Chapter 7
Scarlett
My EMS station in the Bronx sits wedged between a deli and a pet store. Puppies are a great mood equalizer, and the owner lets us come in any time to hold them and soak up wet kisses.
The station’s bay, a brick bunker, smells like rubber and exhaust. The company’s two available ambulances sit waiting to race out and save lives, their taillights pulsing like tired red eyes.
As I climb the narrow staircase to the station kitchen, my duffel over my shoulder, the scent of burnt coffee grounds wafts down to me. The scent gives the place a special, unique aroma.
An emergency waits for no man’s java.
Securing my baseball cap to hide my bruise, I wave to two of the dayshift guys playing cards. The rest of the gang for this shift lounge on the leather sofas, scrolling through their phones and watching television.
Finn, a cool-headed paramedic, comes out of the supply room and puts his hands up. “Your partner is on the phone with a rig mechanic,” he says, pity in his voice. “Enter at your own risk.”
Noted.
I push open the door to the supply room.
Regan is pacing between shelves of trauma dressings and saline bags, the cordless office phone pressed to her ear. Eyes murderous, her hair is in the regulation bun that currently resembles a bird’s nest of stress.
“No,” she snaps into the bone-colored receiver. “That’s not what you said yesterday. You told me the repair was under warranty, and all I had to pay was a deductible.”
Regan spots me and thrusts the phone at my chest. “Fix this.”
“What?”
“Company three needs their rig. These bozos are trying to charge me two thousand dollars over the estimate they gave me yesterday. It’s just a blower motor for the HVAC, and it’s supposed to be covered under warranty.”
“Oh, Jesus.”
“He can’t help me right now.” Regan presses the phone harder into my tits. “You. I need you. Use your ‘I’m with the Langstons’ voice. Terrify them.”
The name Langston does terrify most people in the medical industry. Ambulance repair shops included.
Only… Since I walked out on Pierce last night, I’m not with the Langstons anymore. But hey, they don’t know that.
I pull the phone to my ear. “Hi, this is Scarlett Ford, Pierce Langston’s fiancée. Oh, that gasp means you’ve heard of my future husband. Good. Good. Can you explain why the estimate changed?”
The mechanic huffs to collect himself. “The motor needs new calibration, but… Hold on.”
I smile and nod to Regan.
Grumbling, he gets back on the phone. “It’s fine. We’ll honor the warranty and bill the city for the deductible. Tell Finn he can pick it up in an hour.”
“Thank you.” I hang up.
Regan lets out a strangled noise of glee and throws her arms around my neck. “You’re a goddess. My personal weapon.”
I squeeze her hips. “Brace yourself. You’re gonna need a plan-B.”
She pulls away. “Why?”
When I take off my baseball cap, the shadow over my face disappears. “Um.”
Regan’s eyes widen the same way mine did this morning when I caught sight of the shiner blooming under my left eye. Even after a sound sleep from the massive orgasms, I was startled.
“Who do I need to kill?” She holds my face gently, moving it side to side.
Next, a pen light is blinding me.
“Pierce.”
“Pierce who?”
I blink. “Langston.”
“Your boyfriend hit you!” she shrieks.
“Shhh.” I pull her aside and hope Finn doesn’t come running in.
That rebel has six brothers on the police force.
“And he’s not my boyfriend.” I’d told her last night before our shift about the ring, the proposal, and that I had said no. “Not anymore.”
“I should hope not!” She bravely doesn’t act disappointed that she won’t have an insider source to hit up the Langston Foundation for money to buy new rigs next year. “When did this happen?”
“When I got home.”
“And you stayed there?”
“There’s more to the story.” I cringe, and seeing Regan’s worried eyes makes this more real with every passing minute. “Remember I left here early last night because I wasn’t feeling well? Well, I couldn’t focus and needed to talk to him.”
Regan nods. “You should have taken off the whole shift.”
I shake my head, thinking how things could have been different if I’d stayed home. I never would have seen Pierce’s true colors.
“When I got home earlier than usual, I caught Pierce banging his sister-in-law.”
“Barron’s wife?” Regan shrieks.
