Chapter 23
23
Iroll my head around on my neck until it makes a satisfying crack. I nearly groan at how good that feels after that surgery. My foot presses down on the pedal, and water splashes out of the faucet into the large basin. I scrub out, washing off the last three hours of grueling work. I peer up and watch as the nurses wheel the patient out toward the ICU, too critical for the PACU. He’s got a long road ahead of him, but he survived this round of surgery, so I’m hopeful.
“Did you put in orders?” the scrub nurse asks from the doorway.
“Not yet. Can you put in the standard ones for now? I’ll add the others after rounds.” I glance up at the clock on the wall as I dry off my hands and slip my wedding band from the loop on the drawstring of my scrub pants that I tied it around. I hold it in my hand for a moment. I’m already getting used to wearing it. Liking its weight and how it feels. It’s different from the last time I had one of these on me.
I should resent it more than I do. And I certainly shouldn’t like it as much as I do.
I slide it onto my left hand and push away from the sink.
“I didn’t know you were married,” she says to me. “Rumor had it that you were divorced and your ex-wife is deceased p>
“My ex-wife is,” I tell her, trying to hold in my smirk.
“But you’re married now?” she presses, wanting the inside scoop to feed the ever-churning gossip mill. Patients, coffee, and gossip are what keep hospitals running.
“I am.” I wink at her, grab my phone from the tray we keep them on, and head toward the elevator. I pull up my text stream with Skylar. She wasn’t home before I left for my shift last night, and it bothered me. I also couldn’t text to see where she was.
I’m not that kind of husband to her.
When I see her, I remember I’m supposed to keep my distance. I remember that Astrid was pregnant when I fell in love and married her, but Astrid likely never loved me back. She said she did. She acted the part. But she cheated, and it seriously hurt. It messed me up for a long time. I didn’t trust. I didn’t want to love.
Skylar doesn’t even like me. She’d be no different from Astrid. I already know this.
My issue? When I’m away from her, I can’t stop thinking about her, and with that, all the reasons why I need to keep my distance get shoved to the background. It’s a paradox and a mindfuck, and I have no clue how to reconcile the two.
Me: Text me when you get to the hospital, and I’ll come down and meet you.
I press the button for the elevator, wondering if I should go down to the lobby to head her off instead of the MSICU, which is where I was initially going. She replies instantly, and a stupid, I’m an idiot smile curls up my lips.
I have it bad for my wife.
Skylar: Why would you do that?
I roll my eyes.
Me: Because, my lovely wife, we should probably be seen together if we’re going to sell this thing. Don’t you think?
Skylar: Fine. I’m here. I’m in the lobby.
I immediately hit the L for the lobby
Me: Stay there and wait for me. I’ll buy you a coffee.
Skylar: Make it a lemon ginger tea, and you have a deal.
A frown instantly tugs my smile off my face.
Me: Morning sickness?
Skylar: Just some nausea. Hoping the tea will help it pass.
I place an order online for her tea and a large coffee for myself, as I’ve been going since seven last night. The elevator doors open to the chaos that is the hospital lobby. Families and healthcare workers are coming and going. A large, brightly colored sculpture takes up half of the lobby, and I work my way around it, already spotting Skylar on the other side of it.
Her blonde hair is twisted up into a tight bun, and her face is sweet with only a small touch of makeup.
“Hey.” I stand close enough that I have to look down at her. She’s so adorably short and looks insanely cute in her pink scrub pants and blue hospital fleece.
Her green eyes cast up to mine. “Morning. How’s your shift been so far p>
“Long,” I tell her, reaching up and snatching an eyelash that’s fallen to her cheek. She startles back from my touch, but I hold it out in front of her. “Make a wish p>
She snorts. “I hardly know what to wish for at this point.” Yet she closes her eyes and blows on my finger, making the eyelash flutter away and heat surge through my body. The way this woman affects me is like no other. I hate it as much as I love it.
