Destroy (A Standalone Romance Novel) (29 page)

“I guess that’s the best
I could expect out of the situation.”

“Yes, Jeff. And I am
sorry it turned out this way, believe me. Just remember, I’ll be a friend you
can count on, even if things don’t work out the way you wish between you and
Elizabeth.”

Chapter
31

Tiffany wasn’t long to
get home after I arrived. She was totally outraged.

“What is it with this
guy?” she demanded, sounding like my mother years ago. “Where did he learn his
manners?” She paused and plopped down in the sofa beside me. “Correction,” she
added, passing her arm across my shoulders. “He couldn’t have learned his
manners anywhere, he hasn’t got any!”

I had to smile.
“Apparently, his wife challenged him to make our affair public.”

“And that’s the way he
chose to do it? That’s ridiculous.”

“Exactly what I told him.”

“Wait a minute; do you
mean you talked to him after you both left?”

“Oh absolutely, he was
right behind me. He wanted to apologize.”

“For what? I mean there
are so many things he’s done wrong in the space of a few minutes, what
specifically did he apologize for?”

“I don’t really know. And
I don’t think he realized how hurtful what he did was. He only saw an
opportunity to take up his wife’s challenge. It was all done on the spur of the
moment.”

“Yeah, yeah, like trying
to chase you all the way to Omaha. I don’t buy it, Hattie. He might be very
unhappy and truly grieving for the loss of his son, but that’s not the way a
gentleman should behave under
any
circumstance.”

“What can I do about it,
though?”

“How about suing him for
defamation of character? Or you can get an injunction so he stays away from you?”
I shook my head.

“You know I won’t do any
of that. I’m not like that. But you’re right. I’ve told him that until his
marital situation is resolved, I don’t want him to come near me, talk to me or
make any move toward me.”

“What about work?”
Tiffany asked.

“I said that we could
certainly work together but as soon as we would go through the doors of the
hospital I would go my way and he would go his.”

“Do you think he’ll abide
by that request?”

“I don’t care if he does
or not, Tiff. If he does, fine, I’ll see how it all plays out. If he doesn’t,
I’ll probably slam him with a sexual harassment suit.”

Tiffany had a broad smile
across her lips when she said, “That’s better! Now you’re making sense. He’s
got to be stopped one way or the other, Hattie.”

We had a quiet dinner and
watched a bit of TV before going to bed. The news brought some thoughts to our
minds. Terrorism seemed to have spread everywhere across North America. I
thought of how I would feel if one of these murderers, one of these maniacs
ever came through the hospital’s doors. I had to ask Tiffany. She would be on
the front line–being an ER doctor.

“I don’t really know,
Hattie,” she replied. “All we’re concerned with is saving lives. We cannot let
our judgment of a man’s actions influence our own actions.” She paused. “I
guess I would try my best to save him.”

“But do you think they–I
mean the security forces–would let you work on him?”

“I think if that were
ever to happen, Hattie, these guys in army fatigue and all the rest of it
better stay out of my way while I try saving the maniac’s neck.
What ever
happens afterward is their problem. But once they
cross the threshold of my ER, they better stay as far away from me as
possible!”

I had to chuckle. I could
easily imagine Tiffany in her pink bathrobe and bunny slippers knocking down a
couple of SEALs with her frying pan.

“What about you?” she
asked. “How would you handle it?”

“I frankly don’t know.
Like you, I don’t think I could let him die. I would do everything in my power
to save him. But I don’t know if I would prevent any of these army fellows from
watching what I am doing.”

“Anyways, why don’t we
sleep on it?” Tiffany suggested with a giggle. “Maybe we’ll resolve all of the
world’s problems overnight–what do you say?”

I got up and followed her
down the hall. We said good night with a smile on our faces.

Perhaps it was the
tension of the last day or so that started to take its toll on me, but I had a hard
time getting out of bed the next morning. I literally had to drag myself to the
shower. When I came out, I had to rush to the toilet to throw up. When I looked
in the mirror, I was as pale as a sheet. I felt my forehead. I was burning up.
That was it. I probably contracted the flu on my way back from Omaha. Recycled
air in an aircraft is also the best way to recycle germs. Most often, the air
is cleansed before it goes through the cabin, but sometimes it isn’t.

I didn’t get dressed and
went to the kitchen in my bathrobe. Tiffany took one look at me and nodded.
“Okay, it’s back to bed with you, Dr. Williams. It’s probably the flu and
you’ll be in for a couple of days of discomfort.”

“I hate that word,” I
told her as she followed me back to my room. “Why don’t you tell it like it is:
I’m in for a couple of days of hell on earth?”

“Yeah, and being cranky
or snappy won’t help either.”

“Are you going to bring
me back some meds, or do you want me to phone them in?”

“You just drink some
orange juice while I get the pharmacist to send a delivery boy with your meds,
okay?”

“Alright. Shall I take
something in the meantime?”

“Like what?” she
questioned.

“A couple of Tylenol
maybe?” I slipped under the covers.

“Okay. I’ll bring the
orange juice and a couple of tablets to take before I leave. But after that,
just drink water or tea, okay?”

“Okay, okay,” I told her
as I tried to calm down before I would have another bout of nausea.

The whole day was a blur.
I couldn’t even remember opening the door to the deliveryman who brought me
some meds. The phone only rang once, but I didn’t answer it. I was in no mood
to talk to anyone.

When Tiffany came home, I
was asleep. Her prescription had worked wonders on my system. Everything had
calmed down. I was not hungry and still feverish, but most of the darn
discomfort had passed.

“How are you feeling?”
she asked me when I finally emerged from the depth of my room.

“Better, thanks. I’m
still not hungry though.”

