Page 17 of Rival Hearts

“Thanks, Parker,” Dr. Mars said with a smile before she walked away, and as Riley watched her leave, she couldn’t help but think of Jett and Ember calling her Josephine.

Riley walked into the Emergency Room and saw Dr. Lucinda Everett standing by the nurse’s station, fixing her dark hair into her usual butterfly clip.

Riley walked over. “So, I’m guessing there’s not much to do,” Riley said.

Dr. Everett groaned. “Not a thing,” she said, “which I suppose is good, but I’m bored. I’ve resorted to scheduling myself to help with an appendectomy in a few minutes.”

Riley laughed, and when Dr. Everett almost dropped her butterfly clip, Riley caught it before it could touch the floor.

Dr. Everett stared at Riley in shock and awe. “Damn,” she said, “do you ever fail to impress?”

“I try not to,” Riley said and Dr. Everett shook her head with a small smile.

“Oh, I was meaning to talk to you about something,” Dr. Everett said.

“Yeah,” Riley answered, assuming that Dr. Everett wanted to talk to her about something medical-related, which was a reasonable assumption considering they rarely talked about their personal lives. But, Riley was wrong.

“What was up with you at the hospital fundraiser?” Dr. Everett asked, and Riley’s eyes widened. She took slow breaths in order to keep herself from blushing. She wasn’t sure how well it worked, however, especially when Dr. Everett gave her a knowing look and a smirk.

“What do you mean?” Riley asked, playing dumb. She didn’t want to give anything away on the off-chance that Dr. Everett was talking about something other than a tall, graceful dark-haired woman.

“I mean, I saw you talking with Jett Thompson,” Dr. Everett said, “and then I looked away for a second and the two of you were gone for over an hour, and when you came back, you were completely disheveled.” Lucinda raised an elegant eyebrow.

OhGod, Riley thought. This could not be happening. This was way too embarrassing. She’d thought that maybe Dr. Everett would ask what she was doing taking to Jett, but Riley didn’t expect her to be so observant.

But then, Riley caught onto something that she hoped would distract Dr. Everett from her question. “How do you know Jett’s name?” Riley asked. The firefighter paramedic wasn’t in the hospital enough to have given introductions to everyone who worked there.

Dr. Everett gave Riley a look, like she knew Riley was trying to distract her, but she did answer. “Jett is my wife’s niece.”

That threw Riley for a loop and she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Is everyone in this town related to that girl?”

Dr. Everett laughed, and it took her a while before she stopped. It was obvious that she wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction from Riley, but she understood what she meant.

“It sure feels that way sometimes,” Dr. Everett said. “I married the most wonderful woman in the world and it’s like I know half of the town now.”

Riley smiled. She didn’t do relationships, but it was sweet to hear the way other people referred to their partners.

“Dr. Everett.” A nurse arrived. “Are you ready for the appendectomy?”

“Shit,” Dr. Everett said. “Yes, I’m on my way.” She started to leave, but before she turned the corner and left Riley’s line of sight, she turned back around and pointed directly at Riley. “Don’t think I forgot about you. I’ll get an answer from you later.” Then she disappeared.

* * *

Great, Riley groaned, and looked at the nurse who had been sitting there for the conversation. Of course it was Leah. Riley regretted being so short with her the other day, and sighed. Sometimes her temper got the best of her, especially in high-stress situations.

“Don’t say anything,” Riley said to Leah. “Please. I don’t want all the nurses gossiping about something they don’t know anything about.”

Leah nodded. “Okay,” she said, not sounding too convincing, and Riley knew that she was going to have to do damage control.

“How was your psych patient?” Riley asked.

“Good,” Leah said, “he made a full recovery and is now in inpatient. I don’t know how he’s doing now, but hopefully he’s doing well.”

Riley nodded. “Good,” she said, “and look, I know I was harsh on you for leaving him alone.”

Leah raised her hand. “Don’t bother,” she said. “When Dr. Hudson found out, she made what you said seem like pillow talk.”

Riley pursed her lips and nodded.

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