by Sasha Goldie
"That's wonderful news." We got in line for the coffee, which was always two or three people deep. "I hope you put Harry right out of a job."
"Me, too." He reached for a mug and handed it to me.
"Speaking of Harry, where is he?"
"I left him home. I haven't had a seizure, and I didn't want to coop him up all night in the hospital." He was quiet while he poured his coffee. "How've you been?"
"Okay. I got my job back here, so that was great." I figured since he saw me here, coming from the back in my scrubs, he'd figured out that I wasn't doing home health care anymore. "My boss was surprisingly understanding about it all. I guess nurses falling in love with their patients happens more often than we talk about."
He jerked and sloshed hot coffee all over the place. I snatched up a bunch of napkins and blotted the counter where the coffee spilled.
"Love?" Tyler stared at me as his mug dripped. I took it gingerly from his hands and wiped it down with another napkin while the coffee line built up behind us. Once it was all cleaned up, I headed toward the cashier, waving my badge to pay for the coffee with the automated system that would take the cup off of my balance. Tyler followed mutely. I slid into a booth in the corner and put the cup of coffee across from me.
Tyler looked down at me for a moment before sitting. "Love?" he asked pointedly.
"Well, yeah. I told you the night I left. I'm in love with you."
Tyler's face crumpled. "I don't know if I'm at love yet, but I know I'm tormented with you gone."
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I intended to tell you the day I came, then I...didn't. I lied instead. Then, I was going to tell you when you started to do better, but you had a seizure." I shook my head and picked at my fingernails. "Before I knew it, I'd been there too long to tell you easily. So, I promised myself I'd tell you the day I left, but then I asked for a week off work. The lie kept growing."
Tyler reached forward and touched my hand. "I think that maybe, possibly, a lie told for noble reasons could be forgiven." My breath caught in my throat. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? "With time," he amended.
"I can handle time," I said breathlessly. "I'll never lie to you again, Tyler. I promise you that."
Tyler stiffened. "Tell me about your date?"
"How'd you know about that?" I watched him sip his coffee.
"Nate saw you two playing putt-putt." He raised an eyebrow. "For a man in love, you went on a date awfully fast."
"It wasn't like that. I was trying to move on, and the date went horribly. When we went to dinner, he called me out on it. We talked about you and decided to be friends and friends only."
"I can't tell you how mad I got when I thought you were already dating someone. I was so jealous." He laughed and looked at his coffee, his eyes shining. "It's what made me wake up to how much I missed you."
"I'm so sorry," I said again.
"I forgive you. I'm willing to start over." He took my hand and squeezed. "Can we start over?"
"Of course."
A nurse I'd worked with before on the long-term care floor, walked by. "Hey, Ben," I called.
He stopped and turned. "Hey, Patrick. I heard you came back. Glad to see you."
"Thanks. Listen, there's a ward clerk on four you gotta meet."
He arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, Jeremy. Find an excuse to go up there and talk to him. Trust me."
Laughing, he nodded. "You got it, Patrick. I trust you."
"See?" I said to Tyler. "He trusts me."
He burst out laughing as I gave him my sweetest smile and fluttered my eyelashes.
17
Tyler
My heart soared as Patrick and I walked back to the emergency room. He and I had another chance. Choosing to move past his colossal mistake had made me feel like a million bucks. It was the right decision.
Duke would be okay. We had to figure out who was after me, then everything would come up roses.
Daisy stood when we walked in. "The doctor came out. Said exactly what Patrick did, then said we could see him soon." She took my hand. "I know you're not up to snuff, but do you think you could go open the diner?"
"Of course." I didn't know how I'd get through a full day, but I'd manage it somehow.
"I'll help. I can cook."
"Son, do you know anything about cooking?" Daisy asked.
"Nope, but I can try." Patrick shrugged.
She laughed. "Don't let him finish burning down my diner."
"I won't. Kiss Uncle Duke for me."