“We should head up,” she says. “I don’t want to be late, and if possible, I want to talk to Michaela before she hears about it from someone else p>
“I don’t think she’ll care p>
Her lips curve up into an alluring smirk. “Oh, she’ll care. All the nurses and doctors who wanted to be the next Mrs. Hughes will p>
“It’s just new guy syndrome p>
“New hot billionaire guy syndrome p>
I step into her, my lips dipping closer. “Is that what I am? Hot p>
“And a billionaire p>
“You don’t care about that. You likely have more than I do p>
She shrugs. “I never said you were hot. I was simply relaying the nursing party line p>
I can’t stop myself from trickling my fingers along her cheek. She shudders ever so slightly, and her pupils dilate. I doubt she’s even aware of it, but I know she feels this. There’s no stopping it. No denying it.
I only hope we can contain it.
“Is that so?” I whisper, only to have something catch my eye off to the side. “Shit. Josh p>
“What?” Alarm skitters across her face.
“Josh is heading our way.” And because she’s my wife and I want him to know it, I put my hand on her cheek with my band showing, dip my head, and kiss her. Her hands grip my arms—the way she has every time I’ve kissed her—and she holds on tight, rippling with uncertainty and unease.
“What the fuck?” Josh barks, grabbing onto Skylar and tearing her away from me. I jar back, feigning surprise that he caught us. Even as I gather Skylar back into me, resting my hand possessively on her hip and keeping her close.
I fix my gaze on him. “Problem, Dr. Wesley p>
His expression is murderous as he ignores me and goes right after Skylar. “Why is he kissing you p>
Skylar licks her lips but straightens her spine, and I love that. I love that she’s not cowering. I love that she’s bold, even if I know he scares her. I love that she left him and is finally able to see her worth.
“Because I’m married to him,” she states bluntly, and if I thought he was murderous a moment ago…
His eyes scan back and forth between us before narrowing down on her hand. My diamond band is there even if the rock isn’t.
“I told you she was seeing someone. You weren’t interested in believing me p>
He looks like he’s going to tear us apart. “Married?” he spits. “How the fuck can you be married to him p>
I hold up my hand. “Hey, you’re in the lobby of a children’s hospital. Watch your mouth and tone, Doctor p>
“Fuck you,” he barks at me before reaching for her, but I shift her so he can’t touch her. He goes ballistic. “This is bullshit. It’s not real p>
“It is,” she tells him.
“You’re my fucking girlfriend, Skylar. Mine! No way this is fucking happening p>
“It’s already happened.” And here comes our practiced lie. “Aston and I reunited after you and I broke up. You remember how I kissed him at the Valentine’s Day party two years ago. Well, I never got over that p>
Recognition flickers in his eyes, and I can’t help the flutter in my chest. She told him about the kiss. About me. It also explains why Josh was after me about her from the first moment I set foot in this hospital. Why he’s likely the one who claimed her off-limits.
“Anyway, things got serious fast between us and p>
“I moved back to Boston for her,” I explain. “We fell in love, and now we’re married p>
I smile down at her while keeping an eye on him.
“You stupid bitch!” he snarls. “How could you do this to me? You’re my girl.” He shakes his head. “No way. This isn’t real. I know it’s not. What the hell is going on?” He goes to grab her, and I knock his hand out of the way before he can touch her.
“Skylar, can you grab our drinks from the café? They’re already ordered and paid for. I’ll see you upstairs. I need a moment alone with my resident p>
Before she can argue or say anything, I grab Josh by the back of his neck and haul him over to the side of the lobby and into the hall that leads to the bathrooms and a storage room beyond it. I slam him into the wall, use my forearm as a band across his neck, and get right up in his face.
I want to punch him. I want to hit him so badly.
But after my ex’s husband sued me for hitting him and given the fact that we’re in the hospital and I’m on duty, I won’t take the risk.
“Listen here,” I seethe, using my extra couple of inches to my advantage. “You will never speak that way to my wife again. She broke up with you nearly two months ago. Get the fuck over it and move on. If you don’t leave her alone, I will destroy you. Not just professionally, which I can do, but physically and personally. I will rip you apart with my bare hands p>
His face is ruddy with anger and the fact that I’m applying some pressure to his trachea.
For a moment, he doesn’t say anything. He glares defiantly up at me, weighing his response because he can tell I’m not fucking around. But he’s also not the sort of guy to have his pride wounded and let it go. I press harder, wanting to kill him. I actually want to kill him for how he mistreated her. I don’t understand men who feel the need to hurt women. Who get off on making them feel small or scared or weak when it’s actually them who are.
