Need Someone | [Complete]

Chapter 8: Begin Again

That night, I let Max take me to bed and had hot, frustrated sex with him before I told him I didn't want to see him anymore. It was a major bitch move on my part, but I was devastated after what happened at the party. I didn't want to see anyone that reminded me of what went down in his room, or how I felt during his speech.

I spent the next day moping around in the same horrible mix of resentment and regret, all while tripping over Rebecca's boxes as she packed that last of her things. In the morning, I ran my usual three miles to clear my head. And when that didn't work, I ran three more. By the time my attention shifted from my vitriol to my fatigue, I was so exhausted I could barely stand. I had to stop at the end of the dock and call Rebecca to pick me up.

When I went into work the next day, I didn't feel prepared. The minute I walked in, I saw Ziggy at the nurse's station. I froze and could do nothing but stare. The memory of his hands, lips, and words that I hadn't been able to wash away. I was pissed, pure and simple. That was the complete opposite feeling a caretaker should have.

I would be on assignment for him through all of this treatments, which I was prepared to do, but I couldn't bear to face him just yet. When he finally walked away, I went behind the station and picked up the charts for the other patients.

"Why are you taking those?" Theresa's voice sounded behind me. "You know you're on assignment for Mr. Ziegler." I turned to her and tried to think up a work appropriate excuse. She gave me an all-knowing look. "Is there a reason you don't want to check in your patient?"

I couldn't tell Theresa I went to his party, and I couldn't tell her what he did or said that night. I had no other reasoning than that. "I just thought I would help out."

Her mouth flattened into a line. She saw straight through my ruse. "You can help if you want, but you'll still need to check him in. Denise is out this week and we're short."

I sneered, trying to decide if holding my grudge was worth the extra work. "I'm going, I'm going," I whined. I set down the other files and made my way to Ziggy's room.

I walked in just as he is stripping off his shirt to change into his hospital attire. He spotted me and stopped. "Hey," he said.

I looked his way with a petulant glare. "I'm here to get you settled and take your vitals."

"Okay."

He continued getting dressed while I logged into the computer. The awkward silence that stretched between us was awkward. I focused on pulling up his information.

"Sabine," he said quietly. I didn't respond. "I'm sorry."

I roll my eyes, but turned my head to look at him. When I saw the remorse behind his expression, I decided to let him speak.

"I was such an asshole to you at the party. I was stressed out of my mind, completely terrified about not being able to get everything out of my system . . . I went crazy and I took it out on you." I looked at him but said nothing, trying my best not to become angry again. "You have been nothing but amazing to me through all of this. I consider you a true friend, and I know will probably the most important person to me through all this. But then I turned around and treat you like complete shit—like you were some kind of conquest. You didn't deserve that."

"You're right. I didn't," I said, crossing my arms.

"You've been the only person here for me this whole time, and the last thing I ever want to do is make you think I'm anything but grateful to you. But I acted like a fucking idiot and freaked out because . . ." He looked up and took a breath. His brow creased as he tried to fight back his emotion. "Because I'm really fucking scared," he admitted with a quivering voice.