Page 121 of Torn In Two

Excitement lit up inside me. “You do?”

He slung an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. “I can’t exactly keep pretending I’m only here as your bodyguard.” His gaze strayed to the ambulance sitting in the ER dock and the paramedics milling around it, restocking supplies and marking things off on their checklists. “I want that.”

“The rush of treating patients in an emergency situation? Or the paperwork?”

He chuckled. “I’m all about the action, Little Mouse. Hopefully, my partner will be better at crossing T’s and dotting I’s than I am.”

I put my arm around him and squeezed. “You’ll be an amazing paramedic.” I meant it with all of my heart. I didn’t think my future was there beside him in an ambulance. I didn’t thrive in high-pressure environments like Hawk did.

But as I walked inside the clinic full to the brim with waiting patients, too poor to go to a doctor at any other time, my heart settled into something that felt a lot like happiness.

If someone had asked me in that moment what I wanted to spend my life doing, I would have easily answered, this. I didn’t know if that meant becoming a nurse, or maybe a physiotherapist or a dietitian, but I knew all of that started with just getting my high school equivalency so I could begin.

All my years of studying the Bible weren’t going to help me here. And I couldn’t wait to learn something more than scriptures. Something inside me craved it as much as Hayley Jade did. I smiled at the thought of getting up early with her every morning, her practicing her reading while I studied before the breakfast Hayden would make in the kitchen. Hawk joining us with books. Grayson looking over our shoulders and offering help while he fit his tie around his neck, a day of work stretching ahead of him.

I bit my lip at the daydream, knowing I was crazy to think it could be that easy.

Except it felt like it might be.

When Grayson was the first person we saw as we entered the hospital through the staff entrance, my heart lit up and a tiny voice whispered inside my head that he was the thing in my life that could make it complete.

“Hi!” I said a bit too loudly, nerves suddenly fluttering around my belly at the sight of him in fitted suit pants and a button-down shirt rolled to his elbows. His forearms, thick with corded muscle, drew my gaze, and it lingered there, while my stomach did backflips at how attractive he was.

I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it earlier.

But ever since that night at Sinners, and since he’d kissed me at the beach, I was struggling to think of Grayson as a friend.

I wanted him to be so much more.

His warm gaze settled on me, and I breathed out slowly, trying to calm my nerves.

Hawk pulled me in so his lips were to my ear. “Settle, Little Mouse. I can practically smell you getting wet over the sight of him.”

I was sure my cheeks went bright red.

I hadn’t told Hawk or Hayden about the kiss on the beach but I had a feeling they knew something had changed between me and Grayson.

“Morning, Doc,” Hawk drawled. “What’s on the agenda today?”

Grayson jerked his head toward the waiting room. “It’s already crazy here. We’re so busy. Which in a way is good. I’ve been pushing the hospital board to extend the clinic’s hours, because clearly the community needs it. One day a week isn’t enough. They disagreed, but after this turnout, they have to see that we need more resources. More time. More everything.”

I peeked around the corner at the waiting room, and my mouth dropped open. Every seat was full. People stood around the edges. Some had taken up seats on the floor, like they’d been there for hours and were too tired to stand any longer.

Grayson grimaced. “Willa was here early. She said they were lined up around the block, waiting for the doors to open.”

Grayson’s phone rang, right as a voice from the examination cubicle behind me called my name.

All three of us glanced over.

Hayden sat on a bed, legs dangling over the side, his work uniform still on but his hand bandaged with thick white strips of cloth. He waved the injured limb pathetically.

“Oh my God!” I rushed to his side. “What are you doing here?”

Hayden shrugged. “Small kitchen injury that wouldn’t stop bleeding. I just need a couple of stitches—"

Hawk followed close behind me, immediately going to Hayden’s side and picking up his hand, unwrapping the messy bandage to examine the wound. “So you came here instead of coming to me? That’s fucking insulting. Do you have any idea how long you’ll wait here for someone to throw a few stitches in that?”

Hayden huffed at him. “You and I aren’t exactly besties lately.”

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