THE CONVERSATION WITH TERESSE WAS A difficult one. Holly could tell the woman was disappointed that she was going back to her original specialty, but after explaining that she simply found working with children to be hard, especially when they couldn’t save them, Teresse was happy for her. After all, Holly had said she would give pediatrics a try, but cardiology was what she’d really wanted to begin with.

Moira remained true to her word, giving Holly surgeries to participate in. Embers was not happy about this turn of events at all. He even tried to pull rank on Moira, as he had with Jacobs, but she was feisty and no pushover. Holly admired her more by the minute. Embers wasn’t the only one. A lot of the higher-ranking residents weren’t too pleased either, but Moira was adamant about letting Holly assist her with the surgeries. 

The fact that Jake hadn’t messaged her didn’t bother her.

One day, they lost a badly wounded patient. A twenty-three-year-old male who’d come into the ER after a horrible car crash. Moira took the death of her patients just as hard as Holly did, and when Holly found her on the stairs with a cigarette in her hand, she sat down next to her, taking a drag from the cigarette before chucking it away. She then took a Ben and Jerry’s tub out of her pocket and handed it to Moira. “This is how we deal with shitty things,” Holly said, glad when Moira let out a haughty laugh at her offering, even though she looked like she was going to cry. Popping the lid off, she pushed the plastic spoon into the ice cream, scooped up a good portion, and plopped it into her mouth.

They ate in silence for a while, swapping ice creams when they were each halfway through, and slowly, they resumed speaking.

“I don’t think there was anything we could’ve done differently. It was just his time, and I wish that I could take it as well as Jake does, but I can’t,” Moira said.

“How do you know him? I mean, I know you have the same last name and everything…”

“Our fathers are cousins. So he’s my second cousin or something.”

Holly giggled.

“To me, he’s my cousin. I grew up with him and his sisters, so we are really close. You know him well?”

Holly shook her head. “My best friend idolizes him.”

“Who doesn’t? It makes me sick how women drool over him.”

Holly chuckled again. It was disgusting. “Some men, too.”

That made Moira laugh. “I feel sorry for him sometimes, but not all of us can be perfect. He seems to do it so well.”

“Didn’t your mother teach you that no man is perfect? I’m sure there is something about him that makes you want to kick him or hit him in the face.”

“Jake?” She shook her head. “Not a chance.”

Moira stood, and Holly followed suit. Holly could give her two reasons that would make Moira feel differently about her cousin.

“Thanks for the ice cream. I guess it’s true what they say about Ben and Jerry’s. Now I know why so many people are fat.” 

Holly smiled.

“See you tomorrow,” said Moira, as they went their separate ways.

By the end of the week, Jake was in the OR again for an emergency surgery, but this time, Holly steered clear. She saw him walk out of the OR, take his bandanna off, and throw it against the wall again. She hated him, but she was not going to do to him what he’d done to her. So, she did what he’d taught her to do in times when things were shitty. She bought him a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.

She found him in the locker room, and after making sure that no one else was in there, she entered. He was sitting on the bench, shirtless. Walking toward him, she stopped when she was near enough and held out a tub. “I’m sure nobody will give you a warning for that tantrum you just threw.”

He gave her a look, one that made her feel as if she’d stepped over the line, but then his lips curved softly upward. Reaching out, he took the tub of ice cream from her. “That was hardly a tantrum.” He cocked his head to the side, inviting her to sit down. She knew she shouldn’t, given the way he treated her, but he was like a magnet, pulling her down to sit next to him without having to use any part of his body.

He ate his ice cream while he told her about the patient. She was someone he’d treated on a regular basis, and she had so many tumors in her head, Holly didn’t know how the hell Jake had even tried to save her from the beginning. Then he told her why: she’d only been fifteen.

Holly’s heart melted, and she, too, had tears in her eyes. Fifteen-year-olds who spent time in hospitals instead of malls reminded her of her twin. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Yeah, I’ll get over it just as I get over all the other shit that happens in my life.” He sounded a tad sarcastic, so Holly didn’t push that any further.

