Chapter Four

Vanessa glared at Andy. “Can you just not? You’ve been a grouchy, miserable toad all week.”

Andy wasn’t sure which part of that accusation offended him more. It was hard to choose when it was true—most of it was. “I’m not a toad.”

“That’s the part you deny,” Vanessa said, rolling her eyes. “I can’t call you what you’ve been acting like. We’re at work and I could get fired.”

“I haven’t been that bad,” Andy protested, tucking away the bottle of gel he’d gotten from the supply cabinet. The viscous liquid was a conductive medium that allowed the transducer—or ultrasound probe—and the skin to bond through the gel. It made imagining much better than conducting an ultrasound without it. He’d put it with his equipment just as soon as he cleared the air with Vanessa.

“Yes. You have.” Vanessa spun around in the chair she was sitting in, making a complete circle before stopping the movement. “You’ve been as grumpy as a bear with a paw in a trap, as my dad likes to say when my mom gets onto him about being a drunk.”

I didn’t need to know that. Andy pressed his lips together to keep from saying as much. He had a rule he tried to live by—if someone said something that was too personal, chances were they needed to share it. There was some stuff that could be unhealthy for a person to carry around with them.

But he’d met Vanessa’s parents, and now he was going to wonder just how much of a drunk her dad was. He’d seemed nice to Andy, not that being nice meant he wasn’t a drunk.

“I can see I’ve tied your brain up in a knot with that bit,” Vanessa observed.

Andy leaned against the desk between them. “Well, I mean—”

“He’s an alcoholic. A high-functioning one, but an alcoholic nonetheless. Now, let’s move on to you and your issues.” Vanessa propped her elbows on the desk and waggled one finger at him. “Don’t even try that ‘nothing’s wrong’ crapola with me again, or I will be forced to catch you after work.”

“You’re supposed to go have drinks after work with your sister,” Andy pointed out. “You’ll forget about me and my issues by then.”

Vanessa tutted. “Nope. I don’t think you have any idea what I mean about catching you.”

As Andy looked into her blue eyes, he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. Vanessa was his coworker and his friend, but he didn’t know her well enough to guess. They’d only worked together for two and a half months. He decided to take a gamble. “You wouldn’t hurt me.”

Vanessa surprised him with a boisterous laugh.

He scowled at her as she pushed away from the desk and hunched over. “I’m glad you’re so amused by my statement.”

“Man.” Vanessa sat up and swiped at her eyes. Her eyeliner smudged almost all the way to her temples. “What do you think I am? Some kind of violent thug?”

“As opposed to a non-violent thug?” Andy retorted. “Are those a thing?”

“Look at you, getting all bent out of shape. Chill, Andy. I didn’t mean for you to think I was making a physical threat, sheesh.” Vanessa stood and walked over to him. Her amusement was clear in her expression—crinkles at the outer corners of her eyes, twitching lips—as she approached. “If I’m unwilling to call you a bad name while I’m on the clock, I sure wouldn’t threaten you. Not in the way that you took it, like I’m going to punch you.”

“I didn’t take it any such way.” Andy fought the urge to fold his arms over his chest. That would let her know he felt defensive.

Vanessa cocked an eyebrow at him. “Riiiiight.”

“I didn’t.” Andy tucked his hands into the pockets of his scrubs. There were memories threatening to pop up that he didn’t want to mess with. He was being ridiculous—Vanessa had made a joke and he was letting his past make him look like an idiot. Plastering a smile on, Andy chuckled more at himself than anything else. “I know you aren’t going to cap me or anything like that.”

Vanessa frowned. “What does that even mean? What’s cap mean? Like I’m not going to put a hat on you?”

Andy tutted. “It means you aren’t going to off me. Kill me. Haven’t you ever watched any of those mob TV shows that are so popular now, like Buried in Cement? That’s my favorite. It’s based on true stories and it’s not for anyone with a weak stomach.”

“I have no desire to watch that,” Vanessa said. “Now, have we clarified that I’m not going to cause you physical harm?”

“Yes.” They had, but Andy’s stomach gave a dip that he didn’t care for. She looks nothing like Audrey. Nothing. Doesn’t act like her, either. Even thinking about his sister made him sweat. Andy had to wipe at his forehead. “I’m sorry I’ve been grouchy. It’s just something that went sideways in my personal life.”

Vanessa moved to stand beside him, though she wasn’t up against Andy. It was more of a show of camaraderie, or at least he thought it was. “Okay, so tell me who to put a pox on for you and I’ll do it. I’m only kind of joking about that. My grandma knew some stuff, let me tell you. She had the curandera stuff down. You know what a curandera is, right?”

Andy bit his bottom lip as he rolled the question around in his head, then he almost let out a whoop when he found the answer. “A witch?”

