Wanted by the Warrant Officer

7

Piper

“Are you doing okay?”

My head jerked up at Cindy’s question. I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed anyone was near.

“Yup, I’m good.” My answer was automatic, and when I realized it didn’t sound very convincing, I forced my lips into a smile.

My charge nurse didn’t buy it, though. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned my face. “It’s a good thing you have the next four days off. You look exhausted.”

That was a fair assessment since I hadn’t slept much over the past couple of weeks. My bed felt empty without Deacon in it. I’d only had a week with him before he had to leave, but he’d somehow wormed his way into my heart so much that I missed him every day. He was my first thought when I woke up and the last thing on my mind when I fell asleep.

As though she could hear my thoughts, Cindy pointed at me and ordered, “And if your new man comes back to town, don’t let him keep you up all night long. You need to sleep.”

I’d told my co-workers all about Deacon, most of whom thought I was naïve for not questioning things when he disappeared as quickly as I’d let him into my life. But I wasn’t sure what all I could tell them about what he did for the Navy, so I hadn’t told anyone that he was a SEAL.

“I mean it, Piper.” She wagged her finger. “You’ve been too tired to give me your usual chipper answer when I ask you if you’re ready to help deliver some babies at the start of your shift for the past few days. That isn’t like you at all.”

There was something else I hadn’t shared with my co-workers, and it was a bigger part of the reason I was barely getting any sleep. At first, I thought I was just imagining things because I was sad and tired, but weird things started happening only a few hours after Deacon had pulled away from my house.

It was little stuff that I shrugged off at first. On my first day back, another latte was waiting at the nurses’ station with “I’m the one who knows what you like” written under my name, but Stephanie wasn’t working the same shift, and nobody else admitted to bringing the drink to work for me. The following day, a chocolate chip muffin from my favorite bakery down the street was waiting for me with “See?” handwritten in block letters on the bag under my name. At the end of the shift after that, I found a gift certificate for a massage tucked under the wiper on my windshield.

I spent the next four days inside my house, afraid to go anywhere. I kept the curtains closed and was even more grateful to Deacon for everything he’d done before he left. The fridge was fully stocked, so I didn’t need to worry about who was going to knock on my door if I ordered delivery from the grocery store or a restaurant. And after teasing him for being overprotective, the security system he’d installed was the only thing that allowed me to feel safe in my own home.

Pretending that the outside world didn’t exist only worked when I didn’t have to be at the hospital. As soon as I walked up to the nurses’ station four days later, there was no avoiding the fact that something creepy was happening. The cycle repeated with my scary secret admirer leaving little gifts for me at the start of each of my shifts for the next three days, and me holing up at my house again on my days off.

I was tempted to confess everything to Cindy, but I didn’t see how it would do any good. The notes had started getting creepier, so I’d finally broken down and popped in to speak with hospital security about the gifts two days ago. The guard I’d spoken with had shrugged off my concerns and basically told me that I should be glad some random guy was so into me that he put so much thought into the presents he was leaving for me.

My faith in anyone believing me was shaken, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it if someone I’d looked up to since starting here thought I was overreacting. Instead, I upped the wattage of my smile and murmured, “Don’t worry. I plan on getting as much rest as I can over the next four days.”

“Good.” She patted me on the shoulder before walking away.

I finished up my final notes on a few charts before clocking out and heading to my car. My steps slowed when I spotted a flash of white on the windshield. Heaving a deep sigh, I forced myself forward, clenching my eyes closed as I removed the note from underneath the wiper. I was tempted to crumple the paper up and throw it away without reading what my secret admirer had written, but morbid curiosity got the better of me, which I quickly regretted.