Stitches and Scars (26 page)

“No, I do.” The words rushed out of his mouth. “I just can’t help it. I mean, I never thought that it would happen again. And then …” He trailed off again, looking away in frustration.

Kate’s nerves were beginning to unravel as she tried to understand what he was attempting to say. “Okay, Scott, enough with the cryptic talk. What are you talking about? If you don’t want to be friends with me anymore, then fine, just say it. And if you don’t want me at McLaren’s tonight, then just tell me. Stop beating around the bush and just spit it—”

“I love you,” he said, cutting her off.

She sat back quickly, pressing her spine flat against the seat, not able to breathe. The three words hit like giant rocks thrown at her stomach, pushing her back and rendering her speechless.

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments as the words hung in the air. Kate knew that she should say something, but she didn’t know what to think, let alone say.

“Are you going to say something? Kate, please. Just talk to me.”

“What do you want me to say?” she whispered as her stomach twisted in knots. “What about your girlfriend? I thought you were happy with her.”

“Samantha’s a really nice person, but she’s not
you
. No one will ever be you, Katie. So please, just tell me that this is a good thing. Tell me that I’m not too late.”

“Too late? Scott, it’s been months. Do you just expect me to jump up and throw my arms around you and act like nothing happened? I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I thought that being friends again was a good thing, but now …” She trailed off, shaking her head.

“I don’t expect you to jump up and be excited. That’s not what I’m asking.” He sat forward and looked at her closely. “What I’m asking is that you think about what I said. I want you to know that I love you; that I’ve loved you for as long as I’ve known you. Ever since that day you sprained your ankle and I carried you home. We have a history together, and I know you better than anyone. Yes, I’ve screwed up in the past. I’ve been a complete idiot. But that doesn’t change the way I feel about you now. I want to do this. I want to be with you.”

Kate sat listening to the exact words that months ago she’d ached to hear. Except now when she heard them, all she felt was confused and frustrated. Her head was spinning so fast that she had to close her eyes to keep from falling over. Knowing that she had to get out of there, she swung her legs off of the vinyl chair and stood up quickly.

“Where are you going?” Scott stood to his feet.

“I need … umm … I need to get out of here and think.”

“What’s there to think about? You either love me or you don’t.”

His words stung, and she felt like she’d been slapped. Spinning around with clenched fists and anger-filled eyes, hundreds of thoughts rushed though her mind. Hateful words hung on the tip of her tongue, waiting to be projected at him, but instead she clamped her mouth shut tight. “I can’t believe you said that,” she managed through her teeth.

“What? It’s the truth, Katie. Either you love me and want to be with me, or you don’t.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You know what? I’m leaving. I can’t do this right now.”

Turning around, she ran out of the coffee shop and could sense Scott behind her. He hated leaving things on bad terms as much as she did, but right now she needed to get away and think.

She was almost to the corner when she heard Scott calling out her name. Keeping up her fast pace, she hoped to get to her car before he caught up. Just as she rounded the corner, her foot caught a raised edge of pavement. Her body lurched forward, and she fell to the sidewalk. Instinctively stretching out her arms to break the fall, she felt the searing pain shoot up her left wrist as soon as she hit. She whimpered and rolled onto her back, clutching her wrist to her chest.

“Kate! Are you okay?” Scott’s voice was panicked as he ran toward her.

“No, dang it. I think I might have sprained it,” she said, still lying in the ground.

“Well, if you weren’t running away from me, maybe you wouldn’t have fallen.”

“I wasn’t running. I told you I needed some time to think.” Scott took a step forward and grabbed hold of her forearm in an attempt to help her stand. Shaking his hand free, she glared up at him. “I’ve got it,” she snapped, and pulled herself to her feet.

“Here, let me look at it,” he said, holding out his hand.

Ignoring him, she kept her head down. “What are you, a doctor now or something?” she asked coldly.

“No, but I was a life guard in high school, remember? I have a little bit of training.”

“Life guard? Scott, that hardly constitutes being a professional.” She rolled her eyes and continued examining her wrist.

“I’m serious. Let me look at it.”

“You know what? I think I’ll go the hospital and have a real doctor look at it.” Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Ethan and she smiled to herself.

“Okay, let me go get the car and I’ll take you.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his keys.

“Please. I can take myself to the hospital.” She turned to walk away.

“Well, you shouldn’t. And you know your mom and dad will be pissed if they find out I let you drive yourself.”

“Then let’s not tell them,” she called over her shoulder.

“I can’t promise anything. You know how word travels back home. Gossip spreads like wild fire amongst friends.” There was a playful undertone to his voice, but she was still angry at him so she continued to walk, ignoring his comment. “Aww, come on. Stop being so stubborn and let me just take you. I promise I won’t talk about what I said earlier. I’ll be perfectly nice. I’ll even tell you about Brian’s new girlfriend.”

Kate groaned. He had her with that one. She was always a sucker when it came to Brian. He was almost like a little brother to her. “Fine,” she huffed as she spun around to face him.

He smiled wide. “Good. Wait here and I’ll go get the car.”

He took off down the street. Figuring he’d be a few minutes, Kate took a seat on the curb, pulling her jacket up around her neck to shield herself from the cold wind.

She sat there, frozen, staring down at the bits of gravel at her feet. Her insides, however, were anything but still. To say she was freaking out would have been an understatement. Her mind was split in a million different pieces, each focusing on something else. She was angry at Scott for springing something like that on her. And she was even more frustrated with herself for putting herself in that situation. For a half second, she’d even questioned her feelings, and the thought made her sick. She knew that Ethan was who she wanted to be with, yet there was a small part of her heart that couldn’t let go of Scott. He was such a part of her past—like a habit she couldn’t break.

