Healing Hearts

Chapter 3

Charlotte threw herself into her work at the hospital, desperately trying to distract herself from thoughts of Simon. But every time she checked the schedule, she couldn't deny the slight disappointment that they wouldn't be working together anytime soon. She had two weeks to sort out her feelings, but she had no idea what she would say to him when they inevitably crossed paths again. Would he even acknowledge her after their encounter?

The rational part of her knew it would raise suspicion among their co-workers if they didn't at least act civil towards each other. They were both known for their stubbornness and competitiveness, often engaging in little games during their overlapping shifts. Charlotte couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when she beat Simon in their Wordle competition, but now those memories just added to her inner turmoil. How could they possibly act normal after what happened between them?

***

The day after he slept with Charlotte, Simon woke up in his hotel room, dressed himself in navy scrubs and sneakers, and went to work his shift at the Friedmont Hospital ED. He had spent the last day or so physically recovering from his drinking binge (he wasn't 21 anymore) and mentally berating himself for leaving Charlotte how he did.

He imagined she was pissed at him. Hell, he'd be pissed if someone he spent the night with left him abruptly the next morning. Truth was, Simon was ashamed of himself for his behavior, and wanted to ask Charlotte for forgiveness. The whole "we work together" excuse was just that--an excuse. In reality, Simon was terrified of how quickly his feelings for Charlotte had shown themselves when they were together.

There were several barriers keeping him telling Charlotte this, though. For one, they were not scheduled to work together for several weeks, largely because he was working day shift or at other hospitals. He also did not have her phone number--nor did he want to raise suspicion by asking their colleagues for it. His last option was to show up at her building again, but, given how it had ended up last time, he decided against this.

So Simon had to settle for apologizing to her in his head, repeatedly. Charlotte, I'm so sorry, please give me another chance was usually how it started. In his mind, Charlotte reacted anywhere from "of course I'll give you another chance, give me a kiss" to "I never want to see you again, you pig."

For obvious reasons, he hoped reality would be closer to the former.

The other obstacle between Simon and Charlotte was his impending divorce. Although he had been mourning the end of his marriage for weeks now, it was time for him to officially move out of the home he'd shared with his family and into his own apartment downtown.

Tess, the woman who Simon thought he would spend the rest of his life with, had betrayed him. Even though he had asked her to leave and she was now staying with her parents, Simon couldn't shake the pain of her infidelity. And to make matters worse, Tess had revealed that Sivan wasn't even his biological child. That realization had shattered Simon's dream of being a father and had left him feeling lost and angry.

But as much as he wanted to push Tess away and move on, there were moments when he missed her. When he craved the familiarity of their home and the laughter of their son. Maybe she was right, maybe they could start over and put this behind them. But every time he saw her, all he could think about was Tony, his former best friend and the man who had slept with his wife.

It was almost ironic that on the day he was officially moving out of the house he once thought of as his forever home, Simon had also made some questionable decisions. He'd called his lawyer and officially filed for divorce. Then he'd couldn't resist going out with his friends for a night of drinking and ended up sleeping with a co-worker he had always admired from afar. But in the morning, his guilt and fear stopped him from pursuing anything further.