Chapter 18 #4
First refusing overtime and now offering to call off altogether. I was too far gone at this point to be saved. Sinking with the ship was inevitable. Riding it out was the only way through the storm.
He was quiet for a long moment. “My sister isn’t going to let you leave until she grills you. I hope you know that. She’s nosey as fuck.”
“I’m excellent at evading personal questions.” I nipped at his jaw again.
He laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Again, I’m failing to see the problem here.”
“I’m trying to not scare you off.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sisters don’t scare me.”
“How would you know? You’re an only child.”
Something bloomed in my chest—a warmth that spread along my shoulders and down my arms, tingling along the way. He actually had looked through my entire file—or whatever was available in the government database.
The corners of my mouth hurt from trying to fight my smile.
Flattery.
That’s what this was.
What a terrible thing to feel while trying to keep things casual.
When I pulled back to look at him, his eyes immediately darted away. “Okay, forget I said that. I’m going to pretend I know nothing about you. How’s that sound?”
What did it mean if I wanted to squeeze him until he popped?
Some kind of cute aggression was haunting me.
“What kind of boat did you pick out?”
He shoved me away. “Knock it off. I don’t even know your social well enough to fill out a phony loan application. Let alone buy a big purchase like that. Why a boat, anyway?”
“It wounds me that you wouldn’t take the time to memorize it. What good is looking at my file if you’re not going to use it for your own benefit?”
He shot me a look, sputtering as he spoke. “Do you want me to commit fraud? Is that what I’m hearing?”
I shrugged. “I can afford a few loans under my name.”
At the moment, I had no large amounts of debt in my name.
House was paid for, car was bought in cash, and credit cards were useless to me.
I had no interest in purchasing anything for pleasure that would end up sitting in my driveway or inside my house unused because of my backbreaking work schedule.
However... the thought of allowing Terran to buy something for himself was...
It wasn’t so bad.
I wouldn’t hate it if he asked. He wouldn’t—he was far too prideful for a handout like that. But on the off chance he gave my dry-humored offer an actual passing interest, I wouldn’t keep him from exploring it. Boat-wise or something else.
Perhaps a new car to replace that beater he relied too heavily on. Two people using it would only rack up the miles quicker, even if they were sparse in using it. Older cars had a far shorter lifespan in a climate like Ellington Heights than more people realized.
Asking Avery for advice would be more beneficial than browsing the Internet myself. Brandon would know reliable car brands and had an acute understanding of our weather conditions considering he’d lived here his entire life.
“Your net worth actually disgusts me. I hope you know that,” he replied.
“So you looked that up, too.”
He scoffed. “No!”
Liar.
“Bishop.” Both of our heads whipped around to the front entrance of the ambulance bay, his partner frowning at us. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I take five seconds to take a leak and you disappear on me.”
Terran coughed into the crook of his elbow, knocking my shoulder with his as he passed by me. A subtle, hold your tongue, as he made his way back over toward the cruiser.
Interesting, he’d picked up on my biting comment just waiting for the chance to be unleashed on this bastard who was twice his age and should know better than to drag him out on a fucking call.
“Sorry. Took a break out here because it was getting hot in the lobby. Nearly passed out.”
His partner shook his head, letting out a long sigh before turning his gaze toward me. “Thank you for following him out here and checking on him, doctor.”
Terran glared at me over his shoulder right before I could open my mouth.
Clever. And very subtle.
“You’re welcome,” I managed to mutter.
He was lucky I was more invested in keeping him happy than letting his partner have it with the verbal lashing he more than deserved. Then again, there were other ways to ensure Terran kept out of trouble while I was stuck at work.
Guilt was a hell of a motivator. As was shame.
“Be sure to tell your captain,” I said, hooking my hand around Terran’s arm and giving it a firm squeeze. “That the eight week leave should still be followed.”
For a moment he froze, the beginning of a reply forming on his lips but lost the second my words registered. He shot me a look, scowl prominent and not at all pleased that I was bringing this up in front of his partner.
He could be mad all he wanted. I gave little fucks at this point.
Slowly, after a beat of silence, he exhaled. “Right. Eight weeks.”
“Four down, four more to go.” I flashed him a professional smile that he glowered at.
“I’ll be sure to let our captain know,” his partner replied.
“Excellent.”
I waited until they both climbed back into the police cruiser and headed off before returning inside. Warm air blasted me, chasing away the chill of the oncoming evening.
Four hours.
Three and a half, actually.
That’s all that separated us instead of the abysmal forty-eight of Wednesday evening. I could handle three and a half. Perhaps less, if I ducked out early. No one would notice as long as rounds were done and bed checks were up to date.
Surprisingly, Violet was still standing at the nurse’s station. She pushed away from it the moment she spotted me, a small frown tugging at her lips.
“So, uh… How did it go?”
I popped a brow. “How did what go?”
“Your talk. With the cop.”
I contemplated throwing her a bone, giving her something to satiate whatever worry was making her wring her fingers together so harshly.
When had any of them cared enough to be this invested?
Perhaps they always were and I never noticed.
Then again, this shiny new connection with our former patient was just that—in a few weeks, none of it would be entertaining enough to carry any interest for a discussion. It’d fade into the background soon enough, lost to whatever other shiny, new thing developed and stole their interest.
I shrugged. “Fine. He agreed to going back on bed rest.”
“Oh...” She seemed confused. “That’s it?”
“What else did you think we were discussing?”
For a moment, it looked like she was about to argue, or at least say something else to move the conversation in another direction.
In the end, she merely sighed and shook her head.
Most likely resigning to the fact that my steel trap of a mouth wasn’t going to give her anything worthwhile no matter how hard she tried to dig it out of me.
“All right. I’m glad you two are all good.”
My stomach tightened strangely at the way she worded that. Nodding for her to follow me, we headed back down to our wing of the hospital together, a quietness settling between us.
Three and a half hours.
That was all I needed to get through now.
I could handle that.