CHAPTER 36 ALEX
I’m finally done for the day, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Today was a weird one. I still haven’t heard from Mina, but she said she’d tell me what happened. Maybe this conversation with her family is taking longer than she thought.
I turn down the hall and I can feel my temperature start to rise. There he is . Doctor Visera. I never considered myself the type of person to have a nemesis, and yet here we are. I take a deep breath, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. As long as he doesn’t try to engage, I can make it out of here without an issue. If he starts something though … I try to shove those thoughts away. I can’t afford to catch an assault charge, even if every bone in my body is screaming at me to drive his stupid face through the wall for what he did to Mina. Her words to me keep echoing in my mind, keeping me anchored to sanity.
“Trust the system.”
That anchor breaks loose as he turns to look at me, a sneer painting his features even uglier than usual.
“You won’t be here much longer,” he grins. “Enjoy it while you can, scumbag.”
All hell breaks loose in my mind, and my instincts take over. I grab the front of his white coat and pull him toward me, my face inches from his own.
“If you ever, and I mean ever, touch Mina again, I will kill you,” I growl, staring straight into his eyes. For the briefest of moments, I can swear I see fear flicker through those typically emotionless eyes of his, but as soon as it arrives, it’s gone.
“Oh, you’ll kill me? I’m so scared.”
“You should be,” I snarl. “Try me.”
At this point, I realize we have witnesses. Several other staff members and a few patients stand motionless in the hall, mouths agape as they watch this unfolding. I release him and take a step back.
“I mean it, scumbag. One more time. That’s a promise.” With that, I turn on my heel and stride away, eager to put distance between that monster and myself. As I step into the cool fall air outside the hospital, I realize that my heart is racing. I can’t believe I just did that. I straight up threatened to kill a man . On the heels of that thought comes another. If Mina asked me to, or needed me to, of course I’d kill him. No questions asked. For her, I’d do anything.
I pace nervously, and at this point I’m pretty sure I’m wearing a path in the floor of my apartment.
The sun is setting and I haven’t heard from Mina. She went home hours ago, and with every passing minute, my worry grows.
She promised she’d let you know how it goes , I remind myself. But damn, this waiting is killing me. Normally I’d be starving by this point in the night, but I just can’t focus on anything other than her silence. I force myself to sit on the couch, but that doesn’t last long. I can’t sit still.
I decide to head outside and get some fresh air. Maybe that will clear my head. I pop on a light jacket and lace up my running shoes. Might as well burn some calories, and maybe burn some of this stress away, too.
I jog around my apartment complex and make a left, turning down one of the quaint little neighborhood streets that lie behind my complex. It’s always peaceful back here, and I haven’t jogged in quite a while. This slight change of scenery is nice.
As I jog, I let my mind wander. I imagine us living in one of these cute little houses, coming home to each other every day, decorating for the holidays, raising a family… I never envisioned my life would look like that but now, it’s all I want.
I keep going up the street, and I notice a few houses with signs in the yard. For sale, for rent, for lease. My imagination churns harder, and I send out a silent wish to the universe. My birthday wish came true in the most unexpected of ways, so maybe the universe will hear me again. It’s silly, but I can’t help the sliver of hope burning deep in my heart.
It’s dark out now, the sun long gone. I turn and head back the way I came, my head feeling much clearer, although I’m still worried about Mina. As I near my building, my phone chimes.
I quickly type a response and start running again, this time moving with speed and purpose toward my apartment.
I reach my apartment and burst inside, heading straight for the shower. I don’t want to greet her all gross and sweaty, although I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. I shower quickly, the hot water washing away the last of the worry and stress I had been holding all day, wondering how she was doing. Just as quickly as I got into the shower I get out, furiously towel-drying myself like I’m on a deadline. I slip into some clean clothes just as I hear a soft knock on the door. I open it with a smile.
“Hey baby, you don’t have to knock. You’ve got a key now, remember?”
“Oh yeah.” She fumbles in her purse for a minute and grabs her keys, holding them up. “Did you want that back now?”
“No, you goof,” I chuckle as I pull her inside and close the door. “That’s yours. You’re always welcome here.”
“Thanks babe.”
I decide to take a risk. “Hell, you can even leave some clothes here for yourself if you want to. Preferably not in huge, dirty piles all over the floor, but I can make some drawer or closet space for you.”
That gets a chuckle out of her, thankfully. “Yeah I’ll think about it!”
“Cool. Now tell me how it went with your family. You’re still alive, and you haven’t been sent to a nunnery, so that alleviates my two worst-case-scenarios.”
“A nunnery?”
“I know, right? Just imagine. I’d have to disguise myself as a gardener or something to sneak in and visit you.”
“No disrespect to nuns but I just don’t think I could rock that outfit.”
“Please, you’d look fabulous in a potato sack. You’d be the hottest nun there.”
“Pretty sure that would defeat the whole purpose of being there.”
“Eh, whatever. You’re not there, you’re here with me.” I pull her close for a quick kiss. “So, talk to me. What happened?”
“Long story short, my parents were very upset that we lied, but they acknowledged that I’m a grown ass woman and can make my own decisions about my love life.”
“Wow, that’s better than you could have thought, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. My dad was more open than my mom though. She was pouting like a damn child, insisting that if she had known the truth about your job, she would still have given you a chance.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“Hell no. Given her track record, and even some of the things she said during our conversation, the lying was definitely necessary if you wanted a chance in hell to make a good impression.”
“Figures.”
“Yeah. My dad said they would come around but it would take some time, since the lying is a big deal to them. But he said he just wants me to be happy, and if you make me happy, so be it.”
“Well, that’s a good starting point.”
“Yeah, as good as any.” She pulls me close and presses her lips to my ear. “Now, speaking of you making me happy, I’ve got a good idea how that can happen right here, right now.”
A tingle runs down my spine and I can feel my cock stirring to attention in my pants. “I’m listening.”
“Let’s move into the bedroom.”
“Your wish is my command.”