Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Grace
I rolled off him and desperately tried to catch my breath as he climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom.
I ran my hand over the fabric of his dark gray satin sheets.
I could hear my phone ringing from my purse, which was sitting on his dresser.
Getting out of bed, I covered myself with a throw blanket that sat on the end of the bed and pulled my phone out.
Anger consumed me when I saw another different number calling.
“What the fuck do you want?” I shouted as I answered.
Jamieson emerged from the bathroom and stood in the middle of the room.
“No. You listen to me, Sam. It’s over. It’s been over since that night.
I only told you two months to give me enough time to get the hell out of New York and away from you.
There’s nothing to talk about! What part of ‘it’s over’ do you not understand?
I don’t care about your damn excuses, and I don’t want your apology.
There isn’t anything in this world that could ever make me forgive you!
If you call or text me again, I will press charges for stalking.
I’m done. It’s done. This is the last time you will ever hear my voice! ”
I ended the call and threw my phone on the floor as I stood there with my heart pounding out of my chest.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jamieson asked as he walked up behind me and clasped my shoulders.
I jerked away from his grip and wiped the tear that was about to fall from my eye.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Don’t apologize. It was quite entertaining.” He smirked. “If he didn’t get the hint from that conversation, he’s a complete idiot. What did he do to you?”
I stood there in front of him, wrapped in a blanket, debating whether or not I should tell him. A part of me wanted to, and the other part wanted to keep it locked tightly in my mind. I opted to keep it to myself. I wasn’t sure if I could truly trust him.
“It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, and things are different now. I’m away from him, he doesn’t know where I am, and tomorrow, I’m changing my phone number.”
He sighed, climbed into bed, and patted the empty space next to him.
“Are you coming?” He smiled.
The next morning, I awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Coffee so strong that I could smell the aroma all the way upstairs. Slipping on one of Jamieson’s t-shirts, I walked down to the kitchen, where I found him sitting at the island eating a bagel.
“Good morning. I didn’t think you’d be up this early. It’s your day off.”
“Morning.”
“Help yourself to some coffee. The cups are in the cabinet above the coffee maker.”
“Thanks. I couldn’t sleep and have a lot to do today.”
“My t-shirt looks great on you.” He took a bite of his bagel.
“Sorry. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No. Not at all. It’s sexy.” He winked.
I gave him a small smile as I poured some coffee into my cup.
“There’s bagels in the bag over there if you want one.”
“I’m not hungry. I’ll grab something a little later.”
“I was going to wake you before I left for the hospital so we could head out together. I really don’t like anyone in my house when I’m not here,” he spoke.
I took a sip of coffee and arched my brow at him.
“I left you in my apartment alone in the middle of the night.”
“I know, and it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just a thing I have.”
“So, you’re telling me that if I was still asleep, you were going to wake me up to kick me out?”
“You make me sound like an asshole when you say it like that. But, yeah, I was going to ask you to leave. In a nice way, of course.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I rolled my eyes, set my cup on the island, and went upstairs.
“Grace, wait a minute,” he spoke as he followed me up. “Are you mad at me? Because that look you just shot me told me you are.”
“No,” I spoke harshly as I took off his t-shirt and threw on my clothes from yesterday.
“Admit that you are,” he spoke.
“You don’t trust me, Jamieson. I get it. You barely know me. It’s fine.” I sat on the bed and put on my shoes.
“I don’t like strangers in my house when I’m not home. That’s all.”
I got up from the bed, went into the bathroom, and threw my hair in a ponytail.
“That’s right, I forgot. We are strangers. For some weird and crazy reason, I thought we were friends.” I grabbed my purse.
As I walked past him, he grabbed my arm.
“We are friends.” His eyes stared into mine. “It’s just a thing I have. It’s nothing personal.”
“Have a nice day saving lives, Jamieson.”
I walked out the front door, climbed into my car, and drove to the first Starbucks I saw.
After getting my coffee, I put the top down on my car, turned up the radio, and merged onto the highway.
I was jamming, trying to live in the present moment, and putting everything else out of my mind when I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the flashing lights of a police car behind me.
“Shit.” I sighed heavily and pulled over on the shoulder. “Hello, officer.” I smiled brightly.
“Do you know what the speed limit is?” he asked harshly.
“Sixty-five?” I bit down on my bottom lip.
“Do you know how fast you were going?”
“Seventy?” I bit down on my bottom lip again.
“No. You were doing eighty-five. I wouldn’t have pulled you over if you were doing seventy.”
“I’m sorry, officer. I didn’t realize.”
“I need your driver’s license and registration.”
I pulled my license out of my purse, handed it to him, and then reached over and pulled my registration from my glovebox.
“You don’t have a California driver’s license? This says New York.”
“Actually, I was on my way to the DMV to get one. I just moved here and haven’t had a chance to get there.”
