I was in the middle of another Simon-less shift—or so I thought—when I heard his voice behind me.
“Thought you’d get lucky another day without me, eh?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, this is an emergency room. And I’m a doctor, so…”
“I know, but you weren’t supposed to be on this shift.”
“I switched with Dr. Boyd. He had an obligation.”
“I see.”
“And I missed you. So, I took advantage of the opportunity, even if it’s just working alongside you. It’s the only way I get to see you these days.”
“It has seemed like a while. How are things over at Calliope’s?”
“She’s pretty sick of my smart mouth in the morning. I’ve been interrupting her quiet time. She needs lots of coffee before she can deal with me, apparently. I think she’s ready to be rid of me. Luckily, I think I found a place.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. A small apartment in Wayland Square with no lease.”
I pretended to be happy for him. “That’s great.”
A part of me was sort of hoping that he wouldn’t be able to find anything, that he would decide to come back to my house. That was stupid, but nevertheless, I had hoped. His moving into a new place seemed like the first step toward his leaving my life altogether.
“Yeah, it’ll do,” he said. “It’s small, but it will only be temporary.”
Temporary. Right. Because you’re leaving. Get that in your head, Bridget.
Simon was staring at my lips then his eyes travelled down to my breasts. I changed the subject.
“Brendan told me you’ve been keeping in contact with him.”
“We text back and forth, yeah. I don’t want him to feel like I can’t be there for him just because I’ve moved out. I’ve told him I’m just a phone call or text away anytime he needs to talk.”
“That’s very nice of you. I know he appreciates your friendship.”
I know now that’s all it will ever be—a friendship. That’s for the best.
“He’s a special boy. I’d like to always keep in touch with him.”
That thought didn’t exactly sit well with me. There would be a time when Simon was back in England moving on with his life. If he was keeping in touch with Brendan, I didn’t know that I would want to know certain things, like if he’d moved on or ended up getting married someday. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to handle that. Even thinking about it gave me a pain in my chest. I guess I had to respect my son and his wish to remain close to Simon. I wasn’t sure if I really had a say in the matter.I couldn’t get thoughts of Simon moving on out of my head most of that morning. Even though he was on duty, we hadn’t crossed paths much. Despite that, his presence weighed heavily on my mind.
During a bathroom break, I opened my purse and saw the red lipstick that he’d purchased for me. I’d never put it on, but for some reason, I decided to open the tube and try it on.
It was extremely…red. I guess, that was the point.
It was amazing how many of my co-workers commented on my lips. One little thing like a pop of color definitely got you loads of attention. Unfortunately, it wasn’t their attention I was looking for. I was dying to see Simon’s reaction. The fact that I was craving his attention right now was definitely a bit troublesome.
Finally, I was called into the room where he was examining a patient, who’d been taking up a good deal of his time all afternoon.
Simon turned around to look at me. “Nurse Valentine, if you could…” he hesitated then smiled once he got a look at my lips. He blinked a few times, then continued, “If you could prepare an IV drip for Mr. Norton. I’m going to keep him here for a bit.”
I licked my lips. “Of course, Dr. Hogue.”
Simon abruptly left the room, and I didn’t see him for a while again.
About a half-hour later, I flinched when I felt his hand on the small of my back as he walked to keep up with me.
“Are you due for your break, Bridget?”
“Not for another hour.”
“How long do you get again?”
“Thirty minutes.”
“Meet me by the elevator in an hour.”
He zipped past me so fast that there wasn’t any time for me to respond.
When it came time for my break, I found myself waiting by the elevator alone. Just as I was about to leave, Simon came running down the hall in his scrubs. His hair was disheveled. He didn’t say anything as he pushed the up button.
We entered the packed elevator together. While he glanced over at me, he still wasn’t saying anything. The doors opened, and we made our way up to the third floor.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked.