was pathetic.
LUCY
The next morning Dr. Hunter found me early with a cup of coffee. Madeline was prepped and all that was missing was me. Her operation took most of the day, and I stayed at the hospital to monitor her for the next twenty-four hours.
I waited for darkness to come before I went back to Rick’s. I had left some things there in my rush to get out of his apartment and needed them and I didn’t want to risk running into him. I planned on getting in and out while he slept.
When I arrived Aiden welcomed me in the usual fashion. As I walked further into the apartment, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Rick standing in the lounge room.
“What’s wrong?” I rushed over to him. He had dark rings under his eyes and looked like he had aged since the last time I saw him.
“Where have you been?”
I frowned at the question. “The hospital.” I hadn’t missed any calls and didn’t have any notifications or anything that could explain his behaviour.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?” I asked, confused at his admission.
“This. I can’t pretend that I don’t feel something for you, Lu. I’ve been going out of my mind wondering where you were, who you were with or if you were fine. It’s been killing me trying not to call you. I had to lock my phone up at work so that I wouldn’t. I even drove to the hospital just to see you and thought that I was turning into a stalker. I need you, Lu. All of you.”
I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my cheeks, “I can’t, Rick.”
“Why not?” His voice cracked as he spoke.
“Be...because I can’t.”
Rick looked absolutely devastated as he walked past me. I felt like if I moved I would fall apart. I just stood there with tears running down my face long after the front door shut from behind me.
When I felt it was safe enough to move without falling apart, I ran upstairs and got what I had left behind and went back to the hospital.
“I heard you moved back. What happened?” Dr. Drew asked as he eyed me walking back into the hospital.
“Don’t worry, Chief. It’s temporary. I’ll be out of your hair in no time at all.”
“That’s what you said last time, and you were living in the hospital for a month.”
I gave him my best ‘seriously’ look, and he cracked a smile.
“This time, a week tops, I promise.” He waved me away, and I left to go to sleep.
Living at the hospital again had its perks. I was close when I was needed. There was no running late or fighting the traffic. I did miss Aiden and Rick, even though I tried hard not to. I had never wanted to get a case of amnesia more in my life than in that moment. I hurt and I had hurt someone I cared about. To my surprise, I hurt more over losing Rick than I had losing Luke. I checked my phone constantly like a love sick puppy, knowing that it was fruitless. I knew that I would never see or speak to him again. He didn’t know it, but I did him a favour hurting him like I did now. Better now than opposed to doing it later after starting a relationship.
“House hunting?” I was startled by a voice, jumping when I heard it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Dr. Hunter sat down next to me.
“It’s alright. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Things didn’t work out with that guy then?”
“We weren’t together. He was a friend of the family.”
“You guys have a fight then?” He reached for my tablet and started to flip through the pages I had up.
“Something like that. It’s just time that I move on.”
“This one looks nice.” He slid the tablet back over to me. The house displayed on the screen had potential.
“Is it in a good neighbourhood?” I asked as I read about the property. I still wasn’t too sure about where the good and the not good neighbourhoods were in this city.
“Yeah, it is. You should make an appointment to view it.” He tapped the phone number to make it bigger and handed over his
LUCY
The next morning Dr. Hunter found me early with a cup of coffee. Madeline was prepped and all that was missing was me. Her operation took most of the day, and I stayed at the hospital to monitor her for the next twenty-four hours.
I waited for darkness to come before I went back to Rick’s. I had left some things there in my rush to get out of his apartment and needed them and I didn’t want to risk running into him. I planned on getting in and out while he slept.
When I arrived Aiden welcomed me in the usual fashion. As I walked further into the apartment, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Rick standing in the lounge room.
“What’s wrong?” I rushed over to him. He had dark rings under his eyes and looked like he had aged since the last time I saw him.
“Where have you been?”
I frowned at the question. “The hospital.” I hadn’t missed any calls and didn’t have any notifications or anything that could explain his behaviour.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?” I asked, confused at his admission.
“This. I can’t pretend that I don’t feel something for you, Lu. I’ve been going out of my mind wondering where you were, who you were with or if you were fine. It’s been killing me trying not to call you. I had to lock my phone up at work so that I wouldn’t. I even drove to the hospital just to see you and thought that I was turning into a stalker. I need you, Lu. All of you.”
I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my cheeks, “I can’t, Rick.”
“Why not?” His voice cracked as he spoke.
“Be...because I can’t.”
Rick looked absolutely devastated as he walked past me. I felt like if I moved I would fall apart. I just stood there with tears running down my face long after the front door shut from behind me.
When I felt it was safe enough to move without falling apart, I ran upstairs and got what I had left behind and went back to the hospital.
“I heard you moved back. What happened?” Dr. Drew asked as he eyed me walking back into the hospital.
“Don’t worry, Chief. It’s temporary. I’ll be out of your hair in no time at all.”
“That’s what you said last time, and you were living in the hospital for a month.”
I gave him my best ‘seriously’ look, and he cracked a smile.
“This time, a week tops, I promise.” He waved me away, and I left to go to sleep.
Living at the hospital again had its perks. I was close when I was needed. There was no running late or fighting the traffic. I did miss Aiden and Rick, even though I tried hard not to. I had never wanted to get a case of amnesia more in my life than in that moment. I hurt and I had hurt someone I cared about. To my surprise, I hurt more over losing Rick than I had losing Luke. I checked my phone constantly like a love sick puppy, knowing that it was fruitless. I knew that I would never see or speak to him again. He didn’t know it, but I did him a favour hurting him like I did now. Better now than opposed to doing it later after starting a relationship.
“House hunting?” I was startled by a voice, jumping when I heard it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Dr. Hunter sat down next to me.
“It’s alright. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Things didn’t work out with that guy then?”
“We weren’t together. He was a friend of the family.”
“You guys have a fight then?” He reached for my tablet and started to flip through the pages I had up.
“Something like that. It’s just time that I move on.”
“This one looks nice.” He slid the tablet back over to me. The house displayed on the screen had potential.
“Is it in a good neighbourhood?” I asked as I read about the property. I still wasn’t too sure about where the good and the not good neighbourhoods were in this city.
“Yeah, it is. You should make an appointment to view it.” He tapped the phone number to make it bigger and handed over his
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