Page 4 of Rounds (Love In Scrubs)

“ I had to work late, Jaunté.”

“Really, Dee? It’s almost nine o’clock. You had to work four hours overtime?”

“Mm-hmm. Just like you had to work five hours overtime the other night. Fuck outta here with that bullshit. Find you something to do besides being worried about what the fuck I’m doing, nigga.”

“Oh, it’s like that? Why don’t you find somewhere else to live?”

“I’m ahead of you on that. We’ll talk when I get there.”

“Laney, for real? I was just bluffing, baby. You leaving me?”

“I said we’ll talk when I get home.”

I ended the call then got out the car to get Dr. Israel’s order.

Jaunté had me fucked up. Last night, he thought I was asleep while he was in the bathroom.

That nigga had the audacity to be on the phone with a bitch having phone sex.

He wasn’t loud, but I could hear his muffled sounds.

I went to the door and listened to him talk to a bitch named Reneé on speakerphone.

How much audacity did it take to have phone sex with another woman while your girlfriend was in bed asleep?

It took even more for him to have the ho on speaker. What kind of shit was that?

Despite my assumptions about what he was doing, to hear it for myself had gut checked me.

When he started nutting, I went back to the bed and turned to where my back would be to him when he came out.

The tears had fallen down my cheeks uncontrollably.

I thought I had been doing everything to please him until he started pulling away from me.

I had sex with him whenever he wanted it, which was all the time until the past four months or so.

My ego had taken a hit. I was supposed to be staying away from Dr. Israel, but after that shit, I was in desperate need of his soft words.

I couldn’t respond to what he’d said without crying.

That shit was still too fresh. My heart was hurting.

That shit was bleeding. Jaunté was supposed to be the last man I would share a first kiss with.

He was supposed to be my forever. We’d talked about starting a family.

I was thirty-three years old and didn’t have any kids.

It felt like time was running out on that.

It would be even longer before anyone could call me mommy without a prospective man to procreate with.

I would have to go through another get to know you phase, trying to see if whoever I met was compatible.

My list of deal-breakers seemed to increase with every breakup.

Niggas who couldn’t communicate effectively were now on the list. Thanks to his ass, I knew my heart would have yet another hurdle the next man would have to jump.

While I knew it wouldn’t be fair to the next man, I had to protect my heart. I couldn’t go through this shit again.

I glanced at the food in my passenger seat and headed back to the hospital.

I wished I wouldn’t have thrown Glover’s phone number in the trash.

I wouldn’t dare ask for it. He would have to give it to me again.

I didn’t want anything but a friend right now, maybe one with benefits.

He seemed to be the perfect fit. My parents and I weren’t as close as most people were to their parents.

I loved them for sure, but I didn’t discuss my personal affairs with either of them.

It was a weird dynamic, but it was our normal.

They’d divorced when I was only six years old.

My older sister had left Silverrun to go to school, and she ended up relocating to D.C.

That was where she found a job due to connections she’d established within her sorority.

I didn’t make friends easily, and I truly believed that was because of how I grew up.

I was mostly aloof around people. Tremeka, my work bestie, wouldn’t hear of it.

She was the only person I told my personal business to, but I only did that while we were at work.

She was married with two small kids to tend to.

I didn’t dare call her and interfere with whatever she had going on at home.

After parking in the parking garage, I made my way back to the E.R. As I walked, I noticed Dr. Israel was standing outside. He looked slightly perplexed. I frowned as I made my way to him. When I got closer, he looked up at me and gave me a tight smile.

“Thank you, Delaney. I’ll take it right here, so you don’t have to walk all the way back inside.”

“Okay.” I pulled his change from my pocket and tried to give it to him as he shook his head. “It’s your change. I offered to do this for you. You didn’t ask. We’re good.”

“No. Keep it. I gotta go.”

“Everything okay?”

He shook his head. “I had to put him ICU. His lung collapsed.”

My eyebrows lifted. “I’m so sorry. Do you need?—”

“I’m good. Thank you again.”

