I blink. What the fuck?
I don’t think about it. I just take off after her.
She’s not running, but she’s walking fast. I take some long strides, gaining ground. She bolts away from me, skipping around an orderly pushing a wheelchair.
“Watch it,” I grunt at him, sidestepping and hurrying after her.
She turns a corner. I jog to catch up as she heads toward the elevators.
I keep jogging. Fuck it, I don’t care what people think about me.
“Ruby,” I say. “Wait.”
She glances back at me, slows down, but doesn’t stop.
“Ruby,” I say again. “Hold on.”
I can see the uncertainty in her eyes. She wants to stop, but she’s afraid. And I don’t know why.
Finally, I get close enough to touch her. I reach out and grab her arm, tugging her away from the hallway and the prying eyes of the fucking nurses. I pull her into an empty room, shut the door, lock it, and pull the damn curtain.
Ruby glares at me, crossing her arms. “You can’t just pull me around whenever you want to,” she snaps.
“Why are you running from me?”
She stares, but doesn’t answer.
“Don’t be a petulant child,” I snap.
That pisses her off. “Don’t be an asshole,” she snaps back.
I take a breath. “Ruby. Why are you running?”
Her expression softens. She bites her lip and looks away. “Who was that woman?”
I watch her for a few seconds, not sure what she’s talking about. I have a few female patients, and there are a ton of female doctors and nurses. She could’ve seen me speaking to any number of women in the last few days.
“I’m sorry,” I say finally. “I don’t know who you mean.”
She glares at me. “The blonde woman. The one you were fucking in your office.”
I feel like she just kicked me in the shin. “Fucking in my office?” I manage to say, almost laughing. “What are you talking about?”
She glares daggers. “I went to see you a couple days ago. When I got to your office, I heard… you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” I say, slowly understanding what she means. “What did you hear?”
“Sex noises,” she says, practically whispering.
“You think it sounded like I was fucking someone in my office?” I ask her.
She glares at me again. “Stop it. This isn’t funny.”
I sigh, shaking my head. “Ruby, listen. I wasn’t fucking anyone.”
“How do I know that?”
I step closer to her. I can tell she wants to bolt. Her eyes scan the room for an exit.
“You saw a blonde woman, tall and slim, right?” I ask her softly.
She nods. “Right.”
“How closely did you look at her?”
She frowns slightly. “Not… too closely.”
“So you didn’t notice that her blonde hair was a wig?”
Her frown deepens. “No. What does that matter?”
I sigh and step closer to her. “Listen to me, little gem,” I say softly. “The only person I’m fucking in my office is you.”
She bites her lip. “Who was she?”
“A patient,” I say softly.
“Why did it sound like she was moaning?”
“Because she was,” I say. “Sort of. Three years ago, the patient checked into the ER after a particularly bad car accident. She broke her back and had horrible burns all over her body, including her scalp. It burned away her hair.”
I can remember meeting Mia for the first time. Twenty-eight, her whole life ahead of her, broken into pieces.
“That’s horrible,” Ruby whispers, eyes wide.
“I was her doctor. I barely kept her alive, but she’s a fighter. She survived, got some good surgery, and now she lives a normal life… almost.”
“What was she doing with you?” Ruby asks.
“I was giving her a massage.”
Ruby blinks. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” I take a breath and let it out. I step up closer to her, my hands on her hips. “I used to give her massages when she was my patient, just to work her back muscles, relieve some of her pain. She’s still in pain, and she says I’m the only one that can help some of it go away. So I give her a massage maybe once a month.”
She stares up at me. “That’s it?”
“That’s it. I give her a massage, ask about her life, and she leaves. She says it helps, and…” I shake my head. “I guess I can’t stop myself. If I can help her, I have to try.”
She takes a breath and lets it out. “I feel really, really stupid.”
I grin at her. “Don’t. It’s fine.”
“Really, I thought you were…”
“Fucking her. I know.”
“It’s what she sounded like, you know?”
“I know,” I say, laughing softly. “She really does sound like she’s getting fucked during it. A lot of people do, actually.”
Ruby shakes her head. “What are we doing?” she asks.
“You know what we’re doing, little gem.” I lean down and kiss her lips softly. “Do you need me to spell it out?”
“Please,” she whispers.
I kiss her again, my hands on her body. I slowly pull her top off, dropping it onto the floor, and unhook her bra. She slides it off as I cup her breasts, teasing her nipples.