Page 22 of Saving Luke

"Thank you for hearing me out," I say and walk away without looking back.

I head right to Lexi's office and am thankful I find Noah there, too. I close the door and collapse on the couch.

"So, I'm in love with Luke. His sister hates me, and if I keep pursuing him, I risk ripping them apart, losing my job and my heart. How's your day?" I say.

They look at each other before looking back at me.

"Well, nothing worth it is easy," Noah says.

I don't even hide my eye roll as I throw my head back on the couch and dig the heels of my palms into my eyes.

"What happened?" Lexi asks.

"I just talked to Gabbie,” I say. “She doesn't care about anything because all she wants is her brother and her only family. I get that, but nothing I said seemed to reach her. The longer the fight, the more Luke is going backward instead of healing."

"Have you talked to Luke?" Lexi says softly as she sits down next to me.

"No, he's stressed enough and doesn't need this, too. Maybe you should look at moving Luke to another nurse. At least, to save your asses," I say.

"Nope, Luke is making amazing progress, and I stand by you. You pushing him is a huge reason for his improvement. Wehave watched you when you don't realize it, and you are always professional on the grounds, and there's nothing to warrant it, especially when Luke contradicted what Gabbie said," Noah says.

"I'm not worth risking all this," I tell them.

"We think you are, and I bet Luke would think so, too," Lexi says and gives me a hug.

"You need to talk to him. At least tell him how you feel and see where he is. If Noah and I learned anything, it’s that communication is key. In the early days of our relationship, all we could do was talk." Lexi smiles at Noah.

Noah returns her smile with a look at Lexi filled with nothing but love, and it’s how any girl wants their guy to look at them.

I remember when I was first assigned to Noah and seeing them, and the way he looked at Lexi, I had thought they had been together for years, not weeks.

"You two just got very lucky," I mumble.

Lexi smiles back at Noah. "Yeah, we did. But you have now, too."

Luke

I’m looking over some of the paperwork my physical therapist gave me on some new exercises when Gabbie walks in. She stands at the door, unsure if I even want her there, but I don't want to fight, and I don't want to push her away, either.

"Well, you going to stand there all day, or are you going to sit down and visit?" I ask her.

She looks relieved as she takes off her coat and sits on the chair next to the couch.

"I was hoping to nail down our Christmas plans," she says.

"Well, I'm doing Christmas here. Part of my rehab is participating in the activities. I want you to join me, so we can support the other guys." I say, and her face falls.

"I was hoping we could do Christmas just the two of us, as a family," she frowns.

"I know Gabbie, and I get it. This is the first year I'm back. But this is where I am, so we can do Christmas here."

She looks at me like she knows I'm not telling the full truth. It's because I'm not. I don't want to commit to plans because I want to spend time with Brooke. I want to see what activities I canget her into. But I can't say that to Gabbie because I know it will set her off again. At this point, the last thing I want is to fight anymore.

"Okay, what are we doing here?" She seems to take the change in plans in stride.

"Well, there’s the gift exchange for members later today and then some crafts tomorrow. They are preparing a big Christmas Eve dinner, which I'd like you to come to next week."

She nods, "I will be here. Now, what do you want for Christmas this year? You know you are already hard enough to shop for."

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