All Grown Up Read online

  “Okay,” she said. “So what are you keeping from me?”

  I sighed. “I’m not keeping anything from you.”

  “And I’m the queen of England,” she replied. “And I order you to tell me the fuckin’ truth.”

  “It’s just—I don’t even know where to start,” I replied. “Do you really want to hear about it?”

  “No, I asked you about it to be polite,” she said. I could hear the eyeroll in her voice. “Seriously. Will you tell me what’s happening?”

  “I—okay, do you remember that patient who came in with the knife sticking out of his arm?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Hard to forget knife-in-your-arm guy.”

  “Okay, well, knife hottie was my high school boyfriend,” I said after a bit.

  “Wait,” she said. “Wait, wait. He’s the high school boyfriend? The one who was a giant dick?”

  I swallowed. “Yes. And then he went to the clinic a few days later.”

  “Oh,” she said. “So how are you doing with it? Considering you’re, you know, never attracted to your patients.”

  I groaned, turning over on the bed. “I don’t know, dude,” I said. “It’s like, I’m still angry, but he actually apologized.”

  “He did?” she asked. She sounded surprised.

  “I know,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Did you accept his apology?”

  I thought for a few seconds. “No,” I said. “All I did was walk away.”

  “Did you say anything at all?”

  I closed my eyes. “I don’t know,” I said. “I was like, okay, and then I walked back into the clinic.”

  “And you didn’t say anything at all?”

  “I just didn’t know what to say,” I replied. “Like, I didn’t think that he was going to be upset or anything.”

  “Did you care?”

  I thought for a few seconds. “Yeah,” I said. “I shouldn’t have. But I know that I did a little.”

  “So maybe you do forgive him. Deep down.”

  I groaned. “I don’t know if I want to forgive him. He was such a dick.”

  “He was. But he was also a kid. Maybe he’s changed.”

  I nodded and sat up. “I realize now that maybe he has, but like, it might not be a good thing. He showed up with a stab wound on his arm and then checked himself out of the hospital without even taking medical advice,” I said. “Maybe he didn’t change in a good way.”

  “Right,” she replied. “Or maybe now he’s a cool badass who is ready to put his pride and life on the line to win you over.”

  I laughed. “He shouldn’t do that,” I said. “That’s irresponsible.”

  “It is. And also, kinda sexy, right?”

  “You’re the worst, Cam,” I said. “I should get some sleep. I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  I hung up and stared at the fan above me, on the ceiling, going around and around over and over again. I felt it put me to sleep, and finally, I drifted off and didn’t think about Jody Banks again.

  At least not until I woke up again, and before I went to the hospital again, where I immediately thought of him again.

  This whole thing was getting really annoying, I thought as I was getting ready to go to work.

  I expected the night to be quiet, but there was no way to tell. There was no way to know how a night was going to go just from the people who were in the emergency room when I first got in. They were rarely a good indication of how the night was going to go.

  It had been a quiet night, for the most part, until about two in the morning. That was when things usually started to get difficult in the ER on Friday night. Everyone who was out partying and didn’t have a designated driver or had just gone over their limit came into the ER around that time.

  It was also the time when I started to feel tired. It wasn’t convenient, but I didn’t mind. I was there to help save people so my comfort didn’t seem that important. Cam was dealing with a patient who had just walked in from the street, clearly intoxicated with alcohol poisoning, and I was at the front of the ER, when I heard a commotion in the waiting room. I walked over to the reception area, where I wouldn’t have to leave the back but I would be able to see and hear everything that was happening.

  There were three men, and nurses were rushing over to help them. One of them was on the ground, his body placed on the tile floor, his clothes stained with blood. The nurse who was attending to him turned him on his side, and he threw up almost as if on cue, getting his cheek and the floor under him with his vomit.

  The other two men were intertwined with one another. One of them was supporting himself on the other’s shoulder. I didn’t recognize the one who was unconscious, but the other one, I recognized him like the back of my hand. It was Jody.

  Jody was back.

  He was back, and he had someone else with him, and they were both seriously hurt.

  I didn’t think about it. I practically ran out of the back towards the waiting room, to help. To help either one of them.

  As I run, Jody’s gaze locked with mine.

  “What happened?” I asked him as I motioned for a gurney to come towards us. Not that I had to, the rest of the medical staff had things well in hand. They took him away from Jody’s shoulders and Jody stared at me, his eyes swimming with tears.

  He sniffed. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be,” he said, his voice breaking. “I—I didn’t know where to go.”

  They took the other man away, too, the one who was on the floor, and Jody’s gaze darted between the both of them as they took him away, rushing him through the double doors.

  “Jody,” I said. “What happened?”

