Chapter Four
Elizabeth’s week began with a drunk barfing all over her scrubs during her Sunday night shift and then steadily worsened. In hindsight, washing vomit off her scrubs had been the high point. But now it was Friday and her shift was almost over. She’d survived. Just one last angry patient to deal with.
She took a deep breath, put on a professional smile, and reminded herself that she helped people. “I need you to remain still so I can get an accurate blood pressure reading, Mr. Donnelly.” She wrapped the Velcro cuff around his skinny arm.
Her patient glared up at her from the hospital bed. “Where’s the meds? Can’t you see I’m in fucking pain, bitch!”
She kept her smile on and her voice cheerful only through long practice. “Just try to relax, Mr. Donnelly. The doctor will be in shortly.”
Normally, all the distress, grief, anger, and hostility found in a hospital rolled right off her back. When patients and even doctors berated her, she shrugged it off or tried to empathize. After all, the patients were scared and in pain which would make a saint testy and the doctors—with a few notable exceptions, like her friend Priya—were just assholes. No use getting mad at an asshole acting like an asshole. But this week, she was ashamed to admit it had gotten to her. She’d had to bite her tongue more than one time to keep from snapping back.
Just push it down and smile.
Back at the nurses’ station, she finished up her charting and reminded herself she had the whole afternoon and all day Saturday off to do whatever she wanted. But the thought didn’t cheer her up like it should have.
Instead, all signs pointed to a long, lonely weekend. Megan had gone back to school on Sunday and promised to give college life a shot by staying and hanging out with her roommate, not coming home for a while. It was exactly what Elizabeth wanted her to do so she should be happy not moping. And it was time for Elizabeth to experience living alone—no responsibilities, no one to pick up after, force to eat her vegetables, check to make sure she’d done her homework. Just sweet freedom.
She was just logging off the computer at the nurses’ station when a frazzled Priya rushed toward her, white lab coat flapping. “I need a favor,” she said, skidding to a stop in front of Elizabeth.
“You got it. I’m done here.” She didn’t mind staying a few extra minutes to check a patient’s vitals for a friend. It wasn’t like she had someplace to be.
“Dr. Boyle called in sick.”
“And you need me to help with your rounds.”
“No, I need you to go meet Brian’s brother and tell him I can’t leave work. He’s out in the waiting room. Two ambulances just pulled in and I’ve got to run. Can you just tell him I can’t make it?”
“Sure. What does he look like?”
“Dark red hair. He’s coming from work, so he’ll probably be wearing a fire department T-shirt. You can’t miss him. Thanks!”
A creeping horror slithered down her spine. “What’s his name?” she yelled after the departing Priya.
“Will!” Priya yelled back over her shoulder as the double doors swung shut behind her.
What were the odds that there were two Wills on the fire department with red hair and only one of them was her friend’s boyfriend’s brother? Not good for her.
Elizabeth stepped out into the waiting room reluctantly. To say this was going to be awkward was an understatement. Just thinking about how she’d been so mean to him made her stomach churn a little. She’d just hung up on him, which he hadn’t deserved. He was funny and beautiful, but she didn’t need a boyfriend right now. He’d been safe when she thought he just wanted to get laid.
Before Megan left, she’d thought it would be nice to date again. She’d even let Priya fix her up on a blind date, which turned out to be a disaster, but now she knew she couldn’t. Not yet.
Will was easy to spot. His head was bent down over a magazine and the overhead lights glinted the red in his hair. She smoothed the front of her scrubs and took a moment to try and compose herself. Unfortunately, it also gave her a moment to recall how it felt to come knowing he was watching her.
Her face flamed and she tried not to squirm. She looked around the faces in the crowded waiting room and it felt like they could all read her thoughts. About how much she’d wanted to see him naked, to feel his skin under her hands—Stop! Just get your exploding ovaries under control and pretend this is no big deal. Light and breezy.
She moved toward him. “So, you’re Brian’s brother.” Her voice came out a little too high.
He looked up and his pretty green eyes widened. “Elizabeth?”
She gave a hopefully jaunty wave even though he probably hated her. “That’s me.” Shaking her head, she said, “I should’ve known you’re related to Brian. Your hair’s darker and your bone structure is a little different, but you two are similar. You’re just better looking—don’t tell Priya I said that.”
He’d be well within his rights to tell her to go eff herself, but there was no anger or annoyance in his voice when he asked, “What are you doing here? And how do you know Brian?”
“I work here. I’m a nurse. And I’m friends with Priya. And that’s why I came out here. She wanted me to tell you that she can’t meet you. Another doctor called in and she’s backed up with patients right now.”
He jumped up from his seat, tossing the magazine aside, and a horrified expression crossed his face. “Does Priya...”
She glanced around to make sure she didn’t have any coworkers in earshot. “Know that we...? She doesn’t know we’ve met because I didn’t make the connection until I saw you.”
He smiled ruefully. “I was going to say, know that you rejected me.”
“I didn’t reject you. I rejected a date.” She was close enough to smell him above the hospital disinfectant, and he smelled wonderful—like Christmas morning, all evergreen and spice. She resisted the urge to lean in and sniff him like some feral dog. This is what had been missing from what had still made it into her top five sexual experiences. Scent. Touch.
“What’s the difference?”
There was something about him that made it okay to just say the things she wanted to. “I’d totally bang you.” Like a screen door in a hurricane.
“Thanks, that’s flattering,” he said with a laugh.
“It’s not personal. I’m just not looking for a relationship.” Not looking to get tangled up in someone else, to lose herself so completely that she became nothing more than an attachment to him. Just some extra limb—helpful to him, but useless on its own. Because eventually she’d be on her own.
“It was dinner.”
She faked a breeziness she didn’t feel but desperately wanted to. “Which leads to talking, which leads to feelings, which leads to moving in together, which leads to sitting on the couch in sweatpants watching Netflix on Friday night. Which, don’t get me wrong, I like sweatpants and Netflix, but I’m ready for a change.”
“So what do you want?”
“Freedom, justice, and the American Way? Seriously, I just want light and casual.”
“Just get out of a relationship?”
She didn’t want to talk about Megan and the whole dead parents thing. Not when he was flirting again. Flirting she liked. Flirting was fun. “It’s one I’ll never get out of and I don’t want to. But I did just get a little more flexibility.”
She was reluctant to walk away. This was where she should say “see ya” and be thankful that he wasn’t being a dick. But she wanted to stay and keep talking to him. She liked the way his smile lit up his face and the way his eyes crinkled at the corner. Not to mention the cut of his T-shirt showed off a nice set of biceps. She was okay with being shallow. In fact, that’s all she wanted to be.
“What were you and Priya going to do before she cancelled on you?” She was just curious. It wasn’t that she wanted to go along because the thought of going home to an empty house was unsettling. She’d wanted that empty house.
“Looking at venues for my parents’ wedding anniversary party. It’s going to be a surprise party for them.”
“Want company?” she asked impulsively.
“I thought you didn’t want to hang out with me.”
“I didn’t say that. I’m just not interested in dates. I’m leaving work and I didn’t have anything planned, so I can help you look at venues—that is, if you want me to.”
“You have an odd idea of fun.”
“I also knit scarves—but not hats, because I can’t do turns—do the morning crossword puzzle, watch reruns of Murder, She Wrote, and floss regularly. I am all about fun.”
“Then this might be too much excitement for you.”
“I’ll take my chances.” The entire time they spoke a buzzing was going on under her skin. An electric excitement that felt like pure happiness. She could enjoy it for today.
“Give me a minute to change out of my scrubs,” she said before he could say he didn’t want her. “I’ll meet you back here.”