Page 1 of Worth the Wait

Chapter One

Bellamy

March 29th…

As a traveling nurse, the appeal of being able to go anywhere while simultaneously having nowhere of my own was too hard to resist. My coworkers at the hospital had families, people that loved them, counted on them, while I had neither.

That made me the perfect candidate when a position became available. I applied and, when it was offered to me, I saw it as a sign and accepted.

For the past five years, I’ve been all over the United States, as well as a few other countries. Met more people than I can count, treated everything from minor to life threatening injuries, encountered diseases long believed to be eradicated, and logged an insane amount of frequent flyer miles.

I have also loved each and every moment of it, despite how scary, how perilous, some of them might have been. But, as thankful as I am that I was able to help those in need, I couldn’t make the connections I’d begun missing.

My job didn’t afford me the chance to and any I attempted to create were fleeting. Time and distance inevitably lessening the bond we’d forged. Yes, I still stay in contact with colleagues I worked side by side with, but it’s not the same. Our conversations were of a shared past and their present which involved falling in love, getting married and having kids, while mine was about my next destination.

Granted, fellow medical personnel were already experiencing that back when I agreed to take this role. It didn’t bother me then. In fact, I saw it as a disadvantage on their part.

They were tied down while I could go wherever I wanted.

Do whatever I wanted.

Accept whatever assignment interested me and not have to explain why.

So, what changed?

I didn’t know when I initially asked myself that question and it continued to elude me until I walked past a husband and wife having dinner together. I was alone, as usual, and I couldn’t stop glancing at them.

In a none creepy way, of course.

For the first time, I envied someone that closeness with another. Wished I had it.

Wondered if I ever would.

Honestly, I’ve never met a man that I saw any possibility with on a long-term scale.

Yes, I have indulged here and there when there was an attraction, though they were few and far between.

The last being a year or so prior.

Scratch that, more like two. Or is it three?

Could that be why I can’t stop staring at the man across the room?

He’s with a group of, what I assume are friends, though their lack of any resemblance doesn’t necessarily make them any less of a family.

I may have lost mine almost a decade ago, but I still remember what it felt like to have one.

The greatest feeling in the world.

Perhaps that’s why I’ve never tried to look start a new one.

That loss? It stained my heart, my soul.

And, seeing it now with hindsight, I know it caused me to insulate my emotions.

At this moment, though? They refuse to be ignored.

I can’t say what it is about this guy that’s different, only that something is.

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