by Kimberly Fox
An ugly old brown car pulls up and Shane waves to it. “That’s Christopher’s car.”
It looks like it belongs in a car hospital, not a people hospital. “Geez, Shane,” I say, staring at the car and waiting for the bumper to fall off. “He’s your manager? Don’t you pay the poor guy?”
“Way too much,” he says with a shake of his head. “Money goes in one hand with that guy and out with the other.”
Christopher parks the car and gets out with a smile that fades the second he sees me. He drops his eyes to the pavement and doesn’t look back up at me once. Even when Shane says that I’m his girlfriend.
What the hell?
I didn’t do anything to him. He should be happy that I healed his client, but instead, he hurries into the car without saying goodbye.
“I guess this is it,” Shane says, standing in front of me as my heart aches.
“I guess so,” I say, trying not to cry. “Try to actually break your spine next time so you can stay a little longer.”
“Will do, Doc.” He leans in for a kiss, and I turn my chin away at the last second. I’m in front of my place of work and it feels inappropriate to be kissing a patient. It is inappropriate to be kissing a patient.
Although…
“I’m not your patient anymore,” Shane says, reading my mind. Suddenly, he’s making a lot of sense and I step on my toes to kiss him.
“Mmmmmm,” he moans, licking his lips when we pull away. “I’ll see you tonight?”
I nod. It might be hard to say goodbye to him and not see him while I’m at work, but our relationship will be even better when we’re in a comfortable house, cuddled up on a sofa with a glass of wine in our hands.
I can’t wait for tonight.
He gets in the car, and I can’t help but feel a sense of loss as they drive away.
Just as a tightness settles into my chest, my resident-in-training Ralph comes out of nowhere and completely takes it away.
He’s holding the cutest little puppy in front of my face. A puppy that’s desperately trying to lick my nose.
“He’s perfect,” I say, cooing as I take him in my arms. He’s pure rambunctious energy. He’s radiating love.
It would be impossible to be lonely with this little guy bouncing around.
And I know just the person who needs it the most.
Chapter 17
Madison
I’m glad I didn’t eat lunch yet because it would be coming back up with the horrific make-out show in front of me. The puppy literally has its tongue down Mitchell’s throat, and he doesn’t seem to be trying to stop it. At all.
“Do you want me to leave?” I ask with my ass hovering over the chair.
“Not at all,” Mitchell says, finally pulling the puppy away from his smiling face. “He is incredible. A true delight.”
I smile awkwardly as my boss puts his new puppy on the floor of his office. The dog bounces over to the garbage can and stuffs his head inside.
“This is the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me,” he says, laughing as the pup pulls out a banana peel.
“You seemed kind of down,” I answer. “And I thought a puppy might lift your spirits a bit and help cure some of that loneliness.”
I was also hoping that it would make him get off my back a bit too, but I don’t mention that part.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you,” he says. “You’re a good doctor. You didn’t deserve it.”
My mouth drops, nearly hitting the desk. Did he just call me a good doctor? He must really be in love with this dog.
Hopefully, it’s what he needs to finally get over Anabelle.
“I hear you’re going to the wedding,” he says, laughing as the pup grabs onto his shoe and tries to yank it off with his baby teeth.
“The… wedding?” I ask, swallowing hard. The image of Mitchell talking with Walter pops into my head and I get a sour taste in the back of my throat. Did he invite my boss to the wedding too?
There goes my fun night if he did.
“Mr. Thatcher’s daughter’s wedding,” Mitchell says with a nod. “He invited me as well. We should carpool.”
Now I really feel sick.
“Carpool?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder at the only exit. It’s going to be a romantic evening with me, Shane, and my boss. Kill me now.
“Yeah,” he says, nodding enthusiastically. “I just got Miley Cyrus’ new CD. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. There’s going to be a Party in the USA.” He throws his hands up in the dorkiest raise the roof I’ve ever seen. This guy couldn’t raise the roof on a tent with those pathetic moves.
I cringe at picturing having to tell Shane that I’ve brought a third wheel to our first date.
After several years here, Mitchell just started to like me, and I’m about to ruin it thirty seconds in.
“I actually live right next to the church where they’re getting married,” I lie, slowly getting up as he looks at me funny, “so I’m just going to walk.”
“You do?” he asks, looking confused.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding as I slink back toward the door. “Right next door.”
“Next door?”
“Yeah, like right down the street. Around the corner. That’s where I live.”
“Oh,” he says, rubbing his chin as he stares at the desk. “What about the hall? You’ll need a ride there.”
“No,” I say, waving a hand at him as my ass bumps into the closed door. “I have a place near the hall too.”
Now he really looks confused. Well, that makes two of us. I can’t even keep up with my own lies. “I have a place near the hall too, so I won’t need a ride.”
“But—”
“I have places all over the city,” I say as I open the door and slink outside. “So, I’ll just see you there. It’s better that way.”