"Of course." I kissed my mom goodbye and walked toward the door. "Oh, I'm so stupid."
"What?" Patrick looked around. "Did you forget something?"
"Yeah, I didn't drive here. I still can't drive."
"Well, don't be silly. I'm happy to drive us there."
I hadn't wanted to assume. "Okay. Thanks."
"I know one thing," Patrick said as he unlocked the car doors.
"What's that?" I let myself in, not waiting on Patrick to open the door.
"I'm cooking breakfast for myself first. I'm starving. It was a hectic night and I never took a lunch."
"I think that's fair," I said with a chuckle. "Can't have the cook starving to death. But you know, you really don't have to do this."
"I know. I want to help. I feel like it's the least I can do, help out when you guys are down."
I wasn't about to turn down help. I was due to work the front that morning, and without Daisy it would be a long shift. No way I could do the front and the back.
"We'll make one change, though. You can run the front. I'll cook. I know how, I've done it before, and you'd never get through it without being trained at least once."
He rolled his eyes, stopped at a red light.
"I appreciate the offer, though."
"Well, of course."
We talked about what we did in the two weeks we were apart.
"Did you hear about the man running Corey off the road?" I realized I'd never mentioned it to him. "It was really scary."
"No! What are you talking about?" He was scandalized.
I had to admit, it was a little fun telling him the story. I didn't exaggerate, but I made sure to tell him in great detail every moment of the fear and horror.
I expected him to be horrified on my behalf, gasp in all the right places, all-in-all give appropriate responses to my dramatic story, but instead, he was pissed. "Tyler, do you not think it's the same man that broke into your house and set the diner on fire?"
"The thought crossed my mind, but it was Corey's car, and it was probably John."
He grunted, but his knuckles were turning white on the steering wheel. "I'm concerned. Maybe you should take an extended vacation. I've got some savings, I can ask for a few weeks off work, we could rent a cabin on the beach."
He was sweet, but I wouldn't run away. "They've increased the patrol on Main. Brady deputized someone in extra. I'm staying at Ian's now. They'll catch the guy."
"I'm not convinced. Why don't you come stay with me?"
He couldn't stand the fact that I had a stalker. "I'm freaked out too, but I think I'm safer on Main than out in a neighborhood, don't you think?"
As we parked behind the diner, he looked at me. "I just want you safe, and I don't feel like you're freaked out enough."
"And I appreciate your concern, but we only decided to become friends again today. Please don't push me into doing something I'm not comfortable with."
He nodded. "Okay. I can respect that. What else are you doing for protection?"
I got out of the car and let Harry out to run and pee, then showed him the slight bulge in my pocket. "Pepper spray. And I've got a stun gun beside my bed. And I put more pepper spray in the bathroom, kitchen, and living room at Ian's."
He deflated a little. "Cameras?"
"All moved to Ian's, with two left here on the door and window until they finish construction."
The utility room was still pretty trashed, and the construction crew hadn't
even started looking at my apartment, but the cleaners had gotten the kitchen and dining room up to snuff.
"You ready for this?" I asked. "It's going to be a long day."
He nodded. "Let's go."
I set him up in the front, calling instructions through the window as I started up the grills. We had customers waiting when we unlocked the door, mostly people that had heard about Duke through their church's prayer line. Patrick charmed everyone, wearing Daisy's apron over his scrubs. It didn't escape my attention through the little window that he was downing coffee like it was water from the fountain of youth. He'd been up all night. My heart softened even more, thinking about how concerned he'd been for me. He didn't complain once, but I sure did.
"Son of a bitch," I hissed as I burned the side of my hand on the griddle, again. It wasn't bad, just a scald, but fuck, if it didn't hurt.
"You okay?" Patrick called through the window as he filled up a coffee cup.
"How do you hear me every single time?" I asked, walking over and giving him a consternated look through the window.
He shrugged. "You're louder than you think you are."
