getting in the shower because she is LATE for work.
But your girlfriend answered the door in your robe.
How did he do that again?
“Where were you this morning?” I jumped at the sound of Guy’s voice at my back. Damn it, I totally lacked a plan. “Why weren’t you at rounds? You sick?” I closed my tablet and swiveled on my chair. “Chase said he heard from you this morning, said you were going to be late. Is everything okay, doll? It might be none of my business, but I just know how you are, you never like to be late.” He was sincere.
“I’m okay, Guy. I just, um ... had to take care of something this morning. How are our patients?” I took a play from Sierra’s book and tried to change the subject.
“They’re fine.” He deadpanned, cocking his head to the side to stare directly in my eyes.
“What happened to you Friday night?”
“Hey, Lil, there you are, 508 needs rehab.” Saved by Sam’s voice. He slapped my back “So nice of you to grace us with your presence.” He laughed.
“Whatever, Sam, quit it,” I sneered.
“What? Just because you’ve gotten dismissed from morning rounds and Jackson walks on water, whatever, I’m stuck doing all the shit work. Damn, I totally picked the wrong profession.”
“Dismissed from morning rounds?” A ping of irritation resurfaced. I thought it was my decision when and if anyone found out about our relationship.
“Yeah. Colton made it pretty clear that you weren’t going to be rounding with us anymore in the morning.”
Guy’s eyes bored into me. He hadn’t missed that conversation, yet he was totally prying me for information.
“Um, well, yeah this morning I had to take care of something, and then he said going forward I could come in later, like nine.” I hated lying; it wasn’t me. I sucked at it. I reopened my tablet and loaded my discharges, hoping everyone would stop drilling me.
“Shit.” Sam’s phone chimed with a new text. “Um, guys, since you’re all here, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.” Sam was my saving distraction
“Sammy, whatcha hiding?” Leanne silently emerged from the supply closet. She never missed a trick.
“Not hiding anything, just some news.” Sam grinned. “I’m gonna be a father.”
“What! Sam that’s so exciting, congratulations.” I jumped up and pulled him in for a bear hug.
“Dude, that’s so cool.” The boys shook hands and slapped each other’s backs.
Leanne joined me with a big kiss on his cheek. “Sammy’s gonna be a daddy! Good for you, buddy.”
“Thanks, guys, we’re psyched, but I really need a favor. Becky has her first big appointment today, and I promised her I would try my hardest to go. Can you guys cover for me? I think I should only be gone an hour or so.”
“Of course, dude. That’s an important visit. Chase only has one case slated today and so far there aren’t any new admissions. We’ll be fine.” Guy mimicked me. “Besides, Chief seems to be in a surprisingly good mood today.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” Sam’s excited energy was contagious.
My phone vibrated.
Yes I’m working.
Oh, does he now?
“Whatcha smiling at, girl?” Leanne did that weird thing where you half talk and half sing.
I was so absorbed in texting I totally forgot where I was for a minute. I looked up and saw that Guy and Sam were gone. For now. No way in hell Guy was going to let this go.
“Oh nothing.” I stood ready to retreat to my office. “I gotta run. I have a shitload of paperwork to get done.”
“I call bullshit. Be that way, you’ll spill the beans eventually.”
I must have had “giddy” stamped across my forehead. I was definitely not getting off this floor without giving Leanne something. That girl smelled freaking sex.
The smile spread across my face.
“Lee, Lili.” Kate was hysterically crying, looking completely disheveled when she flew into the nurses’ station.
“Hey, hey. What’s going on?” I tried to calm her.
“Shit, Kate, what did he do now?” Leanne didn’t waste a minute. “Let’s go somewhere more private.” Leanne coaxed her down the hall to an on-call room.
Kate paced back and forth. “I’m such an idiot. I knew I should’ve stayed away from him this morning. I knew something wasn’t right.” She grabbed her forehead and squeezed, slumping into one of the desk chairs. I hated seeing her like this … or any woman like this.
“What the fuck, you’re a mess!” Leanne was definitely losing patience. I crouched down in front of her.
“Kate, sweetie, talk to us,” I whispered. My experience with abused children and women told me the last thing Kate needed was another person badgering her.
“He looked at my phone this morning, and I had one missed text, from Sierra. She’s not programmed in my phone yet, so it came up as an unknown number. I ran into her yesterday and I quickly gave her mine. He … he lost it. He was screaming like a lunatic, calling me a whore and asking how could I cheat on him like this, how could I let him find out this way, that we were done, over.”
“Was the text about meeting for lunch?” I questioned.
“Yeah, all it said was
“You’re kidding me, right? He saw a fucking text, and that’s it? Goes ape shit on you. Didn’t ask for an explanation,” Leanne hissed. “This is crazy. He’s a loser, you need to dump his sorry ass.”
“You guys don’t understand, he was never like this. I’ve never, ever seen him lose his temper like this before. I don’t understand. How could he ever think I would cheat on him? I love him.” Her tears reignited, while Leanne and I exchanged what-the-hell-are we-going-to-do looks. “I know what you’re both thinking.” She choked on a sob. “How could I love him? And he’s nothing but a stranger to you.”
“Um Kate, sweetie, look at me.” She uncovered her face. “Maybe you need a little break; he obviously has some anger issues. He needs to sort himself out. Let him figure out how totally irrational he’s being. Let him cool off and come find you. He needs to apologize without you running back to him.” She silently looked me in the eyes. “Promise me you’ll wait until he finds you, please don’t go running back, you need to be strong here. I know you love him and you may not want to hear this, but you need to worry about you.” I sat back on my heels waiting for her to agree.
“Lili.” A loud knock and a steel voice that made my heart flutter interrupted our conversation. Leanne spoke up. “Yeah, she’s in here. Give us a minute.” I knew a minute was going to be way too long for Dr. Impatient.
The door flew open. “Blue, I’ve been looking all over for you, I thought something hap-” He stopped mid- sentence and took in the entire scene. “Shit, what happened? Kate, are you all right?”
Kate quickly wiped away her smeared mascara before glancing up. I hoped she and Leanne were consumed
