Back to Willow (Back Series Book 1)

THIRTEEN

“Davis, can you check the vitals for me?” Dr Shawn asks, and I head to the machine right away, telling him the heart rate and oxygen levels, as well as everything else he needs to know to ensure the patient is stable.

At first, I had to be walked through the steps; now, I do it automatically. It comes naturally. The hospital is the only place over the past few years where I’ve felt completely relaxed and sane. Even through the roughest shifts.

“Good, we’re almost done,” he comments, screwing the last screw into the titanium plate that’s stabilizing the patient’s leg.

This man was in a terrible car accident, being admitted exactly a few minutes before my shift was finished. But as the workaholic I am, I couldn’t pass the opportunity to stay behind and learn more while assisting Dr Shawn.

He sure can be a pain in the ass sometimes and quite demanding with me, but I’ve come to realise, over these last three months, that he’s extra hard on those he sees potential in, and it makes me proud and even more dedicated.

We’re past the point of talking about me staying extra hours when things like this happen; he wants me to stay, and he knows I won’t let the opportunity pass. It’s a non-spoken agreement between both of us.

After telling him the vitals, I rush to his side, trying not to miss much of what he’s doing. He’s already suturing up the patient’s leg which had a nasty open fracture. Fortunately, this is the worst that the accident has given him besides a few broken ribs, bruises, and skin burns. But still, this has been a two-hour surgery.

And since my shift was a ten-hour one this time, it means I’ve been in this hospital for about twelve hours. I don’t feel the exhaustion...yet. I’m sure the moment I shower when I get to my apartment, I’ll fall on the bed and sleep through the day.

“And we’re done!” Dr Shaw claims. “Deborah, Ella, can you prep the patient and take him to his recovery room?” The nurses nod, and Dr Shawn finally turns to me.

“That was awesome,” I tell him. “It took you almost three hours, though, old man. Sure you’re not losing your touch?”

“Don’t push your luck, boy, or I’ll have you do it the next time something like this comes up,” he grumbles while we doff our garments and gloves and head to the small room outside of the surgical area to start washing our hands.

“Who says that’s not what I want? I’ve seen how it’s done now; I could do it with my eyes closed.” I wink at him.

“You’re one arrogant bastard, I’ll give you that.” His voice is low and steady, with a slightly disapproving tone to it, yet it’s resigned.

It makes me laugh, and even though his lips tug up, he complains, “Pull a stunt like that again, Davis, and I’ll put you in the cleaning services for a whole week.”

I put my white coat as I answer him, “As if; you’d go crazy with all those dumb assholes running around like lost sheep when they don’t understand what you want from them.” I wink at him again before continuing, “Tomorrow’s my day off, and since I’ve been here for an extra two hours already, I am going to go now. Don’t miss me too much.”

He mutters something under his breath that I can’t quite catch, but I don’t bother. He makes it seem like I am some obnoxious kid, but he knows damn well how dedicated I am to this shit, and he recognizes it, even though I enjoy riling him up.

Heading to the locker rooms so I can change, grab my backpack, and head off, I have to go through the paediatric department, which is my favourite, and the only speciality that made me waver on my decision to go through with choosing cardiology.

I am distracted by my work thoughts until something stops me in my tracks. From a small doctor’s office, a wailing sound travels to the hallway.

As curiosity gets the best of me, I notice a paediatric doctor and a woman in her early thirties. She seems amused by something, and when I follow her line of sight, I see two kids. They both look like they’re around five years old, and if it weren’t for the extensive physical differences between them, I’d have thought they were siblings or something.

The girl is crying—hiccups and all—about something, and I deduce that she must be the one that needed the visit to the doctor while the boy, slightly taller than her with caramel brown hair and bright blue eyes, comforts her. A wave of foreign feelings overwhelms me, and I come a little bit closer to listen to what they’re saying.

I don’t know why this need is taking over, though. The need to listen and to take a better look. The boy looks oddly familiar—from where, I have no idea—but when I see better how he cares for the scared girl, I shrug it off knowingly. What’s drawing me in is their closeness, how they interact, and their age.

The same age I was when Willow and I became friends.

“Thank god mum had work, and I could stay with you guys for the last days. Imagine having Abby here at the doctor by herself,” he complains. “She’s such a scaredy cat.”

The doctor and the woman accompanying them chuckle at the same time. I can’t stop the snort coming out of me.

Quite a pretentious kid, eh.

“She’s not alone, Dylan. I am here with her. Her mother, you know?” The lady playfully narrows her eyes at the kid, who I now know is called Dylan.

But he doesn’t seem fazed. Again, he looks so oddly familiar. I can’t shake it away.

“Besides, she’s only here to have her eyes checked because she might need glasses.”

“I don’t want to,” the girl whines.

The kid, Dylan, turns to her and grabs her cheeks.

“Abby, I’ve done it before, too, when I came with my mum. It doesn’t hurt; you’ll only see some bright lights, and then try to see with glass in front of your eyes, I think to see if you need help or not,” he explains, and I am surprised at how much older the kid seems by talking in this way. “Come on, you are so brave, Abby. Go do it,” he encourages her.

She nods and stands up with her mother by her side. The boy follows closely behind as they walk to the room right next to the one they were in. This time around, the door is closed, but it doesn’t take long until they are all returning to the original office.

“Thank you, Dylan. You’re such a good friend to Abby,” the mother whispers when they sit down.

He smiles, proudly, making me grin automatically as well.

“I am her best friend, and I will be forever,” he claims, and my chest clenches at the sound of those words, giving me the push I need to walk away from this office and head to the locker room, while still taking my mind back in time to when we were fourteen...

