Page 28 of Healing Her

“I…” She cleared her throat. “Someone might have seen us, City, come on.”

City’s eyes went wide. “I have half a mind to throw what’s left of my drink on you.”

Ashley scooted her chair back. “Talk about extremes!”

“You never even treatedmelike this, and I was under no illusions about our relationship,” City snapped. “Jesus Christ! I didn’t know your walls could be so high. I thought when there was actual emotion involved that you’d be better at handling it than whatever thefuckthis is.”

“I’m figuring things out,” Ashley pleaded.

“Figure it out faster, because I can’t even talk to you anymore until you do,” City said, getting to her feet and grabbing her purse off of the back of her chair. “This… Ashley, this is messed up. That woman is so sweet, and so into you, and you can’t treat her like a princess at home and a dirty secret at work and expect that to go over well.”

“She’s not a dirty secret!” Again, City had used the same words Jen had, and it hit hard. “How am I supposed to maintain professionalism at work with someone I’m involved with?”

“Better than fucking this, I’ll tell you that much,” City shot back. Without another word, she pushed her way through the tables and people crowding the Lounge and vanished before Ashley could so much as stand up.

Okay. Well. Ashley was certainly starting to see that she’d been managing things very badly indeed. The question now was, how could she possibly fix it?

19

“How are you feeling?” Jen pulled up a chair at Maria’s bedside.

Maria pulled her earbuds out and glared. “And just where the hell have you been?”

“Merry Christmas to you, too. I come bearing gifts. And chocolate.” Jen raised an eyebrow and held up a Christmas stocking stuffed full to the brim. Maria shook her head and crossed her arms.

“Don’t give me that festive elf shit,hermosa. You disappeared without a word right after you help give me a new damn heart, what was that about?” Her glare somehow got steelier. “Explain, or you can take your damn chocolate and never come back.”

“God, I’ve never known you to refuse chocolate.” Jen wanted to keep things light, but when Maria’s eyes narrowed further and her finger began to hover over the call button, she relented. “Maria, okay, don’t get mad?—”

“I am already mad,” Maria asserted, crossing her arms more tightly.

“Fair,” Jen admitted. She laid the stocking in Maria’s lap and took a deep breath. “I’ve been in Minnesota talking to the Mayo Clinic.”

Maria had loosened up and been about to pick up the stocking, but her hands froze mid-air. “This better not be going where I think it’s going.”

“There were some interviews… there’s been a provisional offer.” Jen cringed back slightly as Maria’s eyes grew dark. “I haven’t decided, exactly.”

“What the fuck, Jen!” Maria exploded and looked as if she was going to go through the roof. But just then, a nurse chose to come in and bustle around doing her checks on Maria’s incision, medication, and pain levels. Jen sat, hands folded in her lap, and avoided Maria’s steady death glare.

Eventually, the nurse left, and Jen slid her gaze to meet Maria’s. It was as piercing as it had been before the nurse showed up. “Okay,” Maria said, her voice flinty. “Explain.Quickly.”

Deep breath in. “Again, I want to start by saying I haven’t made any decision yet.”

“Quicker,” Maria snapped.

“I… feel I need to separate myself from this hospital entirely,” Jen said, trying to figure out how to speak quickly but still make sense. “I’ve fumbled things up so badly in my time here. New job, new life, I shouldn’t have gotten involved with a colleague on top of all of that.”

“If it’s such a problem, just get uninvolved,” Maria said, waspishly.

“I mean, I guess I’m going to,” Jen admitted, trying to ignore how saying the words aloud made her heart contract painfully. “I just… can’t stay with someone who gives me emotional whiplash. And who doesn’t hear me when I try to talk to her about it.”

“You can break up with someone and not leave your job.” Maria’s eyes were softening, and her hand crept up to cover her new heart. “Please,hermosa. We’re finally living in the same city, don’t leave as soon as you’ve arrived.”

Jen shook her head. “It’s impossible. I can’t just move to a different department here.”

“So another hospital, LA is a big city, any of them would be lucky to have you.” Now Maria’s eyes were beseeching. “Cedars-Sinai! They were my second choice, surely they’d love to have you.”

“They have an excellent transplant director there in Marcie Philpott,” Jen replied, gently. “She’s doing amazing work for them. All of the hospitals in this city have fantastic transplant programs going on. I was actually really fortunate to get in here.”

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