***
“I’m fine!” My mother said for the millionth time. “Back off and let me clean myself!”
I placed the rag down very gently, glaring at my mother the entire time.
“You had a heart attack, woman!” I bellowed. “You’re not fine!”
“Jesus, save me from my nurse daughter who thinks she knows everything. Well, let me tell you something, little girl, I’ve been washing my own body for many years. I don’t need you to do it! Now- oh, thank God! Get her out of here!” My mother ordered¸ looking over my shoulder as she finished her rant.
I turned slowly to find Tai standing behind me…almost directly behind me.
Like I could reach out and touch him-behind me.
I raised my brows at him. “Did you need something?”
He’d been nice earlier…but he’d been distant. Almost as if he’d reluctantly come to see me because he felt some sort of duty to do so because he knew me, but not because he actually wanted to tell me.
And he’d left me here with my mother who hadn’t stopped bitching since I’d come into her room four hours before.
Which made me even more annoyed than I had been.
“Just wanted to check to see how she was doing,” he said. “I brought a patient in, and I was curious.”
I frowned.
“She’s fine. They gave her the clot busting meds, and she’s been doing well since she came in,” I said. “They’re going to run further tests tomorrow to ascertain the damage to her heart, but they believe it was only a mild heart attack with minimal, if any, lasting damage.”
His shoulders lost some of their rigidness.
“That’s good to hear,” he said, then turned to my mother. “I’m on shift for another two hours, but when I get done, I’ll come back and get her. Do you think you can hang on that long, or do I need to send my brother?”
My mouth dropped open.
“I’m not some child that you can pass around…”
That comment fell on deaf ears, though, as he only had eyes for my mother as she spoke after releasing the most put upon sounding sigh I’d ever heard from her.
“I suppose,” she said, “that I can wait another two hours. It’ll be nice to have a break.”
If my mouth could have, it would’ve dropped open even further. However, it just couldn’t, and I could do nothing but stand there, mouth hanging open, blinking like I had a neurological condition, as they made plans about what he was going to do with me once he had me.
“Alright, Judith. I’ll come see you in a few hours. Try not to stress too much,” Tai said, backing out of the room.
His dark, beautiful eyes glanced up at me, and my breath caught.
Butterflies took flight in my belly, and my heart started to race.
“Be good,” he mouthed.
My lips pinched together in affront, but before I could give him a piece of my mind, he slipped back out the door, and I watched his sexy ass as he did.
“So, let’s discuss apologies,” my mother said.
I glared at her, and she threw the wet cloth at me, slapping me upside the head with it.
I sighed and took the rag, placing it on the rolling bedside table that already held a basin of soapy water and two more rags just like the one that she’d thrown at me.
“I’m sorry, mom. But you just scared the absolute crap out of me. No more working, and I think, instead of moving into a new place of my own, I’ll move in with you, and we can share the bills. That sound okay?” I asked hopefully.
I didn’t want my mom alone anymore. At least not anytime soon.
After I saw that she was okay and could take care of herself, then I’d move to my own place.
Luckily, I hadn’t put the deposit down on the house I’d originally intended on renting.
“That sounds fine to me. But you need to stay out of my way. And don’t complain about my fabric hoard,” she said, pointing at me with a stiff finger.
I held up my hands in surrender.
“Will you let me help you organize it?” I asked hopefully.
She scowled.
“I guess. But you can’t throw anything away. I want it all, every scrap,” she stated firmly.
I sighed.
“But that wasn’t what I was talking apologies for. You need to figure out how to apologize to Tai,” she said. “For pushing him away when all he wanted to do was be there for you.”
I pursed my lips.
“Mom…”
She held her hand up to stop me.
“I’m serious. I think that you hurt him more than you realize when you froze him out like that. And he’s a nice guy. Give him a chance. Talk to him. Apologize…and live your life,” she said softly.
I thought about my mother’s words over the next two hours, thinking about how I’d shut him out.
Had I hurt him?
Yes, I think I did.
Could I have helped it?
No, probably not.
But should I apologize?
Yes. I definitely should.
As soon as he walked in.
Except two hours came and went, and I was drooping by the minute once seven o’clock came around.
“Go home, baby. Maybe he’s held up at work,” she said softly.
I turned to smile at my mom.
She’d fallen asleep hours earlier, and I’d tried to do the same, but my nerves and excitement kept me awake.
“Alright, mom. Do you want me to bring anything particular to you in the morning when I come back up here?” I asked.
She pursed her lips. “You could bring one of my machines…”
“No. I’m not bringing that up here. I meant more along the lines of clothes, shoes, deodorant, or shampoo,” I said laughingly.
She snorted.
“Clothes. Deodorant. Shampoo and conditioner,” she listed.
I nodded and stood, going over to the bed to wrap my arms around her neck.
“Take care of yourself while I’m gone and call me the moment you know anything, okay?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Bye mom, love you.”
“I love you, too. Be careful,” she ordered.
I gave her a thumb’s up, grabbed my bag that Masen had been kind enough to drop by on her way out of work, and slipped out the door, closing it softly behind me.
I’d made it out the door, and nearly to the ambulance entrance when the man that was supposed to pick me up three hours ago, came through the door looking ragged.
I stopped and moved to the side, allowing him to come through with his patient.
He was at a near run and didn’t stop to say hi as he ran for the side entrance into the ER.
Not that I expected him to.
I walked out the door and stopped at the sidewalk, waiting for the shuttle to take me to the parking lot where I’d left my car before work.
The hospital was expanding, meaning that there was tons of equipment and supplies in the parking lot where all the employees used to park.