He walked away before I could say anything else.

I lowered my head and said a short prayer, hoping his dad would be okay, then turned and headed back to my car to go to the hell hole I called home these days.

When I got into my car, my phone was ringing, and I knew it was Jaunté’s ass again.

I was already gon’ have to deal with his ass when I got home.

I needed these fifteen minutes of peace before the storm.

I’d found a nice loft five minutes from the hospital and was prepared to put down a deposit on it, but for some reason, I was hesitant.

Starting over was scary, that was for sure, but after Jaunté’s betrayal, this should have been easy.

I loved him. That hadn’t gone away. My feelings were still buried deep within.

That was why what I heard last night fucked my core up.

I swore that nigga stabbed me in my heart.

For this moment in time, I was wishing for bitterness to fill me so letting go would be easier.

I wouldn’t wish this hurt on anyone. My thoughts went to Glover.

I could tell he was hurting. That was why he got away from me so quickly.

Apparently, he was the only family his dad had, because no one else had shown up at the hospital, unless they’d gotten there after I left to pick up their food.

We’d only had a couple of brief interactions, but I wanted to be there for him already.

When I got home, I huffed. Before I could even get out of the car, that nigga was on the back porch, staring at me.

I’d backed in, so the front of my car was facing the back of the house.

Since I threatened to leave, now he wanted to show me all the attention I’d been craving for the past few months.

I rolled my eyes and got out of the car to get this shit over with.

Grabbing my bag, I closed the door and headed to the porch where he was.

When I got close, he opened the back door and stood to the side to let me walk in first. I didn’t bother speaking, because he’d been blowing me the fuck up.

He closed the door behind us as I tossed my keys on the countertop.

I hung my bag on the hook I’d put by the back door then turned to face him.

“I’m sorry, Laney.”

I frowned. “What are you apologizing for?”

“For being emotionally unavailable. I’ve been distant, and it’s because I’ve been working so much. I just be tired.”

I shifted my weight and put my hand on my hip, contemplating walking right the fuck out the door and getting a hotel room for the night.

When he saw my stance, he slid his hand down his face.

That was a telltale sign that he was nervous.

He knew that I knew something, but he didn’t know what I knew.

I had to assume that was why he remained quiet.

“You wanna come at me again with the truth, nigga?”

He frowned. “What do you mean? I told you the truth, Delaney.”

“You already in the hot seat for treating me like a fucking option, and you still have the nerve to lie. You fucking ridiculous.”

I walked toward our bedroom and grabbed a duffle bag.

I started slinging shit in it. There was no way I could stay here with him.

He grabbed me by my shoulders and spun me around.

Before I could even restrain myself, I brought my hand all the way back and slapped the piss out of him.

“You’re a fucking liar, and I don’t have time for the shit.

You don’t want to say what the truth is, because you don’t know what I know.

You’re afraid to admit to some shit I may not know about. Fuck you, Jaunté.”

He stood there stunned. I’d never even threatened to hit him.

Fuck nigga. Giving him what I knew, I said, “I know you weren’t at work the other night.

Stacy said they were busy as hell because of a patient going off the rails, and they sure could have used your help.

You told them you had promised to take me somewhere and couldn’t renege.

Secondly, I fucking heard your ass on the phone in the bathroom last night.

You’re cheating on me. That’s why you’re so fucking busy.

I’ll be moving soon, but tonight, I have to sleep somewhere else.

The sight of you is making me sick to my stomach. ”

I walked out of our bedroom and went to the bathroom to grab some hygiene items. Once I stuffed them in my bag, I headed back to the door.

He remained silent, probably not knowing what to say.

There was nothing he could say. He was busted.

I opened the back door, only for him to close it.

I turned to him ready to go the fuck off.

“I fucked up, Laney. I’m so damn sorry. Please don’t leave me. Give me another chance to get this shit right. Please.”

“Are you serious? You’re fucking someone else. You’ve been distant for four damn months. You’ve probably been cheating the entire time.”

“I haven’t, but the point is that I did. I’m sorry.”