Page 8 of The Lost Book of First Loves

Yes, she might have been a complete failure as an executive management intern. But she had done at least one thing right.

She couldn’t help feeling fate was giving her another chance to connect with Juniper.

Chapter 5

Juniper

She awoke twice in the night, when nurses came in to take her vital signs or change her IV medication. Each time, she battled panic, not knowing where she was or what had happened.

Each time, the same quiet voice would assure her she was all right, that she was in the hospital, that the doctors and nurses were taking good care of her. She had vague impressions of a soft, gentle hand on her arm that soothed her panic.

For some reason, it made her think of her mother. Doctors had removed June’s tonsils when she was eight and she could remember her mother snuggling in the hospital bed with her, her vanilla-and-lavender scent surrounding them both as Elizabeth sang her to sleep.

She missed her mother deeply. She had been gone nearly twenty years but June still ached from the loss of the only family she had ever really known.

Her mother felt closer than ever now as she lay in a hospital bed trying not to think about how close she had come to death.

She awoke fully with sun pouring in through the blinds of a high window and a nurse speaking to someone in the corner, telling her a cart was coming around with free coffee and bagels.

Coffee would be great right about now. June opened her eyes and looked over to the corner. To her shock, Alison Wells again sat in an uncomfortable-looking recliner.

“You’re still here.” Her voice came out raspy and thin and more abrupt than she intended.

Alison blinked at her, looking rumpled and sleepy and rather disgruntled.

“I went home for a while to grab something to eat and change into more comfortable clothes.”

“Why are you still here?”

Alison seemed to hesitate. “I didn’t want you to wake up alone,” she finally said, then gave June that scared-kitten look she sometimes wore, as if she was afraid someone might jump out at her from around the corner.

Had June really been that awful of a boss that she had completely terrified the younger woman? She hoped not.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, touched, despite her discomfort with the whole situation.

“I know I didn’t. But you’ve been through a terrible ordeal and you didn’t seem to have anyone else to stay here with you.”

And that, in a nutshell, clarified her life down to the bare essentials.

Alison moved closer to the bed and gave an unexpected smile. “And to be honest, I feel bonded with you now, since I did save your life.”

She seemed to be joking, but June couldn’t completely tell.

She didn’t know what to say. When was the last time someone had been so kind to her? Not saving her life. She still hadn’t quite processed that. Staying all night in an uncomfortable chair of a hospital room with a woman who was a virtual stranger. Wasn’t that taking devotion to duty to the next level?

“Thank you,” she said, feeling overwhelmed and out of control again.

The nurse, a different one than the woman she had met the day before, hurried over and was adjusting some settings on her IV when the door opened and the room suddenly filled with a whole crowd of people.

An older man with dark hair, glasses and a kind smile seemed to be in charge. “Hello, Ms. Connelly. I’m DoctorSingh. I am a cardiologist here and I was called in to help yesterday in the emergency department when you arrived. You gave us all quite a fright.”

“So I understand. I don’t remember most of it. Can you tell me what happened?”

“You had a cardiac arrest. You were lucky your coworkers knew what to do or we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

June’s gaze shifted to Alison, who seemed thrilled at the doctor’s words.

She turned her attention back to Dr. Singh. “I don’t understand how this could happen. I had a checkup three months ago and all of my numbers were good.”

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