Best of Both Worlds

Chapter Seventeen

Nurse Abby shoved a bouquet of flowers into my hands as soon as I reached the nurse station. I glanced into the bouquet of tiny white flowers with furrowed brows. I wasn't much of a flower person, so I couldn't decipher the name or type.

She had on a wide grin and her eye twinkled in the light. "It came in for you"

"Me?" I tipped the flowers to the side and found a card tucked in the side.

I'm sorry about last night.

Nick

I kissed my teeth and handed the bouquet to a young patient being discharged. If he thought some flowers would magically erase the things he said to me, he was not as smart as I thought he was.

Nurse Abby pursed her lips at me. "And here I thought, you'd finally give romance a chance" she shook her head as she sank into the chair behind a computer screen.

My jaw fell open and I leaned against the slab that barricaded the nurse station. "What does that mean? I- I like romance"

She lifted her eyes, above the rims of her glasses. "Really?"

I tried to stop myself from smiling. "Yeah"

She locked her fingers together and leaned back against her chair. "Sweetie, I've known you since your intern days and not once have I seen you go on a date." She gestured to my belly. "Until that, I thought you were allergic to anything associated with love"

I parted my lips to offer a good defence but the emergency doors burst open and the EMT team wheeled in a man. He was clutching onto his chest and wheezing out. I rushed over to his gurney with two nurses in tow.

"33-year-old male, chest pains and abnormal breathing. He was on a treadmill in a local gym when he collapsed to the floor, clutching his chest" the EMT guy recited.

"Move him to bay 3" nurse Abby instructed and they pushed his gurney in the said direction.

Let the day begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked out of the hospital, kneading the muscles of my neck with my fingers. A long yawn escaped me sending my eyes shut for the duration. I reopened them just in time to see Nicholas pull into the driveway, in the driver's seat. Nicholas exited the car and walked around to lean against the passenger door. I released a sigh as I swung my bag unto my shoulders. I folded my arms above my belly and trudged up to him, leaving a few feet of distance between us.

"Hey," he said and I cocked an eyebrow in response. He shoved his hands into his pocket and pushed off the door. "I see you're still upset"

"Wow, how did you come to that conclusion?" I deadpanned

"Did you get the flowers?" he took a step closer, his eyes searching for any floral evidence.

I popped a shoulder upwards and my tone remained flat. "I did"

He took his hand out of his pocket, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back. "I apologize for yesterday. I wasn't in the right frame of my mind – Camille turned up at my office and it –"he let out a deep sigh as he raked his fingers through his hair. "There's no excuse for my attitude . . . I shouldn't have spoken to you in that manner, I'm sorry"

Wait, hold up now. He couldn't just mention Camille and cut off the story abruptly. My curiosity was already piqued. I dropped my hands down to my side. "What happened with Camille?"

He ran a hand over his face. "It's not important. She wanted to talk about getting back together. The entire conversation put me in a bad mood." He rubbed the creases between his brows and stepped forward. "That doesn't matter, It- I took my anger out on you and I apologize"