Page 15 of Rules of the Heart

Maybe she could figure out her own thoughts, too, as those were tangled and confused when it came to Valerie.

All she knew was that she wanted Valerie, in more ways than one, and that having her in that way was absolutely not an option.

6

Valerie

Valerie was so frustrated, she felt like hitting something. She was giving serious thought to installing a punching bag in her office and bringing her gloves to work with her. Sure, the other staff would think it was weird, but what was the point of being the boss if you couldn’t get away with being a bit weird now and then?

She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to dispel the urge. She wasn’t going to let Ella get under her skin like that. She didn’t need a stupid bag in her office. She was a grown ass adult and she could control herself.

Valerie kicked at the desk, sending it skidding along the floor and creating a sharp spike of pain in her big toe. Better her toe than her fingers. Her toes didn’t perform life-saving surgeries.

Why did Ella have to be so damn attractive? Why did she need to look so fucking kissable when her nimble fingers were manipulating a scalpel around a patient’s fragile brain tissue?

Valerie had to admit to herself that it wasn’t just Ella’s looks that were bothering her anymore. Operating with her hadmade one thing very clear to Valerie, in a way that hadn’t truly penetrated when she had seen as much on paper.

Ella wasn’t just a gifted surgeon. She was a miracle worker. Valerie had been in this field a long time and she had seldom seen someone as talented as Ella, much less had the privilege of operating with them. Give it a decade or so, and Ella would probably be the top in her field worldwide.

Valerie couldn’t afford to lose her. As much as Ella’s attitude toward the rules rankled at her, she couldn’t in good conscience fire Ella when she knew what an asset to the hospital and their patients Ella was… hence the nearly overwhelming urge to hit something.

So, Valerie shut herself up in her office, delegating her surgeries to other surgeons in an attempt to avoid Ella. She knew that she couldn’t avoid Ella forever, but she at least needed to get her emotions under control before facing her.

Ella hadn’t done anything wrong—at least recently—and Valerie knew that if she had to face her now, she would snap and say something unwarrantedly harsh. Ella didn’t deserve that. She and Valerie may disagree on many things, but Valerie had seen firsthand how Ella cared for people.

She saw it in the way Ella stubbornly fought for her patients, in the OR and out of it. She saw it in the way Ella cared for patients in the clinic, and how she constantly worked on her surgical skills, always trying to do better for the people who relied on her.

If Valerie was being honest with herself, sparing Ella some harsh comments wasn’t the only reason she was avoiding her, but she didn’t like to admit the other reason to herself.

However, there was no denying that the sweet temptation of Ella’s lips was highly dangerous to Valerie and became more and more of a problem the more she saw of Ella.

If she and Ella somehow ended up in the same room alone together… Well, Valerie honestly didn’t know if she could control herself, and losing control would end in disaster for a number of reasons.

For one, it was breaking the rules, and breaking the rules meant people died. If she and Ella were distracted with each other, that took their focus away from their patients, which was sure to be fatal to someone sooner or later.

Equally important, Valerie was Ella’s boss. Rules or not, it would be inappropriate of her to kiss an employee, let alone do all the filthy things Valerie was envisioning doing to Ella. The last thing she wanted was for Ella to feel like she needed to give sexual favors in order to keep her job.

Valerie was fairly certain that Ella felt the same attraction she did, but still. She didn’t want to risk forcing herself on someone.

And even if none of that was a factor, their personalities were simply incompatible. Any kind of relationship between them—even if it was purely physical—would only end in fights and drama. Their previous interactions had shown that much.

Still, Valerie’s mind kept coming back to that moment she had tucked Ella’s hair behind her ear. She knew she shouldn’t have done it. She had seen Ella’s confusion, as well as her desire, written plainly across her face.

They had just saved a patient who Valerie had thought was beyond saving, and Valerie’s emotions had been running high. She’d felt beyond grateful to have had Ella there. Anyone else wouldn’t have been as quick on the brain repair, and then they would have had to make an awful decision on whether to shock him and risk losing brain function or preserve his brain function and risk losing him entirely.

Ella had saved them from that decision by a fraction of a hair, but it was that fraction that had counted.

Valerie managed to avoid Ella for a week, but of course, she was never going to be able to stay away from her indefinitely.

Her pager started beeping frantically. Valerie glanced at it and choked on her sip of coffee, already leaping up.

It was a 911 call from the ER. A huge trauma was coming in—two buses had collided—and every surgeon was going to be needed. All thoughts of avoiding Ella were pushed to the back of her mind as Valerie focused on how best to organize her surgeons in a way that saved the maximum number of patients.

When she got to the ER, Ella was waiting there along with most of the other surgeons under Valerie’s command.

“Alright, people. We’ve got a lot of traumas coming in, so get ready for a tough time. If you need help, call for it, and don’t be afraid to use the interns and residents. We’ll need all hands on deck to get through this.”

Ella nodded along with the rest, tying her loose hair back into a bun. Valerie tried not to watch; the effort aided by the first of the ambulances arriving.

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