In Stitches (Rose Valley Hospital Book 1)

by Sarah Collins

  “Hey there,” the woman said. Her voice was naturally raspy. She stood a hair taller than most women in the room, but it suited her. Her dark eyes shone under the flickering lights. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Uh…” Roya looked to Taylor and took her exaggerated nod as encouragement. “Sure.”

  The woman leaned over the counter, easily calling over a bartender. She turned around moments later with two small, yellow shots. “Lemon drops,” she offered. “Hope you like it sweet.”

  “Oh boy.” Roya laughed. They clinked the edges of their small plastic cups together. “Here’s to feeling like shit tomorrow.”

  “And enjoying tonight,” the woman finished.

  They tilted their small cups back at the same time, and shared a grimace shortly after. The alcoholic sting made Roya shiver. “Wow. That was stronger than I expected.”

  “Just how I like it,” the woman said. She leaned a hip against the bar. “I’m Leah.”

  Roya made eye contact with Taylor. This situation felt weird; no one ever hit on her or tried to pick her up at bars. Ever. But here she was, getting every ounce of attention from a very attractive woman.

  She loved it.

  “Roya.” She offered her hand. Leah laughed when she shook it, leaving Roya a little self-conscious. “So…what brings you here tonight?”

  Leah licked her lips. “I’m here to have a good time. Maybe get into a little trouble. Who knows…the night is young.”

  Roya quirked her brow. It didn’t feel very early to her, but she was also five years older than most people here. She sipped some of the leftover melted drink in her glass. “Are you from Phoenix?”

  “Nah. It’s too hot here for me,” the woman shook her head, laughing slightly. “I’m here for a bachelorette party. My best friend is getting married next week.”

  Perfect, Roya thought. It felt refreshing to talk to someone outside of her work circle. There would also be no chance of bumping into this woman again. With the events of the last few days seemingly taking over her life—the less drama, the better. She watched as another tall, slim woman led Taylor to the dance floor. Who knew they’d both get so much action on a Wednesday night?

  She directed her attention back to Leah. “How long are you here?”

  Leah ordered two more drinks for them and then daintily sipped from the little red straw. “Only tonight.”

  Roya glanced at her red lips. “Better make it a good one.”

  “That’s the plan.” Leah winked, and Roya surprisingly understood the connotation. “You live around here?”

  ---

  Hours later, Roya recalled the signs. She knew what Leah wanted from the second she walked up to the bar. She knew what they were going to do. But still, Roya was surprised when Leah straddled her in the taxi. She was even more surprised when Leah didn’t hesitate to follow Roya back to the bedroom, get undressed, and climb on the bed.

  And then, when Leah opened herself on top of the covers, waiting for Roya to join her—Roya damn near died of shock.

  She didn’t hook up like this. She didn’t catch the attention of others or go out in pursuit of getting laid. But here she was, fucking two women in the same number of weeks. Maybe luck really did exist.

  Or maybe she was just more confident in the world of women. She wanted them. She wanted to kiss them, explore them, and eventually find one to love. Not Olivia because that was clearly never going to happen. But other women…they definitely seemed interested.

  Unlike Norah, who had been soft and attentive, Leah was rough and eager. She fucked like she was in a hurry. Like she was already looking forward to the next round. By the time they finished, Roya’s legs felt weak. She had to hold onto the doorframe when she told Leah goodbye.

  Her body felt wobbly, but satiated.

  Her mind, however, was far from it.

  The encounter left her overthinking and empty. She grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge, took a sip, and sloshed it on the counter when she set it down. As a doctor, she knew she needed to rehydrate. As a sobering and exhausted human being, the thought of water made her queasy. She forced a few more sips anyway. It was late, and she needed to be at work early in the morning. But her brain wouldn’t stop racing long enough to even acknowledge sleep.

  With a groan, Roya flopped on the couch. She cushioned her head in her hands, using her thumbs to massage her temples. Sometimes, being in love with her best friend had felt like the most natural thing in the world. Easy. Like they were invincible together. The rest of the time, especially now, being in love with her was nothing more than a curse.

