Love Unmatched (15 page)

“For real, babe?” I asked, unbelievingly, “She caught me by surprise.”

She hissed a breath and said, “Next time you’ll be telling me that she caught you by surprise with your pants down!  You know what? I don’t need this right now!”

Why the hell was she giving me attitude?

I snapped. “Sedona, listen. What the hell are you talking about? This is bullshit and you know it!”

Her voice was loud, her breath coming out in huffs. “You know what, Zander? You’re right. This is bullshit!”

Then she hung up the phone.

What the hell just happened? I called her phone again and she didn’t pick up.

When Sedona was mad, she shielded herself with a force field that was made up of ice. The frost around her could refreeze the melting ice caps in the Arctic.

I called Brynn.
Poor Brynn
. She was getting caught up in this.

She answered with, “Zander, I think she just needs space right now.”

“Space?” I said. “I didn’t even do anything.”

“Look, I heard that her patient died today,” she explained, “and she’s really heartbroken about it. Maybe, seeing those pictures, even if they didn’t mean anything, just sent her over the edge.”

I was so uneasy. I wished Sedona would talk to me. She was probably feeling so low right now. I knew how attached she became to her patients.

“Okay. Please take care of her for me,” I asked. “And please tell her to call me tonight.”

I waited all night for her phone call. It never came.

*****

Sedona

I woke up with a headache.

I walked towards the bathroom and everything felt so heavy.

My restless sleep did not help. My baby tossed and turned inside of me - feeling my pain, trying to help me get through it.

I knew Zander had called. I saw the phone blink in the dark so many times.

I just couldn’t deal with everything right now. The only good thing was that I was off from work today.

After a quick shower I sat on the bed for what seemed like hours.

Zander was calling again. I picked it up, and the moment he said, ‘babe’, I let it all out.

I cried and cried until my voice went hoarse. He just listened to me over the phone. He asked if we could video chat. I walked towards my desk, turned the video chat function on my laptop and ended the call on the phone. I liked to video chat on the computer, because I could see him clearer, and his image would be bigger.

When I saw his face on the screen, I cried some more. I saw clearly how tired his eyes were. He didn’t seem like he had gotten any sleep either.

I touched the screen to trace his face. His blue-green gaze lacked luster, his hair was mussed from sleep, and he was shirtless.

I told him about what happened yesterday, about how upset I was that Mrs. Kendrick had died. I described to him everything that happened and he just listened. Once in a while he held out his arms, as if offering me a hug.

“You did all that you could, babe,” he said somberly. “Maybe she’s in a better place now.”

I nodded. It was difficult to accept the fact that one of my favorite patients was gone, and that she would not even get the chance to meet Zander as she had wished.

“I’m sorry for my actions last night. I didn’t mean to scream at you. I was having a really bad day, and then I saw the picture of you and Inna and I just couldn’t take it anymore,” I whispered, hoping that he heard my apology through the microphone in the computer.

He looked at me and said, “I’m here for you, babe.”

I stared at his face. I knew he was. He always was.

“I’m sorry too,” he continued, “I’m sorry if I added to your stress yesterday. I didn’t expect her to do that. I’ll be more careful.”

I pressed my fingers to my mouth and brought my fingers to the screen, kissing him from miles away. We talked more about Mrs. Kendrick and Zander said that maybe he could send something to her son, who was also a football fan. It would not help bring her back, but it would be a symbol that she was important to me. I agreed to his idea. Zander was truly a good man.

We talked about his game yesterday, and then he finally explained the Inna Posey picture. I listened and told him that one day, if she kept up with the flirting, she would get her due from me. Zander just shrugged it off and said that she was of no consequence to him. After that I brought my laptop to the kitchen so that I could eat some breakfast.

While I was munching on my turkey and egg sandwich, he asked, “How are you today? How’s baby doing?”

“I’m going to the doctor today,” I replied. “I need some routine tests done.”

“Call me when you’re done, okay?” I always did. Zander sometimes called me before I was even done with my appointments. He always wanted to know what was going on right away.

We talked about his plans for the day. I told him that I wanted to go check out some baby clothes at Babies and Mommies. Then he said, “Sedona, how did you even find out about Inna and me? Did someone send you a picture? I mean, there’s nothing for me to hide. But I’m just curious as to how you got that picture right away.”

I took a deep breath and told him about the paparazzi who loitered around our apartment. His eyes went dark and he said, “We need to get you a bodyguard. They’re becoming very intrusive.”

“A bodyguard?”

“Yes,” he said, voice firm. “They can’t be doing this stuff.”

