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She gawked at James.
“Mrs Barnes is my patient. I can handle her.”
Not to mention that James never had anything to do with her patients.
“You’re too tired to drive to Dekalb, much less face a suicidal woman and her family. Move over.”
The stubborn set to his clean-shaven jaw said he wasn’t going to budge and unless she wanted to risk reversing over him, she’d have to scoot. She ought to put the vehicle in reverse and accelerate. Would serve him right.
But she couldn’t deny what he’d said. She was tired. Bone-weary tired, and the thought of resting for the twenty-minute drive tempted her too much to argue. She crossed over into the passenger seat and closed her eyes. Just a quick rest, then she’d feel like facing James.
Melissa woke with a start.
Immediately, her gaze went to the digital clock on the dashboard. Not lit. Because the car wasn’t running. Because there wasn’t a driver. Because the car was parked in the small gated physicians’ lot at Dekalb General.
Where was James and why hadn’t he woken her up when they’d arrived?
She opened the locked door and shifted her wrist to where the overhead light illuminated her watch. Almost eleven.
She must have been more tired than she’d thought.
Stretching, she eased from the car and rubbed her lower back. Upon standing, dizziness hit her and she grabbed hold of the roof.
Her stomach growled, reminding her of what ailed her. Because of the nausea, she hadn’t managed more than a few crackers all day. And not much more than that the day before.
Digging through her black bag, she found a pack of breath fresheners and tossed a couple in her mouth. At least her mouth would be minty clean. She locked the car and headed into the hospital.
What she saw in the waiting room surprised her.
James sat holding Lila Barnes’s hand. The woman’s nose glowed a bright red and her face was swollen from tears. She looked adoringly at James. No wonder, he was handsome as sin and oozed charm. The woman didn’t know him well enough to notice the way he held his jaw, the slow foot tap, the determined gleam in his eyes. What Lila saw was a charming doctor who listened attentively.
What Melissa saw was a man shrouded by protective walls because he refused to become attached. He comforted, but only on the surface, only when it didn’t require exposing himself.
Why hadn’t she noticed that about him before? How he kept himself closed off from his patients? Was it because of the confidence he exuded in his skills? Now she saw the truth.
James refused to open up and care about his patients as anything other than patients. He didn’t see them as people with real lives and families, just as the heart attack in bay one or the motor vehicle accident in bay two.
James kept himself closed off from her, too, but distracted her with his charm and sexual finesse. He kept her on the outside of that wall, just as he locked out the rest of the world.
When Lila and James looked up, Melissa, not willing to discuss private matters with James in front of the woman or in the middle of a hospital waiting room, offered a weak smile. “You should have woken me up when we got here.”
He stood, brushing his hand over his loose jeans that still managed to showcase his lean hips and thighs to perfection. Mercy. No wonder she stayed distracted.
“There was nothing I couldn’t handle.”
Except giving Lila his real concern. Or her.
Although he gave her his body, which she greedily took, he’d never given her a glimpse of his heart.
Unable to stop the stab of pain in her chest and not wanting James to see her disillusionment, she turned to Wilma’s daughter. “How’s your mom?”
The round-faced woman drew in a deep breath, before sending another doting glance at James. “Dr Stanley just came from checking on her and he says she’s going to be OK.”
“Checking her?” What happened to letting the paramedics and ER doctor handle it?
James’s face revealed nothing. “Dr Kirby is the staff doctor tonight. As I was here, he thought I should give her a once-over. She’ll recover fully.”
James had willingly seen one of her patients. Why? What kind of game was he playing?