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Jake. Take a shower, go home. You look like shit, and you could use some rest.”

Jake laughed and grabbed her around the neck, pulling her in for a hug. “No, I just need some TLC from you, then I’ll be fine.”

She stared at him, her eyes soft. She wanted to comfort him, but she was not going to have sex him right now. She lifted her head and gave him a soft, tender kiss. Tracing his lips with her tongue for the smallest of moments, she felts his arms relax around her. She sighed and pulled away.

“I’m sorry, Jake,” she whispered as she got up. She lifted her hand to touch his cheek, but decided against it. She didn’t look back at him as she walked away.

Jake ignored her for the next four days, and although she was surrounded by cardio patients, surgeries, and procedures to watch from the gallery, she struggled to ignore how cold he was toward her when he didn’t want sex.

She’d thought she’d feel better, empowered, after not giving in to him when he snapped his fingers for sex. But somehow, she felt even worse. He’d wanted her to comfort him, and she’d denied him. It was for the best, really. She hated the way she felt after sleeping with him, hated the way he treated her. And even though she kept telling herself she hated Kate, she couldn’t keep doing what she was doing with Jake, if only for the sake of his fiancée and his son. She couldn’t keep doing it to her heart.

On the sixth day, she saw The Beast in his parking spot. So he is here, and probably sleeps here, too. She’d been off the day before, but hadn’t expected to see him so early this morning. Rev had asked her to work a shift for him as he had terrible toothache, promising her that he’d go to the dentist that day, which meant that she would be doing a double shift.

The minute she walked in, three to four ambulances came screeching in to stop in front of the entrance. Doctors scurried every which way, some teaming up, and she was glad when Moira nodded her way, urging her to follow. Holly didn’t even have time to change into scrubs before she found herself helping an attending stop the bleeding from one patient’s chest.  

Hours later, after completing a surgery with the attending from the ER, Holly was up in the gallery watching a complicated procedure. Moira shouted orders, and Holly could tell she was getting frustrated with the resident who was assisting her. When it finally looked as if the patient’s heart was beating normally again, Jake and Desire walked in. Jake started to assess the head injuries sustained by the patient while Moira closed his chest cavity. 

Suddenly, the man’s heartbeat slowed. Jake threw his hands up and backed away, as Moira opened the patient’s chest up again to massage the heart. But, she struggled. Holly knew she should be down there, helping, showing her the way Dr. Somers had shown her to do it.

“We need blood,” Moira yelled.

Holly had never seen so much blood pour out of a chest cavity. The man’s heart was growing weaker by the second. They didn’t have enough time. Holly was on edge, and her mind was working on overdrive. The massaging technique Somers used flowed through her mind. She knew the secret wasn’t merely in the massage. The secret lay in using the patient’s own blood to curb the blood loss. She should be down there.

Moira yelled at the resident again. It looked as if she was on the verge of panic. Not being able to not do anything, Holly rushed to pull on scrubs and ran into the OR—totally against the rules.

“Where is my blood!” she yelled at Holly.

“It won’t be here in time, Dr. Peters. Move!” Holly barked at the resident. She asked for an empty IV bag, and for a nurse’s assistance. She made a small incision right above the patient’s v-line, being extra careful as his chest was already open, and inserted the tube, drawing blood before it oozed out and was lost.

“What are you doing?” Moira asked Holly, who had moved to massage the heart with both her hands, her eyes intent on the blood dripping into the empty IV bag.

“When it’s full, hang it, then let it drip back into his body until the blood arrives,” Holly ordered the nurse, ignoring the way everyone was staring at her.

“It’s working,” Moira said a few seconds later. “Where did you learn this?”

“As I mentioned before, Dr. Somers was old, so I was essentially his hands.” Holly looked at Moira, able to see from her eyes that the woman was smiling beneath her surgical face mask. Moira turned to the disgraced resident. “Jefferies, find my blood, now. Scallanger, you stay.”

Holly couldn’t believe she’d stolen a resident’s spot in surgery, but she smiled nonetheless, her hands busy within the man’s chest.

“Dr. Peters, are you waiting for an invitation to continue? We’re a bit busy here,” Moira joked. 

