“Everything is fine. Do you know how hard it was to bribe them into letting me come back here?”
I glanced back over to where Lucy was. She was indeed busy with a patient; I didn’t think she even knew who was sitting in this bay.
“I was hoping I’d get you for a nurse; they couldn’t promise me it would be you.”
Focusing back on him, I forced a smile. “Why did you go to all this trouble?”
He shrugged. “You never gave me your number, but I remembered you worked here, so I thought I’d pay you a visit.”
“And you couldn’t just walk in and ask to speak to me?”
Luke looked confused for a moment before he forced a smile. “What fun would that be?”
Irritation rushed through me. I was busy, this was an ER, and he was a cop. He should know how wrong this was.
“I’m sorry, Luke, I’m really busy.”
He nodded and slid off the table. “Right, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just really wanted to see you again. Ask you if you wanted to go to dinner or something.”
Guilt wrapped around my heart and squeezed tight. He was a really nice guy, just not the type of guy I was interested in. And I felt terrible, but the first thing I had thought of when I left his apartment was that I wished it had been Truitt I’d spent the night with.
What a bitch I was.
Lucy’s voice popped into my head and I lifted my chin some and stood up straight. Honesty was the only way to go here.
“Luke, I had a great time with you the other night, but I’m recently out of a marriage and I was only looking for a…a, um…a…”
He tilted his head. “A one-night stand.”
My cheeks heated and I felt like I was starting to sweat. “I thought you were on the same page.”
For a moment, he looked unsure of what to say before he rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand. “No, right. You didn’t promise anything. I simply thought maybe you might like to go out again.”
I chewed on my lip. “I’m sorry, but I was only interested in the one night. Please know that isn’t something I normally do.”
“Right, no. I get it. I was the guy you needed to move on with.”
“I’m sorry if I misled you in any way.”
He moved back and forth on his feet as if he was forcing himself not to bolt from the room.
“I understand. Thank you for being so honest with me, Saryn.”
All I could do was smile and give him a nod.
“I need to get on back to my patrol. Have a great day,” Luke said, reaching down and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. Then he walked past me, and I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding in.
After a few deep breaths, I turned and walked out of the bay, looked around the ER, and noticed not a single person had been paying any attention to what had been going on with me and Luke. A sense of relief hit me, and I walked over to the front desk, handed the young administrative clerk the file and said, “Next time, please don’t let anyone take up a bay that might be used for someone who truly needs it.”
The young girl flushed with embarrassment and nodded as she took the file from me.
I spent the next four hours counting down until I could leave and get home. I wanted to see Liliana and just relax and not think of anyone or anything. An image of Truitt popped into my head as I made my way back to the nurses’ station. The man seemed to be invading my thoughts more and more.
“What’s with the serious look on your face?” Lucy asked.
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t tell if you’re angry, excited or confused right now.” Lucy chuckled.
Slowly, I shook my head and picked up another patient’s chart. I tried to focus on it and couldn’t. I had no idea if nursing was beginning to be something I wasn’t interested in, if it was simply the ER, or if my problem was something different altogether.
I looked up at Lucy who was still giving me a questioning stare. “I can’t tell either.”
Truitt
SARYN PULLED UP and parked. She sat in her car as she stared through the windshield at me. Liliana was running her toy car up and down my arms and back as Ryan sat on the porch steps next to me.
When Saryn’s eyes narrowed, Ryan laughed. “She has that look on her face that says she thinks we’re up to something.”
I smiled, and she got out of the car and made her way over to us.
“What’s going on? Why are you here, Truitt?”
Ouch. She sounds annoyed that I’m here.