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“Sure,” Chelsea agreed with an indulgent smile and a curious expression. “What can I do for you?”
Connie tucked Chelsea’s arm beneath hers and gave her an appreciative pat. “Tell me what you think of my Dr Jared. He’s a handsome rascal, isn’t he? Smart, too.”
Jared stared after them, wondering if he should run interference before Connie put ideas into Chelsea’s head.
Then again, Chelsea had agreed that nothing would ever be between them except friendship, that the other had just been a silly schoolgirl crush.
Good, because he’d hate to lose the tentative friendship they’d forged, would hate to lose the brightness Chelsea added to his life because he’d come to look forward to seeing her each day, to hearing her laugh at something he’d said, to seeing her smile when their eyes met.
Sure, there was still physical attraction, but he liked having Chelsea as his friend.
And as long as friendship was all they shared, he didn’t have to feel guilty about the past.
“So, what did Connie tell you?” Jared asked Chelsea when they bumped into each other at the copy machine late that evening. He’d been going to copy a form he’d filled out when he’d seen her copying papers of her own.
Chelsea turned, gave him an impish smile as she leaned against the machine. “I enjoyed meeting her. She seems like a wonderful person.”
“She is. One of a kind.”
“She told me about her husband dying a few months back.”
“Paul died of a myocardial infarction. Very unexpected as he didn’t have any known risk factors. Connie’s not been the same since.”
“She must have loved him very much.”
“She did,” Jared agreed. “Just as Paul loved her. They were a wonderful couple.”
Chelsea looked undecided for a moment before meeting his eyes with a serious expression. “She said something that caught me off guard.”
Besides hinting that he and Chelsea should be a couple? Because he had no illusions about Connie’s reasons for wanting to talk with Chelsea. She’d taken one look at the pretty brunette and decided to play matchmaker.
“What did she say?”
“We were talking about her husband, and she made the comment that she’d see him again soon.” Chelsea’s eyes darkened with concern. “She had a faraway look, and I couldn’t decide how to take her.”
He sighed. He’d hoped Connie’s spunk today meant her spirits were good, that she didn’t feel defeated before even beginning her battle. Instead, he’d had to convince her yet again to agree to fight her cancer.
“Her cancer is back,” he admitted. “A sarcoma in her hip that’s metastasized to several organs, including her liver and pancreas.”
“Oh, Jared.” Chelsea’s eyes watered, and she reached out, placed her hand on his arm in a soothing gesture. “I’m so sorry.”
Jared’s gaze dropped to where she touched him, and he wondered how it was possible to feel comfort at such a simple thing as Chelsea’s skin against him. Although perhaps comfort wasn’t the right word, because the crazy things her touch did to his insides created havoc.
“She starts her chemotherapy on Monday. She’ll beat her cancer again.” He refused to consider otherwise. “If anyone can do it, Connie can.”
A loud noise had both of their eyes widening. He’d been pretty sure they were the only two left in the building.
“What was that?” Chelsea asked, staring at Jared in surprise.
When they went to investigate, what they found had both of them jumping into professional mode.
Leslie lay on the bathroom floor in a fetal position, holding her lower abdomen. Sweat beaded her skin, curling the tendrils of red hair at her face.
“Leslie?”
Frightened brown eyes lifted. “I think I blacked out.”
Chelsea dropped beside her friend and automatically began assessing her vitals, counting respirations and checking her brachioradialis pulse. Jared indicated he was going to get his stethoscope. “What’s wrong?”
