by Claire Adams
“Damn, I bet that was rough.” He pulled the towel from over his shoulder and wiped the bar down after tossing their empties.
“It wasn’t pretty. But it is what it is. I’m playing hardball with them. They sat there telling me how they didn’t want my money or need it, but they’re suing the shit out of me. And that woman, I think she’s crazy.”
“Oh, man.” He shook his head.
“Yeah, it’s hard to imagine a nice guy like Shawn having that dragon lady as a mother.” I cringed, remembering her posturing glares.
“They are trying to put a value on their son’s life that is grossly disproportionate to the case. They’ll lose. I’ve seen it a thousand times. The world is full of bitter-ass people.” I finished off my beer and pushed my empty glass toward him.
“I hope it works out, man. At least you’ve got a good woman to help get you through it. That one’s a keeper based on looks alone. Do you ever say no to her? I’d give her anything she wanted.” He shook his head and put my glass in the wash bin.
“I plan on it, if I can keep her interested.” I was trying to play it cool, but the truth was, I would do exactly that and give her anything in the world. And, he was right — it was nice knowing that no matter how shitty things got, I had Lexa to bring me out of my slump.
I stood from the bar and fished out my keys. “I’m going to quit while I can still drive myself home. I need to get going. It’s been a long day.” I stretched my arms, which were still sore from my workout. I’d gone to the gym before showing up at the bar.
“Take it easy, man.” As I waved to Glen, I glanced down at my phone to see if Lexa had texted, but found Layne had called again instead.
I had turned my phone down because it wasn’t like I could hear it in the bar, anyway, and I didn’t want anyone other than Lexa disturbing my drink. I decided to call him before it got too late and before he woke me up too early the next morning.
I pushed his number and waited for him to answer. “’Bout time, Aiden.” I hated when he answered the phone that way, and it made me want to remind me that my time was my own and I wasn’t living on his.
“What?” Keeping it short was always best with Layne.
“They aren’t going to settle, so we’re going to trial. I wanted you to know before you hear it in the press circuit.”
“Offer them half.” I headed out to my truck and unlocked my doors.
He groaned. “Dammit, Aiden, they aren’t going to settle, and that’s more than they deserve, and you know it.”
“Offer it, see if they want it. If not, we go to trial. I want this shit over with.”
“It would be admitting fault.”
Any form of settlement was going to be admitting fault, but I knew I couldn’t get around paying them something unless I went to court, and having a long, drawn-out battle would be hell. It was bad enough I had to put up with this much of Layne on a daily basis. The two of us had always had a shaky relationship, and my dad had been the buffer.
Layne resented me not joining the firm and taking my father’s place since he and my father had done so much for me in law school, but what I’d never admitted to him until my father died was that I didn’t want it. I hadn’t ever wanted any of it. But for some reason, I was good at law. Guess it ran in my blood.
I thought about everything going on and how I wanted nothing more than to have a normal life again. Not the life I had before Mattie showed up and cleaned the house, but the one I was on my way building for myself before the accident. To do so I might have to practice law for a little while, but I knew with my heart that it wasn’t all I wanted to do, not forever. For the first time in a long time, I could actually see myself living again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lexa
Things happen fast in the ER, so one has to stay on their toes and be ready for anything. I had known that going into this field, but somehow that never prepared you for how real it could get.
I’d only sat down and glanced at my phone when I got a call that I was needed. There I’d been reading a text from Aiden when it happened. So as I hurried out for the call, that was all I was thinking about. All I could think about.
The text had come through only minutes before I took my break and found my phone in my locker. I usually kept it on me, but some days, I kept it locked up along with my other belongings. He said he couldn’t wait to see me at our date, but then hours later and his next message was what had me distracted. Hey, I have something important to talk to you about.
He’d somehow found out who I was. That was all I could figure from the change of his tone. It was bound to happen. Had he gone online to dig up information on my parents and learned about me? Had someone told him about me? It would serve me right.
Tasha's voice rang out across the hall. “ETA is under two minutes.” I turned to see she was filling Dr. Rob in on our newest arrival, who was on his or her way.
“This one’s critical, multiple injuries, cardiac on the scene.” She continued rambling as I scrubbed and gloved.
Minutes later, the man of the hour was wheeled to the ER, and as soon as I saw him coming through, I sprang into action. That is until someone said the magic words. Motorcycle accident.
The man was covered in blood, making it hard to see, but from what I could, the matted blood staining his hair, which was limp and hanging in weird angles, and build was too similar to Aiden’s. The stench of fresh blood, that coppery sting, was enough to make my eyes water.
This man wasn’t Aiden, but the familiarity of the situation hit me all at once and caused me to freeze. I don’t know how long I was out for, but the sound of the man’s flatline brought me around as a hush fell over the room.
That could have been Aiden. Luckily, the garbage can across the room was close enough for me to make it to, and I dropped to my knees and heaved up a small portion of the lunch I’d had hours before.
“Someone get her out of here.” It was Rob’s voice, but I was too busy heaving again to hear much else.
