Not Quite Enough(56)

“You didn’t need to come.” He shouldn’t have come. Hadn’t she made herself clear before she left?
He wasn’t listening. The gentle stroke of his fingers along her hand began to feel like an emery board grinding a fine layer of her skin away. “I had to come. I love you, Monica.”
She closed her eyes, not ready to hear his confession, nor ready to tell him she wanted nothing to do with his love. Her feelings weren’t on the same level as his. He knew this.
“Where’s Jessie?” She needed her sister to intervene.
“She and Jack went to the cafeteria.”
“John…”
“You don’t have to say anything. When I was told you were missing, that they thought something awful happened to you, I realized that I can’t walk away from you.”
“You didn’t walk away. I did.”
John’s grip on her hand increased, his eyes stayed with her as if he didn’t hear a thing she said.
“We can talk about this later,” he told her. Not that her mind would change about their relationship.
“Yes. Please.” Monica reached for the call light, desperate for any intervention.
Nurse Hard-Ass walked in, a rare smile on her face. One glance and she asked John to leave the room.
“I’ll wait outside.”
Once he was out of hearing range, Monica whispered to the nurse. “Please have him stay in the waiting room.”
The nurse narrowed her eyes. “He said he was your fiancé.”
Monica squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “No. He’s not. Where’s my sister? I need Jessie.”
“OK, OK, I’ll get her. Calm down.”
“Please.”
The nurse stepped out of the room and spoke with John just beyond the door. “I’m going to have to ask you stay in the lobby for now.”
“I’m a nurse,” John argued.
“And a friend. You know the rules. She just woke up and isn’t ready for visitors.”
Just go, John.
The sound of footsteps moving away from the room helped calm her rapid heartbeat.
“Thank you,” Monica said when the nurse came back in the room.
Twenty minutes later Jessie walked into the room, a smile on her face. “Look who’s awake.”
Monica attempted a smile. “Is John still out there?”
Jessie slid into the chair. “In the lobby. How come I don’t know about him? He said you guys were serious.”
“Since when am I serious about anyone?” she asked. “He wanted serious, I cut him off.”
“Oh.” Jessie’s face fell.
“I need my sister to get him out of here. I can’t deal with him right now. I told him we were over before I went to Jamaica.”
“He probably got scared like the rest of us when we heard you were missing.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t change how I feel about him. Please, Jessie. I need my big sister to make the man go away.”
Jessie giggled and stood. “Consider it done.”
Monica shivered. “Be nice. OK. I know he wanted more. Tell him I’ll talk to him when I get home.”
“I’m the good cop, remember. Just relax.”
Jessie started toward the door.
“Jessie?”
“I’m not getting very far here, sis.”
“I know. Have you seen Trent?”
“No.”
“Oh, OK. Well, he can come in. You know… if he shows up.”
Jessie offered a smile and a wink. “Got it. Anyone else I should know about?”
Monica wished she had something to throw at her sister, instead she settled on a wicked look.
Trent didn’t show up. And once they transferred her out of the ICU the next day and into a private room Monica called reception and asked if Trent Fairchild was still a patient and could her call be transferred to his room. Monica was met with the response, “Mr. Fairchild was released yesterday afternoon.”
Monica stared at the phone in her hand for several minutes, all the while thinking, He said he’d come by.


Jessie and Jack flew with Monica to their home in Texas. It didn’t matter that Monica lived in California, there was no way around letting her big sister take care of her until she could walk.
It wasn’t like there was a rush to return to her home anyway. Deb, her friend from work, had called on several occasions, checking up on her and giving Monica the rundown of the ER drama.
Walt had returned in a fiery fit about Monica’s job being placed on hold. Once she was able, she’d have to go in front of the review board to see if the hospital had grounds to terminate her. For once, maybe being a part of the union would be helpful. She’d fight the issue now if she was able to work.
John had returned home after sending a massive bouquet of flowers with a card. He added accolades of their time together and how he wanted to take up where they’d left off. He agreed he’d rushed their relationship and wanted another shot at being her perfect guy.
The letter should have made her heart do something other than freeze. The fact that when she did return she’d have to once again put him off made her tired. It was hard enough to tell the guy they were over the first time. Now after he’d flown all the way across the country only to be put on the next plane home after one brief audience, it was going to be even harder doing it again. If she were in high school, she might send Jessie to do it for her.
Sometimes being an adult sucked.
“Maybe I should play for the other team,” she said one day while perched in Jessie’s den watching DVDs of Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Katie stayed behind in Texas and was “babysitting” Monica while Jessie and Jack were out shopping for some family surprise they planned on presenting that night.