Forced Into Your Arms

1. Milan Rivers

MILAN RIVERS

Moving back to Atlanta wasn’t exactly how I pictured my life at twenty-eight, but after everything that happened, I needed a fresh start.

Staying in Florida would’ve meant driving past places that held too many memories and pretending ten years of my life hadn’t ended with another woman standing at the altar beside the man I thought I’d spend forever with.

I wasn’t about to torture myself like that.

Coming back home wasn’t part of the plan, but neither was wasting another ten years wondering why I wasn’t enough for a man who’d already made his choice.

I grabbed my hospital badge from the kitchen counter and looked around my apartment.

Boxes were still stacked against the wall, and my living room looked more like a storage unit than a place someone actually lived, but I wasn’t worried about decorating.

There would be plenty of time for that later.

Right now, my only concern was making it through my first shift at Grady Memorial without looking like the new girl.

As I reached for my keys, my eyes landed on the vase sitting beside the coffee maker.

The white roses had finally started dying.

A few petals had already fallen onto the counter while the rest curled around the edges, looking just as tired as I felt the day they showed up.

I walked over to them and pulled the card from between the stems and read it one last time.

Ten years will never mean nothing to me…

That was all it said, and there was no name because there was no need to be one.

I knew exactly who’d sent them.

Evan Tucker had always been good at showing up after he’d already screwed everything up. Unfortunately for him, flowers couldn’t erase betrayal, and they damn sure couldn’t erase the image of him marrying somebody else.

“I should’ve thrown these away the day they got here,” I muttered then slid the card back into the arrangement before carrying the entire vase to the trash can. I dumped the flowers in there, tossed the vase in right behind them, and then closed the lid.

It didn’t magically make me feel better. It just felt… necessary.

My phone buzzed across the counter just as I tied my scrub jacket around my waist. It was a call from my sister, Mariah, causing me to smile as I answered. “Hey, Sis.”

“Tell me you ain’t still standing in that apartment overthinking your first day.”

I laughed as I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. “I’m literally walking out now.”

“Good… Because if you miss your first shift, I’m coming over there to drag you out myself.”

“You’ve always been so supportive.” I rolled my eyes. The words were true, but the sarcasm behind them wasn’t hard to miss.

“I am supportive. I’m also honest.”

Again, I rolled my eyes as if she could see them. “I’ll call you after work.”

“You better. And Milan…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m proud of you.”

Her words stopped me in my tracks for a second. She’d been saying those four words ever since I packed up my life and moved back to Atlanta. Every single time, they hit me a little harder than the last.

“Thanks,” I finally said.

After we hung up, I locked my door and headed toward the elevator. Atlanta was supposed to be my fresh start. I just hoped it actually stayed that way.

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside, letting out a slow breath as it carried me down to the parking garage.

My sister always knew exactly what to say whenever I started getting inside my own head. For the past two weeks, she’d reminded me that moving back to Atlanta wasn’t a failure. It was a second chance. I still wasn’t completely convinced she was right, but I was trying.

Even after living in Florida for ten years, there was something about Atlanta that still felt like home. The skyline had changed, a few new buildings had gone up, and the city looked different than I remembered, but the energy was still the same.

I unlocked my small SUV, tossed my bag onto the passenger seat, and climbed behind the wheel. The clock on the dashboard read 6:32 p.m., giving me more than enough time to make it to Grady before my shift started.

My playlist connected through Bluetooth as I pulled out of the apartment complex.

The first song came on, and before I knew it, I was singing right along with it.

It wasn’t that I was suddenly happy. Peace was probably the better word.

For the first time in months, my mind wasn’t stuck on wedding invitations, unanswered questions, or wondering what the hell I’d done wrong.

I was thinking about work… learning everybody’s names, proving I deserved to be there, and finally getting the fresh start I’d been praying for.

Traffic started picking up as I merged onto the interstate, but that was nothing new. Atlanta traffic had always been a pain in the ass, and apparently, some things never changed. By the time I reached downtown, the skyline stretched across my windshield, glowing against the evening sky.

