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“He was a slutand a terrible father. I believed in him, put him on a pedestal, andhe let me down.”
“He washuman.”
“He was ahusband and a father and failed at both.” She hissed out abreath. “Now you see why I hate coming here.”
“You have togive yourself a break and forgive him. He is dead and gone and isstill hurting you.”
“That’sbecause I keep him here.” She touched her forehead. “Toremind me not to get bowled over by a pretty face. That men are notto be trusted - present company excluded, of course.” She gavehim a faint smile.
“And you aremissing out. You are wonderful, and I am not just saying that becauseyou are my sister. You have so much to offer, and I would hate toknow that if the right man comes along, you will not give him achance.”
The image of Cooperflashed before her eyes, and she blinked it away immediately. He wasthe opposite of right.
Trying to get rid ofthe memories, she reached for the tray. “Elaine sent up icecream - mint chocolate chip. Why don’t you join me?”
*****
She ignored the factthat he was there, even though her heartbeats had quickenedconsiderably when she heard him come in. She was with a patient whenshe heard him at the front desk and kept herself busy, praying thathe would just go straight in and see the patients he had, but thatwas expecting too much.
Steeling herself tocontinue examining Sally-Sue’s inflamed throat, she pretendedshe had not heard him come in.
“I just wantedto let you know that I am here.” His deep voice was quiet,forcing her to look at him. What she saw made her pulse jittery. Hehad started wearing scrubs from that first day and had on dark bluetoday. The top stretched across his shoulders, outlining the musclesthere, muscles that had bunched and flexed at her touch.
“We have peoplewaiting. Mr. Emerson needs an insulin shot, complaining that hisarthritis is acting up.”
“I will see toit. How are you?”
“Fine.”
Her tone had his eyesnarrowing. “I just want to”
“Dr. Rochester,as you can see, I am busy here, and patients are waiting.”
She held her breathas he stared at her briefly before walking away.
“Okay,Sally-Sue, let's get you better.”
*****
Cooper tended to thepatient and told himself it was her problem if she was upset.Yesterday had been a hellish day for him. The fifteen-year-old hadmade it through the night, but she was going to be paralyzed from thewaist down. She had wept brokenly for what seemed like hours and toldthem that she wanted to die.
The parents werebroken up, and now their daughter was on twenty-four suicide watch.He had been so busy yesterday that he had barely found the time tohave a meal.
Not to mention thatWendy was not taking the breakup well. She had accused him of playingwith her feelings and giving her hope. Something he had neverrecalled doing. He had tumbled into bed late last night and could notsleep because of the prickly woman in the next room.
Concentrating ontreating the patients, he stayed away from her, deciding it would bebetter for both.
At the end of theshift, things came to a head.
The guy cameswaggering in and insisted that he wanted treatment for his friend.
“Where is thefriend?” Brooke asked him.
“In the parkinglot.”
“Is there areason he is out there instead of here?”
“He has beenshot.”
