Page 55 of Barbed Wire Fences
Now, it’s just after two in the morning. The night rush has finally slowed down, and my stomach is growling as I head for the vending machine in the lobby for a quick snack dinner. I’m already debating between stale peanut butter crackers or pretzels when Rhett bursts through the front doors of the emergency department.
Lark’s leaning heavily on him, one of Rhett’s arms slung around his shoulders for support. My eyes immediately land on the blood splattered across Rhett’s white shirt.
“Hey!” I call out, my voice sharp as I hurry toward them. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“That’s Lark’s blood,” Rhett replies, his tone calm despite the situation. “The courthouse sprung a leak that needed new piping. I sent him over there, but it was dark, and he cut himselfbadly on his leg using a hacksaw. He called me because he couldn’t drive, and an ambulance would’ve cost a fortune.”
I nod, already waving for my patient coordinator to grab a wheelchair. “Let’s get him seated so I can take a look.”
The coordinator is quick, helping Lark into the chair as I kneel beside him to assess the wound.
“Okay. We’ll take you to a room and check how deep the cut is,” I tell him, my voice steady, but my hands moving fast. It’s a lot of blood but from what I can tell, a couple stitches and some pressure should fix him up.
Rhett stays close as we wheel Lark into a free exam room, and for the next thirty minutes, I’m fully focused on my job. I work to stop the bleeding, clean the wound, and assess the damage.
The cut’s as deep as I thought it was which means he needs a few stitches but no surgery and the only doctor on call is Doctor Walker, who’s currently in the middle of an emergency C-section surgery.
I page him again, but when his nurse finally responds, she tells me the same thing: he’s tied up in surgery. Then, she adds, “He said he trusts you to handle it, Jael.”
My stomach flips. Stitches aren’t new territory for me, but there’s always that moment of doubt before you take the leap to put needle to flesh. That and I still feel new to this hospital despite having years of experience.
I glance at Lark, who’s cracking a weak joke about his leg “looking like a steak” to one of my assistants, and then at Rhett, who’s standing quietly in the corner, his eyes never leaving mine.
“So, you’ve done this before?” Lark asks me a little too nervously.
“Plenty of times,” I reassure him with a smile. “Have you called Lainey yet to let her know what happened?”
“She’d freak out. She was just up here for Nathan today. I figured I’ll just show her once I’m stitched up and back to normal,” he says with another easy chuckle.
I squeeze his arm. “Okay. You’re in good hands and I’m going to take care of this. Let’s go ahead and get started then.”
Rhett shifts to the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with that casual, too-cool stance of his that somehow still manages to put me on edge. I can feel his gaze on me tracking my every move as I work. It’s like he’s itching to say something but holding back, and the weight of his silence makes my pulse quicken in a way I wish it didn’t.
Sure, I told him to leave me alone, and he’s done exactly that. But can I admit something? I’vemissedhim bugging me.
Coming back here, seeing him, catching up—it all felt so natural and good. Too good. Like slipping into something familiar and warm, only to remember why you walked away in the first place. And yet, I can’t stop wishing he’d throw my words out the window, break the distance between us, and make me laugh the way he used to. I don’t want to live my life knowing we’re enemies, but I also know that I did this to myself. I’m the one who pushed him away… again.
I force my focus back to Lark, working quickly but carefully as I stitch up his leg. My hands move with practiced precision, but my mind’s a mess and it doesn’t help that my assistant who I’m supposed to be training is currently in the corner, not helping me but flirting with Rhett instead.
I keep replaying what I’d said to him earlier about Owen. God, I shouldn’t have unloaded on him like that. I was frustrated, sure, but hearing he’d hit Owen, again, dragged me straight back to my teenage years.
The embarrassment. The anger. The shame over whatI’ddone so recklessly. That I’d cheated on Owen with Rhett, even if he’d been cheating on me all along. And after what happened in Lark’s basement, the emotions all tangled up and raw, it just spilled out. I’m hurting still, and I’m sure he is too.
Now, as I finish the last stitch and gently pat Lark’s leg with gauze, I can’t help glancing at Rhett out of the corner of my eye. He’s still watching, still silent while my assistant continues to yap away in his ear, and it’s all driving me crazy.
“Okay,” I turn to Lark with a smile who is grinning at both of us like he realizes there’s something going on between us. “I’ll go grab you some pain relievers and be right back, but that should heal nicely. I bet you’ll have barely any scar.”
“Thank you,” Lark says as I step out into the hallway to retrieve the medication, but I’m not alone in my exit.
Rhett’s behind me, his hand gently reaching out to cup my elbow as he turns me to face him. And when he makes contact with my skin it feels like someone flipped a switched in my control panel.
“Hey, thanks, Jael.”
“No problem. It’s my job,” I smile nervously, trying to look bold but failing as soon as my eyes meet his.
He winces and I realize I’m once again being short with him. I run my fingers through my hair and shake my head.
“I’m sorry, Rhett. I’m… sometimes I struggle with how to talk to you anymore,” I start. “I’m sorry for losing it on you over the whole Owen thing. I didn’t realize that Owen was going around telling people that we’d hooked up after our date at the football game. Lainey told me what he’d said to Della after the fact. I should have listened to you and got all the details before blowing up.”
