That Thing Between Eli & Gwen by J. J. McAvoy
Yep, definitely going to need ice.
Chapter Thirteen
Winners and Losers
Eli
Twice in less than twenty-four hours, I was forced to subject myself to a cold shower thanks to Guinevere Poe. Two days before, I wouldn’t have thought of her like that; I wouldn’t let myself. However, the second I admitted it, I felt like a barrier fell down and I could see her in ways that…left me feeling hot. My mind put all the pieces of her together like a puzzle. I hadn’t realized I had already felt so much of her. I knew she had dainty feet from the time I wrapped her ankle, smooth skin from the time I tried to take the wedding dress off her, which was also how I remembered what her back looked like, and how full her breasts were.
Not now. I groaned to myself, grabbing my bag, though I smiled at the shoes she had given me. When I came out into my living room, I saw Logan sitting on my counter, eating my cereal. “Shouldn’t you be at class?”
“It’s Saturday. Why were you smiling when you came out?” he asked mid-bite.
“None of your business—” I stopped, wanting to ask him a question. “What do you think of Guinevere? As a woman?”
He grinned wide.
“Before you start with your foolishness, just answer my question.”
“Honestly?”
“No, lie to me. Yes. Honestly.”
“She's super hot,” he said seriously.
I kind of wished he had lied. “You’re just saying that to see if you will get under my skin.”
“No.” He shook his head. “When Sebastian first introduced us, I thought that too. She has a really nice smile. I thought she was actually one of the models for his magazines, and then realized her body was way too sinful for that. I mean, how full her bre—”
“Stop,” I snapped at him. Before I beat you over the head with that bowl.
“What? You asked.”
“I asked you to tell me what you thought of her as a woman, not give me a rundown of her body.”
“Aren’t bodies pretty much a big part of what makes up a woman?”
Why am I talking to this kid? “Just forget it, never mind.”
I moved to grab fruit from my fridge and a water bottle when he spoke again.
“Fine. Everything except body: she’s smart, and kind, a little odd but in a funny and cute way, successful on her own, and lastly, but most importantly, Mom's already in love with her. If you didn't like her so much, I’d probably ask her out.”
I stopped to look at him. “You like her?”
He shrugged. “Not as much as you do, and before you use me as an excuse not to date her, know that I said I would ask her on a date, not confess to being in love or anything like that. She’s a nice and pretty cool woman to be around. Of course, any straight male would want to go on a date with her. Just because you're blind doesn’t mean we all need to be.”
“We both just got out of pretty serious relationships. This could blow back up in our faces badly. Maybe we should wait longer before doing anything.” Anything more.
“If you know she likes you back, what are you waiting for? The people you both were in relationships with didn’t.”
I didn’t even want to think about it anymore. “Don’t eat all my cereal,” I told him, walking to the door.
“Don’t let her see the stingy part of you for a while—if you actually go for it.” He snorted to himself.
“I already did.” I grinned when his head whipped back to me, and I closed the door.
“Wait, what?” he yelled.
I knew he would follow, so I quickly got on the elevator. Just as it was about to close I heard her voice.
“Please hold! Thank you.” She came in, not even bothering to look up, cell phone in one hand while digging through her purse with the other. “No, I’m going to need double that amount of paint. Yes. Thank you so much. Also, can you get me the same art students as before? You're an angel with six wings, Suzy. Bye.” She hung up, taking a deep breath. “Thanks for holding the—” She stopped, turning toward me.
“You're welcome,” I said just as the doors opened at the ground floor.
“I thought you would already be at the hospital by now,” she said when I let her out first.
“My shift starts in twenty minutes. I’m usually early, but I’ll make it right on time.”
“Is it because of me? I messed up your schedule this morning, didn’t I?”
The reason I was running later than usual was because of her and our morning, but not the way she was thinking. “It’s fine, I promise. Ride with me to the hospital?” I asked her when my driver pulled up.
She looked at the town car, then at me. “You have a driver take you to work every morning?”
“Not every morning. How were you going?”
“The bus.”
“What kind of millionaire uses the bus in this city?” I opened the door for her.
She hesitated. I wasn't sure why.
“Aren’t you sore?”
“True,” she said, getting in.
Nodding to the driver, I took a seat beside her.
“Do you have rules?” she asked, putting on her seatbelt.
“Rules?”
She nodded. “Like not to talk to you at work? Or pretend we aren’t close, or—”
“Who has rules like that?” I knew who already.
She didn’t answer, just glanced out the window.
I brought her face back to me. “I told you my one and only rule this morning: don’t lie. That’s it. If you want to talk to me when I’m not busy, then talk to me. I’m not going to broadcast that we are…a couple, but if people find out, I really don’t care. I’m not Sebastian, and I would hate it if I were being compared to him in your mind.”
“You don’t compare me to Hannah?”
“I don’t think about her. I think about you, just you. That’s why I’m here. Can’t you tell? I grow more attracted to you with each passing second. Catch up.”
“How are you doing it?” she whispered, her eyes dropping to my lips. “Why am I all of a sudden thinking about you like this? We should be going slow, getting to know each other…”
“Maybe it’s because we’ve already been doing that for weeks,” I told her.
