Dating Impossible (18 page)

Footfalls pounded on the linoleum as others were drawn to
her shrill accusations. Jake and Ambra were the first to show themselves and
Cruz motioned to them, indicating that they should stay back in the hallway. He
heard their whispered voices behind him as they called hospital security.

“Okay,” Cruz said, trying to remain calm and not spook her. “Angie,
if you don’t want to go to my office, how about we go for a drink? For old time’s
sake. Just you and me. You can explain to me what this is all about.” Cruz took
another step closer to the gurney. He pasted what he hoped was his most
charming smile on his face. “We could go to that little Italian bistro you love
so much. Open a bottle of your favorite bubbly,” he coaxed. “Let me make it up
to you, sweetheart.”

Angie’s features softened and expectation shone in her eyes
for a precious few seconds before her gaze glazed over and her lips drew in a
tight line. “It’s too late,” she said and she waved her free arm in the air. Her
thumb on the syringe pushed the end a bit, dispensing some of the insulin into
the unconscious patient’s IV line. “I came here thinking we could go away.
 
Just like we’d talked about.
 
But I heard you talking to Ambra about JJ’s
hearing.
 
That’s when I realized that
you’d picked that bitch over me.”
 
Her
fingers went back to the syrnge.
 
“ I
tried to make her go away. Watched her take meds out of the Pyxis, memorized
her login and password. Stole the morphine. But that wasn’t enough. That
man-stealing bitch was still allowed to work here. Not even when I injected all
that morphine into that pathetic Sanchez girl’s IV and she almost quit
breathing. Nothing I did seemed to make a difference. You kept choosing her
side. You’ve been running around here for the past couple of weeks looking to
clear her name.” Large tears spilled onto her cheeks as anguish filled her
choked voice. “You were mine first. Why couldn’t she see that? Why? Why? Why?”

Cruz’s alarm grew. He had no idea what type of insulin or
how much she’d given his patient. The syringe was still about half full. Why
hadn’t he seen Angie’s obsession with him before it had come to this? He pushed
away his self-recrimination for later and focused on the deranged woman before
him. With caution he took another step closer and positioned himself directly
across from her at the patient’s bedside.

“Ah, baby,” Cruz said in a soft, soothing tone. He wracked
his brain trying to figure out what trip she was talking about, but didn’t have
a clue.
 
He was pretty sure he’d never
mentioned going away with her anywhere, which only proved how unbalanced the
woman before him was.
 
“I had no idea
what we had together. I was a fool. I didn’t know we had a chance.” He glanced
down, trying to appear downtrodden and ashamed. He raised his gaze to her tear-streaked
face. What he saw there gave him hope that he was on the right track. “How
could I have let any other woman distract me from what I had right in front of
me all along? Forgive me?” he asked.

Angie sniffed and a dreamy expression came over her features.
“Really, Cruz? Do you really mean it?” Her fingers let go of the syringe. She
rounded the gurney and enveloped him in a crushing hug. “I knew you loved me. I
just knew it.”

Cruz stiffened in her embrace as she continued to talk. “This
was the only way to get your attention, Cruz. You have to know that. I did it
all for you. For us.” She planted her painted red lips right on his and tried
to slip her tongue inside. He recoiled and pushed her away, but kept a firm
grasp on her arms. The room filled with people.

“Jake,” Cruz said, “check his blood sugar. Then start a D10
drip right away, but give an amp of D50 IVP stat. See what kind of insulin that
is in that vial and let the Intensivist in the ICU know what has happened.” He
turned to security. “Cuff her and take her to your office. Call the police. Charges
will be filed.”

“What?” Angie screeched. “But…but…you love me. I know you
do!” The wild-eyed look was back in her eyes. “You can’t do this,” she shouted obscenities
as security led her away. Her shrieks and threats against him and JJ could be
heard all the way down the hall.

“Ambra,” Cruz said. “What’s the ETA on those ambulances? Any
chance we can divert them?”

