Cora motioned for her to keep it down. The last thing she needed was for the entire ER to gossip about her love life. “I don’t understand how someone who is so adamant against any kind of relationship has the audacity to encourage me to jump back into one that I’ve already proved didn’t work.”
“Five years is a long time, Cora. I’m willing to bet you’ve both changed a lot.”
Jen had her there. That was the whole reason behind taking things slow and getting to know each other again.
“The way I see it,” Jen continued, “if you don’t take a chance, you’re going to wonder what would’ve happened. Thanksgiving is either going to be amazing and you’ll be glad you went, or it’ll be horrible and put a nail in the coffin of your relationship. Either way, you’ll probably have an answer you’re looking for. Isn’t that worth going for on its own?”
Cora really didn’t want to admit that Jen was right, but her expression must have given it away. Jen grinned as though she’d just won the lottery. “That’s what I’m talking about. I expect updates from you regularly, girl. I’m serious about that.”
“Maybe one of these days I can convince you to give relationships a shot.”
Jen raised an eyebrow. “Don’t hold your breath.”
Cora shook her head at her friend. “You are a mess. Alright, I’m out of here. I hope the rest of your shift goes smoothly.”
“Thanks again for covering for me. I owe you one.”
“And don’t you forget it.” Cora gave her a hug and headed for the front of the ER. It’d gotten colder, and Cora wished she brought her heavier coat. If it wasn’t freezing yet, it was close. As she walked across the parking lot to her car, she stopped short. Where was it?
She parked in the same spot, or one close by, every single time. She turned slowly, wondering if she was just too tired to remember parking it somewhere else.
Nothing.
She walked to her usual spot. There was broken glass on the ground. Furious and tired, she jogged back to the hospital and spoke to Ray, the security officer on duty up front. “Hey, I think someone stole my car out of the parking lot.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, either that or someone decided to move it as a prank. At this time of the night, that should be a crime, too.”
Ray nodded. “Give me a minute to call it in. We have cameras out there we can check.”
Cora paced back and forth before the front desk as Ray called the nearest precinct, relayed the car model, year, and color. When the police arrived, they got her statement, took pictures of the glass on the ground, and confiscated the recorded tape from the time she got to the hospital until she’d discovered her car missing.
One of the officers assured her that they’d do everything they could to find the car. “We’re going to go through this tape, and we’ve got an alert out on your car. We’ll call you when we learn anything. Meanwhile, you should be able to contact your insurance in the morning and get a rental.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am. You have someone you can call to take you home?”
Cora nodded even as her mind raced. Her first instinct was to call Grey, but it was almost four in the morning, and she hated to wake him. She could hang out and wait until eight when Jen was off shift and ask her for a ride. Cora really didn’t feel like hanging out in the waiting room for that long, though.
She finally cringed and dialed Grey’s number.
Chapter Seventeen
Grey stayed up way too late watching episodes of one of his favorite television shows before finally going to bed. It took hearing his phone ring for a second time before he sat up in bed and realized it really wasn’t part of his dream. With bleary eyes, he looked at the caller ID. The moment he saw Cora’s name, he was instantly awake. “Hey. You okay?”
There was a moment of silence. He looked at the screen to see if they’d been disconnected. “Cora?”
“I’m so sorry to wake you up, Grey. Someone stole my car while I was covering a shift at the hospital.” She hesitated. “Is there any way you could come and take me home? I’m kinda stuck here.”
There was no missing the weariness in her voice. He was already out of bed and reaching for a shirt from his dresser drawer. “Absolutely. You can wait inside, right?”
“Yes.”
Good. That made him feel a lot better. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Grey.”