“I should still make you work for me, right?”
She is too close. “Fine. I get off at eight. Late dinner? I’ll cook.”
“It’s our first date, then,” she said, taking off her seatbelt as we arrived.
Opening the door for us, I took her hand to help her out and thanked the driver.
She glanced at our hands and smirked, but didn’t say anything.
Only when we were inside the blue and white building did we break apart.
“Let me know before you leave?” I asked.
She nodded, waving. “Looking forward to it, Dr. Davenport,” she replied, heading to the wall.
I watched as she grabbed her headphones from her backpack and placed them over her ears. She danced as she walked like she didn’t care who saw her, just kept bobbing her head.
“Is that the artist your mother brought in?” Dr. Seo asked, coming in on my right. As we watched, she took off her jacket and dropped it to the ground beside her, leaving her in just a tank top and jean shorts.
“Yes—”
“Interesting.” He tilted his head to the side, watching her. “Go ahead, mate. It looks like I need to go introduce myself.”
He stopped when I put my hand on his shoulder.
“What?”
“You can say hello to her, but if you try to go beyond that, you’ll regret it. Enjoy your day of facelifts and silicone breasts.” I turned, starting up the stairs.
Sadly, he followed me up two at a time. “She’s not even your type.”
“Female is my type, didn’t you know?” I replied, heading to the locker room.
He snickered, pulling his hair up into a ponytail. “I bet you I can get her to go on a date faster than your cruel, stiff sel
“Really? How much are we talking about?” I lifted my shirt and pulled out my scrubs.
“The usual $5K, and this time the loser has to dye his hair.”
Idiot. “Fine. Shake on it.” I offered my hand.
When he took it, I said, “I think pink would look nice. How about you?”
“Fine, as long as you are willing to bleach that dark hair of yours.” He still didn’t get it. Pulling out my phone, I video-chatted her.
“Eli?” She stared, confused.
“I was just wondering, what should I make for our first date tonight?” I smiled as Dr. Seo's mouth opened and closed before he flipped me off.
“Anything is fine, I’m only allergic to—”
“Coffee, I remember. Sorry for bothering you.”
“No problem. Bye.” She laughed, hanging up.
“Sometimes man, I can’t believe I’m your friend,” he muttered.
I tied my laces. “I warned you if you tried to go any further you would regret it, didn’t I? Listening is what makes you a good doctor.” I patted his arm, heading to the door.
“One of these days I’m going to win against you. I’m donating the money to the children’s ward again?”
“At least someone will just think you are a remarkable guy,” I replied, walking out. When I did, I noticed Dr. Stretch, Dr. Four Eyes, and Dr. Bunhead were only then running up to me.
“You're late,” I said, glancing down at my watch.
“Only by two minutes!” Dr. Stretch raised his hand.
I glared at him.
“The pit?”
They sound so sad. It was nice. I didn’t answer, just nodded, heading to my first patient. That day I felt amazing.
Guinevere
Taking a step back, I stared at the wall in front of me. I had been at it for the last four hours and had only traced out the left corner. Stretching my arm and fingers, I kept stepping back.
“What is it?”
Turning around I saw no one, but I felt her move toward the wall. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I stopped her from kneeling down. Her head was covered with a small hospital cap with a bow on it. Her white skin was so pale it was eerie. She didn’t even really look alive.
She hugged her teddy bear to her chest.
She shouldn’t be walking. “Ms. Molly?”
“Hi Guinevere.”
“Molly, shouldn’t you be in your room or something—”
“No!” she yelled, pulling herself from me and running. She didn’t get very far before tripping…or maybe her legs just gave out.
“Molly.” I rushed over, picking her up. “Molly, can you hear me?”
She wrapped her arms around my neck, taking deep breaths. “I want to go outside.” She started to cry. “I hate it here. I want to play.”
I walked quickly to the nurses’ station. Three doctors came running toward me, their eyes glued to the little girl in my arms. However, it was…what was his name…that man from apartment 32C who called out to her.
“Molly!” he yelled, trying to take her into his arms. “Molly, come on. Stop this, let's go back.”
“No!” she screamed in my ear.
I winced. Her grip on me tightened. “I found her at my work station. She’s not letting go.”
I tried to take her off of me, but she just wrapped her legs tighter.
What is this?
“Molly, if I promise to come play with you, will you go with your doctors?” I hoped she would loosen up.
She shook her head. “Grown ups lie, you won’t come. Daddy lied, he said I would feel better. The doctors lied, saying the other doctor would me fix me. I want to go home!” She cried harder.
I glanced at her dad, who just looked broken. His shirt was rumpled, his shoulders hunched, and his five o' clock shadow seemed to be working on its tenth hour.
“Okay. I won’t lie then,” I said, shifting her. “You are sick, Ms. Molly, and these people are trying to help. Running away won’t make you feel better, and you won't win in the end. You liked the drawing, right? I can’t come to play, but I can paint you any picture you want. Just tell me.”
“My mommy,” she whispered. “Can you draw her?”
