Chapter Two
LIAM
T he door to the exam room shuts behind me, my heart beating wildly in my chest as I round the corner. My back hits the wall and I bend over, hands on my knees.
What the hell just happened? I only had a chance to see how the patient was giving Doctor Pierce a death stare before I saw her .
Ella. Here. At my work.
She looks a little older, like I’m sure I do, but despite not seeing her for four years, I recognized her instantly.
And then I just stared at her.
Did I even say anything? Or did I just look at her like some fucking creeper?
I couldn’t help it, though. For that brief moment, everything else fell away, and it was like we were the only two people in the world. Nothing existed besides me and her, and I felt like I was floating.
Until Pierce cleared his throat and snapped me out of the illusion.
Seeing the one-night stand I’ve never been able to get out of my mind was not on my bingo card for today. She had been more than a hook-up, though. Even seeing her now, four years later, she’s still beautiful, it’s like staring at the sun.
Her long brown hair had been piled on top of her head in a sexy, tousled bun. And the sweats she was wearing? They were even more enticing than a skintight outfit because I already know exactly what curves lay beneath the baggy fabric.
A sigh leaves me as I stand up, leaning against the wall. How could fate have been so cruel as to put me in her path again? To put me in the path of the woman who I had connected with on such a deep level, I was sure I was in love based on one night alone. It had been hell, waking up the morning after our night together with only a note to remember her by:
Liam,
Thanks for the mind-blowing night.
Xoxo,
Ella
That evening had been my first and only shift as an EMT in Burlington. We had just been about to stop for dinner when a call came in for a code blue. Imagine my surprise when we showed up at the scene of a totaled car on the edge of a cliff with Ella in the driver’s seat.
I thought it was my second chance. I could save her and then we could be together. Kind of fucked up, sure, but what were the odds that I would be on duty and be the one to pull her out of that wreckage?
We had made it to the hospital, and they took her back to surgery. The relief I felt when the doctor came out to tell her family she’d be fine was immense.
But then… some guy came running in, claiming to be Ella’s fiancé. I left, heartbroken and angry. After tossing and turning all night, I had resolved to ask her if it was true. In my bones, in my damn soul, I felt that I wasn’t just a hookup. There was doubt though, making me wonder if that’s why she didn’t even leave me her phone number.
So the next morning, I had gone back to clear up any misunderstandings.
I’m walking through the doors, remembering the room number that the nurse told Ella’s supposed fiancé the night before. I stop in my tracks when I see the fiancé open the door to her room, holding a bouquet of roses. The door shuts behind him, and unable to help myself, I shift so I can see through the window next to the door.
I’m just in time to catch him leaning down over her in what looks like a kiss.
My heart breaks. Fuck.
I can’t see her face when he pulls back, but I catch a snippet of what sounds like, “I’m your fiancé. Of course, I came.”
I had left, again. Left my volunteer EMT job after my first night and moved back to Boston the next day. Started my residency at this hospital a month later as an intern, and put up with a lot of shit from the staff when they realized that my last name being “Stokes” isn’t just a coincidence and my family technically owns the hospital.
Sighing, I push off the wall and head toward radiology. On the way, I pass by Doctor Pierce. Shit. How long had I been leaning against that wall, lost in my own thoughts?
“William.” He falls into step beside me. “Everything okay? You seemed… off back in the exam room.”
There’s no point in trying to deny it. “Yeah. Um, I know the patient’s friend. Kind of. We met a few years ago, but I haven’t seen or talked to her since.”
His brow furrows as he looks at me. “Do you need to be moved to another patient?” Doctor Pierce has been a great mentor to me the past couple of years and is one of the only attending surgeons who doesn’t hold it against me that I essentially own the hospital.
“No.” I shake my head. I can keep this professional, right? Before I entered the exam room, I had been looking at the tablet with the patient information. Her address is listed in Virginia. That means they’re just visiting and will be leaving soon. “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary.”
Then, because I like to give him a hard time, I raise an eyebrow at him. “Do you want to switch to another patient? She was looking at you like she wanted to murder you.”
