She shoots Maggie a questioning look but moves behind the bed, unlocking it and beginning to push me towards the hallway.
“I can walk there.”
“Doctor’s orders. If you’re feeling dizzy, I have to wheel you.”
I catch Maggie stifling a laugh. I roll my eyes and shoot her a look as if she orchestrated the whole thing. Nothing more ridiculous than a grown man who walked into the hospital fine being wheeled through the hallway on a big, white bed.
“Say bye to your girlfriend,” McKenna teases as she wheels me out.
The trip through the hospital corridors feels longer this time. Likely because I’m not distracted by thoughts of Maggie hovering behind me, which probably means I’m thinking too much about how I’m going to tell her I’m in love with her. When we reach the X-ray room, McKenna locks the wheels andgestures for me to stand for the images.
She’s quiet as she positions me for the scans, tilting my head just so and adjusting my neck. I know from the many long talks that Maggie and I have had that McKenna’s been a great mentor to her, and I get the sense she knows about our secret arrangement.
When she finishes taking the last image, she gestures back to the bed. “You can have a seat.”
I move back towards the bed where she joins me, leaning against it and crossing her arms as she chews her lip nervously and scuffs the sole of her sparkly pink croc shoes. “Soo…”
I mirror her tone, “Soo…?”
She smiles, then dives in. “I like Maggie. A lot.”
“That’s good because so do I.”
We exchange a brief smile before McKenna continues. “The hospital is likely to offer her a job after she graduates in December.”
“That’s awesome,” I reply, unsure of where this is going.
McKenna raises an eyebrow. “I wonder if she’ll take it.”
Before I can ask what she means, she forges ahead. “Maggie mentioned you two are‘fake dating’or something for the summer to get her dad off her back and to keep your siblings from finding out about your underground fighting.”
I rub my jawline, not surprised she knows, but still a little thrown off by why Mckenna would care about our arrangement. We’d never said we wouldn’t tell anyone, and Dallas and Jovie clearly know. I stay quiet, letting her continue.
“I think you like her more than you’re pretending to.”
I nod. “I do, and I plan on telling her that tonight. It may have started out as a fake agreement, but I’ve always had very real feelings for Maggie that have only grown over these past two months.”
McKenna sighs. “But what will knowing that do for her?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, don’t you think telling her that might guilt her into not going back to school and finishing.”
“No… she can still finish. We can do long distance. She graduates in just a few months.”
Dallas' words rush back to me.Am I scared that she won't want to do long distance?
“Ok, so let’s say she does. And she gets this job offer for Lonestar Junction Hospital in October. Now she knows that you like her and that takes away her opportunity to choose.”
“Choose what?” I ask.
She rolls her teeth under her lips and stands, brushing off her scrubs. “Look, I’ve been in Maggie’s shoes before. I was twenty once, trying to decide whether to leave town for a big opportunity or stay because of a guy. I stayed, and ten years later, I’m still here—without the guy, ring or a family.”
My eyes narrow. “What are you saying?”
“Maggie has an offer lined up with a major hospital system in Houston, too. It’s an incredible experience and pays a lot more than what she’d make working here. I want her to stay, of course. I love working with her. But if you tell her how you feelright now, before she has time to decide for herself what’s the best opportunity forhercareer, you might be influencing that choice.”
I’m silent, digesting her words.
