She did as Teresse asked. Got the stupid sandwich, paid for it, walked back out of the cafeteria, and abruptly stopped. Because when she looked up, she saw a tall, raven-haired man standing with his back to her at the reception desk.
Her heartbeat tripled. It couldn’t be him. He’d been in yesterday. It could not be him.
JAKE
He’d come to Downsend specifically to meet with the Benson family. When Jake saw Tyler Benson’s scan, he couldn’t believe that the boy was only sixteen. He had a nightmare of a tumor in his head.
These types of situations, mostly inoperable tumors, were a dream for him, but a nightmare to most other neurologists. He wasn’t like other doctors. He’d advanced quickly through his first four years, having done his internship at P&E in the first year. In his third year, he’d received the opportunity of a lifetime in China. Dr. Huyo had taken him under his wing, teaching him everything he needed to know about life-threatening tumors. It wasn’t easy, as he’d just started dating Kate. He’d told her not to wait for him, but she had. Blair thought a year away from strawberry blondes might do the trick, and he’d carried on with his sessions with another counselor. The year under Dr. Huyo’s tutelage had put him in a completely different league. They called him The Brain God, or TBG for short. They even offered him another year, but he wanted to go back home. Shanghai wasn’t for him—it wasn’t home.
“Dr. Peters,” Sue greeted.
“It’s Jake, Sue. How are you?” He smiled at her. He hadn’t missed the blonde receptionist who kept looking at him every few seconds while she was on the phone, smiling every so often. He really disliked the effect he had on the female species.
“We heard you’re going to be taking over Ty’s case. He’s such an amazing kid.”
“And he has one hell of an amazing tumor, too.”
Sue laughed, although Jake didn’t know why. It wasn’t funny.
“Help, please help!” a woman’s voice shrilled. Jake turned his head in the direction of the shout, and saw a flash of strawberry blonde hair already busy assisting the woman’s husband. What did any of it mean? The strawberry blonde’s back was facing him, and she was already busy resuscitating the distressed patient while Oliver and other nurses nearby pushed the patient toward the elevator. Jake watched them all rushing by. The woman had an ass like a racehorse. Thoughts of Holly jumped into his mind again.
“You are getting married,” Sue broke into his thoughts.
Jake glanced at her and flashed her a grin. “I can still look at what is on the menu. I’m just not allowed to order anything.”
He watched them disappear into the elevator.
Jake winked at Sue then rushed up the stairs to pediatrics. He’d rushed, because deep down he knew he would have walked over and introduced himself to the blonde. But no. He had to steer clear from her, whoever she was. He was over that, and he wasn’t going to hurt Kate all over again.
Aggie was the first to greet him when he stepped into the ward. He wrapped his arms around the woman he’d known since he was five years old.
“Long time no see, baby,” she said softly. “You going to save that boy’s life?”
“I have to. He’s only sixteen, Aggie.”
“Come, let me take you to him,” she said.
Upon reaching Ty’s room, the first thing Jake noticed was that the young man look dead tired. In all honestly, it was a miracle he was still breathing.
“Mrs. Benson,” Aggie said, and Ty’s mother opened her eyes. His father had been reading a newspaper. Both stared at Jake.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Benson. I’m Dr. Peters.”
Both blinked and gaped at him simultaneously, and Jake broke into a grin.
“This is Dr. Peters?” Mrs. Benson asked.
“In the flesh,” he confirmed, holding his hand out to her. Next, he shook Mr. Benson’s hand. “I know that look. You think I’m way too young to know what I’m doing, but I was a fast learner, and I’m one hell of a doctor, if I do say so myself.”
Mrs. Benson laughed. “Sorry.” She took a deep breath and let it out again.
Tyler started to tease his mom. “Dude, it’s got nothing to do with your age, believe me. You must be surrounded by chicks.”
“Tyler!”
“It’s the tumor, Mrs. Benson,” Jake said, making her laugh again. “How do you feel, other than wanting to puke your lungs out?” Jake looked at Ty.
