Radclyffe - Crossroads

Annie colored, her brows drawing down. “Could you be a little more careful?”

“Sorry—late for a class.” Hollis tilted her head toward the street, keeping Annie in her sights. If she looked away a second, she’d be gone. Always disappearing, was Annie. “Got a lecture to give. What are you doing later?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re coming back to check on Linda, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Annie said. “I’m picking up Callie right now. I thought I’d come back here around five.”

“Good. I’ll meet you in the ER. Might as well put this joint-care research to good use.” Annie might shy away from a personal interaction, but she was dedicated to her patients. Another thing Hollis found appealing about her. Annie knew what she was about.

“All right,” Annie said. “We should talk—”

Hollis was tired of everything being about their differences. She wanted to connect again like they had at the barbecue. She’d been wanting it since Annie had walked away. “Have dinner with me after.”

Annie shook her head as if she was having trouble understanding. “What?”

“Dinner. No work. Just dinner.”

“Thanks, but I can’t,” Annie called and started to get back into the car.

Hollis stood her ground. Annie couldn’t run if she was in front of the car. She wanted to see her later—away from the distractions of the hospital and the demands of patients. Hell, she wanted a date. “Why not?”

“Callie—I have to leave her with a sitter to come back over here. I can’t leave her all evening too.”

“No problem.” Hollis shrugged. “Meet me in the ER early—four thirty. We’ll see Linda and then pick up Callie. Take her with us. That’s not too late for her to eat, is it?”

“No, but she’s four, Hollis. Going out to dinner with a four-year-old—”

“Will be perfect. She won’t be fussy about where we go.” Hollis waved and jogged backward toward the street. “See you later.”

“Right,” Annie muttered, sliding back into her seat as Hollis turned away and ran for the building across the street. She held her breath as Hollis dodged traffic and reached the sidewalk safely. “Later.”

The woman was crazy. She obviously hadn’t had the interesting experience of taking a four-year-old out to dinner. But then, maybe she had. Hollis had brothers and she probably had nieces and nephews. Annie didn’t know because Hollis was very good at getting her to talk about herself but even better at not revealing much of her own story. That would have to change if they were going to see each other.

Annie drew a breath, dispelling the cloud that seemed to fog her brain every time Hollis was around. What was she thinking? The idea of seeing Hollis again made her heart race, which proved only one thing. She was alive and breathing. Hollis Monroe was a very attractive woman—who wouldn’t get a little sidetracked by that killer smile and those devilish eyes and that tight, powerful body? God, she was gorgeous. So what? There were plenty of other hot, charming women around—just because she hadn’t noticed any in, well, ever, didn’t mean anything. She knew better than to be caught up in the thrill of attention from someone like Hollis—someone who made her feel attractive and sexy, as if she was the sole focus of their interest, as if what she thought and felt really mattered. Once, she’d been hungry for the kind of attention Hollis promised, starving to be seen and valued. She’d learned the hard way what happened when she lost all common sense over a handsome charmer who looked at her as if she was a beautiful, fascinating woman. She wasn’t about to forget, no matter how many butterflies Hollis set loose inside her. She wasn’t a cloistered girl any longer.

Dinner—or any other interaction that wasn’t strictly business—was out of the question. She put the car in gear and edged toward the street, relieved to have sorted that out. She had Hollis and her own irrational response to her in perspective now. She gripped the wheel harder, willing her hands to stop shaking.

Chapter Sixteen

After signing over her last two patients to the night shift—a teen rule-out-appendicitis who needed a white blood cell count and surgical consult, and an octogenarian with right-sided weakness waiting for a bed on the medical floor, Honor slipped into Linda’s cubicle. The lights had been turned down low and Linda appeared to be sleeping. Robin still sat on the stool beside the stretcher, holding Linda’s hand and reading on her iPhone. She glanced up and smiled wanly. She looked tired, unusual for her. She was always on the go, always organizing some event or rallying a team, always full of energy. Honor reflexively scanned the monitors. No change from the last time she’d checked. Everything was stable. The tangle of uneasiness in her chest relaxed a fraction.

“She’s doing great,” Honor whispered. “Need anything?”

“No,” Robin said softly. “I’m fine.”

Linda’s eyes flickered open. “What time is it?”

“A little after four,” Honor said.

Linda frowned at her. “Why are you still here?”

“Because you are.” Honor moved up beside the bed and rested her fingertips on Linda’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“Thirsty. Otherwise good.”

“Here.” Honor held the big Styrofoam container with the straw extending through the plastic cover close to Linda’s face. “Drink.”

“Thanks.” Linda took a few sips and gestured toward Robin. “You could at least make her go home.”

“Not likely. I think she might be waiting for a courtesy dinner tray. You know how good the food is here.”

Linda made a face. “Please. Send her home before we have another patient.”

Laughing, Honor squeezed Linda’s arm. “Don’t worry. I expect Hollis will be by anytime now to give you the green light.”

“You think this is just a little bump in the road, then, nothing serious?”

“We’ll have to leave that to the experts, but you know these things aren’t all that uncommon.” She glanced at Robin, then at Linda. “You know your flying days are done until this little item makes an appearance for good.”

Linda nodded. “I know. I knew that was coming anyhow. It’s fine. I was starting to get a little nervous going up, and that’s no way to start out a flight.” She sat up slowly. “But what about my spot down here?”

“You know you have one.” Honor caught the flash of alarm, quickly hidden, on Robin’s face. She remembered Quinn’s worry when she went back to work soon after Jack’s birth. Sometimes being the one to wait and watch was the hardest role. “But that’s going to have to be Hollis’s call too.”

“And Annie’s,” Linda added.

“What are your plans there?” Honor asked, keeping her tone light. Now wasn’t the time to pressure Linda, and she really didn’t want to. Taking care of friends was tricky—she risked unconsciously using her position to influence Linda into thinking her way, and that wasn’t fair. If she’d been in Hollis’s shoes and had to make the OB call, she’d have had to step aside.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you still planning on the home birth?”

Linda glanced at Robin.

“Up to you, babe,” Robin said. “Whatever you want, as long as it’s safe.”

“I still want to go through with it as planned, but I guess we’ll have to see what the next few months are like.” Linda traced her thumb over the top of Robin’s hand. “Is that okay with you, baby?”

“It’s a plan I can live with.” Robin lifted Linda’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I’m sure Annie will keep a close watch on things.”

“Knock, knock,” Annie said and parted the curtain. “I think I heard my name.”