Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(82)

“I know. It… it’s just been a lot to process for one day.”

I could only imagine how many of those cases were causing the massive trauma to her soul. No wonder she sought solace in a bottle. There were only so many ways to purge your system of the ugly crap and I was all too familiar with her chosen outlet. Seeing how torn up she was about losing a child caused a twin echo to burn into my chest. The lump in my throat suddenly became hard to swallow.

“I’m sure you did everything you could.” I wanted to take her hand in mine. “A very wise man once told me that sometimes it’s not within our power to stop bad things from happening.”

I heard the words come out of my mouth; if only I could keep remembering that myself.

Erin pushed her soup bowl away. “I should get going. I need to make some calls and get back to the hospital.”

Shit, she was running again. “Thought you had the next two days off?”

“I do but there are some things I need to do.”

I snagged her wrist before she could walk away. “Hold up. I get being a workaholic; been one myself on occasion. I also get that you’re upset and feel the need to fix something. But what I know for a fact is you have to take time for you every now and then or else the job eats you alive. Look at me, babe.” I turned her to face me. “What’s so important that you have to go in on your day off?”

This defeated woman in my hands was not the self-assured go-getter I’d seen in her personality before and it was killing me to see her this way.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

I held her firm. “Try me.”

She sighed, trying to hide that her lip was quivering. “I lost my fellowship yesterday, Adam. I need to see if I can fix it before it’s too late.” Her eyes were filling with unshed tears, which instantly brought back that burn in my throat. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

Her voice was barely audible, barely above a whisper. Well, she was partially right; I didn’t understand what that meant but sure as hell could tell that it was hurting her beyond a level I was comfortable with. At least I could do something about that. What, though, I had no clue beyond helping her search for what she’d lost. “Was it because you lost the little girl?”

She shook her head no.

“Then sit. Explain it to me.”

She wiped her face with her fingertips. “It means that everything I’ve worked for since I was a teenager was stolen out from under me by a thieving bastard who doesn’t deserve it.”

I tore a paper towel off the roll and handed it to her, stiffening at hearing the words “stolen” and “thieving bastard.” “I may not fully understand what you mean by fellowship, but I have plenty of guns and tons of bullets and a lot of experience hunting down thieving bastards.”

That at least generated a partial laugh, which was what I was aiming for.

Erin dabbed her eyes. “If only it were that easy.” She exhaled hard. “I’d probably have to resuscitate him before I go to jail. Might as well take out his evil girlfriend while I’m at it.”

“Now you’re thinking like a predator.” I pulled out her chair so she’d sit and calm down. At least she was talking, which kept me from thinking about taking out whoever stole from her. “Come on, Doc. Sit. Tell me; what did this thieving bastard do exactly?”

She slid back onto the chair. “The hospital only gives out so many fellowships a year when you finish your residency. I thought the toxicology fellow was mine, but apparently I assumed too much. I don’t know. Maybe I can find another program at another hospital. That would mean I’d have to leave University, though. That’s going to suck.” Her fingers landed in her hair, tugging on the long strands. “Guess I don’t have much of a choice now, do I?”

I hated seeing the vitality sucked out of her like this. I wanted to go find this thieving bastard who stole her happiness and punch him in the head a few times just for a warm-up. “That’s a shitty thing for your boss to drop on you on the same day you went through a family loss, Erin. Nothing like kicking you when you’re down. Maybe you would be better off working somewhere else.”

She finger-combed her hair back. I tried not to think about how sexy that was but it was difficult. She was chewing on her lip too, which also did nothing to aid my concentration.

“He wasn’t the one who told me. The thieving bastard’s girlfriend delivered the news. She even went so far as to ask me to be nice about it. God, I wanted to punch her. Sorry, I’m… it’s just talk. I’ve never hit anyone in my life but man I wanted to hit her.”

Several images of me helping to make that scenario possible flashed through my mind. I’d reflect on how her hurt made me hurt too, but later. The bitter bite of resentment in her words was unmistakable; so was the hot flare of my own jealousy that flashed up the sides of my neck.

“Thieving bastard’s girlfriend? I take it you and this dude have history?”

Erin’s lips twisted while her guarded expression gave her away. Last thing I wanted to worry about was someone I was gonna be dating hooking up in some dark hospital room with a readily available supply of empty beds.

“It’s in the past, correct?”

She nodded once. “Yeah, it is. Been over a while.”