Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 41635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Clearly, she can’t see that.
“Asshole,” she whispers. “I knew you were a jerk, but that’s my grandmother.”
“I know,” I say. “That’s why I was saving her.”
She shakes her head. “You asshole.” She storms away, back toward the elevators, and I watch her go.
I sigh, leaning against the wall. Exhaustion finally feels like it’s catching up with me.
“That didn’t go well.”
I look over my shoulder. Jackie’s standing there, checking her nails.
“Thanks,” I say.
“How’s the patient?”
“Stable.”
“What happened?”
“Reaction to the medication,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ll have to come up with something else.”
“That stinks.” She frowns after Ruby. “She’ll understand, if you apologize.”
“I wasn’t in the wrong. She was in the way.”
Jackie sighs. “Right. Well, good luck with that.” She walks off and I stare after her.
I know I fucked up. I could’ve been nicer to Ruby back there.
But I can’t apologize for saving her grandmother’s life. I wasn’t wrong for throwing her out of that room.
I needed to work, and she’s a distraction.
I push myself up off the wall and walk back toward my office. I’ll grab a quick nap and check on Dot again in a few hours.
Hopefully some new treatment will come to me in my dreams.
13
Ruby
Grandmom is sitting up in her bed and smiling at me when I come back in through her door like nothing happened yesterday.
“Hi, honey,” she says. “Heard I scared you quite a bit.”
I run over to her and hug her as tight as I dare. “You really scared me,” I say.
She laughs, patting my back. “I’m okay, honey. Really.”
“You started shaking, and your eyes rolled back, and you fell down onto the bed and—”
She gently extracts herself from my grip. “Okay, honey. I don’t need to relive it. I was there too.”
“Right.” I frown at her, staring into her eyes. “You’re really okay?”
“I’m really okay.”
“What happened… you know, after?”
“Well,” she says slowly, “I woke up very confused, but Dr. Hill was there.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised.
She nods. “Just sitting there, waiting for me. He explained what happened, said it was a reaction to the medication, but that he was coming up with a new regimen for me.”
“He said that?”
She nods. “And today they gave me new meds, and I feel great again.”
I sigh with relief and lean back into the chair at the side of her bed.
“I’m really happy you’re okay.”
“Thanks, honey. You’re being too sweet to me.”
“I also can’t believe Dr. Hill was just waiting in here for you like that.”
She shrugs. “He’s a good doctor.”
“Hard to talk to, though.”
“Very true, but I don’t care, so long as I get to leave here.”
I sigh. That’s the same argument he’ll make.
Grandmom smiles at me as I pretend to fiddle with the remote for her. I really can’t imagine Aiden sitting in here with nothing to do, just waiting for my grandmother to wake up so that he can explain what happened. But if grandmom said he did, then he did.
Which makes me question everything I was feeling yesterday. When he kicked me out, treated me like just another asshole patient, I was angry. I hated him for being such a jerk.
Now, after a day to cool off… Maybe I overreacted.
He was definitely being a jerk. I stand by that. There are a million better ways to talk to someone, especially in a crisis. I’m still angry with him.
But he doesn’t do it because he doesn’t care. He definitely cares a lot. I doubt he sits in every patient’s room just so that he can be there when they wake up. That’s something special he’s willing to do for me.
Really, this whole thing, taking care of my grandmother, is because of me. I know we have the best doctor in the area looking after her.
I just wish he weren’t such a jerk.
As I put the remote down, settling on Jeopardy!, I notice that Grandmom is staring at me.
“What?” I ask her.
She smiles a little. “How long have you and Dr. Hill been seeing each other?”
I stare at her, not sure what to say.
“How did you know?” I ask finally.
“I wasn’t sure,” she admits, “but you just confirmed it for me.”
I groan. “You tricked me.”
“You’re seeing my doctor.” She narrows her eyes. “Is that why he’s my doctor now?”
“Probably,” I admit.
“Well, I suppose that’s not so bad. He has a good incentive to keep me alive.” She laughs and I smile along with her.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. And anyway, he’s been… difficult.”
“I’m sure. He’s twice your age.”
“That’s not really the problem.”
She sighs. “He’s not good to you?”
I hesitate a second. “No, he’s very good to me.”
“What’s the problem then?”
“He just… he kicked me out yesterday, during your episode. Treated me like any other patient.”
“You are just any other patient. Well, family member of a patient.”
I frown. “I guess.”
“He’s normally nice to you?”
“As nice as he gets.”