Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance (14 page)

Please, don't let it be Nash on shift.
Please, please, anyone but Nash.

Chapter 8

Beth swore God hated her.

Why else would Nash be the doctor on shift?
Why else would he be there to witness another of her horrible
moments with Oz and to watch her career dissolve? Why else?

God hated her. It was the only viable
answer.

Yeah, yeah, everyone said life wouldn't
throw more at you than you could handle, but she knew that was a
great big, massive load of smelly crap.

Minutes after the accident Nash had rushed
into the room looking as crisp and proficient as ever. With
athletic ease he'd dropped to his knees beside Gran and grasped her
hand.

"Ozzie dropped her!" Elsie sang as she
pirouetted by.

"Dammit, Reggie," Gran griped from her
position on the floor. "If you hadn't been dancing with Lauretta,
this wouldn't have happened."

"If you chose to spend a little more time
with me, maybe I would have reserved the first dance for you," he
snapped back. "I'm a hot commodity, you know."

"It's not my fault!"
Lauretta said, her voice rising. "It was Oz! Beth shouldn't have
let him dance. He's
drunk
!"

Beth felt Nash's eyes on her as she hovered
over Gran, praying her tears wouldn't become large enough to fall.
And most of all, praying that Nash wouldn't judge her for what had
happened on her watch.

"Leave Oz out of this!" Gran said.

"He's a troubled lad," added Reggie.

Finishing his gentle probing, Nash said, "I
think your hip could be broken Mrs. Wilkinson. We're going to
gently move you onto a stretcher, then a gurney, and take you over
to x-ray."

"Great Scott! A broken hip!" bellowed Gran's
boyfriend. "Now look what you've done. Who's going to give me
snuggles if you're off in a sling?"

"You did fine without me while I was stuck
in here and you were still on the outside, you big baby!"

"Enough!" snapped Beth. "Everyone just shush
for once."

Silence enveloped the group clustered around
Gran. "Do you want to go with her?" Beth asked Reggie as Nash and a
few nurses wheeled Gran out of the room.

He shrugged and shuffled after them
muttering, "May as well. Life's too short for the doghouse."

"Can we talk now?" Lauretta asked as soon as
they left. "Because I don't think I should take the fall for Oz. No
pun intended. It's not my fault there aren't enough available men.
Blame biology. I didn't do a thing wrong. It's still perfectly
legal to dance with a taken man." She tugged her dress into place
and lifted her chin. "Last I checked."

"Lauretta, nobody is blaming you," Beth said
wearily. "Everyone, back to your rooms. The dance is over."

"Oh, but Louie is singing my song!" Elsie
whined.

"Let him dance you to your room, Elsie. I
promise I won't turn him off until you shut your door."

Beth slowly rounded everyone into their
rooms off the common room, although many vanished eagerly, no doubt
to get on the horn to spread the latest gossip about Beth and how
her life was a pile of steaming doggie doo. She gave the stereo
cord a good yank, abruptly cutting off Louie Armstrong in
mid-croon. The room filled with silence and she dropped into a
nearby chair. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes.

What next?

A noise caused her to look to the doorway
and a chill raced through her. Nash was watching her with a grim
expression.

"What? What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "She'll be fine. It's a
fracture, like I thought." He walked slowly into the room. "I'll
see that she gets a room close to continuing care so her boyfriend
can still get his snuggles. Although with her hip, he'd better not
hope for much." He gave her a wry smile and rested a hand on her
shoulder. "You okay?"

Beth studied the floor. "Not really. But I
will be. Eventually." Maybe.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm
here."

"Yeah." She looked up at him, his blue eyes
sympathetic. "Thanks." The problem was, whenever she spent time
with Nash, Oz went wild and something bad happened. Which then
caused her to need Nash's support even more. It was a cycle she
wasn't sure she could break.

"Here." He handed her a clipboard holding an
incident report, his voice taking on a crisp, professional tone.
"You're going to need this. I have to get back to your grandmother
to tell her the news, but I can sign off on this for you."

"Thanks." Seriously. An incident report. She
was so screwed.

A second after Nash left, hospital security
entered, his eyes scanning the room. "I haven't located Oz. Has he
come back?"

