Page 69 of Sweet Heart

“Yeah, uhm. Just a hospital thing,” she backtracks. “I thought Cat told you. It’s nothing big, really.”

“Oh, okay,” I reply a little too quickly. “Are you taking anybody?”

“Nah, not really my scene,” she says, but the smile she offers is a little too tentative.

I nod and laugh as Carmen goes on about preferring to go out dancing. I respond at the right moments, ask questions, and reply, all while the ground I was just standing so firmly on starts to crack under my feet. Why hasn’t Cat invited me? What does it mean? My belly cramps uncomfortably. It’s a hospital thing. Of course she doesn’t want to take me. She doesn’t want me anywhere near her work. It took her months to formally introduce me to Carmen. Not because she is her best friend, but because they work together. You are still her dirty little secret.

I jump at Cat’s hand on my shoulder, and she gives me a puzzled look before sitting back down. Her eyes scan my face meticulously, so I force a gentle smile.

“You’re not being called in, then?” Carmen asks to break the sudden tension, and Cat tears her eyes away from me.

“No, just a quick consult on a fractured pelvis.”

“A fractured pelvis.” The words slip out of my mouth in confusion. “How does somebody fracture their pelvis?”

“Well, you know, there are birds and bees, and when a bird likes a—”

“Carmen,” Cat groans, and her friend lets out a loud chuckle.

I just lift my eyebrows as my confusion grows. I am not sure whether I focus on it to drown out the noise in my brain or because my curiosity is genuinely piqued, but I really want to know.

“It is often blunt force trauma, like a car accident or, in this case, a fall,” Cat explains simply, but her eyes are still scanning my face as if she is not totally convinced yet.

“So… how… how do you fix that?”

“We put a cast around it.” Carmen grins, and this time I glare at her. She howls.

“It depends on the fracture. Often, we set the bone and stabilize it from the outside, but sometimes it needs more attentive care. Especially when other bodily functions are affected.”

“Oh, like their legs?”

“Yes, instability can cause pain and sometimes trouble walking. But it can also cause bowel and urological trouble.”

“Holy shit,” I exclaim, and Carmen snorts again.

“Quite literally, guapa.”

Cat’s lips tick up at that, but she tilts her head slightly. When she reaches out to brush away a strand of hair, I flinch so briefly that it’s barely noticeable before I melt into her touch. But the tiny crease between her eyebrows and the way her breath halts for a split second tell me that she saw it. And this will not be the end of it.

“Aight,” Carmen sighs as she breaks the silence and stretches her body. “Time for me to go. I have a twenty-four-hour shift in exactly…” She glances at her phone. “Ten hours.”

Cat smiles and nods. She doesn’t bother to rise and let Carmen out, who in turn doesn’t seem to be surprised at that. When I do move, she just shakes her head and comes around the table to hug me.

“It was wonderful to officially meet you, Mary. Thank you for such a fun night.”

“Oh, but the pleasure was all mine,” I say, blushing in return, and Carmen huffs out a laugh.

“Nah, but you are adorable for saying so. Buenas noches, cariño.”

She squeezes me once before letting go and grabbing her coat from the chair. When she reaches the door, she glances over her shoulder, that same intimate look in her eyes. Her gaze travels from Cat to me as she smiles slowly.

“Quédate con esta, hermana. She is a good one.”

Cat nods in acknowledgement of something I am not quite sure about, but the way she instantly looks at me, makes my stomach flip. Yeah, except it’s only in this apartment that she does.

I move to grab the wine glasses when Cat’s fingers wrap around my wrist and she pulls me gently against her. There is barely an inch of space between us, and I feel wrapped in the warmth of her body.

“Hi,” she murmurs as she presses her lips against my hair.