“Of course, you can. We can’t leave you here by yourself. What’s your name?”
“Jasmine.”
“Oh, like the flower?” Chris asked. “My little girl has a flower name, too. We call her Lily.”
“No. I’m Jasmine like the princess.”
“Oh well, yeah. I should have known that. Forgive me,” he teased. “You should put your shoes on so we can get going. And go get anything you want to bring with you.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “I’m going to get Pop Pop a teddy bear so he isn’t scared. And I need my purse. I’ll be right back!”
Chris turned his attention back to the patient and the rest of the crew. “What do you guys need me to do?”
“We’re about ready to carry him down. The IV is started. His vitals are good. We gave him an amp of D50 to bring his sugar up. He should be awake pretty soon,” Michael answered.
Chris and James carried the patient down while Michael carried the bags and Alyssa looked after Jasmine. By the time they started driving to the hospital, the patient was waking up. He was groggy, but opened his eyes and looked at Jasmine which caused her to show off her dimples with a smile.
“Was my sister at the hospital with you?” Michael asked Chris as they stood at the nurses’ station and worked on their charts.
Chris briefly closed his eyes. He had been counting on Michael forgetting about the conversation. He should have known it wouldn’t happen that easily. He didn’t want to lie, but he also wasn’t ready to face the aftermath. Michael was protective by nature, and just because he wasn’t close to his sister didn’t mean anything.
“She was, but not because we were together when it happened or anything like that. I was taking a walk to get coffee and clear my head and I literally ran into her. She took it upon herself to stay with me.”
Michael simply grunted and went back to working on his chart, which was fine by him. He’d take a grunt over the alternative. Things between Chris and Mallory already felt off without bringing the broody brother into it. After spending most of the night in bed tangled in each other’s arms, he’d convinced her to keep her coffee date with her friend while he went back to the hospital. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her with him, he just didn’t want things to move too fast because of the situation and not because they both wanted to move things forward. And now he was at work feeling like an ass.
MALLORY
Mallory was trying her best to pretend like everything was okay. She hadn’t had a fight with Christian, but nothing seemed right ever since they spent the night in bed together. There had been no argument, no cancellations, and no to anything else that would make her suspicious, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Her phone rang as she was getting into Dan’s car to head home from work.
“Hi, Christian,” she answered.
“Hey. Want to come to my place for dinner? I know we had plans to go to my friend’s house, but everything is crazy right now.”
Her heart sank. The way things were going, she fully expected to look like an idiot, thinking things were more than they were. She’d been excited to meet his best friend. Everything would feel real once they existed beyond their little bubble.
“Text me the address,” she requested as she put her seatbelt on. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Everything okay?” Dan asked.
Mallory did her best to put on a poker face. “Yeah. He just wanted to confirm our dinner plans.”
“You’re the worst liar I have ever met.”
She expected him to see through her sooner than later. “I’m not. That’s literally why he called. But he changed the plans a little, so I guess I’m disappointed about that part.”
“Have you talked to him since he banged your back out?”
Mallory nearly choked, and she tried, to no avail, to keep the blush from rising up her neck. “Daniel. Could you not?”
“What?” He feigned innocence as he pulled out of the parking garage. “How should I say it? Fucked you senseless?”
“Oh my god. Yes, I’ve talked to him in passing since he spent the night. It’s been hard with our schedules. He’s been workingat night, spending time with his mom, then sleeping until it’s time to wake up and start the process all over again.”
Dan kept quiet as he fought the heavy afternoon traffic. Saying the actual reason for their distance out loud made her feel silly for being so damned insecure. Christian wasn’t her abusive ex. He also wasn’t Aiden, the place holder. He was Christian.
“I’m being silly, huh?” she asked as he pulled into their driveway.
Dan didn’t answer right away. He put the car in park and stepped out, locking it after she closed her door. Once they got to the front door, he looked at her and quirked an eyebrow. She already had a feeling what his answer was going to be before he even spoke.