I broke to him my disapproval. “Babe, I can handle them. I know the best routes to take so I can avoid them. Yesterday they just caught me at a really bad time.”

“Sedona, I need to protect you and our baby,” he countered. “If they’re camping out at the apartment, it will only be a matter of time until they start chasing after you.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard.” This was crazy. It wasn’t like I was the first lady or a celebrity. The last thing I needed was someone to follow me around as his job.

Zander looked like he was about to say more, but then I said, “I miss you. I can’t wait until I’m done with my internship so we can start our lives together.”

A small smile escaped his mouth. “Me too. I just want to wake up right next to you every day.”

“Uh-huh.” I grinned. “It’s kind of hard waking up next to you every day.”

“Why?”

“Because when I wake up with you next to me, something hard and big is always trying to poke me and penetrate through my undies.”

His face turned red and he laughed. “Well, that something hard and big only wakes up when you’re right next to me.”

I let out a sigh and said, “I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too. More than you’ll ever know,” he said, his facial expression communicating with me just how much he missed me.

“We are not perfect. What we make of the world around us, therein lies perfection.”

Zander

Sedona had no idea I was going to be here.

I almost blurted it out last night during our nightly video chat.

I wanted to surprise her. I missed her so much, especially after the misunderstanding that we had about Inna.

I had texted Brynn earlier to let me into the unit. Brynn was working at another floor, but she was nice enough to tell the security personnel that I was a welcome guest. I could’ve waited for Sedona in the hospital lobby, but I wanted to surprise her and the staff in the unit. I had found out that the hospital staff liked treats, so this time I went in carrying two boxes of assorted desserts. The treats were my passes to get into good graces with Sedona’s co-workers.

I still haven’t caught a glimpse of her. I saw nurses and doctors walk past me as I sat on the chair that was a few feet away from the nursing station.

Sedona must be busy with her patients. She didn’t even respond to the text I sent her an hour ago.

I stretched myself on the chair and started browsing through the Sports Magazine I bought at the airport. She still had an hour to go before her shift ended.

I was flexing my neck left and right, trying to remove the kinks that I’d gotten during the flight, when I caught sight of a tall dude who was probably a doctor, since he was wearing one of those crisp, white lab coats. He was standing in front of the desk and was staring at something intently. He looked like he just found dessert.

I followed his line of vision.

His gaze landed on a figure that was so familiar to me.
Mine.

Who was this dickwad?

He kept staring at her. She was wearing her loose, pink scrubs with her off-white clogs. Her long, dark locks were pulled up into a ponytail. She was talking to another nurse.

Sedona must’ve sensed the guy’s stare because she looked straight at him and quickly turned her face the other way.

What the hell just happened?

I didn’t recall her mentioning to me that she worked with a guy who stared at her like this.

As much as I wanted to wait for her shift to end, I could not stand this fucker anymore. I stood up from my seat and slowly walked towards Sedona. The nurse whom she was talking to recognized me and pointed at me.

Sedona turned her head, and when she caught sight of me she almost skipped towards me.

“Hey babe!” Her smile was so big and her eyes shimmered. She looked delighted to see me.

She kissed me on my cheek. “When did you get in?”

I hugged her tightly to my side. “Two hours ago.”

She stayed in my hug and said, “Let me give my report first, and then I’m all yours.”

I nodded. I walked with her to the nursing station.

The idiot was still there. His gaze flared back and forth between Sedona and me. I was quite familiar with most of her co-workers by now, so I smiled at them, and they greeted me and smiled back. I informed them about the dessert boxes and their smiles got even bigger.

Sedona introduced me to two ladies I haven’t met, and then to the dickwad. “Zander, this is Dr. Klinefelder.”

The dickwad reached out his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”

I didn’t think so, but if that was how he wanted to play this that was fine with me.

I grabbed his hand and shook it – hard and way longer than necessary.

“I’m her fiancé.” My left hand was still on Sedona’s waist. Most of the people in the station were giving reports, so it was pretty noisy.

Sedona excused herself. The nurse who she had to give report to had just showed up.

“Fiancé, huh?” This guy emanated preppiness like he was born with it. “Sedona never mentioned it.”

The way he said Sedona’s name fueled my desire to tear his preppy face up and smash it against the wall. Or a chair. Or the counter where he was resting his hands.

“Yes,” I said. “And I don’t appreciate it when my fiancé is being stared at like she’s the main course.”

He tightened his jaw. If he misread my message before, then I was helping him arrive at the right conclusion now.
Stay away from her.