So as I parked and entered my bachelor’s pad, I headed straight for the kitchen after taking a shower. After rummaging in the refrigerator for what supplies I had readily available, I pulled out some tomato sauce, chicken breast, and parmesan cheese, and then raided my cabinets for pasta, herbs, and spices. Chicken parmesan had always been my go-to meal in the military. It was something that wasn’t too difficult, but impressive nonetheless.
Once it was done, I pulled out a wine glass and almost immediately replaced it, settling for a couple beers instead, despite knowing I would regret it in the morning because I had a mandatory staff meeting to attend.
As I sat at my kitchen table eating my meal, I found that it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as I wanted it to be. I was alone, as usual, but this time it was different. I didn’t want to be. My night shifts might be over.
After meeting Tessa, being alone just didn’t feel right anymore.
CHAPTER 12
Tessa
I looked outside as I tied my hair up. The sunlight was just starting to peak over the horizon, and birdsong drifted through the cracked window. I stretched and reached for my jacket, with Lucy already dancing around my feet, anxious for her morning run.
“Go get your leash,” I told her, as I pulled on my jacket. She turned in a circle three times and then happily skipped to the back of the apartment, returning just seconds later, dragging the leash in her mouth as I tied my shoelaces. I fastened it to her collar, and tossed my keys into my pocket. “All right. Let’s go.”
The early morning air was brisk, but not unpleasant. Lucy and I fell into a comfortable trot as we headed to the park. And as usual these days, my thoughts drifted to Evan.
I had spent the whole night with his face floating through my dreams, particularly the last expression he’d given me before leaving the hospital the previous day. After our intoxicating yet highly inappropriate make-out session in the on-call room, where we’d almost been caught looking like a couple of hormone-driven teenagers, I’d felt the need to at least end our day on smoother terms. But after Dr. Morris almost walked in on us, I hadn’t been able to find Evan for the rest of the day. Shortly before our shift ended, I ran into Molly and told her to let him know that I was looking for him. When I briefly spotted him while talking to Nurse Watson and her intern, I thought Molly must have delivered my message. However, when I caught Evan’s eye, he looked at me with an expression not far from terror before running away.
My heart had plummeted right there on the spot. It had been a struggle for me to excuse myself, hoping to go after and catch up to him. But I’d had no such luck. Not before long though, I was grateful I hadn’t caught up to him; I never wanted to be the kind of woman to chase after a man, especially if that man could be so hot-and-cold without rhyme or reason.
I tried so hard not to be offended by Evan’s actions, but it felt impossible every time I thought about his dark eyes, silky hair, and the sexy five o’clock shadow he always sported. There was hardly ever a moment that went by when I didn’t quiver in delight at the memory of his strong hands and ridiculously sexy body. Even the scent of him was enough to make me want to swoon.
No matter how much I didn’t want to admit it, I was completely and irrevocably smitten.
It would have been a lot easier for me to keep my feelings in check if I honestly believed that Dr. Evan Sholly was truly the jerk I had thought him to be when we first met. But now, I’d gotten a glimpse behind the mask he attempted to hide behind, and consequently knew that deep down, he had a sensitive and troubled soul that I wanted nothing more than to help heal. But I already knew healing Evan would take a lot more skill and caution than any bullet wound I’d treated over the years. And considering how broken Tyler had left me, I couldn’t deny worrying about whether I could truly handle the task.
How could I help anyone heal when I still had some pretty deep wounds of my own that needed tending?
I knew that contemplating it all any further would do nothing but give me a headache, and I certainly didn’t need that when I had to work in a couple of hours. I tried to push it all from my mind so that I could simply enjoy my morning run with Lucy. I glanced down at her and smiled. She ran beside me, panting with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She glanced up at me for a moment, her goofy expression seemingly saying, “It’s okay, Mommy. You’ve got me.”
I reached down to quickly scratch her ear and laughed. “How about we pick it up a notch?” I said to her. “I’ll race you! Last one to the park is a rotten egg!”
I picked up my pace, and Lucy easily matched it, her tail steadily swishing behind her. The muscles in my legs working overtime was even enough to keep thoughts of Evan at bay. Feeling myself growing tired, I started concentrating on my breathing, taking measured breaths in and exhaling through my mouth.
We had just bypassed the halfway mark when I suddenly felt myself being tugged backwards. Confusion delaying my reaction, it took a moment for me to realize Lucy was pulling me, hard. She had abruptly stopped running at my side, and took off in another di
rection. Still gripping her leash, I was involuntarily jerked backwards along with her. A pain shot through my arm; I had forgotten how strong Lucy could be when she wanted to.
“Lucy!” I shouted. “Stop it! LUCY!”
But she was too distracted. I stumbled after her, holding on to her leash for dear life. I frantically scanned the premises, wondering what on earth had caused my well-mannered dog to suddenly go rogue.
A squirrel darted across the street and went up the nearest tree, attempting to get out of harm’s way. Lucy occasionally chased squirrels, but never with this much aggression. Gritting my teeth, I gripped the leash tighter and gave it a hard tug, but to no avail.
“Dammit, Lucy!” I shouted, disturbing the peaceful dawn air around us.
Finally, I saw the source of the problem—Lucy had spotted a feral cat.
It all made sense now. Most dogs disliked cats, but for Lucy, the hatred was personal. When she was just a puppy, she had been attacked by a cat once. Shortly after I officially adopted her, I took her for a visit to my aunt’s house. What I hadn’t known at the time was that my aunt’s pet cat had just had kittens. I hadn’t been worried though. Lucy was just a baby, and she seemed more fascinated by the kittens than anything. My aunt had even encouraged them getting to know each other.
“That way, they’ll grow up to be friends,” she had reasoned. So I went along with it, thinking it sounded like a good idea. I watched as little Lucy approached the kittens, excitedly wagging her tail and sniffing them. In return, the cats cuddled around her, their youth and innocence preventing them from holding any prejudices toward what they thought was a new friend.
All was well until Mama Cat showed up. Her name was Kimmy, and she did not take kindly to seeing a dog fraternizing with her kittens. Feeling threatened, Kimmy leapt on Lucy before either me or my aunt could stop her. What ensued next was a loud and ugly tussle that resulted in Lucy faring far worse than Kimmy. My poor pup suffered scratches all up and down her snout.
My aunt felt terrible about the whole ordeal and immediately accompanied me in taking Lucy to the vet. Fortunately, none of the scratches were too deep, and none of them were infected. They healed quickly enough, but Lucy’s pride surely hadn’t. From that point onward, she considered all cats her mortal enemy, and whenever she saw one, all Hell broke loose.
“Lucy, not now!” I scolded through clenched teeth. I tugged her leash again, and finally, she relented, having lost sight of the cat as it darted off into an alley.