Chapter 19
nineteen
“Awesome, everything looks good,” Nurse June says as she inspects my work before looking at the patient. “We will be back to check on you in a little while. If you need anything before then, just hit the call light, okay?”
“Sounds good. Thank you again,” the patient says.
As we walk out of the room, we take off our gloves and drop them in the trash can.
“You cleaned that wound well,” Nurse June says as we stop at the nurses’ station.
“Thank you,” I tell her as I coat my hands in hand sanitizer.
A nurse looks up and smiles when she sees me. “Lyla, it’s been a long time. How are you, sweetheart?”
My heart races as I stare at Kyle’s mom. When we were together, I adored the woman. She was never anything but nice to me. In fact, she’s the reason I wanted to do my shadow work at this hospital. That was before Kyle and I split, though, and I have no idea what he’s told her.
“I’m good. How are you?”
“I’m just fine.”
“You two know each other?” Nurse June asks.
“She used to date my youngest son, Kyle,” Leah tells her.
“Oh, that’s awesome,” Nurse June says.
It’s awkward, standing here as they talk about me almost as if I’m not here.
Leah looks up and smiles. “His ears must have been burning.”
Dread fills me as I shut my eyes.
Son of a bitch.
The last thing I want to do is deal with Kyle. Especially here of all places. I’m trying to make a good impression on the people who work here to try and secure a job once I graduate, and knowing Kyle, he’s going to fuck that up for me.
Vindictive bastard.
Hands shaking, I look down at the screen, praying that a patient is requesting attention, but find that they are all fine.
“Hey, Mom,” Kyle says as he comes to a stop in front of us.
“Hi, baby. Are you here for Lyla?”
“Actually, yeah. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute,” Kyle says.
I shake my head as I look up. “Sorry, I’m working.”
Leah rests her hand on my shoulder. “Now, none of that. Why don’t you take your lunch now? You were due for it anyway.”
Nurse June looks at me with concern, but I ignore her. I don’t see any way out of this. Kyle and his mom have me cornered, and they know it.
“Fine, but I’ll be back soon,” I tell them.
“Oh, don’t hurry back. Take a long lunch,” Leah says.
I bite my tongue as I start to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Kyle asks as he jogs to catch up.
I keep my mouth shut until we step into the outside waiting area, where patients can come to get some sunshine when it’s nice. I’m so annoyed that for the first time I’m not in awe of the gardens when I see them.
“What do you want, Kyle?” I ask as I round on him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?” he hisses at me.
I snort. “You are not my boyfriend. We broke up. Even your mom knows it.”
Kyle rolls his eyes. “Are you ever going to get over that?”
“I am over it, Kyle. That’s why I go out of my way to stay away from you, but you, on the other hand, haven’t gotten the hint that I’ve moved on and that I don’t want you anymore. So tell me, what do you want? I know you aren’t here for me.”
His hand comes up and he rubs the back of his neck. “I haven’t heard back from Seattle,” he mutters.
I freeze at his words. Surely, I heard him wrong, right?
“Excuse me?” I ask slowly.
“Seattle. I can’t get them on the phone. They are refusing my calls and would only tell Coach that they didn’t see any potential on the team.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. He knows why he isn’t hearing back. He cannot be that dense, right?
“Why would you? Reagan made her stance clear, they aren’t interested in you,” I finally remind him.
“Yeah, but they were before you went and fucked it up for me,” he snaps.
I laugh sarcastically. “Before I went and fucked it up? Seriously? You’re the one who approached us and made a fool of yourself. I had nothing to do with it. Your actions have consequences. I’m sorry if you are finally realizing that.”
“Come on, Lyla. I need you to reach out to her and convince her to give me another chance. They were interested before, and they can be again. I just need you or Wyatt to do me this solid.” He waves his hand toward my body.
“Do whatever you have to to convince Wyatt to help get me back on their radar.”
My whole body tenses.
“Did you just tell me to use sex to try and get my boyfriend to help you?”
Kyle shrugs. “It’s for our future. Think about that. When I get drafted, we can get your dad into a home, and you can be free to live your life again. No more being tied to the house all the time. You will have everything that you always wanted.”
My blood is boiling. I am really considering if it’s worth decking him. It would feel good internally, but I am not one hundred percent sure I wouldn’t break my fist. Instead, I let my words do the lashing for me.
“Absolutely fucking not. Not only is that demeaning, but it’s disgusting.
Just a couple weeks ago you were demanding that we get back together and convinced that we were meant to be, but now you’ve switched gears and you want me to try and sexually exploit my current relationship for your benefit?
Have you lost your mind? Did you get knocked in the head again? ” I spit out.
Kyle sighs, rubbing his hand down his face.
“Stop being dramatic, Lyla. This is the least you could do after flaunting your relationship all over campus. You know the shit I am taking because you want to be with him? I know you will be back, so I’m dealing with it, but you have to give me something in return. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Let me make myself clear, Kyle. Neither Wyatt nor I will be calling Reagan to tell her that they should give you a chance. You ruined it, plain and simple. I never, and I mean never, want to see you again. If you see me, do me the courtesy of walking the other way. I never want you to contact me again, and if you try, I will be taking out a restraining order. We are no longer together, and I need you to move the hell on. I know I have.”
I push past him and walk away.
I’ve said my piece, and now he knows exactly where I stand. As much as I didn’t want to have that conversation, I’m glad I did. Now we both know where the other stands, and it feels like I’ve closed that chapter of my life.
Even though I’m glad it’s over, a small part of me is still angry for being set up. The audacity to ask me that.
Seriously, fuck him.