  “We were in a car,” he said. “It rained and I—I don’t know. We were in an argument, Luke tried to take over the wheel, and I had to yank it away from him, and before I knew it, we were careening off the freeway and the car was against the barrier, and the road was slippery, so when I tried to get back on the road, the car hydroplaned and we ran head first into a tree. Everyone was hurt, but we were near the exit closest to the hospital, and I knew I had to get them here.”

  “The car—it was working?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay,” I said. “Come with me. We’re checking you in.”

  “I’m fine,” he replied, a little offended.

  “The longer I stand here arguing, the more likely it will be that I’m not going to attend to your friends, and I would like to help with their care,” I said. “But you might have gotten hurt too. You might have a concussion or whiplash. I’m going to have to insist.”

  “You’re not going to let this go?”

  “I can keep you up to date more if you’re also admitted,” I replied. “Does that do something to persuade you?”

  He looked down at his feet, then nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, that does do something to persuade me.”

  “Good,” I said. “Walk with me, I’ll find someone to check you in.”

  He nodded, and I thought I could see a smile playing on his lips. “Whatever you say, Dr. Meyer.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  2019

  I looked at Jody, who looked a little different under the dim electric light of the hospital room, and in the little blue gown, which seemed to show off his arms even more.

  I was supposed to be his doctor, but this was distracting. I wanted to tell him to cover up those carved arms, because it was as if I couldn’t look right at his face.

  I looked at his chart before I set my gaze on him again and smiled. “You got out of it pretty much unscathed,” I said. “I was concerned about something like a concussion, but you seem to have a pretty hard head.”

  He smiled. “I’ve been known to be stubborn. By some people.”

  “Great. There is a gash on your shoulder, it looks pretty nasty, but it doesn’t need any stitches. Once the adrenaline starts to go down, you’re going to feel t
he pain. Don’t worry about it too much. It’s clean, it’s not going to get infected, you’re good.”

  “How do you know it’s not going to get infected?”

  “Because you’re already on antibiotics, so there’s no way for that to happen. Plus, you’re looking after yourself, right?”

  He glared at me. My smile turned into a grin.

  “I didn’t mean to get in an accident. You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be.”

  “I get the feeling you don’t like the hospital.”

  He looked right into my eyes. “There’s only one thing about the hospital that I like.”

  “The food?”

  He grimaced. “Sure,” he said. “Though I’ve never eaten here before.”

  “You should. It’s surprisingly good for a hospital cafeteria.”

  “I will, when I’m here for a visit,” he replied. “I don’t foresee that being any time soon.”

  “You’d be surprised, Jody,” I said. “You’re probably going to be here a little more than you foresee and in the near future.”

  “Yeah? Why is that?”

  I looked into his eyes. “Your friends didn’t fare as well as you did,” I said. “They’re out of the woods now, but the one who had fainted, he was seriously hurt. He had a collapsed lung from the impact.”

  Jody paled.

  “I… I didn’t know.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “You got them here.”

  “I was the one who got them in an accident in the first place.”

  I shook my head. “Do you want me to put you in touch with our aftercare team?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “A social worker, a mental health professional… whatever is going to make it easier for you to deal with all of this.”

  He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. “You know I have to get out of here as soon as possible.”

  “I don’t have to report this,” I said. “It’s a car accident. I mean, you’ll probably get some insurance premium increase for it, but the police aren’t coming around for this.”

  He grimaced. “How do you know that?”

  “Because no one has called the police and no one is going to call the police,” I said. “Not for something like a car accident.”

  He looked away from me. “The police are just one of my problems.”

  I nodded. “How many problems do you have?”

  “Enough that I don’t want to be around in a public area, easily accessible for anyone who might want to find me,” he said.

  I hesitated before I cocked my head. “If your life is in danger, maybe I should call the police.”

  “No,” he said. “It’s not that serious, and I promise I won’t keep showing up at your hospital.”

  “Except to visit your friends.”

  “They’re not really my friends,” he replied. “I think of them more as business associates.”

  I nodded. “I’m not going to ask you anything else because it’s none of my business and I don’t want to get you in trouble,” I said. “Plus, it’s kind of late and I don’t know if I have the energy for this. I’m about to be done with my shift and I want to clock out without having to worry for your life.”

  He laughed.

  “What?”

  “I just didn’t know ER doctors used terms like clocked out,” he replied. “I thought you’d use fancier terms, like…”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Getting off work.”

  “I’ll try to use fancier terms for your benefit.”

  He laughed. “What are you doing after this?”

  “Sleeping,” I replied. “What do you think I do after I get off?”

  “I don’t know. Go on hot dates.”

  “I don’t do that early in the morning,” I replied. “There are hardly any hot dates that want to go out early in the morning. I try to only go out when I don’t have work that night.”

  “So you do go on plenty of hot dates?”

  “I fail to see how that is any of your business,” I replied. “I’m going to get ready to go home now.”

  “What about breakfast?” he asked, his eyes shining.

  I scoffed. “Excuse me?”

