The Doctor's Undoing (Doctors in Training 3)

He’d described it perfectly. “I just hate being left behind,” she muttered, looking away.

“You aren’t being left behind. You aren’t even the only one who’ll miss a rotation and have to make it up during fourth year. It’s not that uncommon, you know.”

“I know.”

“But you still hate it.”

“I still hate it.”

“You’re not giving up, are you? Because you know, you have to keep a positive attitude. You have to put your mind to getting back on your feet. You have to work hard and refuse to surrender even when the going gets tough and things look— Ouch.”

She might be flat on her back in a hospital bed, but she could still deliver a pretty satisfying punch to his arm, she thought in satisfaction. “You can stop mocking me now.”

“I’m not mocking you,” he said, rubbing his forearm. “I’m just showing off all you’ve taught me during the past two and a half years.”

She smiled faintly. “I’m glad something got through.”

His smile faded. Pulling one of the chairs close to the bed, he sat beside her, holding her hand. “This is the first chance we’ve had to be alone since the storm.”

“Yes.”

“I seem to remember we were in the middle of a discussion before all hell broke loose.”

She swallowed hard. Was he really going to continue that talk now? The one that had seemed to be leading to them saying goodbye?

Maybe he was leaving her behind in more ways than one as he moved into his next rotation without her, she thought bleakly.

He searched her face. “Wow. You really are giving up, aren’t you?”

“I—” She swallowed hard. “Aren’t you?”

His fingers tightened around hers. “No. Not this time.”

Leaning closer, he held her gaze with his while he spoke in a rush. “All this time, I’ve been afraid of holding you back. I mean, you’re so darned good at all of this. So confident and natural. I honestly believe you can do absolutely anything you set your mind to. Anything.”

She was both flattered and dismayed by his words. While she appreciated the compliments, she didn’t want to be put on a pedestal by hi

m. That was as unrealistic and distancing as quarreling. “Ron, I’m not—”

“But then I got to thinking,” he said, speaking over her as if she hadn’t said a word. “I’ve got a few things to bring to this relationship, too. I keep you grounded—a lot better than a handful of black rocks can do. I make you laugh. I make you mad sometimes, which keeps you from being too much of the sweetness-and-light type, you know? Let’s face it, Haley, that can get kind of boring without a little temper to spice it up.”

She blinked, trying to figure where he was going with this.

“So we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead,” he continued. Studying his face, she realized he wasn’t quite as blasé about his words as he sounded when he forged on. “We have to get you healed again. We have to finish our rotations. We have to ace the rest of our shelf exams. We have to start researching residency programs, and narrowing down places that have something to offer both of us. And then we have to put our minds to charming the residency committees at those places into thinking they absolutely have to have us on their teams.”

She bit her lip as she listened to him making such sweeping plans for the long-term future.

But it turned out he was looking even farther ahead. “Once we get into our programs, we’ll have two very busy internships to deal with. Won’t be easy getting our schedules coordinated. It’s going to take a lot of compromising and accommodating.”

“You’re—” She had to stop to clear her throat. “You’re making a lot of assumptions here.”

Again, the hint of nerves in his eyes, hidden behind a cocky smile. “Well, yeah, but I’m taking your advice again. I’m being confident. Thinking positive. Refusing to accept the possibility of failure.”

“And you’re suddenly so positive because…?” she whispered.

“Because I love you so much I can’t even conceive of the possibility of giving up this time,” he answered simply.

Her heart stopped, then restarted with a hard bump. “Ron—”