“That’s okay. We’ll have
to play it by ear–or more accurately, by scent.” I frowned. “Yes. I’m sure you
recall some of our classes. Nausea is mostly provoked by the irritation of our
sense of smell. So, I’m going to make some veggie soup. If it smells good to
you, I’ll give you a small bowl. If it doesn’t, you’ll have to return to your
tea and dry biscuits’ diet.”

“Okay. No problem. Let’s
see how my nose reacts to your cooking,” I joked.

“You go and watch TV
while I do this. I don’t want to provoke a reaction from your nose we would
both regret.”

I was sitting down when the
phone rang again. I was about to pick it up when I heard Tiffany holler,
“Don’t! It’s probably Jeff. Let it go to voice mail.”

I obeyed and we both
listened.

“Hi. Heather? Just
wondered how you were.
 
Dr. Jensen told
me you were sick. I thought I’d give you a call to see how you’re faring. Call
me when you get this, please. Take care.”

I looked at Tiffany.

“Yeah, he came to the ER
this afternoon wondering where you were,” she said.

“And you told him I had
the flu?”

“Yep. And I said that
you’d be back in a couple or three days. That’s all. Anyway, I didn’t have time
to talk since we were quite busy.”

“I just hope he doesn’t
call again,” I said. “I still can get over what he did yesterday. He can be
such a jerk sometimes.”

“What do you mean ‘sometimes’?
He’s always been a jerk. There is something wrong with the guy. He’s making you
suffer along with him. That’s what he did with his wife. Instead of consoling
her for the death of their child, he went on a sex rampage. If it hadn’t been
you, it would have been someone else, Hattie. The only difference is that you came
to him–by accident of course–but you presented the perfect opportunity for him
to drag his misfortune into the center ring again.”

“All of what you’ve just
said is absolutely true, Tiff. But, I am partially to blame as well. I am
attracted to him, remember?”

“Oh I remember. But as I
recall, you told him only last night to stay away until ‘his marital situation
was resolved’, and not even twenty-four hours later, he calls. He uses the
pretext that you’re sick. But believe me, this call is to serve his own end
game.”

“Oh I believe you. And
that’s why I won’t return the call. I’ll even disconnect the bloody thing if it
comes to that. While I’m here, and until he’s divorced, I don’t want to have
anything to do with him. After last night–I’d be a fool to do otherwise.”

“He’s been abusing the
privilege of your company, as my father would have said.” Tiffany smiled at the
recollection. “You see, when I was a kid, my father considered it a ‘privilege’
to know me or to have the ‘pleasure’ of my company. So, any time a boy would
show ill manners toward me or would insist on going out with me, my father
would remind him that it was a ‘privilege’ to know me and to abuse the
privilege would spell the end of the friendship.”

“A wise fellow, your
dad,” I remarked. “That smells good,” I said all of a sudden. And it did.

“Ah-ah! That’s what I was
waiting to hear,” Tiffany replied. “I’ve added some chicken broth into the mix
and I guess that’s what you’re attracted to.”

“Too right I am,” I said,
getting up and going to the kitchen counter. “Can I have some toast with the
soup?”

“Just try eating the soup
first, and if it doesn’t come back, then I’ll get you some toast, okay?”

An hour later, I had
eaten a small bowl of soup and half a piece of toast. I crossed my fingers
while my tummy was doing whatever it was supposed to do. Again, we watched a
bit of TV and I returned to bed after taking another dose of meds.

The next morning, I felt
a little better. The fever had returned, but not as viciously as the first day.
So, it was still going to be another day spent at home. I didn’t mind because I
could catch up on some of the studying I had abandoned before going to Omaha. I
heard the phone ring a couple of times, but no message was left. I didn’t doubt
for a minute it had been Jeff calling again. Yet, I wasn’t going to let him
“abuse the privilege of my company” any more. As Tiffany had so nicely
described, Jeff had abused my company on a couple of occasions and last Monday was
the straw that broke the camel’s back. The more I thought about what had
happened, the more reluctant I became to continue being involved with him. He
was verging on narcissism–if not being there already. And I didn’t want to have
anything to do with that sort of man, however good-looking he might be and
however good in bed he might be.

Tiffany prepared a
wonderful dinner that night, but I only ate the veggies with another piece of toast.
I was literally afraid to press my luck in any direction. As we were relaxing
in front of the TV (again), Tiffany told me that she had a visit from Elizabeth
that morning.

“What did she want?” I
asked, hugging my pillow. “Is she okay?”

“I think so. She only
wanted to know if you were okay. I told her that you had the flu and that you
should be back before the end of the week.”

“Did she need me before
that?” I asked, thinking that if an organ came in for one of our patients, she
would be short-handed.

“Oh no, and that’s why
she came to see me.” My heart skipped a beat. I honestly thought she was
dismissing me. “She didn’t want you to come back too soon. Risk of
contamination and all that. She thought it would be better if you stayed home
until next Monday.”

“Really?” I didn’t quite
believe it.

“Yes, really, Hattie.”
Tiffany smiled at my obvious discomfort. “As you said, she is a very nice lady.
She wouldn’t fire you over something her husband did. I’m sure of it. She’s too
smart for that. Besides, you’re a good surgeon. You’ve proven your worth many
times over, so she doesn’t want anybody else at her side. Anyway, that’s my
impression of her.”

“Okay. Sounds like I’ve
got the week off then,” I said, cheering up a little. “I might be able to
return to jogging in the morning.”

“Oh no you don’t,
sweetie. Not yet anyway. You need to save your strength to fight that bug. If
you don’t, you’ll be in bed for another week. This is not a mere cold, Hattie.
This is influenza. So, don’t push it, okay?”

“Okay, okay, but maybe I
can walk to the mall and have a coffee, right?”

“Maybe on Thursday or
Friday, yes. Before that, it’s complete rest–doctor’s orders, okay?”