“I’d heard the injuries were minor,” she answered. “Do it,”
she encouraged. “That psycho bitch can’t get away with ruining JJ’s life.” Ambra
glanced at her watch. “The hearing starts in less than an hour. Get your ass
moving! I’ll take care of things here.”

Cruz didn’t need any further encouragement. He made the
necessary arrangements to put the ER on diversion after talking with the other
two doctors on shift. He ran to his car. He only hoped he made it to the medical
board hearing in time.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

JJ smoothed the conservative navy blue pantsuit for the
tenth time with sweaty palms as she waited for her name to be called. Her
nerves clawed her stomach and she choked back nausea. She couldn’t provide any
proof to the board members to prove her innocence and was about to lose
everything she’d worked her entire life for. Tears stung her eyes and she
blinked them back. Would there be criminal charges as well? For the first time,
her future appeared bleak and uncertain.

“Dr. Jones?” a young woman called.

JJ glanced toward her. “Yes?”

“We’re ready to see you now,” she said, opened the double
oak doors, and allowed JJ to enter.

On shaky legs, JJ entered the boardroom. There were seven
members that sat at a long table before her on a raised dais. All of them were dressed
just as professionally as she was. They were of varying ages and had their
credentials and names on placards in front of them. They indicated she should
sit across from them in a single chair at a small table that was about ten feet
away. She sat and clasped her trembling hands in her lap, her heart thundering
so loud within her chest that she thought the organ would rip through her
ribcage.

“Will you state your full name please, for the record?” an
elderly gentleman asked.

“Ah…” JJ cleared her throat. “Doctor Josephina Jo Jones.”

“And, Dr. Jones,” he continued, “do you understand the
charges that have been brought before the board today?”

“Yes,” she answered. Certain doom pressed down upon her. This
was it. The end of life as she knew it. What was she going to do now?

“Can you go over the events that led up to the sentinel
event involving the patient Carmella Sanchez in your own words?” he asked,
bringing JJ’s attention back to the board members.

Perspiration trickled down her spine and dotted her brow. She
opened her mouth to speak, but no words came as utter hopelessness engulfed her.
“I—”

All of a sudden, the doors crashed open. “Stop!” Cruz
shouted breathlessly as he rushed into the room.

“Now, see here,” the same elderly gentleman said, “this is a
closed hearing. What is the meaning of this?”

Cruz was here? What the fuck was going on? JJ’s heart
stuttered.

“Trying to stop this farce,” Cruz stated. “I have evidence
that will clear Dr. Jones of any wrongdoing.”

“Well, state your name for the record,” the senior board
member said.

JJ sat in stunned silence as Cruz outlined recent events. Angie
had been on a strong mixture of antipsychotic and antidepressant medications
which she’d stopped taking abruptly allowing her unhealthy fixation upon Cruz
to become unbalanced. She’d even gone so far as to drive to California to seduce
Mark into spilling his guts about how easy it had been to ruin JJ’s career at
Beverly Hills Medical Center. JJ had known the woman had hated her, but she’d
never expected Angie to be so vindictive to the point of actually harming
patients. A chill coursed through her and she rubbed her arms.

“In light of this new evidence, all charges against Dr.
Josephina Jo Jones are dismissed. It is now up to the Arizona State Nursing
Board and the local authorities to sort out the fate of nurse Angie Baum. Dr.
Jones, you are free to go.”

Astonished, JJ stood. She couldn’t believe it. Cruz grasped
her hand and led her outside into the hall.

“J,” he said softly, “can you forgive me for pushing you
away like I did? I had to make the bedpan buzz believe we didn’t have anything
going on while I investigated what was happening to you. Otherwise, every damn
time I asked a question, people clammed up.”

JJ’s emotions ran the gamut. Joy, surprise, disbelief…all
tumbled and clashed together. She didn’t know what to think. “Cruz, I—” She
shook her head to clear her jumbled thoughts. “You led me to believe that my
relationship with Mark was the reason you didn’t want me anymore. Do you know
how much that hurt, Cruz?”