  Chapter 10

  Roya Bahar did not get to work early. Ever. So it was no surprise when she stumbled in fifteen minutes late the following Friday. Seeing Olivia propped up on the wall beside her office door, however, surprised Roya very much.

  Her heart raced. She ran away crying the last time she saw Olivia and they hadn’t talked in the days since. Was she here to chew Roya out? To demand an apology? Fall on her knees and beg for Roya to kiss her again because it was the best moment in her entire life?

  That was probably wishful thinking. Roya cleared her throat to push the nerves away. “Waiting on me?”

  Olivia crossed her arms. She didn’t look phased or affected by the memory of their Tuesday night kiss. She just looked pissed at Roya for…well, being Roya. “We were supposed to get coffee together this morning.”

  Roya stopped mid-step. She tapped her forehead with her fingers. “Ah—shit. I’m sorry. I forgot.”

  “It’s okay,” Olivia acquiesced. She hesitated before finishing, “We made those plans before…everything.”

  Roya sighed. She knew this would have to happen sooner or later. Her hand motioned Olivia inside. “Let’s talk.”

  She followed Roya inside the small office, noting the wild assortment of papers covering her desk. They both flopped down in the office chairs, their usual spots beside each other. The air settled heavily around them, resting firmly on their shoulders. Roya was the first to speak. “Where should we start?”

  Olivia had the most manicured, articulated hands. Her fingernails curved in the perfect horseshoe at the tip. They were never colored loudly or shaped in away to call attention to them. The most color she wore would be the palest pink, only distinguishable from beige with a flashlight and squinted eyes. It was one of Roya’s favorite parts about her best friend. She watched as Olivia scrutinized the nail on her pinky finger. Olivia was thinking about something. Picking something apart and rolling it around in her brain. It could possibly be bad, or it could be really good. Roya’s insides felt like more and more like a painful, twisted mess with every second that ticked by.

  Eventually, Olivia forced a puff of air through her lips and met Roya’s gaze. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m scared.”

  Roya felt an overwhelming roar in her ears. She fought to force out a coherent string of words. “About what?”

  “This. Us,” Olivia said. “Do you know how hard it was to make friends as an army brat? You’re the most stable person I’ve had in my entire life. I’m not ready to lose that.”

  It was true Olivia had moved around all her life. She was born on an American army base in France, moved back to the state of Georgia at nine, and then got plopped here in Phoenix at fourteen. Her life hardly led to the formation of long-term relationships. Eventually, she welcomed the solitude of her life. It helped her through the grueling hours of college and med-school. No single person could lead her astray or block her goals that way.

  But then she started working at Rose Valley Hospital, fresh out of med school and looking to conquer the world. She teamed up with Roya on the first case they ever worked together. Their friendship bloomed easily from then over the next half-decade. And as the years went by, their boundaries slipped until there was hardly a line between them at all. They had dinner together, went grocery shopping together. Worked together. Sometimes they even stayed the night together. Nothing sexual had
ever happened, but sharing a bed had surely played a part in their mounting emotions.

  Roya felt tears burn behind her eyes. She tried to blink them away. “Do we have to lose it?”

  “I hope not.” Olivia admitted it quietly. Her eyes flicked upwards, catching on Roya’s brown ones. “I love being your friend.”

  Roya couldn’t bite her tongue any longer. The words flew out of her mouth by their own accord, “But I love you.”

  And there it was. The biggest admission of Roya’s life. She didn’t regret it, not even when Olivia turned red. Not even when Olivia took a shaky breath and needed to compose herself. She didn’t regret it because she needed to say it. She needed to let Olivia know how deeply these emotions ran. Roya wouldn’t forgive herself if she never made how she felt and what she wanted absolutely clear.

  “I’m in love with you,” Roya reiterated again. “And I know you don’t feel the same way. I’m sorry if this makes everything weird or uncomfortable, but I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. I couldn’t. I needed to tell you that.”

