State of Grace (6 page)

As much as she hated to admit it … she’d been incinerated.

She sighed and stretched lazily, wondering if she’d be able to walk the next day. The second that thought crossed her mind, the door in the corner of the room opened, sinewy shadows highlighted by the light from the bathroom.

His eyes lit on her form in the bed, and even though she knew he couldn’t see her blush in the darkness, she looked down.

“Ready for round two, baby?”

Chapter Three

Six months later…

She frowned at the sandwich cart. Slightly dark, hardened edges framed the turkey sitting between what she guessed was stale wheat. The sloppy-joes didn’t look much better. The sauce looked like it had been congealing for the past few hours.

Revolted, her stomach lurched in protest. Salad it was. She sighed and headed towards a different line. One would think the food served in a hospital would be healthy and fresh, but every time Grace stepped into the cafeteria, the hypochondriac in her imagined all sorts of nasty stomach bugs and food poisoning. Exasperated, for what felt like the umpteenth time, she filled a container with leafy greens and vegetables. She’d lost ten pounds since she’d started her new gig. Out of all the diets she’d tried, who knew the secret to success would be food that wouldn’t even be served in a torture chamber?

 “Grace, we on for Friday night?” She looked up at the voice that came from the other side of the salad bar and suppressed a groan.

“Hi Nolan,” she greeted flatly. “And no we are not on for Friday night. I told you that on Monday.”

She grimaced as she heard snickering behind her. Turning around, she saw some of the other nurses. She looked back at a red-faced Nolan.

She wanted to apologize, but really, it was his fault for pestering her, especially out in the open where anyone could hear them. She opened her mouth to say something, but he beat her to the punch.

“No worries, Grace. Noticed you eating salads every day for lunch and dinner and that you lost a couple of pounds. Figured maybe once you got laid, you’d lose the stick up your ass,” he said snidely.

She clenched her teeth as she felt her face flame, and it only got worse when she heard the snickers resume from their audience.

For some reason unbeknownst to her, Nolan Bridges had been in hot pursuit of her ever since she began working at Beth Israel Hospital. For the life of her, she didn’t know why, nor did she care.

It wasn’t like she flirted with him. She didn’t flirt with anyone and even if she had found him attractive, Nolan was particularly un-likeable. He reminded her of the jerks who’d ask a girl out because they thought she was desperate and would do anything, then got angry when they were turned down.

She smiled sweetly at him. “Oh you’ve got it all wrong honey. Definitely not looking to get laid by you. As a matter of fact, salad is all I can eat after having to put up with you all day. Maybe if you leave me alone, I can get back some of my junk in the trunk.” With that, she lightly patted her rear and stalked off, not wanting to see his reaction or continue the conversation.

 Quickly, she moved to the cashier, and as the cafeteria worker greeted her with a genuine smile and told her to have a nice day, her anger began to subside.

She headed outside to the picnic benches in the hospital’s atrium and made her way towards an empty table. Her fork was midway to her mouth when a tiny blonde popped out of nowhere and seated herself comfortably across from Grace.

“You handled that douchebag nicely,” she said with a grin, picking a crouton off Grace’s salad and brazenly popping it in her mouth. Her smile didn’t fade as she took in the expression on Grace’s face.

“Excuse me?”

The blonde gave a delicate shrug and picked another crouton off the top. “Sorry, bad habit. I seem to have no boundaries. My parents shrug it off to the ‘only child’ syndrome. Anyway, you handled Nolan like a pro. He’s an asshole, and he would have just kept bothering you until you caved. Trust me, I know people who know this from experience.” Shuddering, she pulled a Nalgene bottle from her tote and took a few healthy swigs before frowning at the soda next to Grace’s salad.

“You shouldn’t drink that stuff, by the way. It will kill you.”

Grace glared at the woman who’d interrupted her solitary meal and dared put her hands all over her food. “It’s diet.”

“No matter. That’s even worse, actually,” she nodded knowledgably, before continuing, “It’s full of fake sugar and all sorts of random shit they either don’t tell you about or never explain. I mean, caramel coloring? What the hell is caramel coloring? What does that even mean? Would the soda be white without it? Why does soda have to be brown?”

Bemused, Grace stared at her. Why the hell was she arguing about the hazards of diet cola with a perfect stranger? And what the hell did it have to do with Nolan the douchebag?

“Has anyone ever told you that you have disgusting manners?”

“All the time,” she agreed, lips curling upward before shrugging slightly and picking up another crouton. “Blame it on my hippie parents. I grew up on a commune about twenty miles south of Austin. Everything was community property … and I have a horrible addiction to any man made carbohydrate except for soda. So, what are you up to?”

Still confused and more than a little wary, Grace motioned towards her container of salad with the rapidly disappearing croutons. “I was about to eat a peaceful lunch—
alone
, before I was rudely interrupted by a perfect stranger. Did you even wash your hands before you shoved your fingers in my food?” She wrinkled her nose.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even introduce myself to you. Told you I had horrible manners, but my hands are always clean. I work up in labor and delivery. Leah Carter, R.N. extraordinaire.” She extended her hand, and frowned when it remained unmet by Grace’s.

Grace arched a brow. “Why is this important to me?”

“You
are
rough. I kinda didn’t believe it, but I had to come see for myself. This—me sitting here, trying to befriend you—is important to you because you need a friend. You’re quickly becoming known as the hospital bitch. Or ice queen. Take your pick.”

“I need a friend?” she repeated. Was this some sort of joke?

Leah nodded seriously, plucking another crouton and munching contentedly.

“Do I look like a lonely chubby girl, too?” 