He bristles and huffs a breath, irritated by my teasing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A chuckle leaves me and I approach the radiology department, letting them know we have a patient who needs an x-ray.
“Page me when the results are in,” Doctor Pierce tells me before going off on his own.
The walk back to the exam room takes a shorter amount of time than I would like, as I am not at all ready to face Ella again. How am I supposed to stop myself from eye-fucking her when she’s my every fantasy come to life, standing right in front of me?
Dammit Liam, cool the fuck down. She’s married by now, is only visiting, and will be gone soon. I just need to keep acting professional. Well, more professional than staring blankly or running out of the room.
I take a deep breath.
Professional.
Yeah, I’m gonna be the most professional doctor in this whole damn hospital.
As I near the exam room, my steps slow when I hear Ella and Brynn talking, the door to the room cracked open.
“So… are you going to tell him?” Brynn asks in a hushed tone.
“I mean, yeah. I’m going to have to. It’s well past time,” Ella sighs. Suddenly, the loud ringing of a cell phone echoes in the room, making me jump. “Shit. Harvey’s calling me,” she mutters.
“God, still?” Brynn asks incredulously.
In the back of my mind, I know I shouldn’t be eavesdropping. I shouldn’t be hanging outside the door where anyone can pass by and see me lurking like a creeper. But… who the hell is Harvey? Her husband?
“Maybe it’s time for me to remind him of the deal we made.” She clicks her tongue.
“I don’t know why you agreed to keep the reason behind your breakup to yourself to begin with. The man is desperate to get in with your brothers’ business, and they would have kicked him to the curb if they knew what he did to you. It would have been the ultimate punishment.”
“It was the only way I could think to get him to leave me alone!” Ella says defensively. “You know how persistent he can be. Remember after the accident?”
…After the accident? Could it be the same guy from the hospital?
“Ugh. Don’t remind me. That’s the last time you ‘reminded’ him, and look how well that’s working out now,” Brynn says in a way that makes me imagine she’s rolling her eyes right now. “Don’t give him the time of day. Tell your brothers about the whole thing, and they can make sure he loses your number.”
“Ugh,” Ella groans. “I just wish I didn’t have to dig up the past to make him go away.”
“I know… Hey, I’m sorry for ruining our ‘single best friends’ weekend,” Brynn says, sounding forlorn. “I can’t believe I broke my fucking wrist. All I wanted was to find you a guy to hook up with. For you to let go. You’ve been working so hard lately.”
Ella’s laugh consists of a small snort that I find adorable. “I’m just glad you’re okay. You know I don’t do hook-ups anymore.”
Single… best friends weekend?
Ella is single? I search my mind, trying to remember the few brief moments I had looked at her while I was in the room. Was she wearing a ring?
Dammit. I can’t remember. I had been so shocked by her being here, I didn’t even think to check her hands. Fuck. I don’t even know if she was sitting, or standing, or what. All I remember is her shocked face, the way her lips parted slightly in surprise, her warm, brown eyes taking me in.
But if she’s single… does that mean… did she get a divorce? Or did she not even get married to begin with?
Fuck. Had I… had I gotten it all wrong? Was the guy who showed up at her hospital room just a tool? It had always sat wrong with me that he had said, “I’m your fiancé, of course, I came.” Because that meant she was questioning why he was there. Would she really have questioned him if they were truly engaged?
After leaving Burlington, I had told myself that every thought I had while I tried to convince myself of Ella’s innocence was reaching. That I had just been trying to think of ways the obvious couldn’t be true. Telling myself that I need to get over her, she’s not mine and never would be.
If I fucked this up… if I walked out on her when she was hurt and scared and left her with some guy that didn’t even care about her, I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive myself. If I got everything wrong, I wasted four years of our lives when she could have been mine.
I need to figure out what actually happened. I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but I need to talk to her, and not leave like last time.
Before, I made assumptions and walked away. That’s not happening this time. I refuse to make the same mistake twice.