Shame etched his features and he nodded. “I know,” he admitted.
“I have a lot to make up for.” A slow, sexy smile transformed his features. He
raised a brow. “Whaddya say, beautiful? You can cut a guy some slack for saving
your ass.”

An unladylike snort escaped her lips and she proceeded to
tell him exactly what she thought about him, Angie, and this entire fiasco. He
was going to have to beg for her forgiveness.

Cruz yanked her in his arms and silenced her tongue lashing with
a soul-searing kiss. JJ’s lips parted under the demanding pressure of his mouth.
God, she’d missed him so damn much. Desire roiled through her in waves of
shimmering heat. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. A
guttural growl purred in his throat as his hard cock pressed against her hip. He
tore his mouth away and gasped for air before raining kisses all over her face.
She felt cherished…loved even.

“Say it,” he demanded, lifting his head and staring down at
her with a fierceness she didn’t recognize.

“Say what?” she asked. She was drunk on his kisses, and desire
clouded her tipsy brain.

“Tell me you love me.” He nipped her chin and nuzzled her
neck. “That you can’t live without me,” he whispered along the delicate shell
of her ear. “That you will marry me.” He sucked on her earlobe and a frisson of
fresh heat swept through her, dampening her panties as desire ratcheted off the
charts. “Imagine how happy we will make Daisy by making lots and lots of babies.”

The young girl inside JJ performed backflips and handsprings
inside her head, but the woman shook her head to clear her scattered thoughts. “What
the fuck did you just say?” She stepped back out of his grasp. “Christ, Cruz. I
can’t think when you touch me.” He took a step toward her and she held out her
hands, palms facing him. “I almost lost my medical license because of some
fatal attraction bullshit, and just because you waltzed in here like some
fucking knight in shining armor, I’m supposed to forget the rejection and
torment I’ve gone through these last weeks?”

Cruz frowned. Worry and concern etched his features. “I know
I’ve put you through hell and I shouldn’t expect you to forgive so easily.” He
raked a hand through his hair. “But damn it, J, I love you. You’re not the only
one who’s been through hell these last weeks. I—”

JJ began to laugh. The mirth began deep inside of her and
bubbled forth, shaking her belly until tears spilled onto her cheeks and her
sides ached.

“What’s so damn funny?” Cruz asked.

“Oh,” she gasped trying to catch her breath. “It’s not you,
it’s me,” she said. “I’ve been on this emotional rollercoaster.” JJ sucked in a
deep breath. “All my life I have followed you around, crushing on you like a
lovesick schoolgirl. No other man has ever measured up, nor will they ever. I’ve
watched you go through women like day-of-the-week underwear. Now you tell me
you love me.”

Her eyes widened as the realization sank in through her
emotional haze. “Me?” she whispered. Could it be true? She punched him in the
arm.

“Ouch! What was that for?” he said, rubbing his bicep.

“Say all that again about love and Daisy and babies,” she
demanded. “Was that a fucking proposal?”

Cruz grinned and got down on one knee. “We can’t let Jett
and Roxanne have all the fun, now can we?” he asked, slipping a black velvet
box from the pocket of his black Armani jacket. He opened the lid, revealing
the two-carat yellow diamond engagement ring encrusted with emeralds.

JJ gasped. “It’s beautiful.”

“Josephina Jo, will you marry me?” Cruz asked, love for her
shining in his dark gray eyes.

“Yes,” she said as her girlhood dream came true. “Oh, yes!”

Cruz placed the ring on her finger and rose to his feet. “You
realize that this is going to make things a little sticky at the hospital? Policy
states that no person in a managerial position may be involved with a
subordinate. In order for things to work out, I’m going to resign my position
as ER director.”

“What?” JJ said. “Cruz, no—”

He cupped her cheek and pressed his lips tenderly against
hers briefly. “Yes. And I’m completely okay with being just a regular staff
doctor if that means I have you in my life. Everything I’d been missing that I
thought that job would fulfill, I have right here in my arms.” He cleared his
throat. “Don’t you have something to tell me?” he urged. “Or are you going to
continue to be one damn impossible female?”