“I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She spoke quietly, aware that someone could enter the room at any minute. “I told him multiple times that I couldn’t get involved with him. And for the longest time nothing…inappropriate happened. We did start talking, and became friends, and I saw him a few times outside of work at Children’s Hospital—”

“And you spent Thanksgiving with his family,” Emma cut in.

“How did you know about that?” Lauren squeaked.

“Why do I not know any of this?” Kiara whined.

Emma uncrossed her arms and propped her hands on her hips.

“His sister, Jeni, invited me over for Thanksgiving. I said no, but then I just sort of found myself there…” Lauren lowered herself into her usual chair and slumped her shoulders. She looked between her two friends, knowing they were responding this way out of concern. “You guys, I’ve tried so hard to be professional, and ignore the way I feel about him. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I love it here, and I want to stay so badly, and I’m so terrified of what could happen if someone finds ou—” She stopped short when Dr. Patel came in.

“Kiara, can you make a renal ultrasound appointment for Mrs. Garcia? I’m not sure why her creatinine keeps rising…um, why is everyone staring at me?”

The three women were grouped in the middle of the floor and had all gone silent and focused on Dr. Patel when she entered.

Mothersmucker. Lauren froze. She was never cool in situations like this.

Kiara’s eyes widened.

Emma spoke quietly and smoothly. “Don’t mind us, Lauren was just telling us about a date she had this weekend. One that went horribly wrong.” She gave Lauren a hard look. “We’ll pick it back up, later.”

Dr. Patel accepted this, and Kiara returned to her computer. Lauren breathed a sigh of relief, though it was short-lived.

This conversation was far from over.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

The pounding started at five-thirty. Not the pounding in Andrew’s head…that had begun the second Lauren had walked out of his exam room. This was the beat of his fist against her front door. “Lauren!”

Nothing.

“Let me in. I’m not leaving until you talk to me. You’re not a distract—”

Lauren pulled open the door, and he stopped mid-sentence. She seemed so small, as he stood with one hand gripping the doorframe above his head. The other was in a fist, poised to hit the door again, and he dropped it to his side. The sky behind him was gray and the ground covered in snow, creating a scene as dismal as the air between them. She still wore her blue scrubs. Still looked beautiful.

“Get in here, it’s freezing,” Lauren snapped. “Why aren’t you wearing a hat?”