“Yeah, why?” he said coolly.
“Blake…” He looked at me, and I held his stare for a moment. “I can tell something is up. You seem…distant and upset. Talk to me.”
“I’m fine, Haley.”
“You’ve been off, but even more so since that patient came in—the veteran.”
“I’m fine,” he repeated, and just when I thought he was going to leave it there again, he started talking. “It’s just hard…seeing someone like that.”
“What happened to him after I left? Did you ever get a chance to talk to him?”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “I tried to level with him…to tell him I knew what he was going through. But he didn’t want to hear it. He started yelling, even tried to throw a punch, but missed.” My eyes widened, mainly because he said it so unfazed, as if he were talking about the weather. “I gave him several resources to utilize. I even got permission from my therapist to give him his contact information, which I did. He ripped up every piece of paper I gave him, told me to fuck off, and then left.”
I let out a breath. “Blake, you tried–”
“It’s not good enough,” he snapped, then immediately corrected himself. “Sorry. It’s just…it’sfrustrating. And it’s hard to see someone struggling so much. I just…I looked at him, and all I could think was…that could be me. And itisme, in some ways.”
My brow furrowed. “Blake, it’s not you.” He let out a breath tinged with disbelief. “You and that man aren’t the same, and you can’t equate his experience to yours. You’ve taken steps to manage what you’ve been through and to heal.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever behealed.” There was an almost bitter edge to his voice when he said it, like he believed it, and was being held backbecauseof it.
“Let me help you, then,” I said gently. “Just…tell me what I can do.”
He suddenly stood up, his entire body tense, startling Maverick, who jumped off my lap. “I’m not one of your projects, Haley. I don’t need you tofixme.”
Ouch.
The words pierced deep. Yes, it was true—I did tend to handle relationships in the past by trying to “fix” the other person. Hearing that raw judgment from Blake, though? That was unexpected and made my chest tighten, leaving me feeling exposed.
I steadied my voice, swallowing the sudden ache. “I don’t want to fix you,” I said quietly as I stood, purse in hand. “All I want is to help you feel whole again as you heal.”
He looked at my purse in my hand, then met my eyes, as if he just realized what he’d said. “I’m sorry–”
“It’s okay.”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, it’snotokay. I was out of line. And don’tdothat. Don’t brush stuff like that under the rug. Call my ass out.”
“I think I’m gonna go…” I started for the door.
His brow dipped. “Haley, wait. I’m so–”
“Just…take a day or two, Blake. Clear your head. And then we can talk.”
Chapter 31
“I’m puttingthe boards in—ouch!Goddammit.” I winced and shook my hand, flexing my fingers, while I held the phone to my ear with the other hand.
“What happened?” Wes asked.
“Nothing. I just pinched my damn finger trying to put this board in the window,” I grumbled. “Anyway, as I was saying, I’m putting the boards in my windows now.”
“Okay. Morgan and I just got to Mom’s. You should just come here.”
“I can’t. I told them I’d come into work if they needed me.”
Wes sighed on the other end of the phone. “You really shouldn’t be driving in this shit later, Hales. They said it’s going to get pretty bad out there.”
“I live like two minutes from the hospital. Will you relax? Plus, it’s not even guaranteed I’ll go in. I simply offered, in case they got slammed from the storm, because they had a few call-outs.”
