BRIDGETTE

The handsome, blond doctor was standing too close to me. Well, well, well…who would have thought Cara would have an admirer? The smile on his face would tell any naïve girl he was into me--or Cara. Whatever.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I never took you as someone who would stand up to him.” He showed me his perfect teeth and I couldn’t help but return it.

“It was time,” I managed to say.

“Be careful. He’s a good friend of mine, but he kind of likes me. I don’t like him. So please, no flirting.” For the first time, I wanted Cara to keep quiet. I was enjoying Dr. Billy Cooper at the moment.

“Well, I suggest you don’t take it all the way. He may learn to like you and I wouldn’t like that.”

“Oh God, here he goes again…” Cara groaned.

I wanted to ask her what she meant by that but she answered me, as if hearing my question. “He’s been asking me out for months. I kept on saying no. So you better not.”

“Why?” I found myself asking Billy. Hey, I wanted to keep my options open--or Cara’s. She should really start dating someone. Quinn was the past and this hot doctor, plus Dr. Newman, here should keep her occupied.

“Because I want you to say no!” Cara exclaimed, thinking the question was for her..

“I don’t want him to be your first cup of coffee.” He smiled like he was looking at an angel.

Well, that angel actually had coffee with Dr. Newman, not just in the sense he was trying to say.

“Would you like to have coffee with me?”

His face was blank for a long moment before he blinked, getting over his shock. “You’re asking me out?”

I shrugged. I could hear Cara screaming her heart out now.

“Wow! That accident really changed a big part of you, Cara. Sure. Later?”

“Why not? Look, I have to go. I need to get dressed.”

“See you later then,” he winked and we both walked on our separate ways.

“What the hell, Bridgette! Are you really trying to ruin my life? What do I do when we get back? I don’t want to live the life you are building for me. This is invasion!”

“Relax, Cara. I am not doing anything wrong with your life. I am trying to fix it.”

“Well, you tried to fix it once ten years ago and I regret it.”

Okay, that kind of hurt a little. “Hey, no talking about the past, alright?”

“Then take it back. Take what you said to Bill back!”

“What’s wrong with having coffee with a friend? And you may get to like him, you know. It is also nice to have a friend in the workplace, someone who would be willing to cross the line for you--like Bill.”

“But I am happy with what we are. So please, just take it back.”

“Nah-ah. I am not. Just relax, Cara.”

CARA

I wanted to yell at her but I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to say. She was ruining everything I had worked for. I almost lost Danica, the only true friend I had in the hospital. And now, she was trying to ruin the friendship I had with Bill by going on a date with him.

It’s only coffee…

Fine. I’d have to give her this one. But she better be ready when I get to go back on the street to do her job. If I could just find that one guy she would really hate to have in her life…

I talked her through every motion during her shift, taking down notes as we went. I didn’t want her to jeopardize my work as well.

“He’s back,” Bridgette whispered.

I was dictating words she was writing on the chart. “Who?” I asked, looking over my own notes.

“Bill,” she whispered.

I straightened on my chair. “Cancel it. Cancel the coffee.”

“Yeah, right.”

BRIDGETTE

“Hey,” said Bill as he stood close to me. “Your penmanship looks weird. Did you change it or did the accident?”

I knew he was joking, but I was sensitive when it came to my handwriting. I just couldn’t get it right. Cara had an amazing one while I had the handwriting of a child who never learned to write. “I’m just tired. I think I need that coffee now.”

“I really hate you,” Cara groaned.

“Great. I was just about to ask you that. Come on, I know the best place for a coffee,” he said, taking one step back to give me way.

“Where?”

“The cafeteria, of course.”

I smiled, closed the chart and walked with him with Cara talking how she would kill me later.

“Really? In the middle of the street?” asked Bill when I told him about the accident.

“This is really humiliating,” Cara groaned. “I need a cup of coffee. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

I did not mind her. I was too busy looking at Bill’s blue eyes. It was like looking on Earth from outer space. The light over the ceiling was giving those eyes a life of their own. “Yeah,” I answered, glad to be free of Cara’s voice in my ear. “We fought like children and then it just happened.”

“Well, good thing the two of you did not get serious injuries.”

If you call, switching souls not serious, then yeah, we were lucky. I wanted to tell him that but I decided to close my mouth.

“Why did you always have to say no to me?” he asked, his voice innocent.

I shrugged. I didn’t know the answer. “I think I’m still healing,” I lied.

“Healing? What? From a past flame?”

“Sort of.” Well, if you really knew Cara like I did then, you would really believe she never got over Quinn.

“I hope you get over it soon enough,” said Bill with a wink. Why did he have to do that?

As we talked, I noticed that he avoided the subject of work and I was very glad because I didn’t know how to carry the conversation if he ever talked about angina, echocardiography, or anything related to Cara’s work.

“By the way, how’s your dad?” he asked after he emptied his second cup of coffee.

He knew Cara’s dad?

“He stayed in the hospital for a week, right? Was that last year?”

“Oh, yes.” I took a gulp of my then cold coffee to think. “He’s great. He actually cooked for me today.”

“You should be lucky to have a man like him.”

“Very.” My smile wavered a little when I remembered my own father. He had never been in a hospital and if he did, he wouldn’t surely want his daughters to visit. He was very private that way.

“Doctor Newman!”

Bill’s voice, or rather his words, perked me back to my senses and excited every bone in my body.

Dr. Newman, as hot as always, was frowning down at us.

“Good evening, Dr. Newman,” I said with a big smile. “How are you socks? Fit okay?”