Skylar’s sass and confidence are undeniably some of the sexiest things about her. And he tried to steal them. To stifle them. Simply because it made his insecure, pathetic ass feel better. What a fucking loser.
He doesn’t deserve her, and he sure as hell doesn’t deserve her baby.
“Am I understood p>
“Yes,” he rasps hoarsely, but he’s smiling. It’s a cocky as all fuck smile too. It’s one that’s telling me that despite the yes on his lips, this isn’t done for him. He views Skylar as his, and a ring on her hand isn’t going to change that.
I pull back, releasing him, and he sucks in a sharp breath. Before I can do something else that I shouldn’t, I storm away, my fists clenched, my jaw locked, and fire seething from my pores.
I twist my band around my finger as I press the button for the elevator. People surround me, anxious to get where they need to be. Rounds start in about ten minutes, but suddenly my phone goes off. I pull it off my hip and check it.
Trauma surgery to ER stat.
Shit. It’s going to be one of those kinds of days.
I have no idea if they texted Josh too, but I jog away from the lobby, around the corner, and down the hall to the emergency department. My badge swipes along the pad, and the solid double doors open, allowing me to enter the patient area.
The nurse’s station is hopping with the change of shift, but one of the nurses catches my eye, and points down the hall. “Trauma two p>
I throw a hand up to her and move down the hall, grabbing a trauma gown, goggles, and gloves as I go from a tray in the hall, donning them as I walk. Using my back, I enter the room to find an unconscious infant on the table. Jesus. This fucking shift.
Stone is working the case, and he gives me a quick nod, even as he works to intubate. “Eighteen-month-old unconscious and unresponsive on scene. He somehow managed to climb out of his crib this morning and went straight over the edge. He’s hit his head and has a distended abdomen because he bumped the dresser. Vitals are okay but not great, with a heart rate in the one-sixties and blood pressure sixty over forty. We’re trying to stabilize and get him to CT p>
“Fell out of his crib p>
“Yes p>
Fuck. I come over, pulling my stethoscope off and putting the earpieces in so I can listen to his abdomen. Bowel sounds are absent, and as I palpate, his belly is tense with deep purple bruising on his upper right quadrant.
“Parents found him immediately after and called nine-one-one.” Stone finishes the intubation with the meter showing yellow, which means it’s in the right place. “I want a C-spine X-ray and abdominal CT now. We also need a full neuro workup as well p>
“Neuro is on their way to evaluate. Central line is in,” one of the residents tells us.
“Fluids up and onboard,” the nurse announces.
“Abdomen is rigid. He’s bleeding from somewhere. Where are the parents p>
“In the waiting room,” Stone states.
“Good.” Because this poor little baby needs consent for surgery. What a freak thing. “Call up to the surgical floor. I want an OR prepped and ready the moment he comes out of CT. Let’s also make sure he’s typed and crossed p>
“On it.” I let the ER trauma team finish up and get him to CT while I head upstairs to get myself ready. My guess is he has a bowel and liver laceration, but I won’t know for sure or how bad they are until I get in there. Once my feet hit the elevator, I type out a text to Skylar.
Me: You okay? How’s it going up there for you?
Thankfully, she replies instantly.
Skylar: Hanging in there. Michaela was a bit snarky at first but seems fine now and says she’s happy and excited for me. I didn’t tell her about the pregnancy. Haven’t seen Josh again. Do you want me to run your coffee up?
My lips twitch, and I throw her favorite line to me back at her.
Me: Why are you being nice to me?
Skylar: I’m a loving and doting wife.
Me: Liar.
Skylar: Fine. I’m really not. But I am thankful for what you did for me this morning. I know you’ve been on all night. I bet you could use it.
Me: That would be great. I’m about to go into the OR on a poor baby who climbed and fell out of his crib.
Skylar: Damn. I’m sorry. That’s awful. I’ll see you in a few with your coffee.
I’m looking forward to it.
I don’t type that. But I am. Even when I know it’s a recipe for disaster.