“Won’t you need a ride between the church and the—”
“Look!” I say, pointing at his new puppy who is chewing a leather-bound medical book. “He’s adorable!”
Mitchell seems to forget all about my crazy explanation the second he sees the dog. “Awwww,” he says, clasping his hands together as he watches the dog destroy his personal property.
I take advantage of his distraction and slip into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind me. I find Ralph and thank him for bringing in the pup.
“You saved my butt with that one,” I say to my resident-in-training. “Coffee is on me this week.”
“No problem,” he says with a smile. “I have five puppies left. Do you want one? Take two.”
“I’ll take zero,” I answer with a laugh. I don’t want anything in my condo that likes to destroy shoes. No matter how cute it is.
We start the rounds together, and I sigh in disappointment when I walk into Shane’s old room and there’s a new patient inside. He’s not on my chart.
“Did a nurse send you in here?” I ask. He’s looking strange with a hospital gown over his clothes. His hair is done up and he doesn’t look sick. Out of place, yes, but sick, no.
“The nurse told me to see Dr. Madison Mendes,” he says. “Is that you?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“You’re Dr. Madison Mendes?” he repeats.
“Yes, I’m Dr. Madison Mendes,” I answer with a hint of frustration. “Who are you?”
“My name is Neil,” he says as he reaches under the pillow and pulls out a stack of documents. He hands them to me as he steps forward. “And you’ve just been served.”
I let out a gulp as he pulls his gown off in one fluid motion, balls it up, and throws it at the bin. He misses spectacularly.
“Ah, crap,” he mutters as he shuffles out of the room. “That would have looked so much cooler if I got it in.”
I scan the papers in a panic, wondering who the hell is suing me when I finally see the name in big block letters.
Now I’m really going to be sick.
Shane Winters.
Chap
ter 18
Shane
I forgot how good a hot shower at home can feel. The warm water flowing over my skin feels like heaven. It’s a million times better than the ice-cold showers with the non-existent water pressure at the hospital.
I let out a moan as I close my eyes and turn my face up to the huge rain shower shower head that’s pouring down on me. The only thing that would make this better was if a very naked Madison was here beside me.
She’ll be here soon enough. I made her promise to come see me the second she finished work.
I’m still shocked at how taken I am with her. I was stuck in the hospital for two weeks, and the first thing I did when I got out was head to a jewelry store to look at engagement rings. That is not like me at all. I’ve been seriously wondering if Madison transplanted some ovaries into my body during the surgery.
Thoughts of marriage and a future with Madison are rolling through my head as I turn the water off, wrap a towel around my body, and step onto my fluffy bath matt. I never even considered marriage before I met her, but now I can’t stop thinking about it.
“Ah,” I grunt through clenched teeth as I bend over too quickly to dry off my legs. My back is still aching, and I have to remember to take it slow.
There’s a bottle of painkillers on the bathroom vanity tempting me to let them take the pain away, but I can’t. Not with Madison coming over. I want to be awake and alert with her.
I take a deep breath, grab the tiny plastic bottle, and toss it in the drawer where I can’t see it anymore. Instead, I do some of the exercises that one of the nurses showed me, and the pain in my back starts to dissipate to a bearable level.
I still have a long way to go before I’ll be back on a bike, but I’m still hoping that I’ll make it to The Moxie Energy Drink Championships, which is just over three months away. I have to pay my huge hospital bill somehow.
With the towel wrapped around my waist, I head into my office and smile as I look at the trophies and pictures on the wall. There are framed magazines with my handsome face on the cover, and newspaper articles that go all the way back to my first appearance in my hometown’s local paper that featured me as a fourteen-year-old boy after I built my own ten-foot ramp. The following issue had over ten letters to the editor pleading with my parents to not let me use it. I remember reading them while I was in the hospital.
The hospital bill is sitting on my desk, taunting me. My stomach hardens as I slowly walk over and pick it up. The final damage was $417,326. I’m not sure who got it worse in the accident: my spine or my bank account.
Or it might just be my house. I may have to sell it in order to pay off the debt.
I stuff the bill into a drawer and close it. Out of sight, out of mind.
I’m not going to magically come up with the money to pay the bill tonight, and I don’t want the stress of it to ruin my first night out of the hospital with Madison.
An hour later, I have a fire going in the fireplace, candles strategically lit around the house, my finest bottle of wine open with two empty glasses, soft music playing, and a back that’s now killing me. But I can live with the pain. As long as Madison has a good night and I leave her wanting to come back tomorrow, it’s all good with me.
At 10:17 there’s a vicious pounding on my door. What the hell?
I glance out the window and see Madison standing on my front porch, fuming. Her legs are planted wide, her sleeves are rolled up her arms, and there’s a fierce tightness in her eyes that makes me want to turn all the lights out and hide under my bed.
My mind races as I think back over the past forty-eight hours to see if there was anything I did that would bring out this level of rage. I slowly open the door when I come up blank.
