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JEN

“THERE. THAT’S MUCHbetter, young sir. I wish all my patients did as well as you,” I praised the young boy on the hospital bed. “Keep breathing in this medicine for just awhile longer and I think we’ll have you blowing this ball all the way to the top once again, okay Vinny?” I smiled at his mother as she breathed a sigh of relief. “He’ll be fine. The doctor will be in to see you one more time before he releases you, but hopefully you won’t be back.”

I acknowledged her thanks with a nod and left the room. It had been a long eight hours, and I still had four to go.

“Why don’t you take your break now. I’ve got it covered for the next thirty minutes,” Joyce, one of my colleagues told me as I finished making notes on young Vinny. A break would be good.

“Thanks,” I said. I rotated my neck in a circle to stretch my stiff muscles. Stifling a yawn, I headed toward the staff lounge, hoping there was enough coffee in the pot to help me get through the rest of the day. I hoped Tyler didn’t mind if we just ordered in tonight. I was really tired. As I rounded a corner near the waiting room, I got the odd feeling that someone was watching me. I glanced at the rows of chairs, full of people of all sizes and ages, but no familiar faces. Shaking my head, I figured it was just my imagination.

A half hour later I was full of two cups of coffee and feeling ready to go. Again, as I passed the waiting room, I thought I heard my name whispered. I looked up, but no one approached me. I shrugged it off. ‘Jen’ wasn’t an uncommon name after all, so it was probably just one of the many people waiting in the seating area. I’d no sooner returned than I was given another patient to attend. If this kept up, the remainder of my shift would pass quickly, which was fine with me. I no longer dreaded returning to my empty apartment, but to spend time with Tyler assuming he wasn’t on duty. Those times that he was, we still stayed in touch through texts or an occasional phone call.

As I left an exam room, the hairs raised on the back of my neck. I felt shadowed as I walked a few steps down the hall. I had enough of this creepy feeling. I spun around ready to lash out as a hand attached itself to my shoulder. I stopped short as I found myself almost nose to nose with Natalie. I wrenched my shoulder out of her reach. “Nat. What are you doing here?”

“ I was looking for Tyler, but just my luck I found you first.”

“You couldn’t call him?” I asked sarcastically.

“I’m very fond of my stepson. I like to see him when I have the time.”

You mean when your husband is too busy to notice your absence,I thought. “Tyler isn’t working today. But I’ll be seeing him later. Would you like me to pass along a message?” I asked sweetly. Saccharine sweet that is.

“Thanks to you, my husband doesn’t want me to host any more family dinners. I don’t know what the hell you said to him, but I hope you’re satisfied, breaking up our happy little family.”

I managed to mask my choke as a cough.Happy family?And as much as I hated to admit it, her words felt like a sucker punch in my stomach. Things were already rocky between Tyler and his dad; I hadn’t meant to make it worse when I launched into John Cranston. I worked hard to keep my face straight, plastering on a smile. “Oh, dear. You mean your bedside manner isn’t working with him anymore?”

Her nostrils flared, but she kept her temper. “You know Tyler’ll grow tired of you, right? There’s too much of his mother in him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I sputtered.

She gained a superior look. “Oh, he’s probably never shared this with you, because I’ve heard he never talks about her, but his mother was some fancy piano player. She spent all her time focused on practicing, and didn’t give a rat’s ass for her husband and son.” She leaned in and whispered, “Why I even heard that once she died, Tyler was so relieved to give up the piano and hasn’t played since—”

A short burst of laughter escaped me. “Oh, and you are so much the opposite of her, right? I’m sure John doesn’t mind sharing your attention with his son. I mean really, trying to sharebothbeds? I’ll give you one thing—at least you keep it all in the family.”

She gasped and took a step back from me. Her dark eyes narrowed and her lips turned down, bringing to mind the pictures I’d seen of the grumpy cat that was popular. “Tyler is just like her. Medicine is his first passion. Nothing else can compete. You won’t last.”

I crossed my arms and grinned. “Hmm. I admit I’m glad you told me about this. I’ll have to ask him more about his job tonight while we’re having dinner. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve been neglecting his first passion.” I shook my head and clucked my tongue in a ‘tsktsk’ sound. “And here I’ve been just letting him ramble on about the mountain cabin he wants to rent and take me to this fall. And I feel terrible that I’ve been letting him teach me some piano techniques as we sit together and he plays for me. But I most regret distracting him while he’s in bed. Why, it seems he can’t sleep until he’s made me come so hard I see stars, and then afterward the only thing he can seem to say while he pounds into me is ‘I love you.’ Boredom must explain why he finally just curls up and falls asleep still holding me. I just don’t understand how he puts up with me when he can have you. Maybe I should ask John what it is you do so I have a better chance of holding on to his son.”

“You little bitch,” she hissed. “Enjoy your playtime now. Mark my words, you’re just temporary. But I’ll be around for a long time.”

“Does John agree with that? I’m sure he’d be very interested in your take on his first wife. I’m under the impression they started off very much in love. And I’m positive he wouldn’t take kindly to your attraction to his son.”

She got so close to my face I could feel her breath as she spoke. “Don’t you dare talk about my husband. You breathe any of your vindictive lies to him, and I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“I’ll take my chances. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. I’ll be sure to give Tyler your greetings.” I walked past her, not bothering to move far enough out of the way so that I didn’t knock into her shoulder. I felt her eyes burning after me. A slight chill passed through me as if I’d met my own ghost. I should probably watch my back around her.