“Other than that, just peachy, thank you.”
Jake snorted. The kid had a good sense of humor.
“So are you going to tell us the news, or do we have to wait longer?” Mrs. Benson said.
“Mrs. Benson—”
“Mavis, please, and this is my husband, George.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m sorry for not being available before. But I’m here now, and I’ve checked the recent scans. I’m not going to lie to you. You won’t find a neurologist who is willing to remove your son’s tumor. I’m willing, but my rate of success is 40/60. With that said, I’ve operated on five tumors I’d place into the same category as Ty’s. Three, sadly, passed on, but two survived. I would like to get another CT scan and have another look, if you don’t mind.”
The Bensons nodded, but their smiles were hardly visible.
Jake wished he could change that rate, but it was what it was. He wasn’t going to lie to them. “One other thing. Ty is a ticking time bomb. I know it’s a hard decision to make, but time is something we don’t have.”
“Do you have children, Dr. Peters?”
“Jake, please, and yes, I have a two-year-old son. I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now.”
Mavis looked at Tyler.
“Don’t give me that look, Mom. Let’s do this.”
“Tyler,” Mavis warned.
“Mom, you heard Dr. Peters.”
“Jake,” Jake repeated.
“Jake,” Tyler said again. “It’s a freakin’ time bomb. Please. I just want it out.”
“What if…”
“Mom, I’m going to die, anyway, if you do not do this. It could be two weeks, it could be tomorrow.”
“Can I have some time to just think, please?”
“Of course, but let me carry on with getting him ready. It will save a lot of time.”
She nodded.
“I’ll see you soon, Ty. Don’t go dying on me now.”
“Finally, no more my man.”
Jake laughed, wheeling Ty out with him. He could only imagine where that had come from. Ollie was clueless when it came to connecting with teenagers.
He spent the entire afternoon running his own tests on Ty. The kid was awesome. He was a fighter. He just needed to relax until the boy’s mother was fully on board. He only needed one parent’s consent, but he’d be more at ease if both parents trusted him.
Jake learned a lot about the kid as they chatted. He’d never had a girlfriend before, which was sad though not unheard of as everyone dated at their own pace. In Ty’s case it was because of illness. Jake promised him that soon he’d be able to talk to girls without barfing in their faces. He even told him that he’d give him a crash course, since that was his department. At this bit of information, he could’ve sworn Ty’s eyes lit up.
Wherever Rod had gotten his files, it didn’t matter anymore. It was cases like Ty’s that had made him want to become a neurologist in the first place.
Somewhere around four, he took Ty back to his room.
“I hope they don’t make me wear those stupid ears.”
“Some of them really make the nurses and doctors look super hot.”
Jake laughed. “You have your eyes on one of them?”
“She’s hot as hell, and has the most beautiful reddish-blond hair.”
“Is it shoulder-length?”
“You saw her?”
“Only a glimpse.”
“She’s so hot, man. Kinda sweet too.”
Jake laughed again. But, deep down, he couldn’t beli
eve that this kid had mentioned the same woman. “She works in pediatrics?”
Nodding, Ty said, “Really good at it, too. Believe me, before her this place was boring as hell.”
“I can only imagine.”
Jake pushed him into the room. Mavis saw them and smiled at Ty’s laughter.
“So, I have done all I can. The decision lays in your hands now, Mavis. Do I operate, or do I leave it be?”
“Can I sleep on it?”
“Mom,” Ty whined.
“Of course you can. You’ll soon realize that I’m really, really good at what I do.”
Mavis blew out a breath and gave Jake a tight smile.
Jake bid his farewell. “See you soon…”
“Don’t say it, or I swear I will find a way to beat you silly.”
Jake snorted. “I’ll die before I say it. Bye.”
He walked out and saw the strawberry blonde from this morning standing with her back to him. She had a pair of mouse ears on and was filling in a chart. He walked up to reception as he had to get his phone. Her hair formed a barrier between them.
