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Despite never wanting to hurt this woman, he seemed to be capable of nothing else. But, then, wasn’t that what he did? Hurt the women he got close to? And wouldn’t it have been much worse to hold her close when doing so would only leave them both wanting more?
He already wanted more. Lots more.
If they became involved, he may as well kiss his life in Madison goodbye.
He wouldn’t risk it. Not even for someone whose scent haunted his senses long into the night and had from the day he’d met her. Even if he’d been in denial of that fact for years. Now that he’d held her again, heaven help him, he’d feel the heat of her body in his dreams.
Still, he couldn’t stand seeing her hurt. After all, even if they could never have a personal relationship, they did work together. Coworkers could commiserate over a particularly tough patient.
“I came as soon as Betty told me Lacey was here. You’ve seen her already?” he asked.
“She and her mother just left.” Not meeting his eyes, Chelsea nodded. “I guess you think I’m silly for being so upset over a woman I’ve never met before today.”
“No,” he answered honestly. “I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
Clearly, he’d surprised her. Perhaps with good reason, but Chelsea had heart. He couldn’t fault her for that.
“What happened to Caden is a sad case. I ran into Wayne—Dr Westland—at the gym where we both work out. There’s little hope of Caden recovering consciousness.” He hated to tell her, but she should know the full extent of what Lacey was dealing with. Lacey. From the moment he’d met the young woman she’d reminded him of Laura. Perhaps it was her eyes, or perhaps it had been the circumstances that had brought Lacey in for that first visit. He swallowed, refocused on what he was saying. “If Caden does regain consciousness, Wayne doesn’t give him good odds of ever functioning anywhere near normal. It’s possible, but unlikely.”
Chelsea winced. “His poor mother.”
Jared nodded, still fighting his guilty memories. “Lacey’s lucky she has Georgia. I’m not sure she’d make it through this if she didn’t.”
“She’s angry at her mother,” Chelsea said quietly. “Angry at the world, really.”
“Georgia has stood by her through everything. She’ll be there for her through this, too.”
Just as he’d tried to stand by Laura, but she’d been angry as well. Angry and had known him well enough to sense something had changed during that spring break they’d been apart. Nothing had been the same between them after that.
“Lacey got pregnant during high school?” Chelsea interrupted, not knowing his thoughts were lost in the past, stuck on another young girl who’d dealt with an unplanned pregnancy, during medical school rather than high school, though.
He sighed. “I diagnosed Lacey’s pregnancy the first day I worked here. She was seven months and hiding her condition from her mother,” Jared said, not sure why he was admitting so much to a woman he kept insisting he wanted nothing to do with. Probably just because of the anxiety he’d felt from the moment Betty had mentioned Lacey’s visit. He should have seen her, should have been there to help her, to offer his support in any way he could. “I have a personal stake in Caden’s recovery. He was my first delivery in Madison when he came into the world a month early.”
“Delivery?”
He raked his fingers through his hair, and distractedly answered. “We offered OB services until three years ago when we opted to stop due to liability insurance expenses skyrocketing. It just wasn’t worth the cost and long hours as we’re basically a family practice.” He gave her an odd look. “But I guess Will would have told you that.”
“Will’s never enjoyed obstetrics. Delivering babies wasn’t something we talked a lot about when he visited me at school.”
No, none of them enjoyed delivering babies. Because of what had happened to Laura?
Quit dwelling on Laura. You can’t change the past.
“You’ve always been close to your brother?”
“Always.” She smiled. “Will has been the bright spot in my life.”
“You say that as if the rest of your life hasn’t been charmed.”
She’d grown up in the lap of luxury with two of the most renowned doctors in the country as her parents. Although he hadn’t grown up dirt poor, Jared couldn’t imagine the opportunities Chelsea had had at her fingertips. Certainly Will talked of mission trips and health summits he’d attended from the time he’d been a young boy. He’d half expected his friend to follow in his parents’ footsteps and go into the politics of medicine.
“You think my life has been charmed?” Chelsea scoffed, drawing his attention to her pinched expression.
“Hasn’t it?”
“Charmed?” Sarcasm dripped from her embittered tongue. “Oh, yeah. A fairy tale come to life.”
