Chapter 11

Bailey left early yesterday and I'm thankful for it, especially after she called what we did a mistake. I've never seen a woman look more horrified after having sex with me, and it hurt me. Deeply. Not my ego, just…me. I'm not sure what it is about Bailey that makes her different, but if it were any other person, I frankly wouldn't have cared. Maybe I'm just emotional now and sensitive from everything happening to me.

Am I the problem?

Am I just being dramatic?

Whether I had a one-night stand with someone or a quickie in a bathroom, I'd never call them a mistake—to their face. That's just messed up in so many ways, and I guess she didn't even care about how I might take that.

There's a knock at the door, and someone comes in before I can object. It's time for a shift change, unfortunately. Which means Bailey is my nurse again. I'm not lucky enough for them to change that at this point.

Linda comes in with Bailey trailing after her, and they talk for a moment before she directs her attention to me. "Hey, Theo," Bailey says softly, sending butterflies erupting in my stomach at the way she says my name. "I'll be your nurse again tonight."

Great.

I want to say that out loud but refrain. Instead, I nod but don't reply. Linda, on the other hand, senses the vibes are off because she looks between the two of us with confusion.

Yeah, Linda, we fucked, and now she's acting like she didn't leave me behind in that bathroom just a few feet away from us. She left me like she didn't take a part of me with her, one I didn't willingly hand over. As if I didn't feel empty the instant she all but ran out of this room, seeming like she was sick—because I made her that way. Because that's how much she hated it. So yeah, great. I love that I'll be subjected to more cruel and unusual punishment during my hospital stay. As if I don't have enough shit bringing me down, like I'm not unhappy enough already.

"How are you feeling tonight?" Bailey asks with a small smile, an apologetic one. Does she feel guilty? She should. "How's your head?"

Which one? I want to be immature and ask, but I won't joke with her. Not now.

"Fine," is all I give her.

She nods quickly, her bottom lip quivering before she clamps it down between her teeth, and her face turns red. "Okay. I'll stay and do your assessment as soon as Linda is done with me."

"Oh, I'm done," Linda says and walks away. Only before she leaves, she tells me, "It was nice taking care of you, Theo. I hope you're out of here before I get back. You look like you want to go home."

"I do, Linda." I smile at her, knowing she notices how forced it is. "Thank you for everything."

"Of course." With another smile, one that reaches her eyes, she exits the room.

An awkward silence descends, and I want to break it. I want to joke and flirt with Bailey again. I want to go back in time to before I fucked up and offered myself on a silver platter. Fuck me for always trying to be nice. But it was more than that. I was actually beginning to think there was a spark between us, that it was more than just her being nice to a patient for a few minutes at a time. Clearly, I was right to some degree if her riding my dick like I was the only man on this planet for her was any indication.

"Can you lift your shirt, please?" Bailey asks me, stepping up to the bed until her thighs are against the mattress. She takes the stethoscope out of her pocket, and for some reason, I recall what she said about not liking it around her neck. She's always paranoid, watching out for herself. Is that why she ran out? Did I scare her? "I need to listen to your heart."

Fantastic.

Now she'll be able to tell how nervous I feel around her. And also hurt. Mostly because she treated me like I didn't matter. I'd never treat anyone that way—but especially not her. Maybe she makes a habit of having sex and discarding people. Then again, that would require a level of trust that she doesn't have. It makes me wonder how true the rumors are about her.

What are you running from, Bailey?

"Sure," I tell her, lifting my shirt above my chest and holding it there.

She listens to my heart, lingering, her hand on my chest. It feels like it's searing my skin, sending little electric shocks through my body. I don't dare make eye contact with her, and it's a good thing since my eyes are beginning to sting with unshed tears. I just want her out of here. I want to leave this stupid hospital and never see her again.

"Your heart is beating really fast," Bailey whispers, her fingers tracing my chest for a moment before she lets her hand drop. Her eyes flick to my face. I can feel them, but I don't look up. "I'm really sorry, Theo. I fucked up. I don't know why I said we were a mistake. It just…scared me. I hadn't had sex in a long time, and I didn't expect it to be with a patient, in the middle of my workday…at my job."

"I understand." I nod once. And in a way, I do. What she's saying makes sense, but being left that way without explanation still hurts.

"Look at me," she demands, and I do, my eyes coming to her face and slowly drifting up to meet her gaze. "Where did happy Theo go? I don't like seeing you this way."

I stare into space, not answering her question.

"Well, I still wanted to apologize." She murmurs, moving down to my abs to listen to my stomach. "Can you please forgive me?"

"And then what, Bailey?" Never see each other again? Live my whole existence wondering what if? The words hang in the air, and she looks like she's going to cry.

"We can be friends."

My heart nearly stops, then doubles in rhythm. "Like…outside of the hospital?"

"Why not?" She smiles, looking at me after she removes the stethoscope from my skin. "You're nice."

I shake my head and look away.

"Give me your phone," she orders, and my brows furrow. "As soon as you're out of the hospital, call me, and we can hang out."

