Page 14 of Remedy: Love In Scrubs
As I drove home, my phone buzzed with a text message. I glanced at it at a red light and saw it was from an unknown number.
Unknown Number:Hey, it's Skylar. Got your number from the hospital directory. Don’t worry… no unplanned meetings or canceling your surgical calendar. I just wanted you to have my number. Thought it would be easy to communicate outside of traditional office hours via cell.
My grip tightened on the steering wheel. I was just allowing thoughts of Skylar Wise to leave my mind. I was sure I was going to have at least one night of peace from that woman.Nope!
Me:Begrudgingly, I am saving your contact.
I replied before I stepped out of the car. Hopefully, this exchange would be quick, and I could go on with my night, trying to forget about her. Her response came back almost immediately, and I expected nothing less.
Pain In My Ass:Begrudgingly, I help you keep your medical license.
This woman!I thought. Her response was exactly why I saved her contact as I had.
Me:Many thanks… Can I go to sleep now?
Pain In My Ass:Hmm. I didn’t take you for a man who went to sleep at a reasonable time. You seem like the type who likes to frolic into the wee hours of the morning.
Me:I’m not even going to try and figure out what you mean by that. Good night, Skylar.
Chapter 8
Skylar
Dr. Arrogant:I’m not even going to try and figure out what you mean by that. Good night, Skylar.
Why could I hear his voice in my head when I read each line. Furthermore, why could I envision how his lips moved as he said Skylar? Why the fuck did that do things to my insides?
I wanted to have the last word and respond to his text message, but I could tell that his words were meant to end the exchange, and something in me wanted to let him have this round. So far, he hadn’t been able to outsmart me. So, I’d let him have this one. Not because I could read the authority through texts, but because I was in a conceding mood.
Whatever you need to tell yourself,my inner voice told me.
“Ugh!”
I tossed my phone onto my nightstand, trying to ignore the way my heart raced after that exchange with Aries. I had absolutely no business texting him outside of work hours, but I told myself it was just establishing a line of communication. Professional. Practical. Nothing more.
Except there was nothing professional about the way I'd been thinking about him. Aries had been on my mind nonstop since I was assigned to his case. Then, there was the dream from lastnight. Good God! I wanted desperately to know how it ended. I was begging my subconscious to pick up where we left off—yes we—as if Aries was really here with me. It would not be fair for my dreams to leave us—again, yes us—hanging in that manner.
Unfortunately, I had several other cases that needed my attention, so instead of rushing sleep, I pulled out my files, opened my laptop, and worked the night away in my home office. When I finally came up for air, I realized I hadn’t eaten dinner, and my stomach was punching me in the spine for not eating since earlier in the day.
This caused a new dilemma to rear. I desperately wanted sleep in hopes of my dreams picking up where they left off or fueling my body. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, effectively taking my mind off either decision.
I smiled at my buzzing phone and quickly swiped to answer. “Hi, Daddy. What are you doing up so late?”
“You know I work out better late at night. I hate going to the gym with all them young folk. They get on my nerves with their tight clothes, barely there clothes, and poor machine consideration habits. Tell me why the hell people think it is okay to sweat all over a machine and not wipe it down when they’re done?”
I laughed at my dad; he was a trip. And he always talked about young people as if he was old or something. He was only fifty-eight years old but always liked to play like he was ancient.
"Daddy, you're not that old. You're barely pushing sixty," I reminded him.
"I know, baby girl, but these twenty-something-year-olds will make you feel ancient. Just wait until you hit my age."
"I've got a long way to go before then," I said, stretching my tired muscles. “However, I can attest that most people in their twenties are in fact annoying,” I added.
"So, what's keeping you up so late?" he asked.
I hesitated. I didn't usually lie to my dad. He was genuinely my best friend, apart from McKenzie—and I can’t forget Coffee Bean, but I drew the line at talking about anything related to sex with my dad. I damn sure was not about to tell him I had an erotic dream about a doctor I was representing, and that I wanted to go back to sleep so it could pick back up.
So, instead, I told a half truth. "Just work. A new case that's keeping me on my toes."