"No, why?"

"Dr. Leham requested Oz be removed from the
site. Forcibly if need be. He is officially banned unless seeking
emergency care. Persona non grata."

"He's not here," Beth stated darkly and
turned to her clipboard.

By the time Nash returned Beth's hands had
ceased shaking, but her mood had yet to lift. She understood Nash
had protocols he had to follow, but she still felt as though he'd
pulled away his friendship and smacked her hard across the face
with her own professional incompetency. It was like he didn't
believe she was capable of preventing another situation like this
from happening and had banned Oz as a preemptive measure.

And Oz? She didn't even want to consider how
she might be feeling about him right now.

She handed Nash the report, not meeting his
eye. She ignored the few patients trying to sneak their way back
into the common room. It wasn't as if she could keep the little
gossipers locked in their rooms forever.

Nash signed the form with a flourish and
gave her a smile. "Lucky thing it was your grandmother."

Her hands clenched. "Pardon me?"

"Allowing an unauthorized person—"

"I was trying to stop him, Nash," Beth said
in a hard voice.

Nash's cheeks flushed slightly, and he
continued, "—take part in an activity in the continuing care area
could land you in serious trouble. At least it was your relative,
meaning the family—uh... you and your sister—aren't likely to sue
you or the hospital. With any kind of luck there'll be nothing more
than a few hard feelings and temporary probation."

Beth swallowed hard. "Yeah. With any kind of
luck."

***

Beth glanced up from rearranging the common
room's tables and chairs into their normal rows, the dance session
cancelled. Her quick meeting with the hospital's bigwigs had left
her on probation due to "patient endangerment and allowing a
non-authorized person to partake in continuing care activities."
Yeah, a great way to finish off her afternoon. All she wanted to do
was go home and cry into her pillow until she fell into an
exhausted sleep, putting space between her and this day. Instead
she had two more hours of work and a steamed sister striding across
the room. She instinctively backed up, placing a chair between her
and her advancing sister.

"What the hell were you thinking letting Oz
in here?" Cynthia said.

Beth cast a quick look around the room.
Onlookers perking up at the hint of possible gossip? Check. Hearing
aids being cranked? Check. Biggest gossipers shushing others? Also
check.

"Let's go to my office," she said,
sidestepping toward the door.

Cynthia remained in place, hands on hips. "I
can't believe you let him hurt Gran. What the hell is happening?
You need to distance yourself from that man. He is not the Oz you
fell in love with."

Beth avoided the curious
stares from her patients, wishing her sister's aversion to
hospitals was strong enough to prevent her from ever coming in.
"Maybe we should go see Gran." She ducked into the hall and moved
slowly toward Gran's new room, waiting for Cynthia to follow. "And
I didn't
let
him
do anything to Gran," she said when Cynthia caught up.

"She has a broken hip," Cynthia said,
stopping a few doors down from Gran's room. Beth checked the hall
for eavesdroppers and crossed her arms, waiting for her sister to
finish what was sure to be a memorable rant. "I can't believe you
didn't stop him. Being on probation goes on your file along with a
copy of the incident report. Incompetence as well as—"

"I tried! Okay?" Tears
filmed her eyes. "I tried. But he wouldn't stop, Cynthia. You don't
know how horrible it was to see him like that. To watch him
hurt
her and to be
powerless to stop it."

Cynthia chewed on her lip like she did when
she was worried about Beth and came over to give her a quick hug.
"It's just really freaky. Broken hips can lead to some pretty
serious complications at Gran's age."

Beth pulled herself straight and put on what
she felt was a convincing air of strength. "She'll be okay. Nash is
taking care of her and he's—"

"Thorough."

"I was going to say diligent and kind and
one of the best doctors in Blueberry Springs."

Cynthia faced her sister with crossed arms.
"Do you have a crush on him?"

"No." Her cheeks heat. "And I wish everyone
would stop assuming we're a couple just because of last month." She
waved her hands through the air as if sweeping the rumors away.

Cynthia rolled her eyes,
the movement of her head making her curls sway. "Well, you
guys
were
holding
hands."

"We weren't holding hands!" Beth shouted.
She glared at her laughing sister.