“Pretty much. Anyway, she taught me a few things before she passed away last year.” Vanessa shrugged. “Though I might end up cursing us both instead of whoever ticked you off.”

“Let’s not risk it, then, okay?” Andy took a deep breath then let it out. Vanessa had been good to him, and he needed to stop keeping women at a distance. Logically, he knew most women weren’t like Audrey. He could talk to Vanessa some, and it might help him not be so grumpy. Mind made up, Andy took a chance on making a better friendship and being a better friend. “Things are stressful enough right now, what with the hospital cutbacks and the only guy I’ve been interested in for ages running out on me while I was in the bathroom. I didn’t expect that. I thought we had a connection.”

Vanessa’s eyes went wide, and he didn’t know if she was shocked at what he’d shared, or because he’d shared it.

His face grew hot as he continued. “I met him at the calendar release party. He was working the bar at the back. There was this…this…” Andy struggled to define what he’d felt—and it must have been just him that had experienced it. Otherwise, Kerry wouldn’t have bolted like his ass was on fire. “Attraction, but it was more than physical. At least, it was for me. I’ve never had that intense of a spark with someone before.”

“He just left?” Vanessa asked.

Andy ignored the pinch in his chest. It happened almost every time he thought about Kerry fucking and running. “Yeah. I came back from the bathroom and thought—I don’t know. I thought he’d be there. That we’d have more time together and we could…” We could talk. Kiss. Make plans for a date. He didn’t want to say any of that out loud.

Vanessa surprised him by placing one hand on his arm and giving it a squeeze. “Maybe he ran because he felt all of the same things you did, but he was afraid you didn’t feel them. You guys can be bad at communication.”

“That’s sexist,” Andy pointed out. “I don’t think not admitting to wanting more than a one-night stand is miscommunication. We’d both agreed to hook up.”

“And nothing else, ever?” Vanessa prodded, doing that thing with her eyebrow again.

Andy wanted to reach over and push that arched eyebrow back into its regular place. “Who discusses more than that when doing what we were doing?”

“You have a point. A couple of points, even. That was a judgmental line of bull crap that I laid out about men. Sorry for that.” Vanessa huffed and sent her bangs flouncing up. “As for this guy, didn’t you say he was working the bar at the party?”

“Yes,” Andy drawled. “I did.”

Vanessa shook his arm. “Well, there you go!”

Andy was lost. He shook his head. “There I go what?”

“Oh geez. You know he works for some kind of catering place. Call that lady who did the calendar and ask her what company she hired. No, wait.” Vanessa huffed. “That’s stalkerish.”

“Isn’t pursuing him at all stalkerish? He did leave, and without giving me his number or even a goodbye, for that matter. It seems clear to me that he isn’t interested in a repeat or talking to me.” And while his pride was hurt, so were his feelings, which was stupid. There was no reason for feelings to be involved.

“Do you know if he was hurt in the past?” Vanessa prodded. “Was his heart broken, or something like that? Would you have thought he’d be the type of guy to bump bits then run?”

“Bump—” Andy didn’t know Kerry well enough to hazard a guess. Before he could say as much, Joe, one of the nurses, wheeled in a patient. “Ah, here’s my next appointment.” He was both relieved and irked to not get to finish discussing Kerry with Vanessa.

As he introduced himself and spoke to the middle-aged man in the wheelchair, Andy mulled over the things Vanessa had said and his own thoughts about Kerry. He’d been certain that Kerry had felt the same strong attraction—but it could have been one-sided, and that’s what was keeping Andy from trying to find Kerry.

Maybe he’d looked up the company Kerry worked for.

And maybe he’d found that company on social media sites.

Kerry Galeano didn’t have any personal social media accounts that Andy had been able to find.

God. I’m already acting like a stalker! “All good, Mr. Hernandez. Your doctor—”

Dr. Correa entered the room. “Is right here.”

Andy had left the door open for just that reason. Dr. Correa was young and not cynical like many of the other doctors Andy had encountered at the hospital. He also insisted on being as involved with his patients’ care as possible.

After a short conversation with Dr. Correa, Mr. Hernandez was wheeled back out and Andy expected Vanessa to want to talk about Kerry more.

But Vanessa had one appointment after another, and Andy wasn’t free for more than a few minutes here and there himself. Vanessa finished with her last patient before Andy was done with his, and she left, though she did write a message to him on a yellow sticky-note telling him to call her if he needed her.

Andy tucked the note into the pocket of his scrubs top. He made sure everything was put away and cleaned up for whoever was working the next shift. He had two days off in a row, and he planned to be lazy for both of those days.

Or he could do something adventurous. “No. Nope. He ran out on me. Not happening.” Andy had some pride, after all. He wasn’t going to chase a man who didn’t want him.

He’d just have to get over Kerry Galeano.