Page 34 of The Naughty One
Romy was dreaming now. “Maybe out on one of the islands? I …” Her attention was suddenly caught by the flat screen TV in the corner of the diner. Blue’s face flashed up, followed by a photograph of the naked woman being thrown out of his apartment, and Blue’s shocked, angry face behind her. With a sledgehammer-like shock to her heart, Romy read theheadline.
Prominent Seattle surgeonin late-night tryst with naked stepmother, socialite Hilary Eames. Photographer captures moment lover’s tiff escalates into publichumiliation.
Romy felther throat fill with vomit. “Oh my God …” She breathed and turned on a shocked Blue. “An ex-patient, huh? You sick, pervertedfuck … Jesus,Blue, your ownstepmother?”
“It wasn’t like that, I swear.” Blue’s voice was gravelly, broken, his shoulders slumped, but Romy had nosympathy.
“How could you?” She didn’t wait for an answer but darted to the bathrooms and threw up and up until she was sobbing and dry-heaving. She sat on the bathroom floor and cried, her heart shattering.What the fuck is wrong with theworld?
A young waitress came to find her. “Are youokay?”
Romy shook her head. “No.”
“Your friend asked me to come see if you were okay.” The waitress crouched down beside her, her kind face concerned. Romy tried tosmile.
“He’s no friend of mind.” She wiped her face. “Is there a back way out of thisplace?”
The waitress led Romy through the kitchens and Romy thanked her, pressing a large tip into her hands. “Give me a few moments before you tell him I’m gone, wouldyou?”
“Of course. I hope you’reokay.”
“Thanks,honey.”
Romy wentout into the cold December streets and walked to work. How the hell were they going to resolve this? Everything was so fucked up.You should never have slept with him to begin with.Would she have to transfer to a different hospital?God.
She was in the locker room when Mac came and hugged her. “You okay? I saw the crap on thenews.”
“No, I’m not okay, but I have to work, so … here I am.” She lowered her voice. “Is he here? Have you seenhim?”
Mac nodded, glancing around at the other residents. “He looks broken, Romy. Utterly devastated. I saw him talking toQuinto.”
“You defendinghim?”
“No way. Team Romy all the way. I’m just saying, he’s not out therepreening.”
Romy felt a little better and a little worse at that. She almost wanted Blue to be unrepentant so she could keep being mad at him.He was sleeping with his stepmother, she told herself, youhave plenty to be mad about. A few minutes later, just as they were leaving for rounds, the Chief of Surgery, Beau Quinto, came to findthem.
“Okay, people, so a bit of news. Doctor Allende has requested and been granted some personal time. Therefore, I’ll be your lead for the time being. Sasse and Jones, if you could still keep to the general surgical schedule you had planned, I’ll be stepping in to replace DoctorAllende.”
Quinto’s eyes flicked to Romy’s face briefly and she couldn’t read the expression. Was he mad at her? She bristled then told herself to calm down. The man was a professional—and she hadn’t done anythingwrong.
Quinto gave out his orders to the rest of the residents and they all scattered throughout the hospital. Romy was relieved that she had some breathing space. Mac nudged her as they walked down the OR’s. “Wonder how long Allende will beaway.”
She shrugged. “Until he gets his life sortedout.”
“Does that includeyou?”
Romy didn’t know how to answerhim.
Chapter15
Christmas Eve,and Romy finished late in the evening, wanting to catch up with her files before she took some time away for her mother’s wedding. If she was honest, she was delaying going home. Going home meant facing Blue for the first time since the Hilary incident, but there was no way out of it. In the morning, her mother would marry Stuart, and there was no way either she or Blue would let their parentsdown.
Maybe we should just shake hands and live as step-siblings,she thought now. The thought depressed her, though, and she suddenly felt tearful.Distraction is what Ineed.
She walked through the floor, checking on all her post-surgical patients, chatting to the few who were still awake, wishing them a Merry Christmas even if it was spent away from their families. The hospital always made sure that, if at all possible, they could have an enjoyable time. There was one patient who wouldn’t even know it was Christmas. Kelly Yang, a young woman who had been in a car accident a few weeks previously, lay in a coma. No family, no visitors, and so Romy had taken to sitting with her, holding her hand, and talking to her, trying to reach into the young woman’s locked-inmind.
“Hey, Kels,” Romy said now, pulling a chair up to the side of her bed. “How you doing, kiddo?” She checked Kelly’s vital signs, flicked her light in the girl’s eyes, then sat down. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Wish you were awake to share it, but I promise, when you do wake up, I’ll make sure you have yourChristmas.”