"She doth protest too much!" she sung. She
waggled a finger at Beth. "You crafty girl."

"Shut up." Beth shoved off the wall and
paced a few steps closer to Gran's room. Everything was such a
mess. Could things even get any worse? "I don't know what I'm going
to do."

"About your crush?"

Beth shot her sister her best stink eye.
"About Oz. We're broken up, but..." It didn't feel like it was
true. They'd had so many good years together. Something didn't feel
quite right. Was it simply because the breakup wasn't mutual?

Cynthia leaned against the wall beside her.
"Oz isn't your one anymore. He's changed, and he gave you back your
ring. He's admitted he can't give you what you need." Beth's throat
constricted from emotion. "Meanwhile, you've got this total hottie
following you around, playing rescue hero."

Beth choked, "Rescue hero?"

"I've seen the way you look at each other. I
think he's a real contender if you open your eyes and give him a
chance."

"We're not like that." Her cheeks heated
with pleasure. She knew she shouldn't feel proud and pleased for
snagging the attention of a man like Nash. But it felt strangely
validating and empowering. He was a good man. But a good man who
wasn't looking for the same things she was. It seemed like none of
them were. She heaved a sigh and slid to the floor, her head
propped in her hands.

Her sister joined her on the floor and said
softly, "You're so absorbed in Oz and his problems you can't see
it, but Nash is totally crushing on you. You have a chance with
him, you know."

Beth rolled her eyes and tried to shrug it
off, hoping her sister didn't notice the heat in her cheeks. "Nash
doesn't like country girls and isn't looking for a relationship."
She lightly touched her lips. But there was that kiss. That
unexplainable and unrepeated kiss. What did that mean? Beth added
quickly. "Besides, Oz thinks he's being a good guy by setting me
free. But I can tell he doesn't really want it. He still loves me
even though he isn't ready for us to be together again. If I love
him, I should wait."

"He broke Gran's hip, Beth." Her sister gave
her a look that implied stupidity on Beth's part.

"By accident!" Why couldn't her sister see
it? Today's actions totally said he still loved her and that there
was still hope. Maybe buried under an avalanche, but it was
there.

Cynthia stared at the framed print on the
opposite wall, her brow furrowed in thought. "Did he say anything?"
Cynthia asked, still focused on the print.

Beth studied her fingers.

"Well?" her sister prompted.

"Sort of."

"What did he say?"

"It's not important."

"Did he ask you back?"
Cynthia gave her a hard look. The kind their mother used to give
her when she was lying by omission. "Did he give you
any
indication that he
was there other than to get out of the house and do the things he
used to do in order to get his parents off his back?"

Her mind leapt to his comment about his dad
saying he needed to smarten up. Another snow boulder in the
avalanche. "He brought a rose."

Beth caught her sister
flashing a raised eyebrow as if to say,
That's all? You're going to hang your hopes on a
flower?
and the fight boiled up within her.
"He's a guy! He can't just blurt out his feelings. He came to dance
and to do something we both used to enjoy. He was telling me to
wait." She was sure of it.

"Oz used to write you poems, Beth. I think
he could muster up a few words to ask you back if that's what was
on his mind." Cynthia turned to face her, her expression kind. "He
doesn't want his mom sending him to rehab. You're failing to see
the whole picture. You can't wait forever and he's not changing.
Despite him saying he loved you at the intervention."

Beth sunk her head into her hands. Her
sister's argument felt a lot more solid than the one her heart was
whispering in her ear. His words and actions failed to add up to
happily back together again.

"I'm sorry, Beth. And the
fact that he was drunk..." Her sister sat down beside her and
gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't say good things
about his intentions." Cynthia's voice became low and convincing.
"I say screw it all to hell and make your move. Nash is hot shit
and someone will grab him if you don't." Cynthia let out a low
chuckle and said somewhat wistfully, "A doctor who knows how to
dress
and
how to
listen? If you want to have that family you've been dreaming about,
you need to seize the moment." She patted Beth's knee and stood up.
"You don't need Oz for that dream. You need a man. A good man like
Dr. Love Buns who can make those dreams come true." She snapped her
fingers. "Easy-peasy like he's buying a new Beemer."