Fuck me.

I moved back, turned and walked toward Nolan's office. If she wanted to keep things professional, then I would do just that, but she wasn't going to like it. I was a dick back in New York. A cocky one, and namely because I could be. I busted my balls in the OR and made sure to be the fastest, the brightest - the best.

She was behind me, or so I assumed, so I made sure to push the door a little harder than usual when I walked into Nolan's office. Hopefully, she could slip through and not think too much of it. She wasn't after a gentleman, and it was a damn good thing. Cause, I wasn't one.

"Parks. Ansley. Good of you to stop by." Nolan rose from his chair and smiled down at a large guy in a blue suit that sat before him. "Congressman Kade, these are the surgeons that will be operating on you. They're the best of the best."

I moved up and extended my hand to the older man. The tired look in his eyes told me that Ansley was right. We should have been operating sooner. He might have a tight schedule, but working from six feet under was impossible. Someone should have told him, but it wasn't my place. Knowing Ansley, she would speak up soon enough.

"Nice to meet you, Congressman." I shook his hand and moved back, making room for the beautiful woman who was sure to stomp my ego later that day. How she could pretend that the night before wasn't fucking amazing was beyond me.

"You as well." He smiled and extended his hand to Ansley. "I've heard a lot about both of you, and your brother as well, Doctor Crawford."

Ansley smiled warmly. "We're going to take good care of you."

"I have no doubt." He sat back down and turned to Nolan. "So not a day over two weeks. I have a packed schedule until then, but I want this taken care of the minute I have a breather."

"Of course, Clay. I think that's what we planned to do, right Parks?" Nolan glanced over at me.

Ansley stiffened, her shoulders drawing back, her chin lifting a little. This was her hospital, and I was a visitor. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Nolan was trying to goad the beautiful woman.

"Yes. I'll work with scheduling today to make sure everything is good. We're going to need to do some pre-op work, but nothing too out of the ordinary." I glanced over at Ans. "You want to add anything."

She didn't even look at me but rather concentrated on the congressman. "I just want to throw in there that I'm a little concerned about you not getting this taken care of sooner. With the headaches you're having and-"

"He's doing it the minute he has a chance, Doctor Crawford." Nolan's voice held a tone of finality to it.

"Yes. I wish I could get it done sooner." The older man reached up and rubbed the side of his head. "I'll happily find time for the pre-op and such. I appreciate you both. Honestly, I do."

"Parks, please walk Clay through the procedure, so he'll better understand what will happen while he's asleep, and touch on the recovery time for something like this." He nodded at me, and I spent the next half-hour talking through the details of the surgery. The tension rolling off Ansley was enough to leave my stomach sick by the time we were done with the meeting.

"Excellent." Clay stood and offered me his hand. "Just let me know the pre-op dates, and I'll be here. I know I'm in good hands with you, Doctor Parks."

"With us both." I moved back so Ansley could shake the man's hand one more time. I glanced over at Nolan, who was the slightest pale as well. It's as if we were both waiting for Ans to lose her shit and pop off. It wasn't out of the normal spectrum of things that could happen.

"Yes, of course." Clay shook Ansley's hand and turned back to Nolan. "Breakfast, old friend?"

"Absolutely." Nolan walked around the desk and opened the door for both of us. "Thanks for stopping by. I'll come see you both later."

I walked out and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Ansley's voice was monotone as she moved up beside me. "Well, you put him at ease. Bravo."

"I'm not sure that's a compliment." I started down the hallway toward the OR. "I didn't ask to be in charge of this."

"No?" She glanced over at me with a combination of hurt and anger in her face. She might be in her mid-thirties, but fuck if she didn't have the maturity of a wild-ass teenage girl sometimes.

"I'm not responding to that." I walked away and took a sharp left. There was no way I was fighting with her after the night we'd had before. I'd offered my body up like a baby-making factory, and from the way things happened, she took advantage of it. She didn't need additional drama or stress in her life. She might be carrying my baby.

The thought caused chill bumps to break out across my arms. What if that were true?

I closed the door to my office, needing a few minutes to myself before starting the day. I pulled out my phone to see a text from my best friend, Jackson.

You still alive, man? I ain't heard shit in a week and a half.

I smiled and dialed his number before dropping down at my desk. He answered on the first ring.

"Hey, you bitch. You can't call nobody?"

"That's a double negative." I leaned back in my chair. "So really you're saying I can call someone? And if so, then yes, I can call someone."

"You haven't had your coffee yet. I'm hanging up until you do."

I laughed. "You haven't called either."

"Been busy, man. Hustling is all I do nowadays." He cleared his throat. "How's it going up there?"

"Good."

"You sleep with Aiden's little sister yet?" I could hear the humor in his voice. Fucker.

"Yes. Several times, and she's still a bitch." I ran my fingers through my hair and stifled a groan. Going home would feel so damn good. I wanted to get back to simply being me without the pressure of Ans being in my world. It fucked me up more than I wanted to admit to anyone, especially myself.

He laughed loudly. "No score for Doctor Feelgood up there in Boston, hm?"

"Not this time, pal." I glanced over to see one of the nurses standing outside my door. I lifted the phone and motioned that I'd be in the OR shortly. "How about you? Hook a beautiful single girl?"

"Not yet, but then again, I'm not trying to."

"Oh, I see. So the minute Mister Big Stuff tries, he wins?"

"Fuck yeah, he does."

"We're talking about you in the third person. It's starting to weird me out."

"What's with you and the grammar shit before your first cup of coffee?" He snorted.

"I don't know. A bit of my mother in me, I guess. She taught English my whole life. You know this shit."

"Speaking of your mother. How is your dad doing? Things still on the downhill slide for him?"

"No. I got a maid, chef and a nurse to start coming by daily. His chef is a woman about ten years older than me, and from what I can tell, they're sweet on each other."

"Oh shit." He laughed. "Dad's tapping the help."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, Mister Sensitive. I'm headed to the OR. Talk later."

"Later."

I dropped the call and got up, walking languidly toward what was sure to be a long day of saving lives and offering hope. Too bad the one person in the hospital who needed both badly wasn't receptive to either.

All I could do was offer, and I was about dried up on even that.