Jake and Desire stepped closer.

As soon as the blood arrived, Holly removed the catheter, closed the unusual incision she’d made with a careful and delicate stitch, and covered the wound with skin tape.

Moira had found the weakness in the man’s heart and was working on repairing it, and as soon as it was stabilized, she closed him up again. Both Holly and Moira remained in the background as Jake and Desire continued with the injuries to the patient’s brain.

“What happened this morning? What caused all those traumas?” Holly asked.

“Construction accident. I hate those,” Moira said. “Great call earlier, by the way.” 

“It’s a bummer I couldn’t show you Somers’ technique.” Holly apologized.

Moira smiled. “Not to worry. There’s always next time.”

A half hour later, Moira told Jake she was heading out as she might be needed elsewhere. The patient was now stable. 

“Go,” he said.

Nodding, she turned to Holly and cocked her head for her to follow. Clear of the others, Moira said, “I can’t believe it! Never in the history of medicine has an intern taught an attending something like that, or shoved another doctor with a higher rank away from an operating table.”

“I’m sure I’ll get a warning for that.”

“A warning for being better than someone else?” Moira squinted. “Not likely.” 

Laughing, they headed toward the cafeteria.

“I need to take a shower, I really feel dirty,” Holly said. “I won’t be long. I’ll meet you there.” Their paths diverged.

After her shower, she found Moira at one of the tables. She was definitely a Peters, just as beautiful as her cousin. She laughed and joked with the other doctors while eating a salad. Holly wondered why Jake had never mentioned her when they were together.

Moira noticed her and made space for her at the table. It was weird how welcome she made Holly feel, like she was already a resident and not an intern.

After lunch, Moira took Holly with her to do rounds on patients she had treated over the past couple of days. Holly helped her check their stitches, listened as Moira asked follow-up questions, and paid attention when the doctor went over their charts, as well as their progress in recovery. 

Jake was finally done with his surgery at four that afternoon. Holly didn’t want to talk to him, so she avoided his OR, pretending to fill out a patient’s chart at one of the nurse stations until he passed. She and Moira had another small surgery that evening, and the hospital quieted down around ten. Most of the doctors had gone home, including Jake. Holly didn’t see The Beast in the parking lot.

She felt as if she could breathe again. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him, but she was afraid to be alone with him. She struggled to control herself around him, and even though she hadn’t given in the last time, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to curb her need for him again. Proud of herself, she decided to go down to the hospital’s gym. The gym was impressive, and she needed to clear her head.

Rain poured down on the hospital’s roof and down its windows; Holly thought the glass would shatter from the force of it. Lightning struck every few minutes, and thunder rumbled in the air.

She ran on the treadmill as hard and fast as she could, but when her legs began to ache, she’d had enough. Standing in the shower felt great, and as the water wet her hair and ran down her back, she closed her eyes. She wasn’t surprised that images of Jake’s naked body filled her mind; the way he would stare at her with those icy green eyes he shared with his daughter. But when her breathing became heavy, she shook her thoughts back to the present. She couldn’t do this anymore. He had a family.

Lightning struck again. The lights flickered and then went out. A shrill scream left her mouth, and she started to laugh in the dark as the water continued to pour on her head. Feeling for the taps, she turned the water off and opened the shower door in search of her towel. Finding it, she wrapped it around her body.

As it was awfully dark, she was grateful for her phone as she could use its light so she could see herself in the mirror. She jumped when her face wasn’t the only one reflected in the mirror.

A chuckle reverberated around the enclosed space, the sexy kind that made her stomach turn, and swirled in her gut. His arms wrapped around her. It was evident he’d been at the gym, working out until the lights went off. “Hiding from me again?” he whispered, kissing her shoulder.

She loved his kisses, but she had to be strong now. “I can’t do this anymore, Jake. You’ve got a family,” she said softly. In her mind it sounded stern, full of confidence.

He laughed as if it wasn’t a big deal, or maybe he didn’t believe it. “I’m going to take a shower, I need one,” he simply said, pulling his shirt off in front of her.

