Page 34 of Forbidden Desire

“I know that it must be rough. You’ll be going home very soon; I can promise you that.” She reached out and touched his hand, squeezing it lightly. This was the perfect segue to the conversation she wanted to have with him. “If you were home, what would you be doing right now?”

He looked back to her, and his eyes were wide open. “I would be playing with my friends,” he began. “I have so many. I’m on a baseball team, and I’m sure they’re worried about the next game.”

“What position do you play?”

“Pitcher. The coach says I’m the fastest pitcher he’s ever coached.” His eyes darkened slightly. “And I’d be playing with Bixby.”

“Who’s Bixby?” Jo inquired, still holding onto his hand.

“My Golden Retriever. I’m sure he’s missing me.”

“I have a dog, too,” Jo replied. “Want to see a picture?”

He eagerly nodded as she withdrew her phone. She pulled up a picture of Maverick and held it out to him. “I just recently adopted him because I wanted him to know that he would have a safe home environment.”

Vincent cooed over the picture. “That’s a great dog,” he said.

Jo beamed. She thought so, too. She placed her phone back in her pocket. “Tell me all the things you play with your dog.” She leaned into the conversation as he discussed the activities that he could do along the way with his Bixby. He then tilted his head.

“And you?”

“Well, Maverick likes to chase after cats.” That got a laugh from him, and she was happy to see Vincent’s jovial side in that hospital room. It gave her an idea, but only if she could get everything worked out. She didn’t want to promise him anything that would never come to be, but she kept it close in the back of her mind. “I have to get back to work. You take care, buddy.” She ruffled his hair, and he continued to grin. “Wanna watch TV?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He grabbed the remote from her and turned it on, but the smile didn’t leave his face as she went to leave his room. When she opened up the door, she bumped straight into Ali, who was passing the room.

“Hey,” she said. Her heart raced a bit because they hadn’t spoken, and she wasn’t sure how their interaction would go.

“How’s he doing?” Ali put her hands in her pocket and kept her eyes zoned in on her, so the eye contact was at least a good sign.

“Pretty well. He’s missing his friends and house, but overall, he knows that this isn’t forever. But I do have an idea. He’s missing his dog, mostly. I was thinking it’d be really cool if I could bring Maverick here. I mean, it will require some out-of-the-box thinking as I can’t get him on the train, but if I could bring him here and he could come to the courtyard or something…” Jo shrugged as Ali seemed to be processing the news. “It’d be a great pick-me-up, I imagine.”

Ali frowned. “I don’t know. Not sure the hospital would go for that. It’d have to be approved, and they might think there’s health risks.” Ali scrunched up her face. “Could cause a whole lot of repercussions.”

Jo frowned, disappointed. “I understand. Guess I didn’t think of that.” She sighed. “It was just a thought.” She started to turn when Ali reached out and touched her arm. Jo looked at her, and Ali’s face softened.

“It was really a nice thought. And because you have a huge heart, I’m not surprised you made it.” She bit her lip. “I could inquire on it.”

“Well, I don’t want you to do anything that will hinder you.”

Ali looked away from her. “Truth is, it might already be past the point.” Jo frowned but didn’t shift her gaze. Ali shook her head. “Don’t really want to think on that.” She hesitated. “I have missed you.”

“I’ve missed you,” Jo replied. She opened her mouth to ask why, if she missed her, was she ignoring her calls and texts. But, instead, she snapped her mouth shut and decided to ignore it. “I should get back to work.” She turned and hurried to the nurse’s station. There really wasn’t a lot to do, though. It was a quiet evening, and she could only stare at the call lights for so long before she went crazy. She tried to busy herself with filing, but that, too, was an utter failure.

Thirty minutes of non-movement on her part, and she spotted Ali heading back to the nurse’s station. “Are you busy?” she asked.

Jo snickered. “Not in the least. Need help with something.”

“You could say that,” Ali mumbled. “Follow me.”

Jo frowned but didn’t hesitate to follow Ali to wherever she was headed. Ali opened the door of the on-call room, and Jo frowned but proceeded. Once inside, Ali locked the door behind them and turned to face Jo.

“What’s going on?” Jo asked, perhaps even a little breathless.

“Don’t ask questions,” Ali stated. She swooped in and kissed Jo, knocking the air from her. Her tongue slid in, and they were frantically kissing until Jo couldn’t take another breath.

“Ali,” she breathlessly stated.

“Jo, I need you so much. I’m not backing away from this, so please…you don’t either.”

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