“Katie, get in!” Scott yelled, waking her from her trance.

Slowly standing up, she made her way into his car. It had been over six months since she’d sat in that very spot and realized immediately that it was a bad idea for him to drive her. It was like crawling into a time capsule. There were simply too many memories bottled up within the four doors and the steel frame.

Sitting in silence, Kate listened as Scott went into full detail of Brian and his new girlfriend. He explained how they met, and how long they’d been dating, but Kate didn’t hear a word he said. She stared out the window, lost in memories, both happy and sad. It wasn’t until the car came to a stop and she was nudged that she realized they were at the hospital. He pulled into the Emergency Bay and put the car in park.

***

Inside the building, Ethan stood leaning against a wall, lost in thought.

“Doctor Montgomery, please report to the ER.”

The voice piped throughout the hospital halls woke him from his trance. He groaned internally, feeling his frustration growing. He’d been called over the intercom all day long and it was starting to bother him.

He knew it was his own fault for keeping his phone turned off, but he didn’t know what else to do. Although he felt bad about his obvious avoidance of Kate, he knew that after leaving her house last night he needed some time to think things through. It didn’t take him long to realize that he was stuck in an impossible situation. He was in love with a girl and had no idea if she felt the same way. Not only did he not know if she felt the same way, but there was a good chance that she was spending time with her old boyfriend, a jerk who’d broken her heart more than once and left her shattered.

Ethan’s hands clenched tight at the mere thought of Scott talking to her or making her laugh. It made him sick. He wasn’t sure if his assumptions were true, but he intended to find out. He knew he should have asked her last night after seeing the text, but something inside him was too afraid of what the answer would be.

After staying up all night thinking about the situation and spending all morning going over the conversation he would have with her, Ethan was certain that she needed to know how he felt. She deserved to know, even if she didn’t feel the same way for him. And if she told him her feelings weren’t reciprocated, then he’d step down. He wouldn’t push her; he wouldn’t try to convince her that Scott was wrong for her. Doing that would only hurt her and he refused to cause her any pain.

With a resigned sigh, Ethan pushed way from the wall and walked over to the elevator. His stomach churned, from both hunger and nausea. He hadn’t been able to eat all day and finally understood what people meant by the term ‘love sick.’

As soon as the doors opened, he regretted not taking the stairs. Both Cindy and Lisa stood side-by-side, heads pressed together in conversation. He still couldn’t understand why they were friends.

“Hello, Dr. Montgomery,” they sing-songed.

“Cindy, Lisa.” He nodded in acknowledgment and stepped into the elevator.

Keeping his eyes facing forward, he hoped they would see that he was in no mood to carry on another agonizing conversation.

“So, Ethan,” Cindy started as she turned her body to face him.

”Yes?” he deadpanned.

“I’m assuming that your parents will be here for the annual benefit? You know they’re hoping to raise enough money to help with the remodel.”

“Yes, I was aware of that.”

“So, your parents will be here?” she asked, annoyed that she had to repeat her question.

Ethan exhaled slowly before responding. “Yes, I believe they will be.”

“Good.” She smiled in excitement. “I’ve been anxious to see them again, and I was hoping to touch base with Sabrina. I’m sure she’d want to help in the planning.”

He rolled his eyes at Cindy’s enthusiasm. Up until this moment, he hadn’t thought about his parents coming to town for the benefit or the fact that Cindy would be there. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical company she worked for was a sponsor every year, which meant she would be in attendance. Thankful when the elevator doors opened, Ethan stepped out without another word and saw Henry waiting for him.

“Still haven’t fixed your phone, I see,” he said, taking a step toward Ethan. “Here, until you get everything situated.” Handing over a pager, he offered a friendly smile.

“So, are you the reason I was paged here?” Ethan asked.

“Yes. I wanted to give you that,” he pointed to the pager, “and I wanted to ask if you and Kate wanted to come over for lunch this Sunday.” He studied his colleague’s face carefully.

“I would love to come over for lunch, but I’m not sure if Kate will be there,” Ethan said honestly. Surprisingly, Henry didn’t say a word. Instead he stood in silence and waited for the explanation. Taking a deep breath, Ethan told him everything. Right down to the fears and doubts he was having. It wasn’t until he told Henry of his decision to back down if he felt that Kate wanted to be with Scott that his mentor spoke up.

“Ethan, I’m not so sure that’s the best thing to do. If you care about her like you say you do, then you need to fight for her. Tell her you love her; show her that she has options. Don’t step down because you think that’s the right thing to do.”

“I won’t make it harder on her. I don’t even consider it a choice.” There was finality in his voice and even Henry could hear it. He’d already made his decision.

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that then. I’m sure once you tell Kate of your feelings, everything will work out.”

Just as Ethan opened his mouth to voice his doubts, the head nurse, Kristen, walked past.

“Hey, Dreamy and Divine, we’ve got a trauma coming in!” she yelled over her shoulder while pulling her hair back. The two men laughed at their given nicknames and followed her outside.

***

“Sorry I’ve been so quiet,” Kate mumbled from the passenger seat.

Scott smiled kindly. “It’s okay. I can tell you have a lot on your mind.”

“Yeah,” she paused. “Well, thanks for the ride.” She grabbed the handle and started to open the door when he stopped her.

“Wait! I’m coming with you. Let me go park, and I’ll meet you inside.”

“No! No, you’re not!” she yelled at him, suddenly frantic at the thought of having to explain Scott to Ethan in front of him. The whole situation was bound to be awkward, and she wanted to avoid it like the plague.