“I’m really okay. Just had a moment,” I said, feeling foolish.
Josh knotted his fingers in my wet hair with one hand and tugged until I looked up at him. He sealed his mouth over mine, kissing me hard and forceful, keeping my bottom lip between his teeth as he pulled away, leaving his mark on my clean skin once again. “Eight hours,” he said. He picked up his cup and slammed the door behind him, still amped from our argument and the kiss.
I went to the door, replaced the chain lock, and then backed up until the coffee table touched the backs of my bare calves.
“Holy shit,” I breathed.
It was coming. I could feel it following me around my apartment, to JayWok, and sitting in the empty chair across from me while I ate my leftover chicken fried rice in the break room. With every bite, every sip of water, and every person who walked in and out, I was saturated. I was falling hard for Josh Avery, McPanties, the paramedic who couldn’t be tamed.
“I love you, but you’re fucking stupid. And yes, I mean Josh,” Deb said, sitting across from me while licking grease off her fingers.
“He’s not stupid,” I snapped.
“You’re right. He has good taste in women. Since last month. You know I would never insinuate that Carissa fucking Ashton tastes like anything but a cat fart dunked in leftovers from a yeast infection.”
I swallowed back the bile that rose in my throat just from involuntarily imagining her description. “Deb, how are you friends with anyone who isn’t a nurse? It’s like I had to be able to keep it together while simultaneously cleaning up shit and holding a barf bag just to qualify.”
She paused before taking another bite of her cheeseburger. “Didn’t you?”
I rolled my eyes and threw a soy sauce packet at her face. “I’m outta here.”
“Break’s not over yet!” Deb called after me.
I walked out of the break room and down the hall, pressing the button to the elevator. It opened, and I stepped inside with a nervous new father and a brand new, empty car seat.
“Going home today?” I asked.
He beamed. “Yeah.”
I looked down at the carrier. It was brown and cream. No help at all. “Boy or girl?”
He couldn’t stop smiling. “Girl.”
“Congratulations,” I said.
The elevator doors opened to the maternity ward, and I waited for him to step out, then followed, stopping at one of the three large windows of the nursery. More than half the cribs were taken.
Georgia walked by in bright scrubs. Large pieces of golden-brown hair had fallen from her ponytail, and her eyes were red and tired.
“Full house?” I asked.
“Let me tell ya somethin’,” she said in her thick Mississippi accent. “It’s a full moon tonight. If you get bored in the ER, you come on up here and I’ll show you busy.”
I chuckled, and she winked, her scrubs swishing as she made her way to one of the delivery rooms.
“Cute, aren’t they?” Dr. Rosenberg said from behind me. “I come up here a lot to center myself and recharge.”
“I’m just trying to get away from Deb,” I joked.
Dr. Rosenberg laughed. “I haven’t seen you at Corner Hole lately. I guess you’ve been busy.”
“I guess so,” I said, staring through the glass with a smile. The babies were cute, but I was thinking of Josh. My face fell, and I looked at the doctor. “Since when are you a regular at Corner Hole?”
“Since I never see you anymore, I guess.”
I pressed my lips together, but the edges of my mouth turned up anyway. “I know. I’ve been preoccupied.”
“How is that going?” Dr. Rosenberg asked.
I didn’t mean to, but I sighed. And then I gushed. And then I couldn’t stop, even when I saw the doctor’s expression change from polite to blank.
“That’s great,” he said. His tone was the one he used with Deb or the other nurses when they tried to chat with him. “I wish you all the happiness.”
“You wish me all the happiness?” I said, disgust dripping from every word.
My reaction put a spark back in his eyes. “No, actually, I don’t, but you haven’t taken my advice thus far. I don’t suspect you’ll start now.”
“What are you talking about? What advice?”
“That you should stay away from him. He’s bad news, Avery. I know things are new and fun now, but …” He looked around and then took my arm, gently guiding me around the corner. “Would you just listen to me? We were friends once.”
“Were we?”
He seemed hurt. “I thought so.”
He touched my face with his fingertips and I pulled away, glancing around. I startled when I saw Josh standing ten feet away, murder in his eyes.
I took a step back. “You knew he was there, didn’t you?”
“Of course not,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “Josh.”
Josh nodded once, and the doctor excused himself, walking toward the elevators.
When Josh approached, I pointed to the empty spot where the doctor was standing. “That wasn’t anything. He’s being really weird, but I didn’t … that wasn’t …” While I fumbled for words, I noticed Josh’s jaw twitching. “I know how it looks.”
“How does it look?” Josh finally managed to say. His words were short. He was trying his best to keep from losing his temper.
“I can see that you’re angry, but I’m at work. He’s my boss.”
Josh shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “What the fuck does that even mean, Avery?”