Crap, she’s really done her homework on that family.
“Yep. And things got heated. He smacked me when I had the nerve to talk back. I packed up and left on the spot.”
“I’m so glad you left.” Regan stares down at my duffel bag. “Where are you staying?”
“I grabbed a hotel last night. I needed time alone to chill.” I bite my lip. “But…”
I’m ticking off boxes of information to load on this poor woman. First, what Pierce did, next, my one-night stand, and then, I’m firmly going back to medical school. That means I have to quit this job.
Regan’s eyes narrow further. “But… That’s not the whole story?”
I sigh. “I…met someone while I was walking. In the rain.”
“Someone?” She instantly perks up, EMT crisis mode replaced with romance fantasy mode. “Who?”
“A stranger.”
“Scarlett Ford.” She clutches her chest theatrically. “My saintly friend had a one-night stand with a stranger? Tell me everything.”
I lean back against the door. “His taxi almost hit me. Okay, it sort of hit me. He jumped out to check on me. Got me out of the road. We walked and talked. He steered me to a hotel. Paid for my room. And then…we got naked.”
Regan’s mouth is on the floor.
“I wish I could say we did it all night long,” I say, tapping her jaw to close her mouth. “But he left after only one round. For him. I came twice.”
“Wow. Wow. Wow.” She scoffs in disbelief. “Was he hot?”
“Ridiculously.” I resist an eyeroll. “But it was a one-time thing.”
Her expression softens. “You needed a one-night stand. You’ve been living under Pierce Langston’s thumb for a year. Anyone would crack.”
I got cracked in half all right…
“Did you get a name?”
“Cormac.”
Regan wrinkles her nose. “Irish. Wonder if Finn knows him.”
“Should I ask him if he knows some random man named Cormac?” I shake my head.
Ignoring my sarcasm, Regan keeps going. “Did you get a phone number?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Scarlett.” She drags out my name. “How am I supposed to Internet-stalk this man to make sure he’s not on the FBI Most Wanted list? There’s very little I can do with just a first name on a planet of eight billion people.”
I laugh. “He gave his credit card to the hotel front desk.”
“It could be stolen.” She raises an eyebrow at me.
I didn’t think of that. “Okay, I know I just fire-hosed you, no pun, with details. But there’s a bigger headline. I’m going back to medical school.” I leave the supply room and fall into the office’s desk chair.
“Oh…” She sounds sad.
“That’s what caused the fight, really. That bastard had the nerve to say I didn’t have what it takes to be a doctor. Now I want it even more, Regan.”
She squeezes my hand. “You’re doing the right thing. Your mom wanted you to be a doctor like your dad.”
“I know.” My chest tightens, thinking of some of her last words. Fix this. Make a difference. “I’m going to talk to my father about getting reinstated at Hamilton. After my face heals. I’m late registering, late finding housing.”
“When does the new semester begin?”
“MS-3’s start in early September.” I bat my eyelashes. “Can I stay with you until then? I’m homeless.”
She smirks. “You’re not homeless. You can stay at a luxury hotel on some guy named Cormac’s dime.”
“I can’t do that.” I put the hat back on and pull it down again. “That’s not me.”
“I know. Of course, you can stay with me.” She hugs me. “And I hate to lose you as a partner, but you’re meant to be a doctor.”
I nod, feeling better by the minute. “This job made it clear to me that I want emergency medicine to be my specialty.” Nothing against primary physicians or specialists, but watching Pierce put on a tie every day, looking in the mirror like he thought he was better than everyone, made me sick.
Regan smirks. “Watch, you’ll probably marry another doctor.”
I stiffen. “I don’t want to marry a doctor. Or even date another doctor, ever.”
“Never say never,” she murmurs. “Medicine is your legacy. You might see it differently someday. Meet someone who looks at medicine and helping people the way you do.”
“I never thought about it like that.” Smiling, I add, “You’re right.”
When an alarm sounds, I decide to stay and start my shift early.
For the first time in months, I feel excited about my future.
Thank God I had last night. And that one reckless, beautiful moment.
In a few weeks, I will completely start over.