Second Chance Stethoscope

Prologue

Cold.

Cold rage filled my bones and flooded my senses as I looked at the scene unfolding before me. Hands, bodies, and tongues smashed together in what was supposed to be a passionate embrace. There was a screaming in my mind, shrill and loud, and a clawing at the back of my mind to run over and rip them apart.

But instead, I stand still, splintering rage spreading through my bones. Silently I slipped the ring from my finger. The beautiful diamond that held so many giggle-filled memories, I took it off and threw it at my ex fiancées head and turned on my heel. The white floor-length gown flowed behind me as I walked out of the closet I'd found them in.

Daren turned just as I got to the end of the hallway, with a quick snap of his neck, his gaze hazy and filled with lust for the woman before him. His voice was barely a whisper as he called that dreaded name that had once made me melt for him, but no more, "Apples?" I heard him stand and take two pensive steps toward me out of the too-small coat closet, the rustle of an ugly dark green dress made me turn around one last time.

"No. Daren. You don't get to call me apples. Not when I.." Words failed me and I took a deep breath. "Not when you're in this closet like a 15-year-old virgin with this hussy who's supposed to have been my bridesmaid. Not when we're at our rehearsal dinner and you're sitting on a mop bucket filled to the brim with your lies and betrayal." The words flew from my mouth as I felt the anger fuel once more.

My hot, tear-rimmed gaze turned to the woman. His supposed "best friend". Who apparently was much more. "And you, Grace. The very name of which you lack. I welcomed you into my circle of sisters. Treated you as good as family, and you turn around and come up with this. You're the basic definition of a bottom feeder. Get the hell out before I tell my family just how "close" to the bride and groom you really are." I couldn't stop it, the rage that turned to pain, that swung back into hatred.

For 6 years, I waited for him, and I listened to his lies. 6 years of late nights I spent cuddling him, telling him how great he was and this was my gift. "Hey! You don't get to speak to her that way. This has-" I cut him off with a scoff, rolling my eyes.

"It has nothing to do with her. That's what you're going with. I can't believe I nearly wasted my prime on you. You're almost as lousy a lover as you are a lawyer. Listen very closely, Daren. Take the honeymoon with Grace, parade her around the island, and tell everyone how you and your scarlet letter fooled your "blindside." I could give a damn. But if you ever fix yourself to raise your voice at me like that again, it'll be the last time you see the sun." I turned again, feeling the tears finally well up in my eyes, the mix of hurt and anger making me dizzy.

I stormed out of the hallway, bypassing my family and my best friend Darla, who was hot on my heels. "What in vices hell, Lori? Why do you look ready to burn down the world?" Her voice cut through my swimming mind like a hot knife. "Weddings off darling. Daren was showcasing just how much of a man he can be in the back closet with his greatest achievement Grace" I knew that talking bad about them was purely for my own sanity, but it made me feel better. Served as a way to remind me that it wasn't my fault. That he would have found someone else to cheat with had it not been for Grace or worse kept the affair going for long after we had gotten married.

But it didn't stop my skin from itching. Didn't make me stop thinking about all the times he came home late from going over cases with his "buddies". It didn't stop the sick rolling feeling in my stomach of his hands on her mere hours before they were on me. It was those thoughts that caused me to turn over the railing on the grand steps and hurl every ounce of breakfast I'd had that morning into the orange rose bushes. "I'll kill him." Darla's voice was cold, and when I finally stopped retching and took a deep steadying breath she was still holding my hair and gently running her hand down my back. I slightly turned and saw the cold rage in her gaze that matched mine a mere few moments ago.

I shook my head. Standing up straight and ran my clammy hands down the front of my dress. "No. We're going to quietly deliver the news to everyone and then we're going to pack my things from the apartment he pays for and move them back into my apartment and I'm going to wash my hands of this entire bullshit excuse of a romance and get back to work." A fake smile replaced the grimace that had been on my face and I wiped my tears. This was officially business. And as a lawyer, I did business all too well for my own good. "Ready?" I turned to Darla and she matched my fake smile. "We're so getting drunk tonight," she said through her smile and linked arms with me as we strode back into the chapel.