I wasn’t sure who helped me and my garbage can up and out of the area, but they scurried back into the OR to no doubt clean up after me. The patient had died. There was nothing left to do for him.
Another wave of panic washed over me and I thought of Aiden on that table — a much different image, yes, but the very idea that it could have been worse was bubbling up from within and spilling out into the can. I tried to stay on my feet, but was losing the battle fast until I leaned back against the wall.
Kathy came out to help me. “Are you okay? It’s not like you to worry about a little blood.” She offered me a cool, damp rag by laying it across the back of my neck.
“I don’t know what came over me.”
But that was a lie. The shock that Aiden could have died before I ever had a chance to meet him, that I might have seen him ripped apart, arms broken, the flesh on his legs peeled back like a fish that had been filleted… It had gotten to me. Aiden had been lucky. I’d been lucky. Part of me wanted to call him up and make him promise he’d never get on another bike, but I knew that wasn’t practical.
“Well, Dr. Rob’s on the warpath. He snapped at two other nurses for no good reason, and I can’t help but think it was actually meant for you.” About that time, he came out of the hall and went in the other direction, and I held my breath a moment while he disappeared. Kathy took the garbage can as I stood and took a deep breath. “He’s probably going to notify the family.”
I couldn’t help but think about who they’d inform if something had happened to Aiden. Surely, he had an uncle or cousin somewhere. Or perhaps his maid, the woman who’d cooked those delicious meals would be the one. “I better go freshen up so I can get back to work.”
“Yeah, that would be a good idea. I would be doing something when he finds-”
She focused her gaze over my shoulder and gave me an apologetic look as she bailed. I glanced back to see Rob headed my way, and he wasn’t happy. I wiped my mouth, hoping there w
asn’t anything awful aside from my breath to offend him. I’d done enough of that already. The man who’d wanted to ask me out was gone, and the doctor who was stalking his way directly for me fumed so bad that if I looked closely, I might see smoke.
“Nurse Lexa.” The use of my title was the first indication that this was about to get bad. “I want you to go home.” He stopped in front of me, glaring down with hard brown eyes and as much ire as I’d expected. “You’ve become so distracted with your personal issues that I’m afraid you’re becoming a hazard, and I will not tolerate your behavior in my ER.”
“Yes, Doctor. I’m sorry. I just-”
“I know. It hit you what could have happened to the Walker guy. I get it. But I don’t have time for it, either. Go home and get your head on straight and come back in a couple of days when you’re focused.”
A couple of days? He was suspending me.
“Please don’t suspend me. I’ll be fine tomorrow. I promise.” Even as I swore to it, images of every casualty I’d ever seen went through my mind like a slideshow.
He looked away, and for a moment, there was a slight falter in his expression, something in him that wanted to help me or let me off easy. Then he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and met my eyes.
“The rest of the day and tomorrow. That’s the best I can do. This is people’s lives at risk. The guy who came in didn’t have a chance in hell, so you didn’t directly affect what happened in there, and that’s the only reason I’m being lenient now. But if that had been a critical situation with some hope, that hope would have diminished the moment you let your personal life interfere.”
He let out a long breath and then looked away again. I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to look at me, either. I turned to go, but he pulled me by the arm and stopped me. “Lexa, you’re one of the best nurses we have here. I’m not the only doctor that would hate to lose you on their staff. And maybe I’ve not helped things with asking you out. It’s unneeded pressure, and I think it’s best if I take a step back from that, as well.”
It was a polite brush off, and that was fine. He knew my heart belonged elsewhere, and at least I had the comfort of knowing things wouldn’t have to be awkward with him around; at least, not because of Aiden. The whole kicking me out of the ER and telling me to go home thing might cause a riff.
I’d try not to let it happen, but things wouldn’t be the same between Dr. Rob and me again after this. He’d lost his respect for me. And, I couldn’t blame him. He gave me another sympathetic look before he walked away.
I hurried and gathered my things. I considered going to see Aiden, but instead, I went home to lie on the couch and eat ice cream. It was thinking food, and I had a lot of thinking to do.
For one, I needed to understand why I had freaked out in the ER. That person wasn’t Aiden, and it wasn’t my first time in that situation. It certainly wasn’t the first bad motorcycle wreck patient I’d had. My first week into the job, I’d held a man’s intestines in my hands after an accident. It was the horrible fact of my job, and I had always maintained my cool and composure.
No, this was something else. After being so intimate with Aiden, I saw him as more than another patient. I’d explored every part of him, and when I was with him, it was as though we were one person.
Maybe it was my own mortality. Or maybe it was imagining what my brother had gone through when he died in that crash. When his body was recovered, he was unrecognizable. Through all of the weeks following the plane crash, I’d never once lost my cool. I had to wonder if my concern for Aiden was out of some strange comparison.
I’d lost the most important man in my life when I’d lost Shawn. Up until that moment, he’d been my best friend. Maybe now I was transferring some of my fear of having a man I care so much about leaving me. The situation had opened the floodgates of emotion that I’d been holding back for so long. I broke down and cried right there in the middle of spooning my rocky road.