My phone buzzed in the cup holder with an incoming call from a number I didn’t recognize.

I frowned before answering through my steering wheel.

“Hello?”

“Is this Milan Rivers?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Dr. Nia Brooks. We met during orientation last week. I gave you the tour of the ER.”

I remembered her immediately. Orientation had been long as hell, and most of the faces from that day had already started running together, but Nia was different.

She had been one of the few people who’d gone out of her way to make me feel welcome instead of treating me like another new employee she’d probably forget by the end of the week.

“Oh, hey!” I said, relaxing a little. “Of course I remember you.”

“Good, because I was about to be offended.” The humor in her voice made me smile. “I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“No, I’m driving. I’m almost there.”

“Good. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t already lost on your first day.”

I laughed, glancing at the GPS as it directed me toward my next turn. “Not yet. Give me another five minutes.”

“See, that’s exactly why I called. I was about to send somebody to come find you.”

“I appreciate that,” I said, laughing again. The nerves that had been sitting in my stomach since I left home eased a little. I knew I could do the job, but knowing that and walking into a new hospital for my first twelve-hour night shift were two completely different things.

“Trust me, you’re going to do fine,” Nia assured me. “The first night is always the worst because you don’t know anybody, you don’t know where anything is, and everybody moves like you’re supposed to already know. Just survive tonight, and everything after that gets easier.”

Her words settled some of the nerves I hadn’t wanted to admit I was feeling. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“You better. Drive safe, and I’ll see you in a few.”

“See you in a few.”

The call ended just as I pulled into the hospital entrance, and for the first time since leaving home, I felt a little less like I was walking into this completely alone.

Ambulances lined the emergency bay while visitors moved in and out of the sliding doors.

Nurses in every color scrub imaginable crossed the parking lot carrying coffee cups, backpacks, and the exhausted look that came from working twelve-hour shifts.

Security officers greeted employees as they walked inside, and for a second, I found myself taking it all in.

This was it…

My fresh start…

I followed the signs leading to employee parking before making my way up to the third level of the garage. It took another minute to find an empty space, but considering shift change had already started, I wasn’t complaining.

I pulled into the spot, grabbed my bag, and checked the time one last time.

Seventeen minutes early… Not bad for a first day.

After locking my SUV, I adjusted the strap of my bag and started toward the employee entrance. The garage was a little busy, just like I’d expected.

Everything felt... normal.

I hadn’t made it very far before a man’s voice echoed through the concrete structure.

“You think this shit is a game, mothafucka?”

My steps slowed before I even realized they had.

The voice came from somewhere farther inside the parking garage, hidden between rows of parked vehicles. I couldn't see who was talking, but judging by the tone, whoever they were, they weren't having a friendly conversation.

I glanced toward the entrance.

Keep walking, Milan. I told myself. Whatever they had going on wasn't my business.

I took another step before a second voice responded, calmer than the first, but no less dangerous. “Yeah, I do! And I been told ya’ll… fuck ya’ll!”

When he said that, there was a pause.

Against my better judgment, I looked toward the row of SUVs a few spaces over. All I could see were the tops of vehicles and an occasional shadow moving between them.

“Nigga think Vice ain’t gone find out the snake shit he did?” the second man, the calm one said.

Vice? I repeated to myself.

“I’m not covering this shit up for nobody.”

My brows pulled together when he added that.

Covering what up? I wondered.

The first man laughed, but it wasn’t a laugh that came from somebody enjoying themselves. It sounded more like a warning.

"You sure about that? You don’t want to keep this to yourself?"

"Nigga, I ain't scared of none of ya'll."

"You should be..."

The hairs on my arms stood up and every instinct I had told me to keep walking. Whatever was happening over there had absolutely nothing to do with me, and I had no business standing around listening.

I tightened my grip on my bag and turned toward the employee entrance. However, a gunshot ripped through the garage before I could take another step. The sound echoed through the parking garage so loudly my entire body jerked. For half a second, everything stood still.

Then another shot rang out…

Followed by another…

Screams erupted from somewhere behind me as people scattered in every direction. Someone yelled for security while another person dropped to the ground beside their car.