“Hell no,” I say, springing to my feet.
“Didn’t think so,” he chuckles.
When I pull open the door to his office, movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, and I glance down the hallway to find every one of my friends standing there expectantly. Nate’s hot on my heels out of the office, and when they see us coming out, they stand a little straighter.
I glance at Nate. “You really did set me the fuck up, didn’t you?”
He just laughs, slapping me on the shoulder. “Had to make you fight for what we all already saw.”
Before I can respond, Quinn’s sing-songing next to me. “He’s in love with the girl!”
And rather than deny it, I find myself grinning from ear to ear,feeling lighter than I’ve felt in over a week. It’s like life went from dark and gloomy to sunshine and rainbows in the span of being in Nate’s office.
“Yeah,” I throw an arm over Quinn’s shoulders as we all head towards the engine bay. “Yeah, I fucking am.”
Before we can jump in the truck, the tones go off, indicating a call, and I sigh as we all listen for the information to come across.
Luke claps a hand onto my shoulder, giving it a friendly shake. “Love will need to wait an extra hour or so, Pookie. A grand ole med-call is calling your name.”
With a roll of my eyes, I pull the door open to the back of the truck. “Great. My absolute favorite kind.”
Chapter 27
Jordan
“Yo,roomie!”Quinncallsas she and Hailey come out from one of the emergency areas after handing off a patient they brought in.
I saw them come in with the guy, but I was already busy with a patient, so a coworker took the case. Somehow that turned into two of my coworkers working on it, though I’m not entirely sure what all the commotion was about.
“Hey,” I nod at them as they sidle up to the nurses station where I just finished entering information into a chart.
Even though Nate and I made up, I’ve still been staying at Quinn’s. She offered, and I was happy to accept. As much as I love living with my brother and Savanna, there’s nothing I’d rather witness less than the newlyweds all over each other all the time. It’s better if I’m not there. Will I go back? Maybe. Maybe not. Quinn says I won’t, but I’m taking things day by day right now.
And the days seem longer and longer with each one that passes that I haven’t heard from Liam. Nate said to give him a few days, and I have, but it’s killing me. As upset as I was that Liam wouldn’t fight for me, the time removed from the situation has helped me understand it. Nate did a number on him, and I didn’t help matters with my parting words.
That’s the part that’s really killing me. The jab I took comparing him to Paul. I regret that. It’s replayed in my head over and over,and every time I hear myself utter the words, my heart clenches and my stomach churns with the threat of vomit. I hate that I haven’t apologized for saying it. Even if nothing comes of Liam and me, even if he’s not willing to fight for me and what we had, and could have, I need to apologize for it.
I mean, the words weren’t exactly untrue, but they weren’t said out of the goodness of my heart, either. And I’ve come to realize that maybe Liam didn’t know how to fight for me. Was he being a coward by breaking things off? Yeah. But did he actually know any other way to handle it?
Liam is an amazing guy. He just lacks certain experiences. Could I be making excuses for him? I suppose. But he warned me from the get-go that he didn’t know what he was doing, and that I would have to have patience with him. And in the two weeks we were officially together, he seemed eager to learn all the things that went into a relationship. I can’t really blame him for running scared when his best friend, of all people, threw him into the dirt and ground him into it.
There’s a loud bang and a couple of swears that come from the direction Quinn and Hailey came from. I glance over their shoulders to see a frail woman in her sixties wearing an oversized sweatshirt and stained, ripped jeans come from that direction, her arms wrapped around herself as she paces back and forth along the hallway.
Both Hailey and Quinn follow my gaze, and then Quinn turns back to me. “That’s the girlfriend of the guy we just brought in,” she whispers.
“The guy is on something,” Hailey follows in a hush. “We narcanned him twice, and when he came around, he flipped out. It was a good thing the guys were with us ‘cause the cops hadn’t shown up yet.”
My stomach twists at the thought. The number of drug overdoses we see on a daily basis is horrifying. You never know what you’re going to get when you’re dealing with an addict. Sometimes they’re zoned out, sometimes they’re overly friendly, and others, like this gentleman, are aggressive and hostile and it can get scary.
“Honestly,” Quinn says in an even lower tone, taking a step closer to me. “Couldn’t say it to the others but keep an eye on her. She didn’t present like she’d just taken anything at first, but she got really nervous and fidgety on scene.”
“You said she calmed down in the ambulance,” Hailey states, her eyes narrowing at Quinn.
Quinn’s head bobs up and down, her short ponytail flying around. “She did, but if she’s using, you never know. That’s why I didn’t tell her to go to the waiting room.”
“I’ll let the others know and keep an eye out,” I tell them, then wave a finger in the air. “Actually…”
Coming out from behind the nurses station, I head over to the woman with a friendly smile. “Hi ma’am, I’m Jordan. The paramedics tell me that your partner was brought in, and I wanted to see if maybe you’d like to sit down.”
