Twisted Hate

8

As an ER resident, I saw some crazy shit, and the last weekwas no exception.A man whose car collided with a fence and arrived at thehospital with the fence post stuck through him? Check. (Hewas currently in the ICU, but chances were, he'll survive).A patient who stripped off all their clothes and ran aroundthe ER naked before two nurses finally caught them? Check.Someone with a broken-off cucumber stuck in theirrectum? Check.Total insanity, but that was why I'd chosen emergencymedicine over surgery, which my father had pushed for. Hewanted to brag about having a heart surgeon for a son, but Ithrived on chaos. On the thrill of coming into work every dayand not knowing what challenges lay ahead. It kept me onmy toes, though I could do without removing vegetablesfrom other people's orifices for a long, long while."Get some rest," Clara said as I clocked out after anothergrueling night shift. "You look like a zombie.""False. I always look perfect. Right, Luce?" I winked atLucy, another nurse. She giggled in agreement while Clararolled her eyes."See you tomorrow. Try not to miss me too much." Irapped my knuckles against the counter on my way out thedoor."We won't," Clara said.At the same time Lucy chirped,"We'll try!"A chuckle rose in my throat, but by the time I steppedoutside, it'd already faded, crushed by bone-deepexhaustion. However, instead of heading home for somemuch-needed shuteye, I made a left toward the north side ofthe hospital campus, where the Legal Health Alliance Clinicwas located.I'd somehow misplaced my charger before my shift andmy phone was at eight percent, so the backup charger I keptat LHAC was my only hope of keeping my all-important cellalive.When I arrived at the clinic, Barbs's car was the only onein the tiny parking lot squished next to the building. Most ofthe staff didn't trickle in until half past eight, but she openedand closed the office every day, so she kept longer hours."Hey, beautiful," I quipped when I entered the receptionarea."Hey, handsome," she said with a wink.When I'd volunteered at LHAC as a med student, Barbskept me supplied with home-cooked pastries and sage advicelike when life gives you lemons, make lemonade and hang outwith someone whose life gave them vodka. She was one of thereasons I'd continued volunteering despite my crazyresidency schedule. The clinic staff had become my surrogatefamily over the years, and even though I only had time todrop by once or twice a week in between shifts, they kept megrounded."Wasn't expecting to see you today." Barbs tucked herpen behind her ear. "A little birdie told me you just came offa night shift."I didn't ask how she knew. Barbs was the most pluggedin person in the Thayer Hospital system. She knew thingsabout people before they did."Trust me, I'm going home and crashing soon." Iscrubbed a hand over my face, trying to keep my eyes open."I just need to grab my charger."I'd volunteered at LHAC so long I had my own desk. Thebulk of my work involved staffing its free health clinic foruninsured health patients, but I also consulted on variouslegal cases that required a medical opinion."Before you do, you should say hi to our new researchassociate." Barbs nodded at the kitchen door down the hall."You'll like her. She's feisty."I raised my eyebrows. "New associate already?"LHAC had been inundated with new cases recently. Lisa,the legal director, had been talking about hiring a shortterm associate to help out until the rush was over, but Ihadn't expected it to happen so soon."Yep. Third year at Thayer Law." Barbs's eyes gleamed ina way that sent my guard shooting straight up. "Smart girl.Pretty too, if a bit eager. She started on Monday, and I foundher waiting outside fifteen minutes before the clinicopened.""Congrats, you just described half the girls at Thayer." Amajority of the university's students were Type A to a fault."Don't think about it," I added when Barbs opened hermouth. "I don't do office romances."I had a reputation as a player, but I would never hook upwith someone I worked with, not even in a volunteer setting.Barbs didn't bat an eye at my foul language—she'd saidand heard much worse at the clinic—though her face didpucker in disappointment. She fancied herself the hospitalmatchmaker, and she'd been trying to matchmake me foryears."Besides, if I did date anyone from the clinic, it'd beyou," I added teasingly.She maintained her frown for ten seconds before itmelted into a smile. "You're a terrible liar.""Me, lie?" I placed a hand over my chest. "Never."She shook her head. "Go. Take that charm elsewhere.You're too young for me. And come back to me after you'veseen her," she called after me, laughing when I tossed her anexasperated look over my shoulder.I grabbed my charger from my desk and pocketed it.Then, curious despite myself, I headed to the kitchen to meetthe new associate. I might as well see what all the fuss wasabout.I pushed open the kitchen door, my mouth curving into awelcoming—What. The. Fuck.My smile disappeared faster than candy at a kid'sbirthday party.Because sitting in the middle of the room, drinking coffeeout of my favorite mug and examining a stack of papers, wasnone other than Jules Ambrose.My blood pressure spiked.No. Fuck no. I must've fallen asleep after my shift andentered a vivid nightmare because there was no way Juleswas the new research associate. The universe wouldn't be socruel.She glanced up at the sound of the door opening, and Iwould've taken great pleasure in the way her face paled had Inot been equally thunderstruck."What the hell are you doing here?" Our voices mingledin a discordant melody—her words pitched high with stress,mine low with horror.A muscle jumped in my jaw. "I work here." I released thedoorknob and crossed my arms over my chest. "What's yourexcuse?""I work here. You work in the ER." Jules arched aneyebrow. "I see you're going senile already. That's whathappens when your brain uses all its limited faculties onbasic upkeep."Goddammit. I didn't have time for this. I came here topick up my charger, and now I was stuck arguing with theshe-devil when all I wanted was sleep.But it was too late. There was no backing down unless Iwanted her to rub getting the last word in my face until theend of time."Don't project, it's unbecoming. Just because you havelower than average mental capacity doesn't mean everyoneelse does." A smirk touched my mouth when her eyetwitched. "As for the clinic, I've been volunteering here sinceI was in med