Page 20 of Heal Me
Chapter Six
“Well, you look like shit.”
Kate looked up from her computer to spear Robert with a glare. “Leave me alone.”
Robert closed her office door and sat in a chair. “I take it that your date didn’t go well.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But you need to. Get whatever it is off your chest. Not now. We’ll go to the Wagon Shed tonight and you can cry into your beer about whatever’s bothering you,” Robert said.
Kate rubbed her right temple in a poor attempt to alleviate her stress induced headache. She hadn’t drunk enough wine the night before to give her a hangover. “I don’t know, Robert. After last night, I think I just need a quiet night at home to rest.”
Robert made an annoying game show buzzer sound. “Wrong! I’m sorry Dr. Donoghue, but that’s not the correct answer! That’s the last thing you need. You’ll just get stuck up in your head and wallow. No, the right thing to do is to go out, get drunk, and talk it out before it festers. So, I’ll pick you up at eight and we’ll go do a little commiserating.”
Kate eyed him. “What are you commiserating about?”
He sighed. “Shaina finally admitted that she’s been seeing someone else. We’re done.”
Kate’s heart went out to him. His girlfriend, who had taken a job offer in Denver, had been growing increasingly distant and Robert had suspected that she’d met someone.
“Damn, Robbie. I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged. “I won’t say that it doesn’t hurt like hell, but it is what it is. So, I’ve decided that we both need to go out, get drunk, and fuck our brains out. What do you say?”
Kate burst into laughter because there was absolutely zero attraction between her and Robert. They’d met years ago on a date and had hit it off spectacularly until their goodnight kiss. No, spark, no zing, no nothing. That’s when they knew that they’d been destined to be friends.
“That sounds great,” she said. “Everything but the sex, that is. Sex with you would be too close to incest.”
Robert’s adorable grin flashed as he gave a shudder. “You speak the truth. Okay, so eight it is. I better get to work before the boss fires me.” He winked as he left, making her smile.
Kate thanked God every day for Robert. He’d saved her life after Phil’s death, had kept her sane. There were times when she’d acted like a maniac, ranting and screaming, but Robert had just sat calmly with her and let her rail and give voice to her pain and anger. He’d also spent his share of nights in her bed, just holding her so she could sleep.
He’d seen her at her worst and still wanted to be her friend, which, in her eyes, was a miracle. And now he was going to come to her rescue again.
She shied away from thoughts about Ric right then, but it was hard. He’d made her feel appreciated and alive and she’d wrecked it by getting emotional. Ric had been charming, considerate, and nothing that had gone wrong had been his fault.
As she pulled open her desk drawer to look for some aspirin, she saw the fiery desire in his blue eyes in her mind and shivered as she remembered the way his hands had felt on her skin. He’d said that he wanted to see her again, but her reaction to their lovemaking showed her that she wasn’t ready for a relationship of any kind. Especially one that was supposed to be just fun.
Kate felt badly that she’d most likely hurt Ric’s feelings, but she didn’t know how to apologize to him or if that would even be a good idea. She’d never had one night stands even back in college, a couple of semi-serious relationships and then she’d met Phil. They had been together for three years until a blown tire ended their planned out future. That’s when she'd taken the job in Coopers Creek, she had to get out of Denver.
Picking up her phone, Kate saw the time and knew that she didn’t have time to sit and mope about her failed night out with Ric. Except that it hadn’t been a total failure. Ric had been right about that. It had been romantic and hot until she’d weirded out over the fact that it he’d been her first since Phil. Other than that, it had been perfect and so much fun, but she couldn’t think about that right now. She needed to focus on work. Blowing out a breath, Kate put on her professional persona and went to meet her first patient of the day.
*****
Ric groaned as he sat on the side of the tub taping a garbage bag around his left knee two mornings later. His back still ached from the bed-crashing incident at the cabin and he’d almost gone back to his ortho doc to have his ankle rechecked because it had hurt so much. However, he’d worked his way through the agony, taking his pain meds and keeping it elevated. The pain had finally started to subside last night, but he was still feeling the effects of it.
Ric made sure that water wouldn’t get down inside the garbage bag and soak his cast. Satisfied with his handiwork, he stood up and shoved his sweat shorts down just as the bathroom door opened. He yanked them back up as Tyler entered the room.
“Dude, do you mind knocking?” Ric groused. “What if that had been Hayley?”
Tyler smirked at him. “Maybe you should lock the door.”
“I can’t when I’m taking a shower,” Ric said. “If I fall or need help, you’ll be locked out. That’s why we came up with the sock on the door handle, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot. Sorry.” Tyler motioned towards the bathtub as Ric took off his shorts. “Do you need help getting in?”
“No. I just plant my ass on the shower chair and swing right on in,” Ric said, demonstrating. “I feel like an old geezer using that thing. What did you need?”
