Her shift had started at six a.m. After being at the hospital until four thirty this morning, waiting for Abby to be transported to her room from recovery, she’d barely had time to head home, make sure that Bear was settled, grab a shower, eat, and get back to the hospital.
It was now ten in the morning and she knew one thing for sure—caffeine was going to be her very bestest friend today. As the doors opened and Krista entered the elevator, she checked her phone once again.
Nothing. No missed calls or texts. Still no response from Chase.
She shouldn’t be surprised. As far as she knew, other than putting money in his mother’s bank account every month, he had no contact with Abby. Abby had told Krista that she called and emailed her son often, but she’d never mentioned his responding to her.
Krista knew that Chase’s childhood had not been an easy one. She’d seen the evidence firsthand. It hadn’t really surprised her that he hadn’t shown up to his father’s funeral. But not even calling to see if his mom was okay after she’d been taken to the hospital shocked the hell out of her.
“Hey, sweetie. I heard you had a rough night,” Jamie, Krista’s cousin-in-law, said as Krista stepped off the elevator.
Walking over to the nurse’s station Jamie was seated behind, Krista rested her elbows on the cold surface as she dropped her head to her hands, which were chilly to the touch. Krista felt a little bad that her patients had to suffer for the fact that, in any kind of air conditioning or temperature below eighty, Krista’s hands felt like ice cubes.
“Yeah, I think I must be getting old. It seems I can’t pull an all-nighter like I used to in my college days. I am wrecked.”
“Why didn’t you call in? I’m sure someone would have covered for you.” Jamie’s brow knitted together, her pretty face etched with concern.
“Mrs. Kinsey and Mr. Yates are scheduled for sessions today. They are doing so well. I didn’t want them to have any setbacks because they had to work with someone else,” Krista explained.
She loved her patients. What she loved even more than them were results. That was the part of the job Krista loved the most—seeing the results.
When she was growing up, her dad had always said that anything worth having is worth working for. The work she did with her patients could be grueling and painful. Many times, results were slow coming. Days, weeks, sometimes months would pass before there would be a breakthrough of any kind. Two of the patients she was working with today were right on the precipice of such a breakthrough.
Leaning forward in her chair, flattening her hands on the desk, Jamie whispered, “I’m not just saying this because we’re family, but you are by far all of the patients’ favorite PT. We get more requests for you than anyone else by at least double.”
Krista turned her head from side to side. The floor was basically empty except for Mr. Lipton, the janitor who was mopping the linoleum at the far end of the long hall.
Krista leaned in and mimicked Jamie’s whispers. “That’s sweet of you to say, but why are we whispering?”
“I don’t know.” Jamie smiled as her hands turned up and her shoulders lifted. “I guess I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings who might overhear.”
“I think we’re safe.” Krista’s lips turned up as she pushed off the countertop.
Jamie was a sweetheart, and Krista loved that Alex had found such an amazing wife. Over the past couple of years, Krista had seen all five of her cousins fall in love and start families. And as of a couple of months ago, her sister Haley was a card-carrying member of the exclusive happily-ever-after club so many of her friends and family seemed to be a part of.
Krista was not. The guy she was seeing was fine. Krista liked spending time with him. Chris was…great. But that was it. No real fireworks. She didn’t crave him. She didn’t miss him if she went even a day without seeing him. When he touched her, it didn’t send desire spiraling through her.
Krista truly believed that that kind of heat, that kind of love, that kind of all-consuming passion was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. And unfortunately for her, she had been dealt those cards at an early age. She’d played her hand, cashed in, and walked away from the table.
Shaking off the melancholy feeling that had welled up inside of Krista at the thought of that love, she tilted her head towards Abby’s room, asking, “How’s she doing?”
“Better,” Jamie happily reported. “I was just in checking her vitals and everything looks good. She woke up at five thirty and said she was hungry. She asked for tapioca pudding.”