Chapter 8
Rose – Five Months Later
“Please, Rose, they are crying out for you, no one else. They’ve seen your degrees, your work ethnic and care with children.
It’s just for a year, then you’ll return here but with more qualifications to do more,” Sally, my supervisor pleads as I sign off on a chart for a child that has been discharged from their doctor, who had somehow managed to swallow a small toy truck and needed it surgically removed.
I look at Sally, the pretty brunette, and smile softly at the pleading in her caramel eyes.
I know what an honor it is for New York to want me, for the cardiology team to personally ask for me, and I am so flattered, but I just…
“I can’t, Sally, I’m sorry,” I say, and she groans, dropping her head as Dr. Conners walks over with a file.
He raises a brow between us as he hands me the file and asks, “Is everything okay?”
Sally answers, “No, the Cardiology department for children wants her, but she’s saying no.”
Dr. Conners smirks and asks, “This wouldn’t happen to be about a certain B….friend of mine, now, would it?”
I miss his stutter as I stick my tongue out at him, and he chuckles as Sally gasps, “You are not turning this opportunity down over a guy?!”
I shake my head and state, “He isn’t just some guy, Sally, he,” I side eye Dr. Conners, whose grin is big and wide, and I sigh as I admit, “He’s my everything, my heart, and I also can’t leave my family for that long.”
Sally’s pager beeps, and she huffs before shaking her head and stating, “I’m not giving up,” giving me a pointed brow, then turns and walks away with a slight stomp, making me chuckle and look at Dr. Conners.
“He loves you too,” he says, making my heart pound.
“How do you know?” I ask quietly, and he grins.
“Because three days ago he got your name tattooed on his chest,” he says, shocking me, and my mouth parts before I whisper, “He did?”
He nods with a smile before he nods to the file and admits, “I took that file out of your folder, just wanted to see how Caleb was doing.”
I grin and reply, “He’s a cheeky little monkey, isn’t he?”
Dr. Conners chuckles and agrees, “That he is, but we wouldn’t have him any other way.” He looks at his watch, “Right, I’ve got club business to attend to. I’ll see you tomorrow."
I nod as he leaves, not shocked that he isn’t trying to push me for the course, his friendship with Cage his priority before I sigh and check my watch.
I still have an hour left of my shift before I finally get to see my boyfriend.
Five months and I’m so madly and deeply in love with him, like I can’t bear to be away from him. The fact that he got my name tattooed on him just means he feels it too, what we have.
Every time he is near, I’m drawn to him, my body gravitates to him while it lights up like fireworks, and when he’s not near me, I feel so goddamn cold, lost even.
He’s my heart, and it helps that my little sister loves him, though Mama and Dad are itching to meet him, something we keep putting off, more him, worried they won’t like him, which is ridiculous.
The man is amazing.
Shaking my head out of my loved-up thoughts of my boyfriend, I head over to Caleb’s room, who was admitted three days ago with severe stomach pains.
The poor boy had to have his appendix removed, which was ready to burst.
“Knock, knock,” I say as I walk into his room, and the sweet six-year-old grins wide, his blue eyes sparkling with happiness like he didn’t just have to have emergency surgery.
“Hi Nurse Rose!” he says, and I grin and reply, “Hey buddy, how are you feeling?”
“Great!” he says, “My Uncle Stone just called and promised to buy the biggest monster truck for when I get out.”
I laugh as his dad shakes his head and looks at me with a smile and kind blue eyes that are much like his son's. Though he has black hair, which he wears in a man bun, while his son has dark red hair, darker than mine.
“I hear through the grapevine that you’re in love,” Dirty says, and I groan as Caleb giggles.
“Let me guess, Dr. Conners?” I ask, and he nods and waves his phone at me and admits, “In a group chat, he put in capitals that you’re in love with our friend.”
Damn man.
I pause. Wait did he just say group…
I wince and ask, “And uh, is uh….”
My words trail off at the big ass grin on his face, and I groan again, suddenly not so itchy to get in my boyfriend's embrace.
That is not how I thought my boyfriend was going to find out how I felt about him.
I sigh, “Alright, let’s check your vitals, buddy,” and Caleb grins wide before he begins to tell me all about his uncle Stone and his mischievous ways over the years, and who is now his favorite, which makes his dad laugh.
Not as hard as when he told the story of how Uncle Stone accidentally set the stove on fire, leaving a dish towel on the hob.
I just finished doing his vitals when he says, “You know, it’s a shame he’s married to a very mean woman because I think he would like you.”
I see his dad tense in my side eye, confusing me, but I ignore it and his reaction and look at Caleb and say, “Well, that is sweet, but I do have a boyfriend I love very much, and your uncle Stone most likely loves his wife. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have married her.”
Caleb instantly shakes his head and denies, “Nope, he doesn’t love her. She wants a cushy life.”
