The next few hours flew by, the atmosphere in the ER buzzing with energy. And—not that I had any doubt—Blake was anexcellentteacher. He was patient. He knew I was nervous, but he didn’t jump in to “save” me in those moments I hesitated. Instead, he guided me with questions and let me figure things out on my own. I appreciated it because I didn’t want to becoddled. I even got to suture a patient for the first time—with their permission—while he sat beside me, explaining a few techniques I didn’t know about.
By lunchtime, I was riding high from how smoothly my first day was going. In honor of that, Blake said lunch was on him and ordered subs from Gusto.
Later, we settled into the breakroom. We were mid-conversation, discussing lab results on one of our patients while eating our subs, when my phone buzzed on the table with an incoming message.
I glanced at the screen, looked away, then snapped my eyes back, doing a double-take.
On the screen was a notification of a message from Brett. As in my on-again, off-again ex of three years, who got engaged six months ago,Brett.
Brett
Hey, you. It’s been a while…
I stared at my phone, my sub clutched in my hands.
“Another ex?” Blake quipped from across the table.
His voice pulled me from my stupor, and my eyes lifted to his. His words were lighthearted, meant to be a joke in reference to the message he saw from Ryan while I was studying with him.
I let out a forced chuckle. “Actually…yeah. It is another one…”
He paused mid-bite into his sub. “Oh…?”
I looked back at the screen, confusion swirling in my chest. Why was he messaging me now? After all this time? It’d been ayear and a halfsince I last heard from him. He wasengagednow.
“Everything okay?”
I looked back at Blake, letting my lock screen fade to black. “Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Yeah, everything is fine.”
I went back to my sub, not elaborating further. And despite sensing the curiosity in his gaze, he didn’t ask me to.
That message messed with my head for the rest of the day, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. There were no residual feelings on my end for Brett. That was a closed chapter in my book. It was confusing, however, to hear from him after so long, especially since he wasengaged. Because before we ended things for good, during ourmanybreaks, he’d send similar messages when he wanted to reconcile. This time, the only thing missing was the “I miss you.”
I didn’t respond to him. And I had no plans to.
Dusk was settling by the time I stepped out of the hospital after my shift ended. I walked to the employee parking lot, fumbling for my keys in my purse as I neared my car, when I heard footsteps.
“Hey, wait up!”
I turned to see Blake walking toward me. “Yeah?”
“Do you have something to do right now?”
My brow furrowed. “No. Just…going home. Why?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, the movement making his large biceps flex beneath his navy blue scrubs. “I can tell that message earlier kind of messed with your focus. So, I thought maybe I could take you up to the Anchor for a venting session.”
My brow arched slightly as the corner of my mouth lifted. “A venting session?”
“Yeah…” He let out a breath with a small smile. “Consider it my way of helping you the way you helped me.”
“By getting me drunk?” I quipped.
“No,smartass,” he said as he playfully rolled his eyes. “By being a listening ear over a drink. My treat.”
“What about Maverick?”
“I already texted my brother, and he’s at my house as we speak. Mav is in good hands.”
