Page 39 of Come Back to Me

Teddy, with his endless appetite, is still with us, too, but that’s because he’s not done with his third helping of the French toast casserole Janie made.

Teddy’s been acting differently lately. I’m not sure if it’s since he found out Jack and I are dating or what. Maybe he’s mad that we didn’t tell him right away, but I didn’t trust him to keep it quiet until I was ready. I decide to poke him a little about it.

I pause my cleaning and sit down in the empty chair next to him. “What’s wrong with you lately, Teddy? You haven’t made a flirty or perverted comment to me in like two weeks. Are you feeling okay?” I tease him, placing my hand on his forehead to feign checking for a fever.

I don’t miss that Sadie stops and looks right at Teddy before quickly going back to cleaning. Uh oh, maybe he’s been flirting with her, too, and she doesn’t know how to take it. I probably should have given her a heads up about hispersonality when she started but I don’t like affecting someone’s opinion of others.

She’s got a long-term boyfriend, a sweet guy who sends her flowers and drops off lunches for her at work sometimes.

I can imagine Teddy could be a lot for her to know how to take.

Teddy shifts uncomfortably in his seat, frowning, and doesn’t look up from his food. “What? Nothing’s wrong. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh my God, Teddy,” Janie says, dramatically. “Seriously, I’m pretty sure you’ve hit on any of us with boobs at least three times each since you’ve started here. Has marriage made you a changed man? Engagement sure didn’t.” She laughs.

Teddy stands, walks to the trash, and throws out his unfinished food. “Whatever. You guys are making shit up.” His tone is harsh and his face reddens as his lip curls angrily.

It’s such a contrast to what I’m used to from him, and I’m not sure what to do with that. I’ve actually never seen him anything but happy-go-lucky before today.

“Sorry, Teddy. Not trying to upset you. Just want to make sure you’re okay,” I say, trying to smooth things over. I’ll have to ask Jack if something is going on with him.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” he says. Then he walks out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Sadie stares at the door for a second, frowning, her posture rigid.

I don’t know if I should ask her if Teddy has made her uncomfortable with Janie still here.

Before I can decide whether to say something, she says, “I’m going to go check on our rooms and make sure we don’t have any patients yet.” Then she leaves without waiting for a response or making any eye contact.

“Well, that was awkward as shit,” Janie says, staring at the door.

I agree, and we finish putting away anything that can spoil if left out before we head back to the unit to get on with our day.

The next few hours in the ER have a really weird vibe. Teddy’s unusually crabby and Sadie is… off. Her speech is clipped, her movements strained and her eyes narrowed. She tells me she needs to go make a call and will be in the break room.

When she’s gone for more than a few minutes, I decide I probably shouldn’t put off talking to her any longer and go to check on her. I need to figure out how to intervene if Teddy’s flirting has upset her.

As I turn the corner at the end of the hall, angry voices assault me and I stop. I immediately recognize them as belonging to Teddy and Sadie.

“Really, Teddy, you think this is all okay? You expect me to hear things like that and not be upset by it?” Sadie asks. Her voice is shaking and barely restrained.

“I’m sorry, Sadie. None of it meant anything. I’d never want to upset you, and I promise it won’t happen again.” Teddy’s apology sounds almost desperate.

I resume my walk toward them. They both look up at me, and Sadie mumbles something about needing to get back to work and stalks off.

Teddy stares at me, holding his head in his hands and shifting his feet. Is he afraid he’s going to get reported for something he said to Sadie? He’s used to everyone just brushing off his comments as Teddy being Teddy, but maybe he’s realizing not everyone is willing to deal with his behavior.

I open my mouth to say something to him but before I can get any words out, he snaps, “I’m not talking about it, sodon’t ask, Annie. I’ll handle things. I’ve got to get back to work.” Then he storms off.

JACK

The raucous laughter the guys are creating in the lounge as they watchStepbrothersmakes its way all the way to me as I sit at the kitchen table at the station. I try to focus on studying for the captain’s test I’m taking tomorrow morning. If I do well on it, most likely I’ll be able to transition to B shift captain at Station Three at the start of October, when the current captain retires.

I should be grateful that we have had no fire or emergency medical calls today and I have time to study. Instead, all I can think about is seeing Annie and wondering how her last day in staffing is going.

I catch myself smiling as I think about last night. We were snuggling on the couch, me studying for my exam and her reading one of her spicy romance books, her head nestled against my chest. She got squirmy and then she tried to be subtle as she turned her book slightly away from me.

“Why are you turning your book away, sugar? Something you don’t want me to see in there?” I tease her.

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