“Did you have a nice visit?” She asked gently.
“Yeah.” Matt cleared his throat. “Mom and Dad got a hotel room up here. They’re going to stay for the week until I go back to work.”
“That’s nice.” Rosie said it more for herself than for him. Even though it made her feel redundant, she did need to work at some point this week. It would be good for his parents to be around and help him when she couldn’t be there.
“The nurses said I’d have to follow visiting hours tonight, but I’ll be back for you tomorrow when they discharge you.”
“My parents are coming for me.”
“Oh.” Something didn’t feel right. Her cuddly Wookiee of a boyfriend had suddenly turned into a loveless droid. “Is something wrong?”
Matt heaved a sigh. “Rosie … I can’t do this anymore. I’m just holding you back.”
“What? No!” She sputtered. Rosie set her coffee down on the windowsill and grabbed his hands in hers. She tried to look him in the eye, but he refused to meet her gaze.
“Holding me back from what?”
“Everything. Your friends, your work. I’m no good for you. This proves it.” He slipped his hands from hers and tucked them under the blanket. Sighing, he added, “You deserve a man with a whole heart.” A chill rocketed through her. He was pulling away from her. But she still tried.
“Your heart is fine. And you’re not holding me back from work. Olivia even apologized when they came in. Didn’t she say anything to you?”
He shook his head. “No, but … it doesn’t matter. Please, Rosie. Forget me. Go home and get some rest.”
“You’rebreaking up with me?” Tears were falling without her consent, now. Rosie grabbed her purse, her coffee forgotten. When she reached the door, she turned around for one last attempt to salvage what he was so carelessly throwing away. “Matt, Iloveyou.”
Icy blue eyes finally rose to meet hers. “I know.”
A sob hitched in her throat as she flung herself through the doorway and barreled towards the elevator. Head down, she headed to the garage, thankful she didn’t work at this hospital. She couldn’t contain the tears. A nice, long, ugly cry in her car would be necessary before she tried to drive home.
Chapter 18
Hewasanassholeof the highest magnitude. But how could Matt hope to give Rosie the kind of life she deserved, with a heart that threatened to break down on a regular basis? She dealt with that enough at work; he would never ask her to deal with it at home, too.
Rosie would go back to being a fantasy. Only now he knew what her lips tasted like. He knew the noises she made when she orgasmed. He knew what it felt like to sink into her heat and never want to leave. But someday she’d find happiness again, even if it wasn’t with him.
Over the course of the next seven days, Matt had nothing but time to think about what he was going to miss out on, what he’d given up. Sure, his parents came and went, cooking for him and even running his laundry since he wasn’t up to dealing with the stairs yet. He’d had classwork to catch up on. But in the back of his mind lived the angel he’d dreamed of for so long. When he was alone, he sat on the red couch and remembered how it felt to hold her that night.
Could he survive watching her with another man?
No. No, he could not. He knew after his internship was up, he’d have to move elsewhere. Back home, if necessary. There was no way he could stay in this apartment and run into Rosie bringing a date home. Still, his sadistic brain tortured him with the image; would he care for her as well as Matt had? Would he appreciate her baking? Would he get along with the squad as well as Caleb and Jake? He had to believe that this mystery man would make her happy. Because taking your partner to the emergency room when he had a near heart-attack at twenty-two wasnotsexy.
Matt knew, without a doubt, that he’d never feel the same attraction for another woman that he felt for Rosie. He resigned himself to being alone, the eternal bachelor. No one could replace her.
“Matt? You up, dear?” His mother knocked at the door.
Grunting, Matt rose from the couch and pulled back the chain and deadbolt. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.”
“We brought you more groceries. I’m going to prep you some meals in these containers, so you don’t have to cook.” He watched his mom chop up the chicken she’d roasted earlier in the day and put it into the containers along with lettuce and other salad vegetables. Matt sighed. He was depressed, and he wanted comfort food. All his parents had bought all week was fresh fruit, vegetables, and chicken. Matt didn’t think it would hurt to have some pasta or something. The doctor hadn’t said a word about his weight, but his mom automatically assumed losing pounds would fix him. Dad just went along with it, since he’d been more careful since the heart attack.
Nothing could fix Matt’s heart, physically or emotionally.
Something in the grocery bags caught his eye. Did they buy him cheese curls?
“What are these, Mom?” he said, pulling the bag of snacks out.
“I saw those in the snack aisle. They’re made with vegetables, and they’re healthier.”
Well, it wasn’t pasta. But it was something.