Hope swells in my chest, and I reach for the bedside table and hand her my phone. She quickly types, saving her phone number to my contacts list. Relief hits me, and maybe a small part hopes she will eventually give me a chance. She's made it more than clear that she's not ready, though. But I can still dream.

"Just a few more days." I smile, and this time it is genuine. It stretches my face, hurting my cheeks, and her dimples pop as she returns it. "Then I'm all yours."

"What do you want to do?" She asks me, "When we hang out?"

‘‘Maybe we can have dinner." It's not a date, Theo. "Go somewhere public so you feel comfortable."

"That sounds nice."

"Or breakfast, considering your schedule."

The door barges open, and in comes Jeremy, holding up a bag of McDonald's. I love that place, but damn, his timing could not be more off. I thought Bailey and I were having another moment, but as soon as he strolls in and sits down, she stiffens. I pull my shirt down, and her gaze drags down my body as I do. It reminds me of her riding me, the way I touched her, the look in her eyes as she came. Her mouth wide open on a moan, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as pleasure consumed her and?—

"I'll be back later to give you pain meds," she tells me before walking away, not even looking back as she exits the room.

I don't dare look at Jeremy when she leaves. Immediately, he notices something is up because he clears his throat.

"Well, I feel like I just walked in on something." I snap my eyes up to his, and he smirks. "Did I?"

"You have the worst fucking timing, you know that?" The exasperation in my voice is evident because his smirk drops, and instead, he furrows his eyebrows. "We were talking."

"Oh?" One eyebrow quirks. "Be honest with me, did you fuck her?"

After a brief moment of silence, I relent, mostly because we've never kept secrets from each other. "Yes, and it was the best sex of my life."

"So what's wrong, then?"

"She…ran away." I sigh, "She was just apologizing and saying we should be friends."

"Ouch." Jeremy winces. "She already friend-zoned you? Brutal."

"I'm not giving up," I tell him honestly. "I'll wait it out."

"What made you suddenly so interested, Theo?" Beats me, but I am. She has layers I want to uncover, and I'm determined not to give up. "You've never been so interested in anyone to the point of taking a spot in the friend zone."

"Bailey is different, man." And she is. "I want to get to know her."

"And you're saying this after only a few days of being here?" He narrows his eyes on my face. "You haven't even been here for a week."

"Don't judge me, okay?" He rolls his eyes at that. "But we connected, and I don't get that often. It felt real for once."

"Is your brain misfiring?"

I laugh, loudly. "Maybe."

"Clearly, bro." It's not just about sex. I know that, and she knows that. "It's too early to be pussy whipped, though. So you need to chill."

"I'm chill as fuck, dude." Lies, there's nothing chill about me right now. Not when it comes to Bailey, not after everything that happened between us. But she agreed to go out with me, even if it's just as friends. That right there is enough to have me feeling relieved. "Anyway, thanks for Mickey D's."

"Of course," Jeremy says as I open the bag, pulling out a million chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce. "Anything for my D-man."

"You're just so…" I stuff my mouth and speak through a mouthful of food. He grimaces. "Sweet."

"When will you be out of here, Anderson?"

"I think within the next few days if everything goes as planned," I reply, my stomach dropping at the possibility that it won't. "And then Bailey and I have not a date. Well, a friend date."

"Oh my God." Jer shakes his head. "Are you sure you're gonna be able to change her mind? You're friend-zoned as fuck."

"She'll change her mind." I shrug with a nonchalance I don't feel. One way or another, I'll make her change her mind.

"If you say so."

We finish our food in silence, him occasionally looking at me like I'm crazy, and then he takes the bag and discards it. I know he's going to get going before he even says it. We've been friends long enough for me to know how he thinks and to recognize his body language, too. And I'm fine with it, truly. Maybe I need some alone time before Bailey comes back in. I really need to think about how I'm going to keep myself in check when we're hanging out. Because all I want to do is make her mine.

"Alright." Jeremy breaks the silence, his lips tipping up in a small smirk. "Time to go."

"Drive safe."

"I'm glad you'll be out of here soon," he replies. "I miss you on the ice."

I miss the ice myself, but I'm trying not to think about it often. It seems there are some hurdles I need to overcome before I'm allowed to play, and quite honestly, I don't want my mood to plummet again. Maybe fucking Bailey was about me as much as her, especially since I can't deny that I felt so much better while it was happening. Nothing else mattered except her, and it was a nice change to have a break from all the thoughts running rampant in my brain at all hours of the day and night.

"Soon," I lie, knowing damn well it'll be weeks before I can go back on the ice.

Jeremy heads to the door and glances back at me, giving me a soft smile, then exits the room without another word. The sudden silence makes me feel cold and empty. Lonely. But that's how I've been feeling for days now like I have no one to lean on, even though I know I do. They couldn't possibly understand what I've been going through, and there's only one person I've actually talked to about it. And that's Bailey.