Snorting, I set a plate on the window. "Table six."
He looked it over. "You forgot the potatoes."
The plate had a gaping hole where the potatoes went. I looked over at the deep fryer, and sure enough, they were resting in the basket. I'd pulled them up to let the grease drip off. I slid them onto the plate and handed it to him.
Patrick opened his mouth, but he had a wicked glint in his eye, so I cut him off. "If you say one word to tease me, you'll be eating potatoes out of a feeding tube."
He snapped his jaw shut and raised his eyebrows, then gave me an exaggerated mock salute. "Sir, yes, sir."
I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face.
The phone rang off the hook, and I grabbed it when I could. I hadn't worked the kitchen in years and had my fair share of burned food and undercooked food. Thankfully, I caught most of it before it went out to a table. They had to wait a bit longer than normal, but at least they didn't get undercooked eggs.
Keeping my eye on Patrick was half my problem. Harry stayed under the host station, like he did when I was out there. I kept running out to check on him, but in reality, I wanted to make sure Patrick wasn't overwhelmed.
Every time I went out, both of them were perfectly fine. "Stop checking on us and focus on cooking," Patrick whispered before turning to greet a couple of tourists. "We're fine," he shot over his shoulder as he led them to the only empty booth.
My energy waned about halfway through the morning rush. My stamina definitely was improved, but nowhere near what I wanted it to be. Patrick had to be dead on his feet and we still had two hours before it slowed down a little.
Daisy called just as I was beginning to think there was no way I'd make it through to lunch, much less stay all day. We'd have to close. I grabbed the cordless phone and answered while I flipped sausage patties. "Daisy's."
"Hey, sugar, it's me." Her voice was a welcome sound in the middle of the busy morning.
"How's Uncle Duke?"
"He's gonna be fine." She chuckled, but it wasn't a laugh. It was more like she was overwhelmed and exhausted but didn't know how to process it.
"Go home and rest, Auntie." She'd be in there next if she didn't.
"I will. They set me up a little chair-bed for now. I don't want to leave him yet, he's still pretty out of it. He had a heart attack, and his heart doesn't want to work well. I don't understand all the big words, but I think it's a form of heart failure. They think they can get him back to pretty much normal with medicine and diet."
"That's wonderful. He's going to have to listen to you," I said.
"When has that man ever listened to me?"
I laughed. "We'll get him on the right track."
"Yes, we will." She sighed. "Oh, I almost forgot, I arranged for the diner to be covered the rest of the day. Your relief will be there for the lunch shift soon. You're back on in the morning."
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, Auntie. I'm about to keel over."
She didn't respond, but I heard her muffled voice in the background. "I'm going to go, the doctor just came in."
"Keep me posted, love you."
As soon as I hung up the phone, the noises of the cooking food and diners rushed back at me. I realized I'd been standing in front of the stove talking and ignoring all my cooking breakfast dishes.
Shit.
I flipped, scraped, and stirred frantically, doubling my speed, and I managed to save it all. I wouldn't have to remake anything.
With my energy ever falling, I focused only on cooking and left Patrick and Harry to their own devices. Before I knew it, the orders slowed down and I was able to clean the griddles.
Corey waltzed in as I finished loading the dishwasher with a big grin on his face. "Hey there, friend. I saw a certain redheaded sexpot nurse out front."
Grabbing his arm, I pulled him farther into the kitchen while I shushed him and peered out through the window to see if Patrick heard him.
"Chill, he's talking to Ian and Nate. I'm going to run the kitchen while they run the front."
I yanked him into a hug. "Thank you." I whimpered as I sank down onto a stool. It was the first time I'd sat down since the car ride. "I can't take much more."
"Why didn't you call me?" he chided. "I would've come earlier."
"It didn't occur to me." I knew he was coming eventually, so I'd just kept working.