“Get out of here, freak!!” a girl screamed, making me turn back to see Stacey yell at Willow.

I knew this would happen if I brought Willow along. But I had promised Willow we’d spend the day together, and Daniel was adamant that I had to come for a football game with the boys. In Willow-style, she just smiled and said it was fine, that she’d tag along and just sit by the fence to watch me play.

Daniel didn’t seem to mind Willow; he was used to me bringing her along to pretty much everything, but other kids were not as understanding. Especially Stacey.

She had been quite clingy to me since school started that year. I tried to ignore her the best I could, but it seemed as if it wasn’t enough because she hadn’t gotten the memo. She also knew Willow was my best friend and we were always together. She should have known that to be my friend, she’d have to treat Willow kindly, and yet all she’d ever done was the opposite. If she thought I was going to be her friend when she treated Lo like shit, she was damn well wrong.

I quickly passed the ball to Daniel right then and there and motioned to him that I was going to leave the match. With a glance to where the girls were sitting, he seemed to understand and nodded, calling one of the kids that were on the bench waiting for a turn to enter our game here on the field by the park.

As I headed toward the fence separating us from the people watching our small game, I saw Stacey grabbing Willow’s arm and pulling her out of her seat, pushing her forward before sitting down where she was, and red took over my vision as I stomped toward them.

Of course, Willow said nothing and straightened as if nothing had happened, leaving without standing up for herself. Except, one of Stacey’s friends stuck her foot out, making Willow trip and fall on her face.

Oh, hell no!

I ran out, seething. By the time I got there, she was already on her knees, cleaning her hands the best she could while those vicious girls laughed like hideous hyenas.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I growled, helping her up.

The girls gasped in shock as if they weren”t expecting me to catch them red-handed, bullying my best friend.

“I am so sorry, Liam; you know how clumsy she is.” Stacey pouted, feigning innocence. “She fell on her own, and we couldn’t hold the laughter.”

“She fell my ass. I saw your minion sticking her foot out.” She paled at the sound of my words. “Yeah, that’s right, I saw the whole thing. Don’t even bother talking to me again. Ever.”

Her jaw slacked in shock, and I didn’t hesitate to turn my back on them to check if Willow was alright. Besides a few scratches on her knees and jaw, she seemed to be fine. Still, I told her, “Hop on.”

“I can walk, you know,” her soft voice sounded.

She was always so serene and unaffected by others’ lack of kindness; it often made me feel like I was overreacting, but if I didn’t stand up for her, no one would. Especially since Jake didn’t hang out with kids this young.

Ignoring her, I crouched down and motioned my head for her to climb onto my back. Up until last year, she had been taller than me, but as my mum kept telling me, puberty was finally hitting, and I had almost five inches on her now. That combined with her scrawny frame made her very easy to carry around.

With a resigned sigh, she did, and I started walking back home effortlessly.

“Thank you,” she mumbled against my shoulder.

When I stole a glance back at her, her melted chocolate irises were peeking through her thick lashes. Brown eyes are underrated. People were often obsessed with mine because they are light blue and big, but hell…hers? They were enthralling. And they always awoke those tingling effects at the bottom of my stomach.

“Always,” I managed, not choking on my saliva after swallowing the lump that formed in my throat.

When we got to my house, I put her down on the couch and started to examine her better. After moving both of her legs and confirming nothing was broken, I got the disinfectant for her wound and a few band aids.

“It’s going to sting,” I warned.

“Stop playing doctor; you’re not one yet.” Her voice sounded a little annoyed, making me chuckle. “It’s just a few scratches. It’ll be fine with a bit of water,” she mumbled weakly.

She wouldn’t tell me, but I knew how insecure she would have been feeling after being humiliated like that. What she didn’t get was that no matter how much other girls tried to catch my attention, she”d be the only one getting it.

“But I will be one day, so I know better.” I fake scolded. “Now, squeeze my shoulder if it hurts too much.”

With a shy smile and nod, I got the confirmation I needed to patch her up.

We ended up watching a movie on the couch, snuggling, and eating popcorn. In the end, it was much more fun for me. There weren’t mean kids bullying her or activities to distract us. We rarely argued, and things were just simple. Perfect.

There was nowhere I’d rather be than with my best friend because I knew that no matter what, we’d be best friends forever.

Well, it certainly wasn’t forever.

The annoyingly loud sound of my ringing phone brings me back to the present. While being way over my head because of these stupid memories, I didn’t even realise someone was calling me. As I am exiting the wide doors of the hospital, I look at my phone, only to see a number I’ve never seen before.

I frown at it, but—and I want to blame it on the daze of the memories—I accept the call without giving it much thought.

“H–hi, Liam.”

My steps falter at the voice on the other side. Regret instantaneously washes over me as I realise who’s talking to me. I shouldn’t have answered. Because once again, the universe mocks me. I accepted the call of the only person on this Earth I’d rather forget everything about. The last voice I want to listen to—or so I want to believe.

If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have fucking accepted the call.

“L—Liam?” My heart thumps faster and faster at the sound of her voice saying my name again.

Fucking hell.

Her voice is just as smooth, delicate, and innocent as it was all those years ago. It fills my ears and reaches my nerve endings, penetrating through my body silently and lodging itself in every cell like a bad disease that doesn’t want to leave.

And it angers me. It angers me so much that I still love it, her voice and how my name sounds coming from those lips. It battles within me, tearing me in half, trying to cancel the side that misses her, us.

And every time I fail to make it happen, it enrages me. I’m not only furious at her but also at myself because despite everything, I still can’t move the fuck on.

And that is the reason why I swallow the prideful part that wants to tell her to go fuck herself and answer, “What do you want, Willow?”