“Aggie, could you do me a favor, please?”
Aggie looked at the girl, then back at Jake who was grinning.
“Sure, Dr. Peters.”
“Could you please phone for an exterminator? We seem to have a lot of rodents here today.”
Aggie burst out laughing.
“Hi, I’m…” And that was all he managed to get out, because he was left staring at her retreating figure. She was in a rush, too, skating away on her wheelie shoes. Aggie stared, open-mouthed.
“How rude,” she said, sounding shocked.
Jake flashed her a grin. Finally, a strawberry blond that wasn’t interested in meeting him. It was going to be so fucking hard to stay away now.
HOLLY
What is he still doing here?
Aggie said something she couldn’t make out as she wheeled away, but she didn’t care. She prayed that he wouldn’t follow her. Why would he follow me, anyway?
Safely on the stairs, she took a couple deep breaths. Another close call. Jake had been right next to her. So close she could smell him, and boy did he smell good. His voice had been right by her ear, still so familiar. She hadn’t heard his voice in four years, and now in the span of a day she’d heard it twice. The last words he ever said to her still rang through her mind every so often. “It is what it is. I got to go.” Even so, his voice still sent all sorts of crazy tingles up her spine. Holly took another breath and pressed her hand to her chest. Her heart was beat frantically. It had pounded so hard when Jake stood next to her, she was sure he would hear it. She’d never acted like this before. She must have come across as the rudest person ever. She shook her head to clear her mind.
Jake deserved her rudeness.
After another few deep breaths, she finally left the sanctuary of the stairs and made her way back to the pediatric ward. She spent the rest of the day doing minor things—filling in charts, checking on the patients, and entertaining each of them. Early evening, she caught another glimpse of Jake speaking to Teresse, his back to her. She quickly slipped into a patient’s room.
Why doesn’t he leave?
Sitting down on the nearest chair, Holly was glad that the boy was sleeping. He wasn’t one of Teresse’s patients. Thoughts raced through her mind, the worst being that Jake might check up on this boy, too, only to find her there, hiding from him.
Finally, she heard Jake saying his goodbyes to everyone. When she was sure he was gone, she slowly walked out of the room to find Teresse at reception. “Can you file this for me, please?”
“Date night?” Holly asked. “Go,” she smiled, and Teresse ran.
“No running in the hallway, Dr. Matthews,” Aggie joked. It was quite funny to see Teresse stop running, yet still walk like her ass was on fire.
“So, Macaroon really doesn’t do it for you, huh?” Aggie asked.
“Macaroon?” Holly repeated, pretending she had no idea who Aggie referred to.
Aggie gave her an odd look.
“Oh, you mean Dr. Peters.” She shook her head.
“You were extremely rude earlier.”
Yeah, Aggie, if only you knew why. “When?” Holly played the innocent.
“He was trying to introduce himself, when you ran off like a little mouse who smelled cheese.”
Holly giggled nervously. “Well, I’m a mouse today, so maybe I did.”
Aggie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.
“I’m sure he’ll come back. I will apologize.” Yeah, like that would ever happen. “See you later, Aggie.” Picking up the files she needed to take up to the sixth floor, where all the pediatric information was stored, she skated to the elevator, skidding on the wheel at the back of her sneaker.
“No skidding, either!” Aggie yelled. “You better make it a good apology, Miss Rudey Pants. I was bowled over by your behavior.”
Holly looked over her shoulder for a split second just as she was about to round the corner, laughing at Aggie’s comment. She crashed hard into someone. Files flew in every direction. Mortified, she started apologizing, bending down to pick up the files.
“First, you ignore me, and now you want to kill me. What on earth have I ever done to you?”
Holly insides froze at the sound of Jake’s voice, but her hands continued to grab files without looking at Jake.
“It’s fine, I’ve got this. You can go,” she bit out rudely.
