The Way My Heart Beats

Chapter 26

Clara

I need some good coffee, and not the old, burnt coffee in the lounge.

I walk by the nurses station rubbing my forehead trying to gather everything that has happened tonight. I keep walking with my head down passing through the waiting room. Out of nowhere, a hand grabs mine and knocks me off balance. I catch myself on one of the chairs regaining my balance.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry. I called your name like four times. I had to get your attention somehow."

I shake my head, aggravated. "Okay. Well, uh, he's in surgery. It was a pretty bad wound to the abdomen. He lost a lot of blood. They'll probably do a transfu-." I stopped talking, realizing he was still holding my hand. He quickly let go seeing my eyes drift to our hands. "Um, a transfusion. They, uh, um, had to do an emergency surgery in the trauma room. His blood pres-." I stopped talking when he stood up. We're now inches away from each other. My heart is racing, and I can't for the life of me remember what I was saying.

His hand rests on my shoulder, and I slowly look up. I don't know what I'm doing. My mind is frozen in the moment. He moves his hand towards my neck resting his thumb under my jaw. My heart is pounding so hard I'm sure he can feel it, too. "I'm sorry." Grant barely whispers, his eyes locked onto mine.

His words wake me out of my fantasy; the one where it ends in "happily ever after". I back away from him. "I can't. I can't. I gotta, yeah. Sorry." I stalk off almost running towards the cafeteria.

Grant

"Shit." I throw my head back, and put my hands in my pocket. I really screwed up. I hadn't intended on getting that close with her. It's just a natural reaction. I cling to her. She's magnetic; I can't help but attach myself to her when she's around.

But, damn. I'm just toying with her emotions. I'm not sure why I told her what I did while I was in the hospital. I was trying to be smart, or maybe responsible. To hell with responsible. I've spent my whole life being responsible and following orders. I'm not going to let it rule my life. For once in my life, I don't want to do what sounds right. I want to do what feels right.

Instead of going straight to the cafeteria and plead my case like I want to, I head to the emergency department to check on Mitch.

I lean over the nurse's station and address the nurse sitting in behind the computer. "I'm trying to figure out how Mitch Woodrow is doing. Clara Jane said he was in emergency surgery in Trauma 2." If I remember correctly, the blonde haired nurse is Beth. She's Clara's senior and helped her out quite a bit when she was studying for her boards.

"Hey sweetie!" She says, looking up from the computer giving me a big grin. "Yes. He's still in surgery. They'll move him to ICU before anyone is allowed to visit. I'll text Clara and let her know when I've got news on the detective."

"Okay. Sure. Thank you, Beth." My lips twitch up into a small smile before walking off.

I lazily walk down the hall with my hands in my pockets when I just so happen to look over at the door on my right, and I see Amelia stirring around in the lounge.

Propping open the door, I stick my head in, "Mel?"

She turns at the sound of her name. A soft smile lights up her face. "Grant, hey. How are you?" She speaks, but her voice is soft. She sounds tired and like she's been crying.

I step into the room walking towards her. She envelops me in a big hug letting a sob escape. "I'm sorry," she whispers.

"Don't be. You have every reason to be upset." She steps away from me and wipes a tear from her eye. "Have you heard anything? The nurse at the desk says there's nothing new. He's still in surgery."