Chapter Nineteen
Luke
This has possibly been the longest night shift of my life.
I’m going to need matchsticks to keep my eyes from closing on the drive home.
I should have clocked off around three hours ago, but a young man was having repetitive cardiac arrests, which resulted in mounds of paperwork.
Luckily, he's alive and now being treated in the intensive care unit.
Sitting in the driver's seat of my car, I check my phone one last time before venturing back to my place. Still no messages or missed calls from Fallon. Trust her fucking brother to jump scare her mid phone call. She is clumsy enough as it is, never mind with the extra help from Max. But one positive came from the phone call. She told me that she is missing me. It might not seem like much to anyone else, but to me, it’s a huge milestone.
That woman's emotions are like draining blood from a stone.
It feels as though weeks have passed since I spoke to her last, although I'm probably just being dramatic. I know they’re on a small island, but fuck, how is there not one person who can fix her phone?
I feel sorry for Dom and Will at this point.
I am never the needy friend in our group, but right now I need to vent it out, and they're the only ones I'm comfortable enough to do so with.
The lucky bastards have the pleasure of my fabulous company all night tonight.
After I've slept all afternoon, that is.
By the time I make it to my apartment, I’m pretty sure I fall asleep before my head even hits the pillow.
“Here he is,” Will calls as I walk closer to our usual table in the local pub.
We decided to meet up in our local pub just across the street from where we all live.
I couldn’t get rid of the fuckers even if I wanted to.
Will lives above me, where Dom lives below.
All in the same building. At least by coming here, I can stumble back into bed quickly enough.
It was a struggle to wake up today. I don’t know if it's from the amount of shifts I’ve been working or how emotionally draining they have been.
But either way, it all comes down to how hard I work myself.
More so than usual at the minute, all to keep my mind off you know who.
The sexy, emotionally detached female that has me by the fucking balls.
“I’m here in body, maybe not so much in soul,” I grumble, taking a seat at the table with the boys.
“You need a bloody day off, that’s your problem,” Dom scowls. “You never pick up this many shifts; you have probably made yourself ill.”
“I know, and every shift he picks up has that dickhead of an old fart, Lowe, on with him,” Will rolls his eyes. “You’re asking for a hard time working with him.”
That brings a small smile to my face. At least I'm not the only one who thinks he's a dick.
“Yeah, well, I cancelled all of the extra shifts I took on that don’t need me,” I say. “I need sleep. I’m barely functioning.”
“From the lack of sleep, or the lack of Fallon?” Dom asks, taking a sip of his pint. “You know, you can always sort yourself out with Palm, and five friends.”
Will bursts out laughing at that. I do too, but then I try to hide my humour behind my hands. The last thing Dom needs is for me to egg him on when he’s in the mood to wind me up.
“Fuck off,” I groan. “But since you asked so nicely, yes, because of Fallon. I have only spoken to her once in over a month. If I wasn’t on the phone with her when she did it, I’d think she was avoiding me on purpose.”
“And you’re sure she’s not back already and just avoiding you?” Will asks.
That is a thought that had passed my mind, too.
But I saw her face when she spoke to me on the video call.
I know she’s missing me just as much as I am her, and I know she meant it.
Fallon can lie with her words all she wants about how she feels about me, but her expressions are an open book.
I see the way she hides her smiles, the way her nose crinkles when she’s happy, and the way she sucks in her bottom lip when she’s turned on.
There isn’t much I miss when it comes to her.
“I’m sure,” I say with confidence.
“I’m so happy I like men. I would hate to be as pussy whipped as you are right now,” Will adds, his brow raised accusatively at me.
“It’s a price I’m willing to pay,” I say. A smug smile took over my lips.
“You’re crazy,” Will shakes his head.
“Not as crazy as the ED nurses,” Dom adds. “Have you heard the latest rumour?”
“What now?” I groan. Nurses in our department are busier than any doctor, yet still have enough time to concoct some of the wildest stories.
“You’re sleeping with Penny,” he says whilst trying to hold back his laughter. “On your break time, and you have been seeing her in secret.”
“Break? What the hell is a break? I most certainly haven’t had one of those in a while, and I can promise that Penny is the same,” I groan. Raking my hands down my face. “I don’t think I've ever had more than a one-sentence conversation with the woman.”
“Maybe that’s all it takes. A couple of words and a lusty stare, and poof, she’s pregnant,” Will jokes.
They'd better all rein it in. The last thing I need is for all this stupid gossip to make its way to Fallon's ears. My chances will well and truly be shot at then.
“Why does it always have to involve me? I literally do not bother with anyone in there,” I say.
“Because you, my dear friend, are the young, sexy doctor with the kind eyes who will say hello to anybody. Be a bit of a cunt, and they’ll soon all leave you alone,” Will says, his eyes gleaming.
“No, I doubt it. Women these days read too much of that dark romance shit to be put off by a moody man. Treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen,” Dom winks.
“Fuck. So I can't do right from wrong, can I?”
“Nope,” they both answer.
“Well, I’m glad you two are having a good laugh at my expense. You bastards.”
“It’s what friends are for,” Dom laughs some more.
“Some shit friends you are,” I grumble.
After a few more minutes of taking shit from the boys, I finally stand to head over to the bar. I hadn’t even got myself a drink before they started to give me shit. Finally, with a Jack Daniel's and Coke in hand, I head back over to the table when my phone starts to ring.
Fuck. What on earth could the hospital want now? I’m positive I didn’t have a shift booked. With an eye roll, I bring the phone to my ear.
“Smyth,” I say as a greeting.
“Hello, Doctor Smyth. We have a lady in here asking for you, and it seems rather urgent. We tried to brush it off, knowing it’s your day off and all, but she is very insistent.”
I frown. Nothing like this has ever happened before. It must be one of my regular patients. From the sound of the lady on the other side of the phone, she didn’t want to make this call as much as I didn’t want to take it.
“Do you know who she is?” I ask.
“She said to tell you her name is Fallon, and that Maya needs you?” She questions.
Holy, fucking, shit.
Turning back to the bar, I slam down my untouched drink and make a beeline back to the table.
“I’m on my way,” I say to her before hanging up.
“What's up?” Dom asks, suddenly serious.
“The hospital called. It’s Fallon. I’ve got to go,” I say in a rush, picking up my jacket and already walking out of the pub door.
It’s only when I’m halfway across the street that I realise Dom and Will are right there with me.
“We’re coming too,” Will says. Not an ounce of amusement on his face.
They both know some of what's happened with Fallon’s best friend already, so I’m positive they’re just as worried as I am at what we could be walking into.