“Seriously, what is wrong…”
Holly looked up at him. Damn, the pictures hadn’t done him any justice.
“I said, it’s fine. I’ve got this.” Her words were barely audible.
Jake’s face went slack. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them. All color seemed to have drained from his face—as if he’d just seen a ghost.
Without another word, she picked up the last file, stood up, then rolled away from him and that unfortunate situation. She didn’t look back to see whether he’d gotten up or not. She didn’t care. She needed fresh air. Hell, she needed to get out of there.
Her heart was still hammering like crazy when she sat down in her now-familiar hideaway—the stairs. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she dialed her mother. As soon as Jane answered, the tears she’d been holding back rolled down her face and she sobbed into the phone.
“Hey sweet… whoa, what’s wrong?”
“I bumped right into him. I literally knocked him to the ground, Mom. He saw me. I can’t do this.”
“Holly, calm down.”
“I don’t want to calm down, I want to come home.”
“And what, Holly, what are you going to do? Work for your father’s firm and listen to him telling you every day he told you so?”
“He’s going to find out about her, Mom. I know it.”
“Baby, why are you doing this to yourself? He won’t.”
“I can’t—”
“Stop saying you can’t,” Jane cut in. “Do what you’ve got to do, and don’t ever forget who you are doing this for. Fuck him!”
Holly gasped. Her mother had never swore in quite that manner.
“I don’t want to, but you’re right. I’ll try.”
“Yes you will, and you’ll do a good job of it, too. Stay strong, baby girl. I have faith in you. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” After disconnecting the call, she took a couple of deep breaths to calm her heart.
JAKE
He was mistaken. Delusional. It could not possibly have been Holly. It couldn’t be. He was seeing things again. It had simply been some freckle-faced woman who didn’t look anything like her. She wasn’t a doctor, because if she was, he would’ve known.
There was no way she was a doctor.
“Jake?” Aggie called. “Are you okay? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, no, I’m fine. I think I might have hurt that intern, though.”
Aggie raised an eyebrow.
“That was you?”
He smiled, softly. “She has a bit of an attitude, don’t you think?”
Just say her name, just say her fucking name.
“Not really. She’s the sweetest thing you’ll ever meet. For some reason, she doesn’t like tall, dark-haired Olympian gods,” Aggie teased.
Fuck! Jake grinned to cover up whatever he was feeling. “I left my phone here.” He bent over the desk and saw his white Samsung in its ice-blue case. “Thanks. Give my apologies to the mouse I scared.”
He left Aggie and her chuckling, taking the elevator down. Thoughts ran rampant in his head, all of them about Holly. It had been four years and now, six months before his wedding, he was starting to see all sorts of natural, strawberry blondes again. Everywhere he went, there they were: at the store, at the pharmacy, and that one girl who’d visited a patient at P&E. He remembered Rod laughing at that, wanting to know if he had a thing for strawberry blondes. He’d replied with a grunt and a snort.
Was this the universe’s way of telling him he was making a mistake by marrying Kate?
Still, none of those girls had been her, because every time they’d turned around, he would see Holly’s face for a few seconds, before their features morphed into reality. This time, though, he’d waited for the change, but never got the chance to see it. Never got the chance to apologize, either, because she’d simply rolled away on her wheelie shoes.
No. It wasn’t Holly. Holly wasn’t a doctor.
Palming his phone, he touched the number three for a few seconds before moving his finger. The screen automatically brought up Kate’s smiling face as it dialed.
She answered on the third ring. “Hey, babe, where are you?”
“Still at Downsend. I’ll see you in a bit, okay? There’s something I have to do.”
“Okay, don’t take too long,” she said. “Love you, bye.”
He sighed, disconnecting the call.
Jake studied every female doctor in his line of sight as he walked, passing many. Ever since he laid eyes on the strawberry blonde, he secretly wished he could see what she looked like again.
Secret Love (The 4Ever Series Book 2) Page 10