AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s true,” Amy agreed in a confusingly cheerful tone. “So... big plans this weekend?” Rather than take the hint and leave, she plopped into the seat in front of my desk.
My hand froze on my mouse at the sight of Amy in that chair. The last person who’d sat there was Dr. Cassidy Croft before she’d finished off her fellowship and my long-cherished dream of pursuing a relationship. “No, no plans for me,” I replied, trying to shake off the unwelcome memories.
Amy smirked like I’d said something terribly amusing. “I heard there’s a new superhero movie out. Are you going to see it?”
“I doubt it.” I made a quick mental calculation and determined it had been at least seven years since I’d seen a film in the theater—a documentary about sea-dwelling, single-celled organisms.
“More of a horror guy? No, wait—rom coms.” Amy laughed.
I tore my eyes from the laptop screen and forced myself to focus on her. She was conventionally attractive, probably around my age, and apparently interested in prolonging a conversation. But I didn’t feel compelled to set my work aside so I could stumble through an awkward discussion of pop culture. “I don’t really see a lot of movies.”
“Oh, okay.” Amy placed her hands on her knees and started to stand. “Well, I won’t keep you...” Her voice trailed off, waiting for an invite.
“Thanks.” I let out a little sigh of relief as Amy saw herself out of my office. Recently, I’d accepted what I’d long suspected—I was fundamentally incompatible for a romantic relationship. My work, not my personality, would be my most important contribution to my fellow humans.
I returned to combing the records, but before a minute had passed, my phone buzzed loudly with a call. Mom never could seem to recall that her only son lived on the East Coast, three hours ahead of her in Santa Barbara. Maybe she’d remember if we spoke more often.
I snatched up the phone and shot back a quick message:Can’t talk. Still at work.
Within moments, my mom responded with a series of emojis—shocked face, thumbs up, double hearts—followed byJust talked to Grandma. Call when you can.
My heart palpitated irregularly. Grandma was only a couple weeks away from celebrating her ninetieth birthday, but she’d been hospitalized due to atrial fibrillation last month. I stared down at my phone, trying to interpret the message. Surely Mom wouldn’t be sending me all those cheerful emojis if Grandma were experiencing a medical emergency?
I realized grimly that Mom would do exactly that. She hardly ever let anything dismay her for long. Not my father’s abandonment when my sister and I were little. Not her four subsequent divorces from a string of loser men. Not Grandma’s diagnosis, either.
I wasn’t going to risk another colleague walking in during what might be a fraught conversation with my mother, so I shoved my laptop into my backpack and my phone into my pocket before heading for the hospital exit.
I reminded myself that Grandma had been a widow most of her adult life and had raised a child all on her own. She was strong, despite her recent heart problems, and I was likely overreacting to my mom’s text. But still, I quickened my steps down the long hallway toward the elevators.
I hit the down button and waited for the ancient machinery to drag the elevator car up to the fifth floor. The doors finally opened with an ominous creak that didn’t forebode a good outcome. As I stepped across the threshold, I absently wondered if I shouldn’t have just taken the stairs. But it was a long walk, and the odds of a mechanical failure couldn’t be very great for any single event. With a shrug, I mashed the button for the ground floor, and the doors started to slide shut.
A woman dashed toward the elevator, and I instinctively put a hand out to stop the doors from closing, even though I was in a hurry, because she obviously was as well.
She nearly leapt into the elevator and thanked me in a breathless voice. “I’ve got a limo waiting downstairs.”
I took little interest in her commuting arrangements, but I inclined my head politely just the same, thoughts returning to the problem at hand. Should I skip Mom and call Grandma directly? But Grandma was in the same time zone as me, and it was definitely past her bedtime. Besides, if she was at the hospital, or...
I didn’t let myself finish that thought. I was foolish to let one text from my notoriously careless mother cause such intense anxiety.
Wait. Why wasn’t the elevator moving? As the woman and I stood in the small space, the doors hovered halfway between being open and closed, almost as if the elevator was confused and trying to process what had happened when I’d halted its progress.
“Maybe I’ll take the—” the woman started to say, just as the doors resolutely closed. “Maybe not.” She shrugged and then smiled at me. “Just another thrilling night at Beaufort.”
On closer inspection, I realized the woman sharing the elevator with me looked familiar. A glance at her badge revealed that Jenna Allen was a registered nurse in the ICU. We’d definitely worked together in the past. I couldn’t help noticing she was curvy and attractive, even in hospital scrubs and with a few hairs escaping her long brown ponytail.
I quickly reminded myself that any interest I felt was nothing more than a biological response. I forced my gaze to the elevator doors and took a deep breath, hoping to quell the hormones my hypothalamus was unleashing. I didn’t need a romantic entanglement, and I certainly didn’t have time for one.
And anyway, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make conversation with Jenna any better than I had with Amy, or Cassidy, or any other woman with whom I’d discussed non-work matters.
The odds were apparently in our favor, and the elevator made it to the ground floor without further incident. I motioned for Jenna to go first and then followed her out into the night. She ran forward and tugged on the handle of a stretch limo.
I rounded a group of smokers and pulled out my phone, steeling myself for whatever was the matter with Grandma.
I dove into the limo, trying to put my random encounter with Dr. Donaldson out of my mind. He hadn’t seemed to pay very much attention to me at all, which was precisely what I wanted from my male coworkers. I wasn’t going to let myself wish he’d spare a second to notice me. Judging by his perpetual air of distraction, he was one doctor I’d never have to worry about inviting me out on a boat.
“Jenna?” the driver asked.
“Sorry to make you wait! I came as quickly as I could.” I shut the door behind myself. “I’m hoping you can take me home so I can change for the party.”