He sure knew how to reel her in, and his muscular, sun-kissed chest was one of the hooks he’d caught her with. His pants and shoes disappeared, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be naked in front of her. He was so full of confidence, and she didn’t know if she loved or hated it at this very moment. Not wanting to look, she kept her gaze on the sink until he was in the shower.

“What, you’re not going to join me?’

“I just had a shower, thanks,” she bit out. Her breathing hardened and her heart rate picked up speed. No, don’t. Don’t do this. Be strong. But her lips parted of their own volition and her chest rose and fell with want.

Jake chuckled, as if he could hear it, knowing she wasn’t serious about refusing him.

All she had to do was stand her ground this time.

The shower turned off faster than she’d hoped it would, only giving her time to put her panties, bra, and top on. She heard him get out, and when she saw him from the corner of her eye, he had already wrapped a black towel around his waist. He looked like a Tommy Hilfiger model walking out of the ocean, begging you to eat his… scratch that… begging you to buy his cologne.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, and when she opened them again, he was standing right behind her, staring at her with his smoldering eyes reflected in the mirror.

She turned around to look him in the eye. “I can’t do this.”

He smiled softly. “I heard you the first time.”

“Then why are you making it so difficult?”

“I’m making it difficult?”

“Jake, I’m serious.” Her tone was flat.

He lowered his head to kiss her earlobe, brushing his lips softly against her neck, moving down to her shoulder. Her eyes closed. Why did it have to feel so good?

“Then tell me no, and I’ll go.”

She wanted to say it so badly, she did, but she didn’t know if she had the strength.

He stared right at her with those eyes, and in the faint light they held more gravity than ever before.

“I know you want this, Holly,” he whispered again, touching her arm softly. Her stomach fluttered as a million goosebumps appeared all over her skin. His touch scorched her skin.

She closed her eyes as his lips moved to her ear again.  

“You seriously don’t want me?”

That was so not what she’d said. She wanted him, more than she’d ever wanted a man her in entire life. She’d never want another man that badly again, but she couldn’t do it. “No.” She forced the words out of her mouth, swallowing hard.

Jake frowned, but nodded. “Okay,” he said with a slight smile. He gave her a soft kiss on the temple, then turned away.

She should’ve just let him go, but groaning, she lightly touched his hand just as he made to step away from her.

He moved so fast, she found herself pinned against the wall. Their lips locked on one another’s, and for the first time in a long time, she was kissing him fiercely. Their breathing was fast and hard, and when his towel dropped, it was only a matter of seconds until her panties followed the same path down to her ankles. She’d just gotten one foot free, when Jake grabbed her butt cheeks and lifted her up, thrusting himself into her. 

They tugged on each other’s lips. She bit into his shoulder, and her nails dug deep into his back, scoring his skin. Jake grunted in appreciation, but Holly knew he loved it; he deserved some payback for the marks he’d left on her that first night. A thought entered her mind. She secretly wished that Kate would find them. If Kate walked in on them, perhaps Holly wouldn’t have to keep reminding herself to lock away her feelings.

Half an hour later, both utterly sated, they got dressed. Jake was the first to leave, giving her a simple goodbye. As for Holly, she remained where she was, waiting for the horrible worthless, dog-like feeling to creep inside of her again. It didn’t matter how much she wanted him, the awful feeling superseded her want. Slipping to the floor with her back against the wall, she let her sobs wrench out of her.

******

Jake was absent from Downsend for two days. Holly wished he’d stayed away longer, because two days wasn’t nearly enough time for her to distance herself from him.

There was another neuro emergency at Downsend, and Holly was grateful Moira had gotten a serious cardiac case recently. She was taking Holly through all the preparations necessary for the pacemaker transplant they had planned for that day, which meant Holly was too busy to be distracted.

When the transplant surgery was over with, Holly was sure Jake had already left. It was late, eight in the evening. As soon as she was done updating the patient’s file, she rushed off to the ladies’ room, and upon walking out, realized that she’d just walked past Jake when she looked up. Averting her eyes, she pretended to not have seen him—to no avail. He saw her. He grabbed her coat, pulling her backward and dragging her in the direction he’d been headed. She knew what was about to happen. Again.

