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There, sitting at a table and eating a chicken wing, is Jessie. Her icy-blonde hair is pulled back from her face in a ponytail. Those hazel eyes glower down at whatever she’s looking at on her phone. I suspect it has something to do with the wilderness center.
She wasn’t too happy to see me there, and I doubt she’ll be happy to see me now. If I’m being honest, I’m a little happy to see her. She’s the woman I couldn’t get out of my head for the last five years, no matter how hard I tried.
And trust me, I tried.
That night we spent together was the kind of night that changes a person. Not calling her has always felt like a mistake, but she never deserved to be tied to someone like me.
She’s so far out of my league it isn’t funny.
“Hey, Jessie,” Mark says, walking over to her table and taking a seat. “Dr. Reynolds wanted me to ask if you could show Brookes here the ropes. I have a couple meetings I have to be in today, otherwise I’d do it myself.”
Jessie’s spine stiffens and she sits a little taller before looking over at me. My gaze drifts over her face, taking in the beauty mark below her left eye that I’ve kissed more than a dozen times.
Her eyes narrow as she exhales slowly. I have a feeling that telling Mark where to shove the request is on the tip of her tongue, even as I give her a small smile.
I really don’t want her to hate me. People already have enough reasons to hate me.
“Sure,” Jessie says, getting up and putting her empty container in the garbage. “But you owe me for this.”
Mark grins and gets up. “Thanks, Jessie. I’ll bring you coffee for the rest of the week if you promise not to kill him when he says something stupid.”
The corner of her mouth twitches and she almost looks like she’s entertained. “Two weeks. I’m going to be with him the rest of the day. If I have to babysit and keep my mouth shut, then you owe me coffee for two weeks.”
“Deal.” He looks over at me before nodding to Jessie. “Be nice to Jessie, Brookes. She’s one of the best doctors in the residency program and she could teach you a lot.”
I grit my teeth, trying to ignore the smug smile on Jessie’s face. “I’m sure I can manage to behave myself for one day.”
Jessie snorts and shakes her head. “I doubt that, but even if you could, wouldn’t your father be able to swoop in here and save you?”
Mark gets up and claps a shoulder on my hand. “Good luck. Jessie is a ballbuster.”
Jessie’s eyes bulge slightly, even as she covers the shock with a fake laugh. I wonder if she’s thinking about the conversation we had all those years ago like I am. Does she remember the hours we spent talking until we both had to attend lectures? Does she remember all the secrets we shared or the connection that bound us together that night?
Based on the way she clenches her hands and leads the way out of the room without a word, I would say she does.
I promised to call her. I told her that she made me feel things nobody else ever has. And then I went and fucked it up.
After all, if you connect with someone, you risk them leaving. You risk losing yourself in them and then being destroyed when they leave.
I fucked it up between us, but I didn’t know her that well either. Not in the grand scheme of things.
“So,” I say, searching for the right thing to say to her as we walk down the hall to the ER. I run my hand through my hair, my heart racing. “How long have you been a resident here?”
“Year and a half.” She pauses to gesture to the rooms lining the perimeter of the ER unit, more halls sprouting off to the right. “This is the ER unit. Nurses’ station is there, supply closets are down each hall. We’ll get into what’s where as we go through the shift. I assume you’re here for twelve hours, unless the son of Henry McAllister gets special short shifts?”
Great. The jabs about my father begin.
I was hoping for a few days of settling in before people started in on me about my dad. Though I want the other doctors to think of me as their equal, I know they won’t. I have to work twice as hard to prove that I deserve to be where I am.
That my accomplishments in life have nothing to do with being the son of a man who made a device to virtually visualize veins. It may have revolutionized surgical education, but it hasn’t made my life any easier.
“I’m working twelve hours,” I say, exhaling through my nose and trying to keep control of my temper.
I’m going to be hearing snide remarks about my dad and the way I grew up. There’s no way around that. I’ve tried everything through the years to get people to stop, but the only thing that ever works is proving them wrong.
I just wish it wasn’t Jessie talking shit about me. She’s brilliant. I knew that the first time I spoke to her. Even though it shouldn’t matter what she thinks, I want her to respect me.
We continue the tour through the unit before she begins to work. I follow along, shadowing her for the day while wondering how much worse this is going to get. If I have to work this closely with Jessie every day, I’m going to go insane.
