Page 87 of Paging Dr. Hart
No tremor in his voice, though. It’s steely, filled with determination. “I haven’t had a lot of things I could call mine. Medicine was my parents’ and my brother’s. Baseball, maybe, but I lost that. But you, you’remine,and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose you. Not today. Not to that guy.” He points to Rafe on the ground. “I will fight anything, or anyone, that comes between us. Nothing could keep me away from you.Nothing.” His composure breaks, and he draws me into a bone-crushing hug. “I wassoworried. When you didn’t come back. I lost it.”
Pressed against his solid body, I rush to explain, “I wasn’t running away. I swear. I—”
“Of course you weren’t,” he interrupts. “That didn’t even cross my mind.”
“It didn’t?” I peer up at him.
“No. I know you. You keep your promises.” He pulls me tighter, holding onto me like he’s unmoored and I’m his anchor, the only thing tethering him to this reality where he got to me in time. Where I’m safe.
“What’s going on? Who’s this guy?” He doesn’t let go, addressing all his questions to the top of my head.
Here it is.
The moment I’ve been dreading. He’s been honest with me, and all I’ve given him in return are lies and secrets. I can’t blame him when he walks away, but even if his abandonment is warranted I’ll never get over it. Losing Ethan will wreck me. Shatter my heart into so many jagged pieces that I won’t ever put it back together again.
Throat tight with unshed tears, I whisper, “You’re going to hate me.”
Ethan squeezes me even tighter. “Impossible.” He pulls back from our embrace. Tilting my chin up with his hand, he forces me to meet his eyes. “I love you, Tiffy. I think I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you glaring at me in that auditorium. Nothing can change that.”
Ethan leans down and kisses me, long and slow. The world narrows down to this single sensation, the feeling of his lips pressed to mine. The brush of his tongue, the soft exhale of his breath. It awakens a firestorm of desirewithin me. Hot tears break free at his touch and trickle down to mingle with our lips. He tenderly kisses each one away, and hope blossoms in my heart. Is there a chance, I wonder, however small, that he might still love me after he knows the truth? Can I be redeemed?
I’m lost in that thought when I suddenly remember the explosives. I push out of his arms, frantic. “Ethan! We need to get out of here. They’re going to implode this building tonight!”
“What?” His eyes fly wide in disbelief.
“Yes. We need to leave right now!” I grip his upper arm tight, squeezing for emphasis.
“Okay.” Ethan pauses and gestures at an unconscious Rafe. “Just one thing. What should we do with him?”
70
Together, we stare down at Rafe. He hasn’t moved, not a single twitch.
“I’ll call the police.” Ethan reaches into his back pocket to retrieve his cell phone.
I still his movement with my hand. “Wait.” Frozen in place, I lift my fingers to my forehead, which I rub, thinking hard.
“What? He kidnapped you,” he insists.
But Ethan doesn’t understand. He didn’t grow up the way I did. He doesn’t know the complicated web of history and loyalty I’m struggling with. So many memories flash before me. Rafe rescuing me at school and bloodying his knuckles for me. Rafe walking Shelly and me to our car each night. Rafe in a tuxedo, wanting so badly to fit in, to belong for just once in his life. To have a future where he’s not the bad guy.
“Put your phone away,” I say, quiet but firm.
The look Ethan sends me is incredulous, but he does as I request. I love him even more for that. For the trust and respect he has always given me, all the way back to the first day we met.
“Help me wake him up.” I can see it’s hard for Ethan. He’s still keyed-up and angry from the fight. The need to protect me is radiating out of him.
Not too gently, he shoves his toe into Rafe’s ribs and pushes, rolling Rafe back and forth with his foot.
“Hey, get up.” Ethan’s voice is gruff.
I join him, urging, “Rafe, wake up.”
When Ethan looks over at me sharply, I ask, “What?”
“Rafe? You used to cry out that name when you had nightmares. I was so jealous, hearing another man’s name from your lips. This is him?” Ethan pushes his toe even more aggressively into Rafe’s ribs, almost kicking him.
I nod, not taking my eyes off Rafe, who stirs with a quiet groan. When Rafe wakes, he sees Ethan standing over him. He sits up and scrambles backward, putting distance between them. Rafe’s gaze bounces suspiciously between Ethan and me.