"Well, stay there." Corey disappeared into the front and returned with Patrick. "No, I will not keep the tip money for helping, it's the least I can do. I used to run this kitchen, I'll have you know."
Corey tucked Patrick's tip money into his scrub-top pocket and walked to me. "Get him home."
Patrick looked at me with a sympathetic face. I didn't mind it. I was tired enough to want sympathy.
"Why don't I go get your wheelchair? It's upstairs and probably not damaged."
"No, I think I can walk to Brady's." Two blocks wasn't that much. "I'll have to go slow."
"That's silly, I have my car." He slapped his palm lightly on his forehead. "I'll drive us."
Walking a few feet out the back door to the car sounded much better. I hoisted myself up, then whistled for Harry. He nosed the door from the dining room open and came straight to my side. "Okay, let's go." I smiled at Corey and Patrick, then began my slow shuffle to the car.
18
Patrick
When we pulled up to the shop, I angled Tyler's door to open right at the shop door. I could move my car after I got him upstairs. Taking on a full-blown morning shift in the kitchen had been too much for him. I'd make sure to talk to Daisy about a fill-in for the kitchen and he and I could tackle the front together tomorrow. He could handle that.
He made it to the stairs, then had to sit. His poor leg muscles were still fairly trashed. "We are adding light cardio to your daily routine," I mused.
"You're not my nurse anymore, Patrick."
I wasn't his boyfriend either. I was barely his friend. He'd forgiven me, and I'd pushed my help on him for the morning, but we were a long way from dating again. He'd said something about a date. I didn't want to push my chances.
Settling beside him, I bumped him with my knee. "As your friend, and as a nurse, I advise you to add cardio into your routine."
He gave me the side-eye, but he wasn't mad. He laughed right after shooting me the look. "Okay, nurse-friend."
"I can't help myself. Caring is in my DNA."
"Have your parents heard?" he asked. I knew what he meant.
"I don't think so. I know some of the people at the home health know, because Jeremy found out."
He gave me a blank look.
"He's the one I went on a date with. He worked there, but left them for the hospital right before I quit."
"You quit?" he asked. "I thought they fired you."
"My boss was surprisingly un
derstanding," I said as I stared at my feet. "I explained why I did what I did and asked if I could quit. She said I could, but if you pressed charges, I'd lose my license."
"Can't they get in trouble for not reporting it?"
"She said at this point, without official charges, it's a rumor."
He nodded. "That's all it'll ever be, as long as you don't go psycho stalker on me." Tyler rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "I had Brady check up on you."
"I know," I whispered. "It's okay."
"They told you?"
"Yeah, they wanted to know why a cop wanted to see my time clock record. I told them they had my permission to show him anything he wanted. He didn't come with a warrant, so they didn't have to show him."
"Thanks. It gave me great peace of mind, and I was so relieved." He squeezed my knee, then used it to push up to a stand. "Come on."
His ascension of the stairs was difficult, something out of his days first home from the hospital. "This shift was too much," I said as I kept one hand on his back and one on his butt. It wasn't sexual, I was pushing him up so he didn't have to lift his entire weight up the staircase.
"Yeah. But I've got to do it again in the morning."
We'd see about that.
He was too tired for a shower, but after a shift like that, he needed one. "If you sit in the tub, I'll set everything out so you can shower down there. I can help you discreetly."
"Go home, Patrick. I know you're exhausted. You worked all night."
"For me, this is like working then staying up late. For you it's torture. I'll stay." I punctuated my words with a huge yawn.
"See?" Tyler pointed to my open mouth and laughed. "Exhausted."
"Yes, I'm sleepy. I'm not recovering from a coma." I left him in the entryway rather than argue with him and moved his soap and shampoo to the side of the bathtub, within easy reach while he sat down. Too bad he hadn't brought his shower chair from his apartment, but we'd make do.
After turning on the water, I called out to him. "Come on, it's ready." I grabbed a hand towel and turned to see him stripped to his underwear.