Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(27)

I had tried to take a nap in our resident on-call room while I waited out Doctor Wilson leaving for the night, but images of the ER being swamped and me not being in there to do my part made sleep seem like a guilty pleasure.

Every time I closed my eyes, violent snippets of red and blue lights from this morning’s traumatic scene swirled around the mental snapshot of my critically injured uncle. Visions of Officer Trent also fought for mental space.

Despite the fact that he had me in handcuffs at one point, he and his entire sexy package were stuck in my mind in vivid color.

Sarah scraped the chair across the tiled floor before settling in, appearing quite excited about something. “Hey, guess what?”

I twisted the stem on my untouched apple, waiting—knowing Sarah would keep talking whether I answered her or not.

She tugged her scrub top down over her baby belly and unzipped her lunch bag. “Vicky just told me that she overheard Randy and the evil troll fighting outside the X-ray room and apparently it was pretty heated.” She bit into her sandwich. “Maybe he’s finally realizing what a huge mistake he made.”

And just like that, the man who had dominated most of my spare mental space came tap-dancing back through my thoughts. Was that an inkling of hope that just fluttered through me? Damn it. Why I do this shit to myself? I opted for bland indifference, knowing exactly why he dumped me. “I don’t think so.”

“What? That’s it? I thought you’d be thrilled.” She actually looked surprised.

Oh God, I so didn’t want to get into this conversation but I knew she was doing her best to give me something else to think about. “Come on, Sarah. Randy and I… Look, it’s over. It’s been over for a very long time. You know that. I’m over it. Please, let it drop.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”

I felt my shoulders slump and the beginnings of another headache forming. “What do you want me to say? Please don’t do this to me right now.”

“I’m sorry,” she muttered contritely. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

I thought Sarah had resigned the topic until she tossed out, “Shame. He’s got such a nice ass. Too bad he is one.”

Great. Now I’m forced to think about my ex’s ass. It was a very fine ass, indeed—especially bare and cupped in my hands when he ground his hips into me. Not stellar like Officer Trent’s spectacular black cargo pants ass, but still not a bad ass. Bad ass. I snorted at my own joke. Randy and the good-looking detective were on opposite ends of the bad-ass spectrum, that was for sure.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, even though she was smiling, too.

I decided to keep that one to myself.

Sarah bit into her sandwich again, and chewed while eyeing me over. She gave my shoulder a quick rub. “Sweetie, you look so wiped. Are you sure you want to stay here all night?”

I nodded. The trauma here would be far better than the trauma from me being left with free time to dwell on things.

“I thought you would have headed out with your parents, or are they still up in ICU?”

I shook my head, stifled a yawn, and picked at my untouched chicken salad. “No, they left an hour ago. I can’t sit and watch my mom cry anymore and I’m sure that’s all she’s doing right now. She’s taking my Aunt Karen’s death very hard. If she loses her brother, well, I don’t know if she’ll be able to deal.”

Sarah wiped her mouth then gave me a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you just go home and get some sleep? Maybe we can get someone from Security to drive you home. You won’t get any rest curling up on that crappy bed in the on-call room.”

I had thought about going home several times, but having the distraction of being at the hospital was a much better option. “Nah, that’s okay. I’m good. Besides, Doctor Wilson left and there’s no way I’d leave trauma short a doctor tonight, despite his orders. It’s been a non-stop madhouse with no signs of slowing down.”

Sarah stared at me while she continued to chew. “Ballsy. He’s going to be pissed; you know that.”

Whatever. “Better to ask for forgiveness than approval? Who knows, maybe we’ll get a kid with a toy crammed in his ear tonight and then my services will be totally justified.”

Sarah laughed. “One can only hope, but it’s pretty late for kids to be cramming stuff in their ears. I can’t believe they reduced overnight pediatric trauma coverage. Whoever made that decision needs their head examined. As if we aren’t understaffed as it is.”

Thankfully life in the adult ER never stood still. I kept a low profile just in case video footage of my debacle snuck out into the world without me knowing. I didn’t sign their stupid waiver, but no sense drawing extra attention. I was mastering the art of blending into the scenery while taking care of patients.

That was until Randy came out of exam room four, nearly running me over in the hallway. He sideswiped my arm. “Whoa, sorry.”

I stepped around him, giving him a wide berth. Secretly pining for him as the “one that got away” was a waste of time.

“Hey, Erin?”

I skidded to a stop, squeaking the floor with my sneakers. “Yeah?” Hope actually surged its way in for a moment. I beat it down before it had a chance to get ridiculous.