“Don’t be so sensitive,” Leah admonished lightly. “Of course I don’t think that. Anyway, you’re not fat. I know fat. I grew up in Texas before I left for nursing school, and we are the home of fried anything. You’re more like …” she paused, studying Grace’s form, “Rubenesque! Yes, that’s the perfect word to describe you. Rubenesque! Do you know what I would give for your figure? I keep my hair long so people don’t think I’m a fourteen year old boy. I don’t even have a rack to cuddle the babies.” She sighed dramatically.

“Huh?”

“Okay, let me take a step back. I came to find you because you single-handedly managed to get the reputation with the staff of raving bitch in only two weeks while you’re all smiles for patients, custodians, and cafeteria workers. Everyone except that slut Nolan is keeping his or her distance. Trust me, you need a friend around this place. The other women … doctors, nurses, doesn’t matter … can be really catty. Not to mention Nolan’s uncle is the Chief of Staff. That loser got a farce of a medical degree from some unaccredited shack in the Caribbean, and the only reason he’s here is because good old Uncle Bridges pulled some serious strings. So you see, you need a friend. Me.” She pointed to herself.

“Besides, I figured anyone who was nice to the cleaning staff and hospital workers probably wasn’t a bitch,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

Grace sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

Opening them, she regarded her erstwhile ‘friend.’ “So let me get this straight. Everyone in this hospital thinks I’m a douche except for the people who wear fishnets over their hair and mop the floors. I’m guessing you also dated Nolan at one point in time? I’m also guessing that if he’s as fond of you as you are of him, now no one really likes you either, and now you’ve labeled us both as ‘outsiders,’ and you’ve decided we need to bond?”

Leah nodded happily. "Exactly. Except I don’t have the bad taste to hook up with Nolan. He pounced on one of my nursing school friends during a party. "

Grace stayed silent for a few moments and slowly let out a breath. "Okay."

The last ten minutes should have prepared her, nonetheless, the excited shriek and blur of color as Leah raced around to her side to hug her caught her off guard. Before she was assaulted into a bear hug, she held her hands up. "No! No hugs, I don't do hugs."

Leah stared. "Who doesn't 'do' hugs? That's so weird."

"You grew up on a hippie commune, your scrubs literally have unicorns and rainbows everywhere on them, and you're telling me I'm weird? I’m also not pricking my finger and becoming blood sisters with you either," she said sarcastically.

Her new friend regarded her curiously, and then her lips grew into a wide, pretty smile. "First of all, there is nothing wrong with rainbows and unicorns. I work in the maternity ward, so if anyone in this hospital has a right to wear this pattern, it's me. Second of all, maybe Nolan had a point. When
was
the last time you got laid, Gracie?"

She felt color rising and knew it stained her cheeks. Memories of Sean, memories she fought to suppress every single day, invaded her mind at Leah’s unwitting comment. "None of your business, and my name is Grace, not Gracie," she gritted.

Leah had perfected the art of an arched brow and simultaneous smirk as a teenager shortly after she’d decided she was interested in boys. Out of habit, she pulled the same expression on Grace now. "All I'm suggesting is that a little stress relief, endorphins, and some dopamine might go a long way every now and then.” She twisted her lips ruefully. “In that respect, Nolan does have a good reputation. He might be a first class asshole, but word on the street says he sure knows how to use what God gave him."

Grace listened as the tiny whirlwind chattered on, wondering, not for the first time, if she tumbled down the rabbit hole and into wonderland.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She shut the door to her apartment, leaning against it in exhaustion. She had a very limited set of friends and even then, she preferred to spend most of her time working. Going into her field, dealing with people was unavoidable, but managing relationships outside of her patients wasn't something she was particularly good at.

Truth be told, nothing would have really prepared her for the bizarre environment at the hospital she'd suddenly found herself thrust into. First Nolan, then Leah ...

Shaking her head, she pulled off her sneakers, placing them in her hallway closet before wandering into her kitchen.

The kitchen was a room she loved, but truth be told, she adored every room in the apartment. Despite the stainless steel appliances and dark walnut finish, the room possessed warmth and an airy feel that instantly felt homey. It had an open layout, only separated from the living room by a breakfast bar. A bottle of her favorite Malbec sat already opened on the granite countertop. She poured herself a glass of the red wine before settling in the living room. She sank into an overstuffed armchair and turned the television on with every intention to unwind and relax, but the images on the screen did little to hold her attention, and her mind wandered.

She hadn’t seen him since the wedding. She only dropped by Lucas and Sophie’s when she knew they were alone, and she constantly made excuses to avoid going to gatherings where she knew he would be … but it had been impossible to forget her reaction to him and worse, his reaction to her. Sean trying to make her miserable was nothing new, but everything had been different that day. For the first time, he’d looked at her like he was really
seeing
her.

Like she was a woman instead of someone he was forced to put up with.

Truthfully, that day had only worsened the ache that had long since become familiar. Normally, she was able to keep her cool and give back as good as she got it when they argued, but when he’d looked at her with warm eyes and handled her with even the slightest of touches, it left her feeling disoriented and wanting.

Their last encounter had thrown her for a loop, but it also made her realize that she didn’t mind the attention, and to some extent, she’d wanted more.

And now she was stuck forever remembering it.

She’d woken up the morning after, afraid to even breathe for fear of waking him up. As her mind screamed at her to get away as quickly as possible, she slipped out of the bed, stopping by her suitcase to grab underwear, a t-shirt, and yoga pants. In the shower, her mind raced with all the ways she could escape the room, but as she glared at the tiny bathroom window, she’d realized there was no way out but the front door.

She had nearly screamed when he stuck his head behind the shower curtain and grinned.