I smiled, nodding. “I will have it to you in a week, and if you don’t receive it, you can tell everyone I am a liar too. But right now, will you go with your doctors?”
She frowned, but nodded.
I handed her to a dark-skinned doctor with glasses. “We will take her to get her labs done, and then she’ll be back in her room,” he said as the trio escorted her away.
Her father—Toby, I now remembered—stood wringing his hands, watching her go. “I know this is a very dumb question, but are you all right?” I asked.
He picked up his head some, turning.
His blank look was like he'd forgotten I was there, which was understandable.
“My daughter called me a liar, and she is in pain. I’m the furthest thing from all right.” He put his hand over his face and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry to dump that on you.”
“It’s okay, I said it was a dumb question. You look like you need a mental break. Would you like to sit with me? You're Toby Wesley, right? From my building?”
“Oh, that's why you look familiar. Yes. Ms. Poe, correct?” He followed me to sit in the chairs by the wall. “Is this your work station?” He glanced over at the light sketching on the wall.
“Yes. I officially started on it today.” I leaned back in my chair and followed his gaze. My sketch was pretty hard to see with the naked eye, so I wasn’t worried about anyone figuring it out yet. When the paint came in, that’s when the screen was going to have to go up.
“What's it going to be?”
“It’s a secret for now. Which reminds me, do you have a photo of your wife? Is she here as well, so I can work on Molly's painting?”
He sat taller in the chair, not looking at me. “She passed. It’s all right, you're busy. I wouldn’t want her to—”
“Mr. Wesley, if there is anything I would hate to be called, it’s a liar. I promised her a painting. I have to give her one before the week is out, or else that’s what I would be.”
He glanced back, a small smile on his lips, before pulling out his wallet and handing me a worn photo. “If it’s not good enough—”
“It’s fine.” I brought out my phone and snapped a photo of it. I didn’t want to take it from him.
“Mr. Wesley?”
I turned, and there was Eli in his blue scrubs and white coat, holding a large cup in one hand.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes, Dr. Davenport. Molly ran off, but we found her. I’m going to head back to her room now and wait with her, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’ll be there momentarily.”
Toby nodded and turned back to me. “Thank you again.”
“Any time.” I stood when he walked away and turned to Eli, who also watched him go.
“Nothing was going on,” I said quickly.
He turned back to me, eyebrow lifted.
“I found Molly. Well, Molly found me, and I promised her a painting—”
“Why are you explaining this to me?” He looked completely confused, stepping up to me.
“I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and get upset—”
“You’re doing it again. I’m not sure if you realize it, but you are basing what you think my reaction will be on what Sebastian's was.” He sighed, taking my hand and giving me the cup.
He was right, and I hadn’t even thought about it. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m just going to have to work harder to make sure you see the clear difference between him and me.” He smirked, nodding to the drink in my hand. “It’s hot vanilla. Since you can’t drink coffee, I wasn’t sure what to bring you.”
“You didn’t have to bring anything, but thank you.”
“I know, but if I didn’t, what excuse was I going to use to
Smiling, I took a sip, and my eyes about popped out of my head. “This is really good.”
“Good to know. I have to head back. See you later?” he said, partially turned.
Taking his arm, I stopped him from going any farther by kissing his cheek. “Thanks.”
“You're welcome. And I’m just going to be honest: your ex sounds like one hell of a douchebag.” He waved, walking away.
When he was gone, I sat again and couldn’t help but wonder if all guys were really like Eli. Sebastian was the only man I had ever seriously dated. When he got jealous over me speaking to other guys, I just thought he was worried about losing me. When he said he didn’t want people at work to know we were going out, I thought it was because he was worried I would be looked down on for dating the boss. The more I thought about the situation, the more it felt like I should have never stayed with him. But hindsight was always twenty-twenty, and it had been hard to see the flaws when I was always staring at him through rose-colored glasses.
Eli
Turning away from the room where Molly lay resting beside her father, I faced the interns in front of me, trying my best not to holler. “She ran away?” I asked softly.
“She’s been through so much chemo, we don’t even know how she got up,” Four Eyes said, and they all nodded along with him.
Bunhead stood straighter. “Besides, we were only gone for a second. We thought the nurses would watch out for her.”
Do not lose it, Eli. “Why didn’t you let me know? I had to find out from her father,” I managed to say through clenched teeth.
Dr. Stretch shrugged his skinny shoulders. “We didn’t want to bother you with something—”
“Stop talking!” I snapped. I’m going to kill them. “I’m going to go in order, so pay attention, because if I have to repeat myself, not only will you be off this service, you will be off this floor. Dr. Four Eyes, the reason why you must watch children who have received chemotherapy is because they are more resilient than adults. Some days can be horrible, even downright painful, but some days they feel well enough to get up and move. Dr. Bunhead, that is the reason why I asked you three to keep an eye on her. Unlike you, the nurses are not my interns. Unlike you, they have over a hundred patients to see to. Dr. Stretch, if you ever fail to inform me about my missing patient’s whereabouts, or anything of the sort, I swear you won’t just be off this floor, but you’ll never be able to practice medicine in this state again. Any questions?”