When I pull up outside of the hospital, Lyla is already waiting. Putting the car in park, I jump out.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” I say as I open her door.
Lyla walks over to me with a smile. She comes to a stop and places her hand on my shoulder and reaches up and kisses me.
For a split second, I freeze. It still feels surreal for her to initiate intimacy with me.
Especially when no one we know is around.
It makes me feel like she isn’t faking it anymore. Lord knows I never was.
Before she can pull back though, I kiss her back. She hums under her breath as she breaks free.
“You weren’t late. I just got out early,” she murmurs.
She slides into the car, and I shut the door. Moving, I get back into the car and start to drive.
“How was your day?” I ask as I pull out onto the road.
She reaches over and threads her fingers through mine. “Better now that I’m with you.”
I don’t know what happened since I saw her last, but it has changed her.
Sure, we have been acting more like a real couple lately, but today something has shifted.
There is a lightness in the air that wasn’t there before.
Maybe she finally realized that she wants this to be more. I hope that’s what it is.
I want this to work. I need it to.
“Do you want to do anything before I have to rush you home? I don’t want you to turn into a pumpkin on me.” I wink.
Lyla tips her head back and laughs as we come to a stop at a stoplight. I can’t help but look over at her. Even dressed in scrubs, face bare of any sort of makeup, she looks gorgeous.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe she’s mine. After all the plotting and planning, she’s finally holding my hand while sitting in my passenger seat.
Kind of mine.
Not officially yet anyway.
My stomach drops when I think about her finding out what I went through to get her.
Will she find it endearing? Make her fall more in love with me?
Some might find it romantic, but she could go the opposite way.
She could feel manipulated. Like I used her.
She could question everything I have been working so hard to build.
I push those thoughts from my head. I put us on this road. I need to see it through to the end. Even if I end up heartbroken.
“Maybe we can stop and grab a snack and maybe something to drink? I’m not really dressed for being out in public,” she says as the light turns green.
“Sounds good. There’s this new bakery over on Third. What do you think about stopping there?” I muse.
“Yes. Immediately, yes.”
She reaches over and turns up the radio as I drive. She starts singing along to the song “Ordinary” by Alex Warren. Even though the girl really can’t carry a tune, she sings with her full chest, not giving a fuck if I judge.
I love it.
When the song ends, she turns down the volume as I pull into the parking lot. “Sorry about that. I love that song.”
“No apologies necessary. Sing anytime you want,” I tell her.
“I just love how he wrote it about his wife. The way he looks at her,” she says wistfully as I put the car in park.
I know nothing about the guy, but now I want to look him up just so I can see how he stares at his woman. For scientific reasons, of course.
Smiling, I chuckle as I get out of the car. Before I can completely round the hood, she gets out.
“I was going to open your door for you.” I frown at her.
“I know, I just thought I would save you some time, and steps.”
“I like doing it for you, though.”
The corners of her mouth kick up. “Is this one of those man things we were talking about the other day? Like the sidewalk?”
“Exactly like the sidewalk,” I say as I take her hand.
She shakes her head as we walk into the bakery and wait our turn. We quietly chat until the woman calls us up to order.
“Sorry about the wait. Welcome to Sweet & Sweet. What can I get you today?” the lady behind the counter asks.
“Can I get an iced chai with soy and one of those lemon filled pastries, please?” Lyla asks.
“Sure, what about you?” the lady asks.
“I’ll have a mint tea with honey and one of those chocolate and caramel drizzled donuts, please.”
After the lady takes my money, she gets busy grabbing our treats.
“I’ll bring the drinks over as soon as they are done,” she says as she hands us our bags.
“Thank you,” we say in unison.
“There’s a table over there.” I point behind Lyla.
She turns around, and I follow her to the table and sit down.
“This looks so good. I didn’t realize how hungry I was either,” she says as she pulls it out of the bag.
“I could get you something else to eat.”
Before I can even finish offering, she shakes her head.
“No, it’s already getting late. If I eat something big now, I’m not going to want to eat dinner. If I don’t eat while trying to convince Dad to, it will turn into a big thing, and I would rather avoid setting him off right now if I can.”
“Understood. So tell me, did you deal with anything cool today? I know you can’t tell me much with HIPAA, but maybe you learned something you want to share?”
“No, not really. There was a dude though who had a metal cage that went from his foot to his shin. I got to clean around where it connected to his bone. Apparently he had a really bad fall and shattered both the bones in his leg above his ankle,” she says, making me wince.
“That sounds fucking painful.”
“I mean, it could have been worse. They could have amputated it,” she says as she takes a bite of her pastry.
I don’t know how she can eat while talking about amputation. She’s got a better stomach than me, that’s for sure.
“How was hockey?” she asks, changing the subject.
“Good. Some of us stayed after practice and reviewed some film to prep for our next game.”
“Look at all of you being all responsible and shit,” she says, making me laugh.
“It’s shocking, I know, but there’s a reason why we win as often as we do.”
“Hey, no judgment. I’ll just say this though, the football team could take a note or two out of your guys’ playbook for sure,” she says right as the lady brings our drinks to us.
For the next twenty minutes we hang out, decompress, and finish our food and drinks before heading back to her place.
“That was nice. We should do this more often,” she says as we pull into her driveway.
“We can do it as often as you would like.”
She looks down as she smiles before getting out of the car.
For the first time, she doesn’t try to get me to leave and lets me stay without putting up a fight. We hang out with her dad, watching some game show called The Chase, and eat dinner.
While most people would hate it, I love every minute of it, and I know just by looking at her that she does too. This is the kind of routine I could get used to.