Beautifully Awake(86)

“No, don’t say anything. Actually, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, anything. You know that.”

“Can you text me when the last case is over?”

“Okay, no problem.”

“Thanks, Kate.” I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm.

“Lil, I saw him with you. I mean when you guys were in here last week. I saw how he looked at you ... how he touched you.” She smiled softly. Heat hit my cheeks with visions of him claiming my ass. “It was really sweet ... I hope everything works out.” She wrinkled her brow and shrugged.

“Thanks,” I whispered, almost choking on my words.

At the far end of the room, the OR suite doors pushed open and Chase looked anything but a fucking mess. My gut wrenched at the sight of his new case manager flanked at his side. She was a new hire I had only met once or twice in passing, but she was staring up into his eyes, my eyes, giggling and hanging on every word he spoke. She had probably just sat in on an awake case. The amount of jealousy I never knew I possessed came to a brimming head. It took everything in my power to not run over there and rip that giggling, flirty mouth right off her face. But what killed me even more was the smile he had for her.



The next thing I knew Kate was dragging me into the supply closet.

“What in the world are you doing? Kate, stop,” I hissed.

“No, you stop, You practically had fumes coming from your ears. I thought you were gonna try to rip her hair out.”

That obvious, huh?

“I was close. What the hell is that all about?”

“Lili, she’s on his team now. Stop jumping to conclusions. He was probably telling her about the next case. You need to take your own advice and go home and cool off. Stick to your original plan. I’ll text you when he’s done, promise.”

Crap. I took a deep breath. She was right. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t going to make a scene in the middle of the recovery room like an unstable jealous girlfriend without any facts, but damn I was so tempted.

“Lili, just go.” Kate pushed me toward the exit.

Walking away I repeated, “Sweet.” We were sweet. I was his sweet.

I paced back and forth, back and forth. My nervous energy was wearing away the sheen on my hardwood floor. Kate’s text couldn’t come soon enough. A little bit before eight o’clock my phone chimed.

He’s done.

GL :)

Hmmm. Kate wished me good luck. Is that what I needed, luck? No, what I needed was for him to listen, to hear me out. He needed my truth. And I needed the same in return. His flirty new case manager was the least of my worries. My irrational reaction to her today, on the other hand … that was an issue. It just confirmed how attached I was to him. He was mine.

In the rain, I hailed a cab and headed directly for the Franklin Towers. The swish of the windshield wipers put me in a trance, only to replay our future conversation. After a silent elevator ride to the sixteenth floor and several knocks at his door, it was apparent I had beaten him there. I leaned against the wall just outside his door, closed my eyes and waited. The elevator ding snapped me from my haze and renewed the butterflies in my stomach. I rubbed my sweaty palms along my grey yoga pants.



“Blue?”

My breath quickened at the sound of his deep voice. I hadn’t realized how much I loved his nickname for me. I kept my eyes closed.

“What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you, I mean you just surprised me.” His nervous ramble almost made me smirk. Almost.

“We need to talk, Chase.” I peeled my eyes open to find him only inches from my face. His stormy grey eyes tangled with mine. There was no doubt our connection was still alive. The fire between us still burned and in that moment I missed him. I missed everything. All of it. Every one of my Dr.’s. All I wanted to do was leap into his arms and tell him so. Instead I held myself and waited. Fear of rejection paralyzed me.

“Come in.”

My legs trembled while I went directly to the couch and sat. Behind me, I heard him drop his keys on the table. “Want a drink?”

I shook my head no, sensing his eyes boring into the back of my head. He needed to sit. Please just sit already. The awkwardness in the air was suffocating.

“Please just sit, Chase.” I glanced over at him, hoping he saw it on my face, how much I needed this. He had changed out of his scrubs and was wearing a charcoal grey dress shirt that matched his eyes with the sleeves haphazardly rolled up. Like he always did. He slowly walked toward the couch. He looked tired, but beautiful. “You need to hear the truth, Chase. I need to tell you what happened and-”

“You don’t need to tell me anything.”