Page 62 of Stone Vows

Elizabeth looks at Mallory, who is about as pregnant assheis. “But Mallory is about to have her first child. She needs all this stuff, too.”

Mal laughs. “Do you know how many baby things Chad’s mom has sent to us? I think we’re going to need to get a bigger apartment just to accommodate all of it.”

Elizabeth nods in acceptance. “Well, thank you all. I’m not sure how I would have gotten through these weeks without you.”

The words she spoke were meant for everyone, I know. But she was looking directly atmewhen she said them.

My pager goes off. It’s not an urgent page, just some labs I’d ordered that came back. Either way, it’s a good excuse to leave them to their party.

“I’ll check back on you later, Elizabeth,” I say, walking out the door.

She calls me back. “With all your new patients, I bet you haven’t eaten all day, Kyle.” She reaches into a Sal’s container and pulls out an egg roll. She puts it on a napkin and holds it out to me. “Come on, I know it’s your favorite.”

Five pairs of eyes watch as I cross the room to take it from her. Five mouths curve up into a smile as I bite into it on my way out the door.

“Wait,” she says, before I get very far down the hallway.

I turn around and put my hand up to catch the fortune cookie she threw at me before it hits me in the head. I laugh, sticking it in my pocket.

“Seriously?” I hear someone say as I’m walking out to the nurses’ station.

It’s the voice I’ve dreaded, coming from the person I’ve avoided for the past week. I turn around. “Hey, Gina.”

“Do you really mean to tell me your sisters-in-law and their friends are throwing your homeless patient a baby shower?”

I look down the hall and hear more laughter coming from the room at the end. “It looks that way,” I tell her. “And for the umpteenth time, she’s not homeless.”

“Really? That’s interesting coming from the guy who had to listhisaddress on her hospital forms because she doesn’t have one.”

I give her an incredulous look. “How in the hell did you know that?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Nurses talk. Abby knows all the admissions nurses. I’m friends with Abby. You should know by now, nothing that goes on within these walls is secret.”

“Whatever,” I say, pulling her along behind me into an empty procedure room. “Gina, we have to talk.”

She crosses her arms, eyeing me up and down. She’s studying me.

“Oh, my God,” she spits out. “Are you in love with your patient, Kyle?”

“What? No.”

“You are,” she says. “I knew you were taking pity on her. I may have even known you were smitten with her, but this? Kyle, you’re not thinking clearly. I mean, she walks dogs for a living.”

“What the fuck does it matter what she does? It doesn’t make her any less of a person, Gina.”

“What are you planning on doing, taking her and her baby home with you like strays?”

My blood starts to boil. “You and I are friends, Gina. We’ve been friends for a long time now, which is why I’m going to let that one slide. But you talk shit about her again and all bets are off.”

She walks around the procedure bed, putting it between us. “If you want to end this,” she says, pointing between us, “that’s fine. I like you, Kyle, but I’ll move on. But falling for a patient? Paying her bills? Bringing your friends and family in to befriend her? That’s crossing the line.”

I sit down on the stool, running a hand through my hair.

“I’m not in love with her,” I say, trying to sound convincing. To her or to myself, I’m not sure. “At first, I guess I was just taking pity on her. But the more time I spent with her . . .”

Gina walks to the door. “Just tread carefully, Kyle.”

“You won’t say anything to anyone about this, will you?”

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