  “To make yourself feel better?”

  “No…I—“ Roya considered her motives. “Well I guess that’s part of it. But I also want to know what you think about all of this. Because it’s hanging over our heads right now and I hate it.”

  Olivia sat there in silence. Her body was contorted sideways in the chair so they could face each other. Roya studied her freely. The tailored scrubs, orthopedic shoes, and custom surgical cap peeking from her pocket. She probably took five minutes putting her golden hair in a perfect ponytail, while Roya barely took five seconds to sloppily pull hers up. Olivia even took the time to put on a necklace despite knowing she would have to take it off before her first surgery. She clearly had an impeccable attention to detail. It was one of the things that made her such a good surgeon. It was also just another thing that fanned the flame burning deep within Roya’s heart.

  “I hate it too,” Olivia finally offered. “I hate that I can’t…”

  The pause was just long enough for hope to fester, grow deep within Roya.

  “Can’t what?” Roya pushed gently. “Tell me.”

  “I can’t do this,” Olivia said. Her voice sounded an octave higher than usual. “I can’t…I’m afraid of losing you. You’re all I have. I’m not brave enough.”

  Alarms blared in her head. She should back away and pretend this never happened. Instead, she found herself prodding gently, “I can be brave enough for the both of us.”

  Olivia scoffed. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  Moments passed. These were uncharted waters and Roya was hardly an experienced captain. She pushed forward anyway. “At least tell me whether or not you’ve thought about it.”

  Roya watched Olivia struggle with what to say. Finally, she nodded. “I have. A lot.”

  “And?”

  Roya didn’t even need to ask. The regret reflected from those green eyes was staggering. “I’m sorry.”

  She steeled herself towards her building emotions. Now was not the time to cave to tears; it was a time for logic. If Olivia had considered it, even briefly, then that meant the possibility still existed. “I think you’re wrong.”

  A wry smile tugged at Olivia’s mouth. “Don’t you always?”

  “Well I really think you’re wrong this time.”

  “What can we do to fix it?”

  “We can try,” Roya proposed. She tried not to plea or sound needy, but she wanted this more than anything in the entire world. “See where it takes us.”

  “And if it doesn’t work?” Olivia challenged, her brow raised. “Then what?”

  “We can go back to normal. Forget we even tried it.”

  Olivia scoffed again. It was becoming her new mantra. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  Roya sighed heavily. “I know.”

  The sound of their phones ringing filled the air at the same time, breaking the otherwise heavy silence. It could only mean one thing: an emergency.

  They had made too much progress this morning to let it slip away so easily. Olivia had admitted that she thought about being with Roya. More than once. That meant she also held feeling for Roya. Those feelings might be on lock down right now, but they were still there. That was enough for Roya. It fueled her desire, her hopes. Maybe this could work.

  She caught Olivia’s attention before they started rushing towards the emergency room. “This conversation isn’t finished.”

  Chapter 11

  The emergency turned out to be Savannah Lee. The multi-systemic issues finally caused too much stress for her small body and she began to deteriorate. They had wheeled the little girl into surgical suite B for surgery prep almost fifteen minutes ago. The team did a quick verbal run-through of the plan once before breaking away to get dressed and sterile. They didn’t have time left to discuss their surgical approach; it was literally now or never.

  Half of the surgical team—Roya, Olivia, and Taylor—filed into the room with sterilized gowns, gloves, caps, and goggles. The other half, Doctor Price and Doctor Bradford, would be called in on an as-needed basis. Otherwise, they would wait until Savanna was stable enough for the cardiologists to perform their portion of the operation. It could be days or a week, but eventually they would all help the little girl live an unhindered life.

  Roya followed Olivia into the surgical suite. They stood side-by-side as a nurse helped them with their gloves. She wanted to kiss Olivia before they broke apart, but instead wished her luck.

  Despite the facial masks, she recognized Olivia smile. “I’d wish you the same, but you hardly need it.”