school."Translation: it was my space. I'd claimed it first.Was that a juvenile way to look at things? Perhaps. Butthere were so few places I felt truly at home. The clinic wasone of them, and Jules's presence would smash that peace tosmithereens."It's not too late to quit." I leaned against the wall,keeping my eyes locked to hers in a silent challenge. "You'dhave more fun spending your free time elsewhere. I'm surethere's a poor sap who's willing to fill in the gaps in yourschedule if you're bored.""I could say the same for you, Judgy McJosh." Julessipped her coffee out of my fucking mug. "Or have you runout of women who'll fall for your bullshit? Unless you'reusing the volunteer excuse to pick up women, which is justsad."I closed the distance between us in three strides andslammed my hands on the table hard enough to rattle thehighlighters lined up next to her papers. I leaned forwarduntil our faces were only inches apart and our breathsmingled in a cloud of animosity."Quit." The word vibrated, taut and furious, between us.Jules's eyes glowed with challenge. "No."Her slow, precise enunciation ratcheted my bloodpressure up another notch.My knuckles dug into the hard wood as I fisted my handson the table. My heart pounded so hard its drumbeat echoedin my head, taunting me.I didn't know why this one thing bothered me so much.Jules was the new research associate. So what? I didn't comeinto the clinic often, and I didn't have to talk to her if Ididn't want to. Plus, hers was a temporary position. She'd begone in a few months.But the mere idea of her here, in my haven, drinking outof my mug and laughing with my friends and filling everymolecule of air with her presence, made it really fuckinghard to breathe.One. Two. Three. I forced oxygen into my lungs with eachcount.A few feet away, the fridge hummed, oblivious to thebattle playing out in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the clock tickedits way toward the half hour, reminding me I should be longgone by now.Shower. Bed. Blissful sleep.They called my name, yet here I was, face to face withJules, unwilling to wave the white flag in our silent war.Even at this close proximity, I couldn't spot a single flawin her creamy skin. I could, however, count the individuallashes framing her hazel eyes and spot the teeny tiny moleabove her upper lip.The fact I noticed those things pissed me off even more."I thought you were all about corporate law. Big bucks.Prestige." Each syllable came out cold and sharp enough tosting. "The clinic may not be as fancy as Silver & Klein, butwe do important work here. It's not a playground for you tomess around in until you leave for the 'big leagues.'"It was a low blow. I knew it even as I said it.Jules probably needed a job to tide her over until shepassed the bar exam, and there was nothing wrong with that.But my frustration—over my father, over Alex, over theempty, gnawing feeling in my chest that had plagued me formore nights than I cared to admit—turned me into someoneI didn't recognize and didn't particularly like. Normally, Icould pretend I was the same carefree guy I'd been in school,but for some reason, my mask never lasted long with Jules.Perhaps it was because I didn't care whether she saw theworst of me. There was a certain liberation in not giving ashit about what other people thought."How like you to assume the worst of me." If my voicewas cold, Jules's was an inferno, incinerating the sharpedges of my irritation until only the ashes of shameremained."What, you think I'm going to swan in here every week,push a few papers around, and pretend to work just becauseI'm a temp? Newsflash, asshole, when I commit to doingsomething, I do it well. I don't care if it's a big law firm, anonprofit, or a fucking lemonade stand at the end of a deadend road. You're not better than me just because you're adoctor, and I'm not the devil just because I want a highpaying career. So you can take your sanctimonious attitudeand shove it up your ass, Josh Chen, because I'm over it."Silence blanketed the room, broken only by Jules's raggedbreaths. Her earlier cool had evaporated, replaced withflushed cheeks and blazing eyes, but for once, I didn't takepleasure in riling her up.I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I wastoo stunned to formulate an appropriate response.Jules and I had exchanged more barbs than I could countover the years. She always gave as good as she got, but whathappened just now...if I didn't know better, I could've swornshe was actually hurt.A hot poker of guilt stabbed at my chest.I straightened and rubbed a hand over my face,wondering when the hell my life had gotten so complicated. Imissed the days when Jules and I insulted each other withzero guilt or remorse, when my sister wasn't in love with myex-best friend, and when my best friend had still been myfriend.I missed the days when I was me.Now here I was, about to do something old Josh would'verather cut off his arm than do."I shouldn't have said that," I finally conceded. "It was alow blow, and I..." A muscle worked in my jaw. Dammit. "I'msorry."I spit out the words. It was the first time I'd everapologized to Jules, and I wanted to get it over as quickly aspossible.Just because I did the right thing didn't mean I had to likeit.I braced myself for Jules's gloating, but none came.Instead, she just stared at me like I hadn't spoken.I forged ahead. "However, the clinic is important to me,and I don't want our...differences to get in the way of ourwork. So I propose a truce."Proposing a truce might as well be surrendering, but Irefused to let our animosity poison my time at the clinic.Everywhere else, fine. But not here.Her brow wrinkled. "A truce.""Only when we're in the clinic." I wasn't naive enough tothink we could uphold any semblance of peace outside awork environment. "No insults, no snarky comments. Wekeep it professional. Deal?" I held out my hand.Jules eyed it like it was a coiled-up cobra waiting to strike."Unless, of course, you don't think you can do it."Satisfaction trickled through me when her lips thinned.I'd touched on a competitive nerve, as I knew I would.She didn't take her eyes off mine as she grasped my handand squeezed. Hard.Jesus. For someone so small, she was fucking strong."Deal," she said with a smile.I smiled back through gritted teeth and squeezed evenharder, relishing the way her nostrils flared at the pressure."Excellent."Forget what I said about being bored.This was going to be an interesting few months.