“Someone was looking for you.Two pissed-off guys.”He adjusted his utility belt, going for that menacing alpha look that would have worked if Carl weren’t such a cinnamon roll.He was a nice guy, probably too nice to be working as a security guard.
“What did they look like?”I asked, only half interested.My heart was too heavy to care if it was some random patient or their family with a perceived grudge.
“One was older, maybe late fifties, early sixties.Expensive suit.Had a younger dude with him, not as expensive-looking, but the older guy had a really mean vibe.Menacing, almost.Said they needed to talk to you urgently about a personal matter.”
Turning his phone, he showed me a photo he’d snapped of the two men.I didn’t recognize either one.
Heart clenching in disappointment, I mentally berated myself for even thinking it could have been my guys.Ryder and Kane were no longer mine.They never had been.For years, I’d loved them blindly, never once thinking either of them was capable of betraying me—us.And all along, I’d been too stupid to see that I wasn’t just the one being betrayed.
They made me the other fucking woman.
“You want me to walk you to the bus stop?”Carl offered, his eyes sincerely concerned.
Patting him on the arm, I shook my head.“Thank you, but I’ll be fine.It’s a short walk, and I doubt anyone will be interested in talking to me once they get a look at what I’m covered in.”
“Be careful out there, Vay,” he said, reluctantly stepping back.
“You too, Carl.”
Vega
Outside,it was starting to snow again.Stuffing my hands into my coat pockets, I set my sights on the bus stop that was at the end of the block.Around me, more ambulances were coming and going, and a cop car was parked, the officers investigating a patient who had come in with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder.I saw them almost every shift since their station was only a few streets over.They knew me about as well as my coworkers did since they were in the ER for one reason or another several times a day.
City cacophony echoed all around.It was never quiet outside, and I preferred it that way.Quiet made the noise in my head too loud to concentrate.I’d miss that when I got to my new life, but this was better for everyone.Maybe I’d eventually be able to move on.
Ryder and Kane sure as hell already had.
A small group of people were already waiting when I reached the end of the block.It wasn’t late, barely after nine.For some, their workday was only getting started, no matter the day of the week.One guy in a puffy coat sniffed in my general direction a few times before taking a large step back.
I kept my eyes averted, staying vigilant for the two men Carl had said were looking for me and anyone else.Praying Kane and Ryder wouldn’t pop up.
Hoping with everything inside me that they would.
Nearly an hour later, I walked into my apartment, already stripping as soon as the door was shut and locked behind me.My place was minimalistic.Every piece of furniture existed to fulfill a need and nothing else.A thrifted couch with a simple brown covering that could be thrown in the washer, a coffee table that I used as my dinner table more often than not, and a small television that was rarely used.
In the tiny kitchenette, I had a gas stove, a mini fridge, and my beloved coffeemaker.Other than my clothes and a few other necessities, that coffeemaker was the only thing I would be carrying into my new life.
Balling up my scrub pants and top, I threw them in the trash can before walking into the bedroom in only my underwear and socks.The socks were the first to go.My feet were half frozen, the skin on the bottom wrinkled from all the hours I’d been on them in a pair of shoes that were soaked in sweat and other people’s bodily fluids.Most shifts, I left the hospital a literal walking biohazard.
Once I was showered, I set my phone on the charger before throwing on a pair of sleep pants and my favorite comfort hoodie from college.Since I was already in the closet, I opened my single suitcase and started packing.All I needed were a few hours of sleep before I headed out in the morning.
From the bedroom, I heard my phone, which had finally juiced up enough to be bombarded by all the missed calls and texts that had accumulated while it was dead.With each rapid ping, I lost a little more control of my emotions.Funny how they were concerned, probably even pissed, that I hadn’t answered any of their messages, yet they hadn’t come to check on me.That only reinforced how blind I’d been over both Kane and Ryder.
I loved them.Fuck, with everything inside me, I loved them.
And they only loved that I loved them.
Plain and simple.
It just took me a while to see the full picture.
By the time the alerts stopped, I was silently crying as I carefully folded the last pair of jeans and placed them in the case.Tops were next, and then my work scrubs.Bras and panties were dropped on top, and then I had to sit on the damn thing to zip it closed.
Well, that was going to be a bitch to drag downstairs.
Going into the bathroom, I grabbed the plastic storage cart that I’d used to transport my things when I’d moved in to the apartment and started packing up my bathroom supplies.Ever the preparer, I’d figured the container would be useful somewhere down the road.Thankfully, it had wheels on the bottom, and I would be able to push the thing to the elevator rather than having to carry it.
Which only left the coffeepot, which I put in the box it had come in.As someone who was frugal with every penny I spent, I’d splurged with that heavenly little lifesaver for the first time ever.A person should invest in the things that could make their life better, easier.For me, it was comfortable shoes and scrubs, good skin care, and amazing coffee.Simple things that many people took for granted, but I treated them like the precious necessities they were.