“Sure you were.” His brow arched.
“Listen, officer. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how fast I was going. Back in New York, I rarely drove. You know, with the taxi cabs and subway, not to mention the traffic.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he looked at my license, “Grace Harper. This is California you’re in now, exceeding the speed limit by twenty over.”
“I was keeping up with traffic.”
“People love to tell me that. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to write you a ticket. Let it be a lesson since you’re new to driving and all.” He cocked his head.
I couldn’t believe this. Ugh. So far, this day was sucking big time.
“I’ll be right back,” he spoke.
He began walking to his vehicle when out of nowhere, shots were fired.
I immediately ducked down as a car sped by, and someone yelled, “Take that, cop.” When I thought it was safe, I sat up.
I looked behind me and saw the officer lying on the ground.
I didn’t have time to think about what just happened, nor did I have time for my mind or body to process it.
Several cars pulled over to the side. I grabbed my medical bag from the back seat and climbed out of my car.
“Call 911 now!” I shouted at a man who emerged from his car as I ran over to the officer who was lying there shaking and bleeding profusely. “I’m a doctor and can help you,” I spoke. “Can you tell me your name because I really don’t want to keep calling you ‘officer’?”
“John.”
I checked his vitals, tore open his shirt, and examined the bullet wound that penetrated his chest. I placed my hand over the wound and applied pressure to help control the bleeding.
“The paramedics are on their way, and you’re going to be fine.”
“Is there anything I can do?” the man who called 911 asked.
“I need you to go to my car over there and get my cell phone. Hurry.”
He ran back with my phone and tried to hand it to me.
“I can’t move my hand from his wound. The passcode is trauma. Go through my contacts until you see Cedars-Sinai ER, dial them, and put the phone to my ear,” I instructed.
He did as I asked, and Jackie answered the phone.
“Jackie, It’s Grace. I’m on the side of the highway with an officer who’s been shot in the chest. The paramedics are on their way. I need you to page cardio and have three units of O neg on standby when we get there. Put the order in for a CBC, electrolytes, and arterial blood gases.”
“Got it, Grace.”
The ambulance pulled up, and the paramedics ran over with the stretcher.
“We got it from here, ma’am,” one of the paramedics spoke.
“I’m a trauma surgeon. He has a gunshot wound to the chest with no exit wound. He’s bleeding pretty bad, and if I remove my hand, he’ll bleed out.”
The paramedics placed an oxygen mask over him and quickly loaded him into the ambulance. I rode with them as I kept the pressure on his chest and carefully watched his vitals. John started to cough up blood, and his pressure began to drop.
“His BP is dropping, Doctor Harper.”
“His chest is filling with blood. I need to insert a chest tube. Ten-gauge scalpel,” I spoke as I held out my hand. “Take over applying pressure.”
I inserted the chest tube, and his vitals started to rise. We arrived at the hospital, where my residents were waiting outside for me as we pulled up.
“BP is 100/80, and pulse is 120. Where’s cardio?”
“Dr. Williams is in surgery. We paged his resident, but he isn’t answering.”
I stayed on the stretcher with the patient, continuing to put pressure on the wound as the paramedics rolled us into the ER. I looked over at the nurses’ station and saw Jamieson staring at me.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he followed us to trauma room four.
“I’m fine. I need a portable CT in here now!” I shouted.
Five hours later and after performing surgery with Dr. Williams, a cardiothoracic surgeon, Officer John was stabilized and ready to be closed up.
“Excuse me, Dr. Harper, there are some police officers down in the ER that need to speak to you,” Jamie, one of the nurses, spoke as she walked into the operating room.
“Tell them I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Go ahead, Dr. Harper. I’ll take care of the rest. It was a pleasure doing surgery with you.” Dr. Williams smiled.
“Thank you.” I nodded as I took off my scrub cap and gown and walked out of the room.
After scrubbing out, I went to the ER, where I saw Jamieson walk out of one of the rooms and two officers standing at the nurses’ station. Walking up to them, I introduced myself.
“I’m Doctor Harper.”
“I’m Officer James, and this is Officer Greggs. Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions about the incident on the highway?”
“Of course.”
I answered their questions the best I could.
“Thank you for your time, Dr. Harper,” Officer Greggs spoke. “And thank you for saving John’s life. He’s very lucky you were there. We are all very appreciative of you.”
“You’re welcome.” I gave them both a small smile. “By the way, can you give me a ride back to my car?”
“Yeah, of course,” Officer James spoke.
“Thank you. I just need to grab my purse. I’ll be right back.”
I walked into the doctors’ lounge, and Jamieson followed behind.
“So much for your day off.”
“Yeah. What can I say? The life of a trauma surgeon.”
“Are you still upset with me about this morning?”
“It is what it is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go.” I walked out of the lounge.