He looked at me, his frown deepening. “They’re amazing. Thank you for asking.” Then, like I was a bubble that disappeared into thin air, his eyes travelled to Bill and he said, “I was looking for you. I didn’t know you will be here.”

“We were just having coffee. The first one we had since I asked her months ago.”

I flushed. I shouldn’t, but I flushed. They were talking about me like I wasn’t there. And Dr. Newman’s gaze was back at me. I tried really hard to hide my anxiety. He had a way of making me feel that way. But I had to stay focused. He was just one man. “Got tired of it and just had to say yes.”

Bill just laughed. I didn’t know Dr. Newman could have a deeper frown than the one he was already wearing. Why did I have the feeling that he didn’t like the Bill-and-Cara tandem?

“Good,” was all he said and then he was back to business. “Bill, I want the ECG readings of the patients from yesterday. Where did you put them?”

“They’re in my drawer. Should I get them for you?”

“Can you? I need them now.”

Bill hesitated for a while and looked at me.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, leaning my back against my chair. “Dr. Newman won’t eat me alive.”

He smiled and stood up. When he left, I was alone with the mean doctor once again.

“Won’t you sit down?” I offered when he did not move from his spot.

He looked at the chair Bill was occupying earlier, hesitated, but finally took the courage to sit across from me.

Neither of us spoke for a long time before he finally cleared his throat and asked, “So, you and Bill are dating?”

I was sure he was not the type who liked making small talks.

“Not, really, no. I think we’re just starting.” I took another sip from my cold coffee. “He’s not bad at all. He’s nice; he doesn’t talk to nurses in a bad way; he actually likes us; and he’s a very friendly guy.”

He looked at me pointedly. “You mean he’s not me.”

“You can round it up that way,” I answered, meeting his gaze.

I thought I saw a hint of amusement on his handsome face but it was gone as fast as he stood up. Bill had returned. Why did he have to be so fast? I looked at him and Bill as they talked about their patients and then he left without a word. I watched his back as he walked away, his head bent down on the papers Bill handed him.

“What did he say to you that made you smile like that?” asked my blond companion.

“Nothing. I think I just made him smile.”

“Scott? Smile? Not a very great combo.”

“He’s a man. He can smile, you know. I think I just made him smile.”

“No one has ever made him smile since--” for the love of all saints, he did not finish his sentence and I was dying to know more. I wanted to pull on his tongue to tell me the rest of it.

“What?”

“Nothing. Not my story to tell, I guess.”

“That’s okay,” I lied. Of course it was not okay! He was just about to tell me the story behind the look I always saw on Dr. Newman’s eyes--the look of sadness, anger and regret.

CARA

When I got back on the phone, Bridgette was just saying goodbye to Bill who sounded really happy. I hope she did not say anything that would make the man hope for something more other than friendship.

“What happened?”

“Nothing, we just had coffee,” Bridgette lied.

I did not press her for more information because I didn’t want people who would see her to think that I was talking to myself.

We did not talk about anything else because the unit became busy all of a sudden. Grace, a nurse who was with Bridgette, had a patient who had an emergency. His vitals started to sink and I had to talk Bridgette through the motion. I had always been tasked to man the crash cart. I knew where everything was and what the doctors needed even before they knew it. But since I was not there and the person acting as me had no idea at all, I had to think three more steps ahead.

When everything was over and the patient was stabilized, Bridgette was nearly packing her bags to leave. I had to force her to go back and finish her own work. When she was done with her endorsement, she talked with Danica for a while and then left saying she was very tired.

“Just remember that cutting a bandage doesn’t include the doctor’s hand,” I was telling her as she was driving back to my apartment.

“Shut up and let me rest,” she answered, her voice really tired.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.” I had to rest as well.

Just as when I was about to close my eyes, Bridgette’s phone rang.

It was Natalie.

“Hey! Quinn told me about the venue and I just want to let you know that it’s completely fine. Can we meet later? I want you to meet my maid of honor.”

“Sure,” I answered whatever Bridgette would have told me. Keep the client happy, keep the work.

“Great! And I promise I will be there this time!”

“Yeah, sure.” Just don’t bring your fiancé, I wanted to add.

I dressed like Bridgette would when I woke up. I challenged myself with her heels and by the time I climbed out of the car, I regretted ever forgetting to bring an extra pair of flats. The heels were killing me. Not that they were painful; Bridgette’s legs were used to them. I just found it hard to keep a steady pace as I walked. Everything Bridgette taught me about shoes I never really managed to grasp.

When I entered the restaurant texted to me by Natalie, I did not expect she would already be there. She was with a red-haired lady who was wearing a blue dress. I thought they saw, but when Natalie’s gaze just passed by me, I knew she didn’t know I arrived. Maybe the palm was keeping me out of sight. I slowly walked toward them but my heels suddenly halted when I heard Natalie’s voice. It was the same voice, but of the same tone.

“…never really wanted a garden wedding, but he says he likes it.”

“You should have insisted on the beach,” the lady she was with said in a small voice. I couldn’t see her face since her back was facing me.

I saw Natalie’s eyes roll. “He just likes manipulating me.”

“He shouldn’t.”

“Of course he won’t…for long. For now, I’m giving him what he wants. As long as he says yes to the budget, he will not have a problem for a while. And I’m planning to hire Brady.”

“What? No, you’re not…” her friend gushed and the rest of her words were kept in a much lower tone.

As I listened, I couldn’t believe how right Bridgette was about Natalie.