Page 44 of Her Wicked Plan

My brows dip in worry because, from her expression, it seems her day was absolute shit. Now that she isn’t smiling, I can clearly see the amount of exhaustion in her glossy eyes. From tiredness or crying?

“What happened?” I can’t bring up the idea of sleeping together now. Not when she is in this state.

“A patient got out of hand. It isn’t abnormal in the ward, but...” Her eyes drop to her lap, where there is blood smeared across the outside of her thumb.

Out of instinct, my hand reaches for her wrist. When my fingers wrap around her, I’m pulling the hand with blood towards me. “Are you hurt?”

“I thought I got it all off.” Her voice is above a whisper before she continues speaking, “Somehow, they stole a knife from somewhere. We aren’t sure if she snuck into the kitchen or one of the doctor's offices. Either way, she got ahold of a weapon.” Her leg bounces. Nerves and shock from whatever happened are flowing through her. “When I arrived, some doctors and nurses were trying to calm the patient down. To get her to hand over the knife. The patient only kept screaming at them. I have a special connection with a lot of those patients, this one in particular. She wouldn’t listen to me, though.”

During her story, I blindly brush my thumb along the top of her hand. Scarlet gently smiles at the gesture. “Sometimes, even with the patients we have more of a connection with, they get so into their heads that the connection we have to them doesn’t matter.”

Her eyes lift to mine. “You’ve had a patient like this?”

I nod. “Back in the city, the clinic I worked for wasn’t anything like this place. My patients didn’t have these types of deep issues rooted in their bodies, but they were still important. There was a young man whom I grew close with. He said he looked up to me like a big brother.”

“That’s sweet.”

“It is,” I agree. “But he always got in his head about worries that shouldn’t be there. These things he was worried about were mundane. There was no reason for him to be having an episode over them. No matter what I tried to tell him, how I tried to help him, none of it mattered. He was so adamant that he was right.”

“What happened?”

“He attacked me.” I swallow hard, the altercation still fresh in my mind. “It was the first and only time a patient got physical with me. Luckily, we weren’t alone. My boss was also in the office, attempting to help ease the situation. The kid got a couple of blows to my face before my boss pulled him off of me.”

“Did he ever come to his senses?”

“Eventually. It wasn’t until the next day. He begged his mother to let him come into the office even though it wasn’t a day I typically saw him. He apologized to me repeatedly. Promised that he would never intentionally try to hurt me,” I explain before letting my eyes drop to the drying blood on her hand. “Now, what happened to you?”

Her head tilts to the side, both of us holding our attention on the red she missed while cleaning. “I got too close. She swiped the knife and got my palm.” Scarlet's eyes drift to her other hand, one that is wrapped. How did I miss that? “When I washed my hands, I must not have gotten it all off.”

“How did they get the patient to calm down?”

“Two of the guards had to get involved—they were armed with a syringe full of sedative.”

“You did what you could, Scarlet.” My eyes find hers. “Deep down in their minds, they know you were trying to help. They will be grateful for that when they return to their own minds.”

She breathes out a laugh. “No wonder you are a doctor. Saying all the right things.”

I can’t help but smile at the compliment. “Guess it was my true calling. I don't mind leaving if you want some time to yourself after what happened. This was your place before I came here and invaded it.”

Another smile from her. This one is more real than the last. “Stay.” Her hand squeezes mine. “I can share this space.”

So that’s what we do. We share the space in silence. Both of us were thinking about the days we had while staring out at the water.

Her mind probably wandering to the altercation with her patient.

Mine goes straight to Veronica.

The two of us sat out by the water for a while longer. The only sounds were the birds singing to each other up in the treetops and the calming wind that disrupted the stillness of the water.

We were content just sitting there, with my hand still holding hers, giving her the comfort she needed in that moment. She had already told me the story. There was nothing else to talk about.

I would have been an idiot to bring up the idea of us sleeping together right then. Myles won’t see it as I do, but today was a step in the right direction.

It was getting later, and the sun set behind the pines. The air had more of a bite to it than the dim warmth of the sun had gone, and when she began shivering, it was time to call it a night.

Scarlet and I parted ways after we reentered the building; she had to head back to her ward, given that is where her bedroom is, and I was going to go back to my room to hang out for the rest of the night.

Settling on the idea of watching a movie on my laptop, I make my way to the hall for my room until my stomach growls.