  Roya blushed at the obvious compliment. Taylor stepped up to her place by the patient’s left leg and waited for the other women to take their spots. “But I’ll take all I can get.”

  Taylor was a general surgeon. She knew how to do the most common procedures (and did them very well), but had to practice for the more nuanced cases. They recruited her months ago to help with the orthopedic problems in Savannah’s case since Roya couldn’t do it all alone. It would be easier and more time-efficient to correct the bowing in both of the patient’s legs at once. Taylor had done well with the multiple trials and run-throughs, garnering the trust of the whole surgical team. Roya knew she would do well.

  “Oh please,” Roya answered. She got comfortable standing beside Savannah’s other leg. “You act like you haven’t done this before.”

  Taylor smiled. “I know, I know. I just love the attention.”

  Roya laughed. She was glad this woman joined their team. Not only was she a fellow lady-lover, but she was also a damn good surgeon and friend.

  “Did you see that woman again?” Roya asked. She did it in an attempt to break the obvious anticipation floating above Taylor. This was the first time she would be performing as part of a surgical team. An intern held out a scalpel for Roya to easily glide through layers with the minimal amount of trauma. “The one you danced with the other night.”

  “A few times actually,” Taylor answered. She followed suit on the right leg, copying Roya’s moves almost identically. “Turns out, she’s great at art and even better in the sack. You’ll have to meet her sometime.”

  Roya teased, “Plan on keeping her around long enough?”

  “Oh yeah.” Taylor grinned largely behind her mask. “She’s that good.”

  At art or sex, Roya didn’t ask for clarification. Taylor would most likely tell her more about it over the next few weeks anyway. Especially now that she knew Roya was also actively pursuing women as well.

  Olivia paused as a scan of the brain comes into view on an amplified screen. She directs her words towards the other two surgeons despite being intensely focused on the task at hand. “You both went out?”

  Taylor winced. “We would’ve invited you, Liv, but…”

  “It’s a gay bar,” Roya finished. “The big one close to my place. Splash.”

  “That blue building with the long line?” If Olivia’s feelings w
ere hurt about being left out, she covered it well. She also managed to multi-task superbly well, inserting a small instrument into the open cranial cavity. “Maybe I can join you next time. It sounds like fun.”

  “I had fun. I think Roya did too,” Taylor laughed, traded her tool for something sharper. They had to get all the way to the femur to insert the rod, and it had been a while since she needed to use so much strength. “But I didn’t know you were into women, Olivia.”

  “I didn’t know that was a requirement for admission,” Olivia deftly managed. Her voice held a tinge of annoyance, but subtly enough that only Roya caught onto it. “Besides, I’ve been to several over the years.”

  Taylor plowed forward with her small talk. Even the tiniest bit of juicy gossip would to make a six-hour surgery pass quickly. “Damn. That’s hot. You ever pick someone up?”

  “At a bar?” Olivia chuckled. “Do people actually still do that?”

  “Ask Roya,” Taylor tilted her chin towards the brunette with an air of pride. “Seems to be a natural talent among us.”

  For the first time, Olivia pulled her attention away from prodding the delicate brain tissues. Her eyes seared a path straight to Roya. “Oh, she is?”

  Silence.

  Taylor looked up, clearly confused. She only had her assumptions about the feelings between Roya and Olivia, and knew nothing about the events of the past few days. She certainly didn’t know that she wasn’t supposed to bring up that one little (but catastrophic) detail about their night out.

  Olivia and Roya maintained their stare-down until both time restraints and will power caused them to look away.

  “Did I say something?” Taylor fumbled, looking between them both. Realization hit when Taylor made eye contact with Roya. “Shit. I’m sorry—“

  “You act like you didn’t just go on a date last week,” Roya fired towards Olivia, pushing the apology away. It was the least of her concern right now. “Don’t act like what I did was any different.”

  “Well I didn’t have sex. Did you?”

  If Olivia wanted to play hardball, Roya could certainly throw it right back. Her eyes were focused on setting bone, but her voice still hit its target.