I want to tell her more—more than just my worst kindergarten teacher or my first kiss. I want to tell her about my sister. I want to give her a glimpse of everything that makes me, me. That's what friends do, after all, but something is stopping me. I just can't put my finger on it. I think I just don't want to scare her away. What if she thinks this is getting too deep and that's not what she wants? Or what if I cross a boundary I didn't even know she set?

After a while, I think I fall asleep. My head is nodding without my consent, and my fingers are twitching. But something wakes me all the way; a commotion in the hallway, right outside my room. I get out of bed and press my ear to the door, not wanting to interrupt whatever is happening. The voices are loud, and there's clearly an argument happening.

"Did you think you could just run away and I wouldn't find you, Bailey?" The voice rises even more. "You fucking slut."

I flinch, and when a sob breaks from the other side and something thumps against my door, I run to the phone at my bedside and call security.

"Security." The man on the phone answers.

"Yes, sir. I'm calling because there's a nurse being attacked in the hallway right in front of my room." My voice is raspy, and I clear it. "Tenth floor. Room 1008."

"Be right there."

But I can't just stand here and listen to whatever that prick is saying to Bailey, so I open the door.

There's a man with dark hair and midnight eyes standing outside of the door, getting in Bailey's face. He looks enraged, but what bothers me is the grip he has on her arm. "Is there a problem here?" I ask, looking at the girl with tears trailing down her face. "Bailey?"

"Oh, this is rich." He spits, tightening his grip on her arm until his knuckles turn white. "Is this your new knight in shining armor? I knew you wouldn't stop being the same fucking whore you've always been. But don't sweat it, Bailey, because I forgive you, babe. And you're coming home with me."

"Let go," she whispers. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"The fuck you're not," he growls, spit flying from his mouth as he steps even closer to her.

I shove him away, "You heard the lady."

"Theo, go back to your room," Bailey tells me with furrowed brows. "This isn't your business."

"Damn right, it's not," the man replies.

"Robert." She hisses. "This is my work. You need to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere without you." He advances on her again, shoving her against the wall and grabbing her by the hair, yanking back roughly. "And if you don't come with me, I will fuck you up like I did the last time."

Bailey whimpers, and I take a step forward.

"Robert, please," Bailey tries to placate him. "I can't go with you right now. I'll lose my license for abandoning my patients."

"You're not fucking working again." He laughs, "So it doesn't matter."

"Bailey—" I whisper, looking to either side of the hallway, hoping security shows up.

"You need to shut the fuck up," Robert growls at me. "Go back to your room, pretty boy. Stay the fuck out of our business."

My fists clench at my sides, but when he grabs Bailey by the neck, I snap. I mirror what he just did to her, gripping his neck and shoving him to the opposite wall. "Touch her again, and I'll set you on fire, motherfucker."

"Theo." Bailey all but growls, coming to grip my arms as I choke him and cage him in simultaneously. "Stop, please."

"No, Bailey," I tell her as I see his face turning red, his eyes bulging out of his head. "Someone needs to teach him to keep his hands to himself."

I hear a commotion down the hall as the elevators open, and in strolls security. Just when I think I have everything under control though and loosen my grip on his neck, Robert gets out of my choke hold and begins to run. Security goes after him, not even stopping to ask any questions, to see if it's the right guy. He pretty much told on himself the second he ran. I hope they catch him and send him to jail tonight. That's what he deserves.

I turn around to face the girl with my heart in a vice grip. "Are you okay?"

She sniffles, grabs my arm, and all but shoves me back into my room. I let her push me against the wall, her small hands on my chest hot. "You had no right, Theo."

I flinch, feeling like I'm in trouble. "I had every right, B. He put his hands on you."

"I'm not your girl," she growls. The fuck you're not. "You don't have to rescue me."

"I would've done it for anyone, Bailey," I tell her honestly, because I would've. There's nothing that pisses me off more than a man putting his hands on a woman. Coward. "Now tell me who the hell he is."

Bailey raises her chin defiantly, "It's none of your business. And if you ever pull shit like this again, I'm going to revoke your friend card."

"Do what you need to do," I scoff. "Just know that I'd rather have that happen than you getting hurt."

"I've been hurt way worse than that," she tells me gently, her hand trailing down my chest slightly until her hand is on my abs. It makes me tense the way she feels so comfortable touching me. As if she didn't just ask to be friends. Friends don't touch each other this way, and they certainly don't fuck either. "Trust me, I'm okay."

"If you say so, baby." Her eyes flare at the word, but then she looks down. "But I'm not going to stand by and let it happen."

"Right," She rolls her eyes. "Because you have to be my knight in shining armor."

"Fuck that," I reply, grabbing her wrist to keep her hand on me. I want to be more than her knight in shining armor. Way more. "I'm not your knight in shining armor. I'm your friend, right? Friends don't stand by to watch each other get hurt."

"Fine." She huffs. "Just don't do that again."

"I make no promises."

And I don't because I know if I ever see anyone hurt her again, I might just kill them.