She wanted to be with him so badly, but she couldn’t. She had to stop it, whatever it was.

When he took her into a store room, he immediately began to kiss her, or rather, he kissed her once, then moved to her neckline.

“Stop.” Holly pushed him slightly away from her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, with more questions in his eyes, as well as slight grin on his face. “Is it—”

Holly didn’t allow him to finish whatever he was going to say. “Am I okay?” She looked at him. “No, Jake. I’m not. I can’t do this anymore, and it’s not just because I feel like shit afterward.”

Jake’s face fell and he looked the other way. “You’re really starting with this shit again?” he asked, clearly not believing her.

She shook her head. “I’m serious. I can’t do this, and I won’t do this. You have a family, for crying out loud.”

He sniffed hard, the expression on his face clearly telling her that he was irritated and slightly annoyed, all because she’d just ruined a fun activity for him. That pissed her off.

“I’m not a toy, Jake, that you can fuck whenever you want, then chuck aside until the next time.”

“Holly, I never—”

“Don’t! You make me feel like a cheap whore every single time this happens.” She felt like crying, but she swallowed her tears.

Jake gave her an odd look. But to Holly it told her he knew exactly what she was saying. He just wasn’t prepared to admit it.

“You hardly kiss me, we don’t ever talk. Not to mention the fact that you don’t text me for days, and then show up out of the blue expecting...” she trailed off, chuckling sadly. “I can’t do this crap anymore, so please, let’s end this before people get hurt.” 

Jake was silent, and he didn’t even have the decency to look at her properly. Deciding that was the closest thing to a reaction she was going to get from him, she turned and left. Even though her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces, she couldn’t continue with this farce.

A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, and she swiped at it with the back of her hand. She didn’t want to think about Jamie, or whatever she’d have to tell her one day about her father. Jamie would one day grow up and not believe in the fairy tale Holly had told her. She’d want to know who her father was, and why he wasn’t in her life. And then, Holly wouldn’t be able to lie to her anymore, and she’d end up hurting the only person who would never stop loving her. 

Jake hadn’t wanted the babies when she was pregnant, and he hadn’t wanted her either. He still didn’t want her. All he wanted from Holly now was sex.

By the end of her shift that evening, she was exhausted from simply trying to concentrate the whole day. Changing, she grabbed her things and went home, not have the slightest clue how she managed to get there safely, since she couldn’t remember noticing anything on the road. After a hot bath, she tried to watch TV, but eventually gave up and went to bed, although once again, she struggled to fall asleep.

Holly should have felt proud of herself for telling Jake their affair had to end, but she didn’t. She wanted him. Everything that was her wanted him, and the fact that he didn’t fight for her should’ve been the warning light putting things in the right perspective for her. But it didn’t.

She guessed that the saying, ‘The heart wants what the heart wants,’ was true. And hers wanted him, even though he was the biggest fucking idiot on two legs when it came to her and her feelings. 

The following morning, she walked into another emergency, and Moira asked her to scrub in again. They ended up being busy right through the day until seven that evening. But Moira wasn’t tired. She wanted a night out, and she wanted Holly to join her.

“Come on, Holly. Join me, please,” Moira begged again.

“I’m tired.”

“It will be fun. You need mingling time, Holly, as well as a tall drink in your hand, followed by a couple of shots.”

“I’m the intern here. Don’t you have any attending friends?”

“I do, but they are all so serious and boring,” Moira replied with a pout. “Please?”

Holly didn’t want to go. Seeing how close Moira and Jake were left no doubt that Moira was just as close to Amelia. Going out with Moira might mean running into Amelia.

“Who’s going with?”

“Only me. Ugh.” She pulled her face. “And Kate. I forgot about her.”

Holly couldn’t help but to giggle. “You don’t like your cousin-to-be?”

“It’s not that, she’s a real darling, really, even though she is horrible when it comes to remembering someone’s name. I’m not excited about hanging out with her tonight.”

