Page 30 of Code Love
Lillian pressed her lips together, but she couldn’t argue. She and Jade weren’t the only ones who practically lived at the hospital, so gossip tended to move quickly. “Well, I’ll get the disclosure statement ready for the board when we get back.”
“I figured you would,” Jasmine chuckled.
“You know you have to sign it, too,” Lillian said with a little more irritation than she intended.
“I already have them drawn up,” Jade said with a smirk.
“Are you serious?” Lillian gasped.
“I couldn’t tell you if it was intuition or wishful thinking, but yeah, I did them before I left tonight,” Jade said. “I figured worst case I could shred them if you rejected me. I hoped that wasn’t the case, and I'm certainly pleasantly surprised.”
“You were that confident I would say that I wanted a relationship with you?” Lillian asked, somewhat appalled.
“No,” Jade answered honestly. “I was pretty sure you felt the same way I did, but I didn’t know if you would be willing to act on it, I just really hoped you would. Either way, all you have to do is sign them.” Jade smiled over the table at Lillian, who couldn’t help but return it.
“Do you think this is going to effect our professional relationship?” Lillian asked, averting her eyes.
“How so?” Jade responded.
“I don’t know, maybe we’ll be more able to get along?” Lillian said.
“Oh, I doubt it,” Jade chuckled again. “If anything, we will be more confident in our own decisions and fight that much harder.”
Anticipation prickled at Lillian’s skin. “That doesn’t scare you?”
“A little,” Jade answered. “But in a good way. Lillian, that’s what drew me to you in the first place. You challenge me, almost daily, we fight not because we think the other is wrong necessarily, but because we so deeply believe in what we are doing, because we care about the outcomes. I’m sure there’s a limit somewhere, but I can’t see us being passionate about what we do as anything other than a good thing.”
Lillian’s chest swelled with pride. “We do run one hell of a hospital,” she said with a smile.
“That we do, and together we’ll be unstoppable,” Jade answered with a smile of her own.
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
“I’m telling you, the gravity feeder is going to be the much better option!” Lillian shouted as she pulled bags from the trunk of the car.
“Why are you still telling me this?” Jade snapped. “We bought the feeder, we got the one you wanted, you convinced me, can we let it go?”
“Not until you admit I’m right,” Lillian said with a lift of her chin.
“Fine, you were right,” Jade said, walking the bags between her bike and the edge of the driveway.
“I don’t believe you,” Lillian said, and Jade rolled her eyes as she unlocked the door. Lillian picked a small pebble out of the window container that held her herb garden—something else that Jade swore she would never be able to keep up with. So far everything was still alive, though the cilantro looked like it was struggling a bit.
Jade’s phone pinged as they loaded their haul into the loft. They had spent almost three months searching for the perfect place. Lillian had grown to hate her own apartment, and Jade’swent up for sale as soon as her lease ended. She considered buying it outright, but she wanted something new. She had shared that apartment with her ex, and though there was nothing left in it to remind her, she still felt better with a fresh start. They had both co-signed on a loan to buy this loft, and it was actually closer to the hospital. They could see it from their front door, which would likely bother most people, but it was happily convenient for the both of them.
Lillian had insisted on furnishing it through thrift stores and estate sales, which Jade had absolutely hated, but she had to admit that she loved the final product. They had a gorgeous plush leather couch and matching chair, antique lamps, and cast-iron tables. Their bed was made from hand-carved mahogany, though Jade had put her foot down on the mattresses. The estate sale mattresses went straight to the dump, while they purchased a new memory foam mattress and blood red sheets and comforter set. Despite spending a relatively small amount, the place looked rich and luxurious.
Jade glanced at the phone and rolled her eyes. “I have to go. I’ll be right back.”
Lillian called after her, “The appointment is in an hour and a half, be there or I’m handling it myself!”
“Oh, I’ll be there,” Jade said with a smirk.
Lillian began to unload the things they had brought into the house when her own phone pinged. She looked down at it with a groan. One of her patients was struggling, and the new intern didn’t know what to do. She took a deep breath and headed over to the hospital herself.
When she walked into the recovery room, she saw Elizabeth Rourke sitting in one of the beds. “What are you doing here?” Lillian asked.
