Within These Walls (Within These Walls #1)(51)

Sliding my hands down her arms, I grabbed her hands and tugged them up around my neck. Warm, wet fingers grasped my shoulders as I found her waist and pulled her closer.

“I hope you don’t mind if I dance with you?” I whispered, loving the feel of her body against mine as I began to gently sway us back and forth under the cascade of water.

“Never,” she answered, placing her head on my shoulder.

I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, slow dancing under the false rain of the shower, while we pretended to be somewhere else.

“Ahem,” a stern male voice startled us from our dreamy waltz in the mist.

Lailah’s head jerked up from my shoulder as mine turned to find Dr. Marcus standing in the doorway. His eyes were trained on mine with a look that was anything but friendly.

“You two had better get cleaned up. Lailah, your mother is going to be here in a few minutes. She said she talked to someone with the insurance company, and she wanted to talk to you.”

And with that vague statement, he walked out of the bathroom.

I turned back around to find my carefree girl who had been dancing in the rain gone. What remained was fear, just pure fear.

“Lailah,” I coaxed, gently cupping her face as I tried to reach her.

I could see her retreating, fleeing into herself, where she felt safe, like a turtle framing itself into its shell.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Whatever happens, we are all here, no matter what.”

She looked up finally, her eyes connecting with mine, as my words soaked in.

“No matter what,” I repeated.

She nodded, and I pulled her into my arms, hating Dr. Marcus for his insensitive behavior. He, above anyone, should have known how a remark like that would affect her.

“Let’s get you warm,” I suggested, shutting off the water, and grabbing a towel off the rack. I wrapped it around her like a burrito. I stepped out of the shower, not caring about my own soaked clothes, and I began gently drying off her face and arms.

She suddenly looked down at me, and her eyes widened. “What are you going to wear?”

I gave a small half smile as I squeezed water out of her long blonde hair. “I have an extra pair of scrubs and a few change of clothes in my staff locker. I’ve been keeping clothes here ever since you got sick, and I started crashing and showering here.”

“You…showered here?” she asked, looking quickly to the shower, like she was suddenly picturing me in there.

“Yep, right there. Bet you wish you hadn’t been sleeping, huh? I changed with the door open, too,” I said with a grin.

Her mouth gaped, and I laughed, glad to see I’d managed to get her mind off the impending news of her transplant.

“I’m going to go to my locker and change. I’ll be right back. Five minutes tops,” I added. I grabbed a towel and tried to get rid of some of the excess water dripping off my wet clothes, and then I threw on my shoes.

That will have to do.

I brushed a quick kiss across her forehead, and then I was gone.

Now, I had to find Dr. Marcus.

It didn’t take long to find him.

As my shoes squeaked down the hall, I found him at the nurses’ counter. He was watching me with the same look of contempt I had for him.

“I think we need to talk, Marcus,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I think we do,” he answered back.

“Good, let’s go for a walk.”

I didn’t even pause to wait for an answer. As I reached the elevator and pressed the button with water dripping down the sides of my face, I heard him step beside me. My hands fisted at my sides, but I remained silent. There was no need to make a scene in front of coworkers. The elevator beeped, and we entered one at a time, waiting for the door to shut.

“You stepped way over the line,” I said.

“You’ve gone too far, Jude,” he said simultaneously.

“I’ve gone too far?” I sputtered. “You nearly wrecked her in there, Marcus. Where do you get off walking in there, talking to her like she’s just another patient? Do you know what that did to her? Just the mere mention of insurance scares the shit out of her. She freaked out that they aren’t going to approve the transplant.”

His gaze went cloudy and faraway. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I walked in there and saw…and I thought…and I just—”

“You were thinking like a father, not a doctor,” I said.

His eyes jerked up toward mine.

“Look, Marcus, I don’t know what history there is between you and Lailah’s mom, but I’m not dumb enough to think that it’s all medical. There’s more going on here, and it’s deeper than this hospital. You feel something for those two, and I’m not going to fault you for it.”

The elevator dinged, and we made our exit toward the entrance to the staff locker room. I found my locker, undid the lock, and pulled out an extra set of clothes. I couldn’t do anything about the shoes, but at least I wouldn’t have wet boxers anymore. I pivoted around to find Marcus turned away from me on a bench. His posture was hunched over, like he felt defeated.

“I’ve loved Molly Buchanan since I was in med school. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted.”

“Does she know this?” I asked, tugging off my shirt and replacing it with a clean, dry blue one.