Holly laughed, shaking her head, but Moira wouldn’t let up. “Please, come with. I’m begging you.”

“Fine, I’ll go,” she snarled, smiling, finally giving in. Moira hadn’t mentioned Amelia’s name, but if she was there, well, maybe it was time to finally put all her anger into words.

Why she couldn’t bring herself to pull Jake aside and lay it all out for him was beyond her. It probably had something to do with Amelia not being able to have babies, but after what Amelia did to her, she shouldn’t care either way—the woman had betrayed her in the worst way.

At Downstairs, she was happy to find fewer people there than last time, with only a couple of groups hanging around tables. Grunting, she took a deep breath when she caught Kate lifting her hand up to wave at Moira. When they neared, Kate’s eyes widened on noticing Holly. “Hey. Who’s this?” she asked, looking at Moira. Her eyes were huge, which made her look like a cartoon character.

“Kate, this is Holly. Holly, Kate. She’s an intern at Downsend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Holly said. Kate smiled, but Holly didn’t like the way she was looking at her.

Finally finding her manners, she greeted Holly. “Nice to meet you, too.” Her handshake was firm, and her smile gorgeous. She was truly beautiful. Jake was a fucking idiot. No, he was a bastard.

As the night flew by, Holly wished with all her heart that what she’d thought about Kate would turn out to be true, but she hadn’t even been close. The woman was smart and funny. Even though she called her Haley and not Holly, she enjoyed Kate’s stories and jokes that she even wished she had taken the position at P&E just to work with her. She was really kind, too, and paid for all their drinks.

The evening turned out to be so much fun, they’d even gone up together to sing a couple of songs, since it was karaoke night at the bar. Holly connected with her quickly, so she found it strange that Rod didn’t like her jokes. They had a good laugh as Kate told them what happened the other day in the OR. She was so embarrassed about it, but it was as funny as hell.

“So, I’m dying to know,” Holly began, “How did you get the Edinger Award?”

“I wasn’t even supposed to be at the hospital that day. It was on one of my days off, and I was still a resident. That morning, I went for a jog, and as I exited the park, a wheel nut hit me right in the temple.” She relayed the rest of the story, how she’d blacked out for a few seconds after being hit, and that when she came to it felt as if she’d been thrown head first onto the set of a Terminator movie. Cars were piled on top of one another, others smashed between them. But even with all the chaos around her, she didn’t stop to think, she just moved, helping injured passengers, maneuvering between the cars to care for the ones she was able to reach, bandaging people up with strips of clothing and whatever else she could find, checking for those who had serious wounds. The bloodshed had sickened her, and during the very worst of those few minutes, she’d thought she would give up being a doctor to avoid ever seeing anything like it again. 

The last patient she found was hurt extremely badly. His chest had been ripped wide open. Fortunately, by that time, the ambulance crews had arrived. When they eventually pried the man out from beneath the vehicle he was pinned under, they figured he must have been a bystander, as Kate had been. She had held his heart in her hands, massaging it while a medic pumped air into the man’s lungs, trying to resuscitate him.  

Holly listened in admiration. She couldn’t believe this woman was Tanya’s cousin.

“I guess that’s when I fell in love with cardio. Three weeks later, I was nominated for the Edinger award.” She ended her story with, “And that’s how I met the love of my life, too, since he was the doctor who attended to me, making sure that the wheel nut hadn’t damaged anything.” 

Kate giggled, but Holly had to force her smile.

“He was a fucker at one stage, though.” 

Holly spit out some of her drink and Kate and Moira burst into a fit of giggles.

Moira started hitting her on the back, mouth agape at what Kate had just shared.

“I told you, men aren’t always perfect,” Holly said to Moira.

“You should have seen him when I started dating his ass. He had this thing for strawberry blondes, and their looks didn’t matter one bit. He fucked them all.”

“Excuse me?” Holly blurted, her expression one of shock. Both Moira and Kate chuckled. 

“He used to, but now he doesn’t even notice them. I felt sorry for his poor family, it was a living nightmare for them, and when he noticed me…”

Moira cleared her throat, interrupting her.