It was more than concern and more than friendship. Was I falling for Aiden Walker? No, he was just a close friend, someone who I could date and have a little fun with, but not much more.
I wanted more, though. I couldn’t deny that. But if I didn’t work something out in my head, I was never going to have him. But then again, I may not have him anyway. Another spoon, another taste of the delicious chocolate against my tongue, and it hit me: I was falling in love with Aiden, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
No matter how much I’d wished I could chalk it up to friendship, chalk it up to the accidents and the fact that we’d both lost someone important, that once he was out of sight, he’d be out of mind, I couldn’t. Those were the lies I told myself. Tomorrow, he would tell me everything he’d learned about me. That had to be what he needed to talk to me about, and if it took me another pint of ice cream, I’d figure out how to deal with it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aiden
I had decided that starting the night off with a traditional-style date wouldn’t do, so I held my breath and as I drove Lexa to the local Tipsy Paint. Allison had always talked about it, and she’d done several paintings from the place. The woman on the phone explained it as an art class with a BYOB policy.
Lexa’s eyes widened as I stopped outside the place. I hoped she hadn’t been there before and we could experience this one thing together, but it had been around for a while now, so the chances of that were low.
“Tipsy Paint? Bre is going to be mad at us both. She’d been trying to get me here for months, but every time we plan it, they’ve been booked on my night off.”
“Well, my sister used to love coming here, and I thought it beat those sword fighters I mentioned before.”
She shook her head and gave me a disappointed glare. “Couldn’t book any swordfighters, huh?”
“No. I’m sorry that didn’t work out. I know how much it meant to you.” I shut off the car and went around to open her door, which she was already doing. So, I took her hand, and she stood, meeting my eyes with a wide grin.
We went inside, where the instructor had a table set up with two easels and a blank canvas. We began our lesson by cracking open a bottle of wine and choosing our painting.
“Oh, I want to do this one.” Lexa pointed at a beautiful painting that looked like it could have been inspired by Olde House itself. “It looks like your trees.”
“If you wish.” I passed the news on to our instructor, who had us prep our canvas with an outline, and then after that, we sat painting until we were done.
Lexa had a knack for painting, but I wasn’t doing so well. The tree in my painting looked a bit pink for my tastes, and the branches were a tad more like a willow’s than a live oak’s.
I focused as best as I could while trying to put the finishing details on my canvas. Lexa caught my attention as she giggled. I turned to find her deeply amused, and I dropped my brush and frowned. “Are you laughing at my painting?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m laughing at you. You stick your tongue out when you concentrate. It’s very cute.” I hadn’t been called cute since I was a little boy, and I looked away as I mumbled an “oh man” under my breath.
“It’s endearing. I like that you are so into it.” She finished her painting and then signed her name, but I still sat there sticking out my tongue.
It was nice that she’d play with me. I didn’t have to worry about her ever taking things too seriously, and the date was actually fun and different. I finally finished my painting and poured us a glass as we waited on them to dry a little. “So did you enjoy the date? Did I do a good job?”
“Yeah, you have a real talent.” She glanced at my painting and turned her head to the side.
“I meant a good job on coming up with something creative.” I knew she hadn’t mean creative in the sense of the arts, but I’d covered both bases.
“Yeah, I’m having fun.”
“Well, as soon as those little beauties finish drying, we�
�ll go grab a bite to eat. I still have something I need to talk to you about. But-”
I nodded my head toward the instructor, who was cleaning up our mess. Lexa smiled, letting me know she got the message.
“Yeah, about that. I have something I need to talk to you about, as well.” Her face fell, but I wanted things to go over well, so I brushed it off.
“Let’s talk about it later. Let’s go eat. I’m starved, and your stomach has made funny noises all night. You’re lucky I found it so charming.” I gave her a little nudge and helped her to her feet.
The paintings were not quite dry, so we put them in the backseat of my truck and let them ride where they were safe. We headed out for a nice dinner, and then to my surprise, Lexa accepted my invitation to go back to my house.
I couldn’t wait to be with her, and I still had to ask her if she’d be interested in more. I wanted many other changes to show her I could be someone she’d want to keep around.
I took her inside totally prepared to talk when she tried to beat me to the punch. “I think we should talk, Aiden.” She took a seat on the couch, where I lowered myself beside her. She fidgeted with the small silver band she wore, and I wondered if it were something special.
Jealousy reared its ugly head. Had someone bought that for her? Recently? I suddenly wondered how many others she had flocking around waiting to have her. Not if I can help it.
“Let me go first.” I cleared my throat and sat back on the sofa and angled myself toward her. I stroked her hand and met her eyes. “I’ve wanted to explain something to you all night and ask you a question, too.” She kept her eyes on me as if I were a ticking time bomb about to detonate.
“Yeah?” Her chest rose and fell, and she seemed a bit shaken, but I knew she had to sense the urgency in my voice.
“When my family died, I got really bad off. I stopped talking to anyone and basically shut down. I didn’t even go the gym-”