Within a few minutes, a notification pops up on my phone. We don’t message each other but only play the game. At the end of the game, I place my final word on the board and beat him. A message pops up. “Nice game. Your medical vocabulary is extensive. Are you a doctor?”
I hesitate for a minute then decide to tell him the truth. “No, I’m a medical device rep and assist the doctors in surgery.”
“Ah. That makes sense.”
“How was your run?”
“Great. Want to play again?”
“Yes.”
He begins another game, and we play several. We banter back and forth during each of the games, and I feel joy for the first time in months. At three in the morning, I’m yawning and having a hard time keeping my eyes open. “I need to get some sleep.”
“Thanks for playing. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
My heart lifts. “Me, too.”
“Get some sleep. I’ll work on upgrading my vocab to beat your ass next time.”
“Sounds good. Sweet dreams.”
“Night.”
I put my phone on the table and wrap my arms around my pillow. My mind is racing with so many thoughts of Xander. We’re still so good together.
I close my eyes. With mixed emotions, I fall asleep, only to have nightmares of our accident, and hear Xander moaning in pain.
And even though I’m aware it’s bad for me, night after night, and sometimes during the day, I play Words with Friends with Xander, laughing and crying over our messages.
11
Xander
Present Day
Today isa day of noncomplicated surgeries. I have three different operations. Charlotte and I are in the first two together.
Charlotte wins the rock, paper, scissors contest, and she chooses the nineties top hits channel. When she wins, I wink at her.
We work together well, side by side, and it’s a fun day, until my last surgery.
The last one I have on my own, and Charlotte has two more with other surgeons. When I walk into the operating room for my final surgery, I have to maintain my cool.
Damon is over at the nurse’s station, getting his gloves put on. I silently groan.
This guy is a complete asshole. He wasn’t someone I wanted to make friends with before I learned he’d dated Charlotte, and now that he harassed her this morning, he’s definitely not on my list.
Keep your head on, Xander. You don’t need to get fired over this idiot.Dr. Sear’s warning to me earlier replays in my head.
He turns around and glares at me. I step around him to have my gloves put on me.
The surgery doesn’t take too long, and I have to say I’m relieved. The guy sucks the life out of the room, and I wonder again how a girl as sweet as Charlotte could have dated this complete jackass.
The image of him touching her makes my stomach churn, and I have to work extra hard to focus on the patient and not think about him with Charlotte.
After surgery, I have some paperwork to fill out and make my rounds to some patients I’ve operated on in the last few days. I stop in the lobby and order a few mini blueberry muffins wrapped up to go in case I see Charlotte. Finally in the locker room, I grab my bag and go into the men’s shower area. I clean up and get changed into fresh clothes.
When I leave the men’s room, Charlotte is backed against the locker, and Damon has her caged with a hand on either side of her face.
