Jackson handed her a file as they walked toward the conference room, his voice calm and professional as he ran through the details of the consult.
"Dr. Harrington has requested your input on a particularly challenging case involving a young cardiothoracic patient," Jackson said, his tone as cool and composed as ever. "She’s bringing her intern with her for observation."
Rebecca nodded, already knowing who the intern was. She could feel the familiar tightness in her chest building as they approached the conference room. She wasn’t sure how she would handle seeing Lillian again so soon after the gala, but she didn’t have much choice.
When she entered the room, Catherine Harrington was already there, along with a few other surgeons from her team. And there, standing next to Catherine, was Lillian.
Rebecca’s heart gave a quick, involuntary jolt at the sight of her. Lillian looked just as composed as ever in her scrubs, her blonde hair tied back in a neat ponytail, but Rebecca could seethe flicker of something in her eyes—a flash of heat and tension that mirrored Rebecca’s own feelings. For a brief moment, their gazes met across the room, and the air seemed to crackle with unspoken tension.
But then Catherine began speaking, her voice cutting through the silence, pulling Rebecca back into the present.
"Dr. Lang." Catherine greeted her with a nod. "Thank you for consulting on this case. It’s a particularly delicate situation, and I thought your expertise would be invaluable."
Rebecca forced herself to focus, pushing aside the swirling emotions as she listened to Catherine explain the details of the case. She nodded along, offering her input where necessary, but all the while, she could feel Lillian’s presence like a physical weight in the room.
As the meeting went on, Rebecca couldn’t help but steal glances at Lillian. She could see the way Lillian’s eyes occasionally flicked toward her, the way she shifted slightly in her seat, as if the tension between them was just as unbearable for her as it was for Rebecca.
When the meeting finally ended, the other surgeons filed out of the room, leaving just Rebecca and Lillian. Catherine had already left, and Jackson was talking to another assistant in the hallway, giving them a brief moment of privacy.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The silence between them was heavy, charged with the memory of the gala, of what had happened in that bathroom. Rebecca could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her hands itching to reach out, to touch Lillian, to close the distance between them.
But she couldn’t. Not here. Not now.
Lillian shifted slightly, her gaze locking onto Rebecca’s, and for a moment, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
"I thought you were avoiding me," Lillian finally said, her voice soft but edged with something sharper. "Ever since the gala…"
Rebecca swallowed hard, her throat tight. She didn’t know what to say. Shehadbeen avoiding Lillian, trying to keep her distance, trying to maintain control. But every time she saw her, every time they were in the same room, that control slipped further away.
"I wasn’t," Rebecca lied, her voice sounding hollow even to her own ears. "I’ve just been busy."
Lillian gave her a knowing look, one eyebrow arching slightly. "Busy?"
Rebecca felt a flicker of frustration rise up in her, but she tamped it down. She couldn’t let this get out of hand. She had to keep her walls up and keep Lillian at arm’s length. But the way Lillian was looking at her, the heat in her eyes, was making it damn near impossible.
"Lillian…," Rebecca began, her voice low, almost a warning. "This is complicated."
Lillian took a step closer, her voice softening but still laced with that same tension. "It doesn’t have to be."
Rebecca’s pulse quickened. Lillian was right there, just a few feet away, and the temptation to close that distance, to pull her into her arms and forget everything else, was overwhelming.
But she couldn’t. Not here. Not now.
"I can’t," Rebecca said, her voice barely a whisper.
Lillian’s gaze held hers for a long, torturous moment, and then she nodded, her expression a mix of frustration and understanding. "Then I guess I’ll just keep thinking about you."
The words sent a shock of heat through Rebecca, but before she could respond, Lillian turned and walked out of the room, leaving Rebecca standing there, her heart racing and her control slipping further and further away.
Later that evening, back in her apartment, Rebecca sat at her kitchen table, her phone in her hand, staring at the message she had typed out for Lillian but hadn’t yet sent.
I can’t stop thinking about you either.
Her thumb hovered over the send button, but she hesitated, her mind racing. She wanted to send it. She wanted to see Lillian again, to be with her, to let herself feel everything she had been trying so hard to suppress.
But she couldn’t. She wasn’t ready.
With a frustrated sigh, Rebecca deleted the message, setting her phone down on the table with a little more force than necessary.
