She had the next two days off, but Madison drove her back to the ER to pick up her car. Cherise ran up to Jillian’s room and checked on her quickly while Madison waited in the ER lobby. Jillian was awake and talking, excitedly making plans to move in with the chief of medicine.
Cherise wished her the best of luck—intense men like Rafael Holden-Deane could be a handful for any woman. Her James certainly had been. Larger than life, spirited, far too handsome for her peace of mind.
Everyone in the ER was filled with questions about what had happened to her yesterday. Cherise didn’t know what to tell them: it had just been a simple mugging. At least, that was what the TSP had said. It made the most sense to her, too.
Wanda thought it was wonderful that she’d been rescued by Vince. Wanda was full of incessant questions the moment she saw Cherise.
“Relax, Wanda. He gave me a ride. That was it. He was just being kind. You have romance on the brain.”
“So? Two people meet, fall in love, live happily ever after. If I was a writer, I’d pair the two of you up. And I saw the way he looked at you a few minutes ago when he walked by.”
“Seriously, Wanda, nothing there. Ok? I have to go; Madison drove me in to get my car. She’s waiting to follow me home. The kids are being a bit overprotective.”
“Good, sweetie. Someone needs to be the one taking care of you for a change. Get out of here. I’ll see you back, day after tomorrow. Enjoy your time off.”
Wanda hugged her quickly, smelling, as she always did, of hand sanitizer and vanilla.
Other than the kids, the only family she had in the entire world was in that ER. And Cherise appreciated every one of them.