Cushy – A six-year-old did not just say cushy life.
“She’s what Daddy calls a patch chaser. Uncle Stone doesn’t love her, and she loves to kiss the prospects,” he admits, and even Dirty chokes in shock while I just blink. Caleb continues, “I think he could love you, I think you should dump your boyfriend and date Uncle Stone.”
I blink again and look at a shocked-looking Dirty, whose mouth opens and closes a few times, not knowing what to say, but to be fair, I have no idea what to say.
“Can I go home yet?” Caleb asks like he didn’t just out his uncle’s bad marriage, and I clear my throat and stutter, “Yes, I mean uh, no, I mean,” I blink and look at Dirty again, who has come outta his shock quicker than me and looks ready to laugh.
I shake my head, my own laughter wanting to escape, and I have to take a deep breaths to compose myself before I say softly, “You should be discharged this evening, and if there are any problems, Dr. Conners is only a knock away.”
Caleb nods with a grin while Dirty and I lock eyes, his with a twinkle in them, most likely from his son's antics, and I say, “Ring the bell if you need anything. Dr. Mathews will discharge him around five.”
“No problem, thank you, Rose,” he says, and I give him a smile before leaving the room with Caleb's file as I sign off on his vitals.
Who knew six-year-olds paid so much attention….
I place the file on the nurse's desk as my phone vibrates and I check it quickly, but frown seeing it’s my sister.
I thought she had plans tonight?
Kimmy:
Dave cheated on me with the head cheerleader…
Several crying emojis follow her message, and I wince, quickly typing back.
Me:
I’m finishing in ten, let yourself in
I press send and quickly type one out to Cage.
Me:
Can we raincheck tonight? Kimmy’s boyfriend cheated on her, and she needs me
I press send without hesitation before I sigh.
I hate that I’m not going to see him. My stomach is actually tightening, but my sister needs me, and over the years, she’s always come first. He knows that won’t change.
I deflate as I pull up to my apartment building half an hour later and climb out of my jeep after grabbing my bag, the thought of not seeing Cage becoming more real but I pause when I hear, “I have a trunk full of ice cream and junk food as well as a shovel,” and I turn to see Cage leaning against his truck with a smirk on his face.
His hair, longer than he had it when we met is messy on top, his shirt is stretching across his muscles from where his arms are crossed, and my heart pounds in my chest at the feelings that build deep inside me seeing he’s here.
“A shovel, huh?” I say as a lump builds in my throat.
I told him what happened, and he’s here for me, for my sister.
Damn, I think this man just stole the entirety of my heart.
“Yep, we can plan his murder upstairs,” he replies, and I grin widely as I drop my bag on the floor and walk over to the person I know I won’t be able to live without.
He opens his arms and I push myself into his body, my hands instantly gripping his shirt and lay my head over his heart, the beating soothing me while he wraps his arms around me, kissing my head.
“How was your day, red?” he asks, and I sigh, “Better now. Your friend's son, Caleb, was admitted a few days ago.”
He hums and confesses, “I know, Dirty mentioned he should be discharged today.”
Well, that news got out quick.
“Dr. Mathews is discharging him as we speak, and he’s expecting a large monster truck,” I admit, and Cage laughs and replies, “It’s already waiting for him,” and I smile, giving my weight to Cage.
“Apparently because of that monster truck, Caleb thinks I should dump you and get with his Uncle Stone,” I say and I look up at my amazing boyfriend whose brows hit his hairline, “Apparently his Uncle Stone is in a very bad marriage to a patch chaser, his words not mine, and would love me. I’ve got to say, for a six year old he knows a lot more than people realize,” I frown and ask, “What is a patch chaser?”
Cage blinks several times, his mouth parting a little in surprise, and I hum and mumble, “That is exactly how Dirty and I looked when he said it.”
Cage blinks again, then mutters, “A patch chaser is someone who wants the brother for their cut and what it brings, not their heart.”
I nod as if I understand, but I really don’t, unless it’s all about money. Caleb did say the woman wanted a ‘cushy life’.
Cage clears his throat and declares, “I think I need to have words with that boy and his big ears,” and I laugh as I move my hands from his back and slowly glide them up and around his neck, going on my tiptoes, and he smiles as he meets me halfway, pressing his lips against mine.
It isn’t sweet and slow, it's hard and full of pure love, causing him to tighten his arms around my waist, lifting me a little.
He pulls back first, placing his forehead against mine as my feet dangle and he breathes, “If we carry on, I’ll be making love to you on my hood, and we need to go cheer up your little sister and plot the little shit's death.”
My heart pounds as pure love fills me, and I can’t keep it in.
“I love you, Cage,” I whisper, then taking a deep breath, I admit, “and I love you even more knowing how much you care for my sister. I want forever with you.”