Page 21 of Scorched Hearts

Elle shook her head, “that’s not funny, Kiera.”

“Oh… You were the one who wanted something serious?”

Elle nodded. “These days it’s harder to get than I thought.”

“How about that cute ER doctor you’ve been hanging around with every chance you get?”

“What, Maya?” Elle scoffed, “no she is a finished case. She doesn’t want me. Not anymore, anyway. She’s really just acting immature, is what she’s doing,” Elle said and immediately regretted her words. She wished she could pull them back into her mouth, but it was too late.

“Oh well, if that’s what you think,” Kiera nodded. “Dating is hard, man, I’ve been single for two years now.”

“Why’d you break up, you and the person you’d been with before?” Elle became significantly interested in breakup stories as of late, as if to justify to herself her mistake.

“He turned out to be a douchebag, nothing very original. Cheated, abused alcohol, all that.” Kiera shrugged, “I’m way past that now, he deserves to rot.”

“But is cheating absolutely unforgivable, you think?” Elle leaned lower over the table.

“Probably depends on the situation. I think it can contribute to the general… profile of the person, how secure they make you feel, etc. I think it’s more about breaking the other person’s trust and lying, disrespecting their feelings, rather than the sex itself. Would you agree?” Kiera looked up from her salad to see Elle completely engrossed in her words. “Elle?”

“I don’t know. I think… Love also has to include forgiveness,” she said, getting up to give the tray back to the staff. “I'll probably be on my way, Kiera. Nice chat, but I need to finally shower.”

“Yeah, I’m not hugging you goodbye then,” Kiera laughed and they waved to each other.

Getting in her car, Elle resolved to try to get back with Maya by any means possible. There was no one else she’d want, until she was completely certain she’d done every single thing she could to get back her love. She’d continue writing in her journal, she’d try to understand what had led her to cheat, she would do everything in her power to feel Maya’s skin against her own again.

8

MAYA

The blazing sun, like a thief, found its way inside the emergency room’s office, leaking in through the gaps in between covered windows and see-through doors. Maya wiped her sweaty forehead, for the first time in weeks actively counting the time left until the end of her shift. Her fingers felt sticky inside the rubber gloves, and the number of patients was steadily increasing during the dense summer days. Elderly patients with heart or lung issues doubled each day.

Suddenly, disturbing the peace, Maya’s pager flashed and vibrated. “Suspected heat stroke. Fallen elderly woman trapped in apartment. Other injuries possible. Dr. Monroe to attend the scene with Ambulance 13.”

Maya grabbed her medical bag and made her way to the ambulance bay where she got on board with the crew.

“How did that even happen?” Maya asked, breaking the silence inside the car.

“Apparently, her grandson locked the house by habit, forgetting she was inside and taking the only pair of keys with him. Then the neighbors saw something was wrong with her through the kitchen window. Apparently, she fell.”

“Shit.” Maya sighed. She was hoping the lady hadn’t hit anything on her way to the floor, especially not with her head – that would practically mean a death sentence.

When they got to the place, a team of firefighters was already looking for the flat. It was the team of firefighters, Maya realized, before following them upstairs.

Of course it was.

Elena Rodriguez was everywhere she went at the moment. A beautiful torture.

A dark jacket ahead of her spelled RODRIGUEZ. The staircase seemed to stretch into infinity, its dark corridor shone with the grease of a new layer of paint. The smell of it was intoxicating, making Maya’s head spin. In the heat, every scent grew in intensity to an unbearable degree, their sweat mingled with the smell of paint. The lady lived on the sixth floor, and by the time they got there, everyone was struggling to catch their breath.

Having located the door, the firefighters began knocking it down. It was a heavy, sturdy thing, the kind installed in hotels and such to prevent burglars, or perhaps fires. Finally, it gave way.

Maya and the rest of her team stormed inside, finding the woman passed out on the floor wound full of blood decorated the right side of her forehead.

Maya moved quickly checking her pulse, weak but steady. She got some fluids attached to start rehydrating the woman, and the paramedics put the cooling blanket across her. These basics done, it would be best to get her on the ambulance and to the hospital.

They quickly got her onto the stretcher and the firefighters carried her down to the ambulance. One of the people handling her was Elle, but occupied with the rescue, Maya couldn’t pay much attention to her.

They were professional who often worked with each other but that was it. Elle’s beautiful green eyes looked troubled, but Maya tried to ignore them.

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