Her look of anger turns to hurt when she sees me. Her eyes are red and puffy like she’s been crying on the way over here. My heart breaks for her even though I don’t know the reason.
“Are you okay?” I ask, reaching for her.
She flinches away from me, staring at me with a look of betrayal. “How could you?” she asks. Accusation is thick in her voice.
“Madison,” I say, reaching for her again. I’m so confused. I don’t know what to say and no words are coming out.
“Don’t,” she says as she backs away from me. Her chin quivers and then the tears start coming. “I did the best I could. I’m not perfect, but I gave you everything I had.”
I feel nauseous. “Madison, what are yo—”
“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved with a patient,” she says, shaking her head as she presses her fist to her lips. “I’m so stupid. I had rules in place for a reason, and I shouldn’t have let you talk me out of them.”
She looks up at me with tear-filled eyes and a furrowed brow. There’s a coldness gripping my core that makes me shiver as I stare back at her, trying to understand what she’s saying.
“Madison,” I say, starting to panic. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She pulls out a crumpled paper from her pocket and shoves it into my chest. Before I can even look at it, she’s running back to her car.
“No,” I mutter when I read the name of the legal company on the letterhead, and it all falls into place. I’m going to fucking kill Christopher.
I crumple the paper in my fist as I look up at the only woman I’ve ever loved as she tries to get the hell away from me as quickly as possible.
“Madison!” I yell as I try to race after her. My back picks the perfect time to start hitting me with stabbing pains, and I have to grab onto the railing to steady myself before I pass out and fall down the stairs.
She jumps into her car and slams the door closed as I sink to the ground, grimacing in pain.
I can’t move because of the pain in my back, but it’s the pain in my chest that’s the real killer as I have to watch her drive away.
Chapter 19
Madison
“I can’t believe I trusted him,” I mutter to myself. I’m shaking my head in regret and despair as I race down the secluded back streets away from him.
I should have followed my brain and told my heart to zip its lip.
My brain knew that it would end badly. My brain warned me that he could treat me just like Gavin did.
My heart was seduced by the nice smiles and the soft words. My heart is an idiot.
My brain is smart. My brain was right.
I cringe when my cellphone buzzes on the seat next to mine just as I drive onto a bridge. I’m driving over a fast-moving river when I pick up the phone and see Shane’s name on the screen.
Anger, hurt, and a swell of emotions rip through me, and before I can process it all, I’m rolling down the window and throwing my phone out just so I don’t have to see his name.
Unfortunately, that name is attached to my phone, and I have to watch in horror as it sails over the bridge and into the river.
If there’s one thing that’s worse than a broken heart, it’s a broken heart and then losing your cellphone pretty much immediately afterward.
“Thanks, brain,” I mutter as I cross the bridge, leaving my cellphone somewhere at the bottom of the river. “On second thought, you’re not so smart after all.”
Chapter 20
Shane
Anger is ripping through me as the phone rings. I’m not calling Madison. I tried that over ten times already, and now the calls are just going to her voicemail.
I’m calling Christopher.
My hands are clenching and unclenching around the phone with every ring.
“Hey, Shane,” he says, sounding groggy as he answers like he just woke up from lying on the couch. “What’s up?”
“You motherfucker,” I hiss, wishing I could reach through the phone and strangle him with the wire. “What did I tell you about a lawsuit?”
I hear an audible gulp on the other end of the line. “The bill is at almost half a million dollars,” he says, his voice racing.
“That’s my problem!” I shout.
“Not anymore,” I say, feeling instantly better. “I told you that I wasn’t going to press charges against the hospital, and more importantly… against my girlfriend.”
More like ex-girlfriend at the moment.
“Shane!” he says in a voice that’s higher pitched than normal. “The doctor said you were under anesthesia. She said you weren’t thinking clearly.”
“I’m thinking clearly now,” I say. “I told you that suing wasn’t an option. I told you that very clearly. Now listen to this clearly. You’re fired, Christopher.”
“Shane…” he says. “We’ve been together since we were boys.”
“Well, it ends today,” I say, hanging up on him. It’s time to stop being a boy.
And it’s time to step up and be the man that Madison deserves.
Chapter 21
Madison
My new red dress is radiating confidence and boldness, but the girl wearing it is as nervous as a five-year-old who’s about to get a needle. My mouth is dry. My stomach keeps fluttering.
I look good, but I feel like shit.
You’ve performed surgery before. You’ve been in much more stressful situations than this. I think you can handle a wedding.
But as the shiny Audi pulls up to the curb outside, I’m pretty sure that I can’t handle it.
My palms start sweating as the nice car stops, waiting for me. I haven’t seen or spoken to Shane since the night I went to his house and gave him shit.
And it hasn’t been for his lack of trying. He’s called me at work a few times and even showed up to talk, although we didn’t see each other since I had Mike the security guard kick him out.
I just couldn’t face him. Especially at work. It was hard enough to keep myself together so I could focus on my patients without having another fight in the middle of my shift to add to the stress of it all.