Now the employees had to park a nearly five-minute shuttle ride away, which meant I had a bit of wait, giving Tai enough time to come back outside to his rig and see me.
“Hey!” He called.
I turned and looked at him.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Get in,” he said.
I blinked, looking over at the ambulance, then back at him.
“No.”
He sighed and started toward me.
I waved at PD, who had a small smile on his face.
He waved back and got into the front of the ambulance.
“It wasn’t a question. It was a demand. Let’s go,” he said once he reached me.
I laughed at him.
“You’re not my daddy, Tai,” I said to him.
He snorted.
“Let’s fuckin’ hope not. Now let’s go.”
This time he took my arm, and I had to stand up since his grip was relentless.
He wasn’t hurting me, but he had enough power in his grip to do so if he really wanted to.
I dragged my feet as he pulled me in the direction of the ambulance.
“I’ve never been in an ambulance before,” I admitted, looking at the huge boxy vehicle warily.
“Cool. I’ll make sure your first time’s good for you,” he teased.
I swallowed my tongue.
He laughed at my expression and opened the passenger side door.
“Get in the middle,” he ordered.
“There’s not a seat in the middle,” I said dumbly.
“There isn’t. But you can sit directly behind my seat in the back,” he said, pointing to the opening to the back.
I did as I was told, patting PD on the shoulder as I passed.
“Nice ass,” he said.
I glared at him once I took my seat.
“A gentleman wouldn’t look at a woman when she was in that position,” I admonished him.
He laughed like I told him a really good joke.
Tai took his seat and buckled up.
I did the same and looked around the area.
I wasn’t lying when I said I’d never been in an ambulance before.
The back rocked when PD turned out of the hospital parking lot, and my stomach rolled.
By the time we’d made it to the intersection that turned onto Main Street, I was ready to puke.
“Tai?” I asked, placing my hand over my mouth.
“Yeah?” He called from the front seat.
The radio squawked, drowning out my reply.
I looked around for anything I could use to throw up in, because it was only moments away, and found a barf bag…or at least what I thought to be a barf bag.
Needless to say, that was what it was used for as I heaved up my dinner and lunch, and probably even last week’s lunch.
Tai poked his concerned gaze around the partition, looked at me, and cursed.
I continued to puke.
Who knew that the back of an ambulance would make my car sickness days return with a vengeance?
Tai wormed his way through the opening, and if I were feeling better, I would’ve laughed at the way he’d had to squeeze his shoulders through.
“Go upfront,” he ordered.
I ignored him in favor of puking again
He cursed again.
PD finally pulled over at Tai’s shouted order, and I finally felt my stomach settle.
I held still for long moments after the rocking had stopped, waiting for the feeling to come back, but never did.
“So, you get car sick?” Tai asked.
I let the Ziploc baggie drop to my lap, and I shakily zipped it closed.
He held his hand out for it, and I blushed fifteen shades of red.
“Just point out the trash,” I ordered.
He pointed to a small waste paper basket against the back wall, and I hurriedly dropped it in and closed the lid.
“Get in the front. I have to get back to the station before another call drops so I can get the hell off shift. Hurry,” he said.
I didn’t waste time arguing.
I was still feeling slightly shaky, and I worried I’d fall to my knees in front of him.
However, my knees held, and I dropped down into the seat across from PD.
“What are you looking at?” I snapped.
He looked down at my shirt.
“You have puke on your shirt,” he quipped.
“Shit,” I said, looking down.
And sure enough, I did have puke on my shirt. Perfect.
Hastily, I strapped my seatbelt on, then reached for the bottom edges of my scrub top before I yanked it over my head.
Balling it up into a clump of fabric I shoved it in my purse that still happened to be in the crook of my arm after all that lovely vomiting.
PD whistled under his breath, and I looked at him curiously.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothin.’”
I decided to take him for his word, seriously not in the mood to ask him again, let alone to listen to him lie.
The ride in the passenger seat was like riding in a Rolls Royce compared to riding in the back, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I rode the rest of the ride with little to nothing bothering me.
Except for PD’s eyes on me.
Those bothered me.
“What are you looking at?” I snapped.
He shrugged. “What he sees in you.”
I blinked, turning to regard him, then leaned around further to see if Tai had heard.
He hadn’t.
He was laid out on the bench that ran along the length of the box, eyes closed, like he didn’t have a care in the world.
I turned back to study PD.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
He glanced at me before turning his eyes back to the road and the traffic in front of him.
“You’re hurting him…still hurting him,” he said. “He’s got enough on his plate. He doesn’t need to be collecting charity cases.”
I blanched.
“Don’t take that the wrong way,” he said.
I turned my eyes straight in front of me. “How do you want me to take it?”
He sighed.
“Tai’s got a soft heart. He’ll do anything to take care of those he thinks that need it. He feels like he has to, to make up for his sister and what he didn’t do,” he said.
“And how do you know that?” I snapped.
“Because he’s me. I’ve been doing the same damn thing, only for a lot longer,” he answered. “Just be careful not to hurt him anymore. You can start by not pushing all of your issues on to him to solve, because he’ll focus on fixing your problems before his own.”
I stayed silent, not knowing what to say to that statement.
I thought on what he said as he pulled into the station, backing the ambulance with ease into the parking bay.
Was I just bringing all my problems to Tai for him to fix?
No. That’d never been my intention.
In the beginning, I’d only been trying to make sure that Colt got what he needed. Any mother would’ve done the same.
However, he’d inserted himself into my mother’s business.
He was also the one that dragged me along with him instead of letting me drive myself home.
I hadn’t asked him to do that.