I drop my jaw.His girlfriend?
My heart nearly explodes.
It’s silly.I’m acting like a schoolgirl.I might as well be doodling “Mrs.Maddox Hathaway” in my journal surrounded by little hearts.
“So you two are official?”Dr.O’Rourke asks.
“I suppose we are.”I squeeze Maddox’s hand and then give him a quick kiss on the cheek.“My shift’s about to begin.Have a wonderful day, Maddox.”
“You too, gorgeous.”
“You opening the shop today?”Dr.O’Rourke asks.
“Taking the day off.”
Dr.O’Rourke’s eyebrows fly upward.“Maddox Hathaway?Taking a day off?Losing twenty-four hours’ worth of profit?”He grins at me.“Hemusthave it bad for you.”
Maddox just shakes his head.“Keep an eye on her, Harrison.Make sure she’s… Just make sure she’s safe.”
Dr.O’Rourke narrows his eyes.“St.Charles is extremely safe.Occasionally we get a patient who’s a little whacked in the head, but I always make sure the nurses are taken care of.”
“Good.Just… Just keep it up, then.”Maddox gives me one last kiss on the lips and then turns toward the parking garage.
I wave as he—my boyfriend—departs.
Dr.O’Rourke offers me his arm.
“Thank you.”He’s got magnificent biceps, and most nurses would kill to be in my position, but I feel absolutely nothing.
We take the elevator up to our floor.The second it opens, Dinah pounces on me.
“Alissa!Have you heard?”
I walk off the elevator.“Have I heard what?”
“It’s Lou!”
Oh, God.Did he have another cardiac issue?He flatlined just a few days ago.
“Is he…?”
“Oh gosh, no.”Dinah covers her mouth.“Sorry.I should have been clearer.We found a match for him.He’s going into surgery right now for the transplant.”
I drop my jaw.“No kidding.So he and Carol are both going to be all right?”
“They are.They could have years together once they’re both fully recovered.”
“And Carol’s recovering okay as well?”
Dinah nods.“Never better.She’s not young, of course, so they’re going to hold onto her for a few more days before they send her to rehab, but they brought her down to see him when they broke the news.”She hugs me.“Sometimes miracles do happen, Liss.Don’t ever forget that.”
I feel a warmth in my heart at her words, but only for a minute.
Because sometimes miraclesdohappen.
And sometimes the head of an innocent young woman ends up buried in a park.
Lou deserves to live.Carol deserves to live.And May deserved—past tense—to live.