  “I mean, you need to eat, right? And I’m going to check myself out of the hospital anyway,” he said. “So I’m going to go have breakfast at one of those twenty-four hour dinners and maybe have a mimosa—”

  “You really shouldn’t be drinking while having antibiotics—”

  “Or, you know, if anyone else, perhaps someone more sensible than me, is around, I might not end up getting any alcohol.”

  “Are you blackmailing me into going out for breakfast with you?”

  “Is it working?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He groaned. “I’m going to keep talking your ear off until you say yes.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s not how you win people over.”

  “Pancakes are exactly how to win you over. Or have your taste buds changed too?”

  I swallowed. “Okay, okay,” I said. “One breakfast. And that’s it, okay?”

  “Okay,” he said. “That works. Do you want to go to Aunt Callie’s?”

  “That place is still open?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Best pancakes in the state.”

  I scoffed, shaking my head and then smiling. “Fine,” I said. “Fine. You get one breakfast.”

  He smiled. “Great. One breakfast is all I need.”

  “You can’t be my patient.”

  “I’m not your patient,” he said. “You’re here as my friend, right?”

  “Yes,” I said. “You’re right. I am.”

  “Good. Then can I say how good you’re looking?”

  I shook my head. “Don’t push your luck,” I replied. “I gotta go. See you in the parking lot?”

  “Yes. Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll get dressed and see you there.”

  “You’re not wearing the blue? It suits you.”

  He laughed, throwing his head back. “Who is pushing their luck now?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  2019

  It was early in the morning when I walked out of the hospital, and there was a light drizzle on my face as I made my way toward my car. I looked up to see that Jody was leaning against it, flashing me a smile, his leather jacket clinging to his muscles.

  He was vaping again, a cloud of sweet-scented vapor in front of his face.

  “You got out quickly,” I said.

  “Right?” he asked. “I am as surprised as you are.”

  “I doubt that,” I said. “I take it I’m driving.”

  “I can show you the state of the car I was in last night, and we can take that risk, if you feel like that’s something you want to do. But there’s no need for us to do that.”

  I laughed, throwing my head back. “You’re very funny,” I said. “Do you get paid for it?”

  “Hell no,” he replied. “I never get paid for anything, really.”

  “Sucks to be you.”

  “Truly,” he replied, then his expression softened. “I do appreciate you deciding to go to breakfast with me.”

  “You really didn’t leave me another choice.”

  “Don’t you want pancakes?”

  I took my keys out of my bag and clicked on them to unlock it. The sound startled Jody, who moved away from the car instantly. “Don’t bring pancakes into this,” I said. “Or I’ll scare you.”

  “Again? That seems kind of rude.”

  “Don’t test me,” I said, looking up at the sky. “Get in the car. It’s going to rain.”

  He did as he was told, opening the passenger door and stepping into the car.

  I walked to the driver’s side and got in the car. I could smell his cologne from where I was sitting, and the scent from the fabric of his clothes.

  “Do you know how to get there from here?”

  “Are they still on fifth?”
r />   “No, they changed locations a little while ago,” he replied. “Just go left out of this parking lot and then I’ll tell you where to go. I could get there with my eyes closed.”

  “And soon, you’ll be able to get to the hospital with your eyes closed,” I replied. “If you keep up this lifestyle.”

  “Did I get in this car so that you could judge me?”

  I snickered. “That was part of the terms of the agreement. I drove you, we went to breakfast together, I get to judge you.”

  “I didn’t agree to these terms of service,” he said. “But I will get breakfast.”

  “Good. I expected that.”

  We talked a little about the accident, and soon, we were in front of the restaurant. It wasn’t exactly the way I remembered it, with a nice awning out in the front, covering a bunch of round tables. This place felt more industrial. It looked like a warehouse; an almost circular building cut off entirely at the roundest part. The entirety of the front was decorated with large windows and I could see, from where I was standing, that the light inside was beautiful.

  It was clear, however, that the diner had lost its working-class charm when it had moved into this hipster building.

  “When did they move here?” I asked as I got out of the car.

  “Years ago,” he said. “You left town, right? So maybe you missed it.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve been back for a while,” I said. “I feel like I would’ve heard of this.”

  “You go out to restaurants a lot?”

  I narrowed my eyes. We were walking together to the restaurant, briskly, so that we could avoid the rain. He was walking behind me slightly even though his strides were bigger than my own. His hand was on the small of my back and I was trying my best to ignore it, but it felt nice to have his attention on me, and I didn’t want to pull away.

  I wasn’t going to have anything else to do with him once we were done eating breakfast. I would never see him again and my life might be better for it. But this proximity, I told myself that it was okay to let myself have it.

  There was a part of me that wanted to move away, but the part of myself that wanted him to touch me was stronger. I wanted to stay there, feeling his hand on my back, feeling the way it felt when we made contact.

  It was ridiculous.