“Okay, except for that one time when I tried to go strawberry blond! It went horribly wrong, and I walked around with orange hair that didn’t suit me at all. I changed it back and told him to get over it, ASAP.”

Holly laughed again.

“No. I refuse to believe that Jake was like that,” Moira stated.

“Honey, your cousin was a total fucking douchebag, that much I can tell you.”

“I don’t believe it.” Moira took a sip of her beer.

“So, what was it that made you stay with him?” Holly had to know.

“He’s everything I’ve ever wanted. But, yes, we fought a lot, and broke up a lot. I threw tons of stuff at him, too, but the make-up sex was the best, and things evolved around that. I am where I am today because of him, too. He’s not a douche anymore, Moira, but he was.”

Kate laughed as Moira shook her head in disbelief. Holly pitied Kate, because she knew Jake was still a douchebag.

Holly’s phone buzzed, and when she pulled it out from her pocket and opened the inbox, she immediately saw it was Jake. Fucking bastard. Turning it off, she shoved it back into her pocket without reading the message. How he could do this to Kate was mind-boggling.

“So, why didn’t you take the position at P&E?” Kate asked Moira.

“Because I got a better package at Downsend.”

“What did he offer you?” Holly knew she was speaking about Jake.

“About four hundred ten thousand a year.”

“Seriously!” Kate stared at her, her eyes bulging in shock.

“And he begged super nicely, I’ll add. He said that there was something fishy going on in the cardiology department.”

Holly remained quiet.

“You’re talking about Embers?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, but he’s actually kind of sweet.”

Holly snorted, which had both girls looking at her.

“Spill,” Moira demanded. “If you tell me that Jake was right, I’ll kill you.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“That snort said it all.” Moira raised an eyebrow.

“It doesn’t matter, but I can tell you that he likes to use his authority on the interns.”

“In what way?” Kate asked, all laughter gone.

“Don’t make me tell you, please. Just know that your fiancé is right. Embers is an asshole.”

“How do you know this?”

“Please, Moira. Just let it go. I’m begging you. It stopped. I dealt with it.”

“He did something to you,” she continued to push, “and that’s why you transferred from cardiology to pediatrics.”

Holly studied Moira as she said it.

“How did you know?”

Moira closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again. “I saw your file. I saw what Somers wrote, and I put two and two together.”

That was a lie, Holly knew. Rod must’ve told Jake something about Embers when he discovered that it was technically Jake’s hospital now. It was a horrible pill to swallow.

“I’m not going to say anything, because I can see you two will spill everything, and that’s the last thing I need. It’s over and taken care of. I don’t want problems.”

“Girlfriend, if a doctor is harassing an intern, they need to be reported to the board and get fired, or at least put on probation. You know that, right?” said Kate.

 “Kate, please. I know you have a huge heart but seriously, I can take care of myself. I’m begging you not to say anything.”

“I have to tell Jake he was right. He needs to find something with which to fire his ass. I’m not going to have interns and other residents live in fear just because he is a horny little bastard,” she grunted. “I hate men like that; the ones who seem the nicest hide monsters within.”

“Please, I’m begging you not to say anything.”

“Okay, I won’t, but you’ve got to promise me: if anything happens again, report his ass to Jake. Use my name if you have to.”

Holly sucked in her lips. 

“I’m serious.”

“How on earth are you related to Tanya?” slipped out, and Kate laughed.

“I can’t wait for her to get her head screwed on straight.” She smiled, but her grin disappeared and she gasped. “Shit. Should I worry? She constantly talks about working with Embers.”

“No, I don’t think she would take that shit, either.” She only had eyes for one guy—her cousin’s fiancé—Holly thought.

The evening was just what Holly had needed. It was pretty much perfect.

Around ten, they called it a night. Holly said goodbye to both Kate and Moira in the parking lot before getting into Rev’s car.

Why on earth did Kate have to be so perfect? Why couldn’t she be the airhead Holly had thought her to be? She hated that she liked the woman so much, because she had really wanted a reason to not give a shit. 

In frustration, she banged her head a couple of times on the steering wheel. What was Jake turning her into?