Heartstrings (15 page)

I try not to think about it as I get my things together for
work. I’ve never believed in fate or destiny before, so why start buying into
it now? Maybe Slade Hale just happened to show up in my ER, and that was that.
Maybe it didn’t mean that we were meant to be together, maybe it wasn’t a
cosmic sign from above that I need to enjoy my life to the fullest. Maybe it
was nothing more than a coincidence.

As I make my way into the kitchen, Gustav is waiting for me
on the counter. I scoop him into a gigantic hug and plant a big kiss on his furry
face. “At least I’ve got you, no matter what happens,” I say.

I head out to my car and set my course for the hospital.
I’ve got to get my head back in the game before I get there. No matter what’s
going on in my personal life, the work I have to do is more important. People’s
lives literally hang in the balance. Compared to that, the rest of my personal
problems pale in comparison. I force my mind to focus in on things that
actually matter, remind myself of my duties once I get to the hospital. I’m fantastic
at my job, and I love what I do. I should be focusing on that, rather than
letting my imagination run away with thoughts of rock stars and world tours.
I’ve got a great thing going, and a nice long break coming up after this shift.
Everything in my life is as it should be already. I just have to keep reminding
myself of that.

Chapter Ten

* * * * *

As I approach the hospital, I’m taken aback by the crazy amount
of traffic on the side streets. Is there some kind of parade or something going
on? I hope not. Big events like that always mess up our flow of patients in and
out of the ER. Any big disturbance is going to muck up the course of the day
for us, and we can’t ever afford it. I resist the urge to honk my horn at a
huge van in front of me. What’s gotten into people today, anyway? You’d think
that the Pope was visiting or something.

Finally, I edge my way into the parking lot. The place is
absolutely jam packed with cars. What on earth is going on? Is it
visit-your-sick-acquaintance day or something? I’ve never seen this place so
bustling before. I swing into my parking space and squint out into the sea of
cars around me. What’s even stranger is that no one seems to be coming and
going from the hospital’s front entrance. Are all these people holed up inside?
Maybe there was some accident somewhere that I didn’t hear about.

I feel the adrenaline start to course through me as I pick
myself up out of the car. As an ER nurse, I live for moments like this. I’m
great in a crisis, big or small. I’ve never had a huge event or catastrophe
happen on my watch, but when there are people I need to help, I go into action
mode. I can feel myself slipping into my professional state of intense energy
as I speed toward the emergency room entrance. Something crazy is happening
around here, and I know that I need to throw myself right into the middle of
it.

Catapulting around the corner, my stethoscope around my
neck, I brace myself, expecting to see some horrible display of carnage open up
before me. My feet scuttle to a halt beneath me as I take in the scene
unfolding in front of my eyes. There’s no blood, no gore, no panicked survivors
or hysterical family members. There’s not a sick or hurt person in sight.
Instead, a sea of photographers and reporters turn toward me as one, their
cameras poised and still for the briefest of moments. Then, all the hell breaks
loose around me.

They come at me in a swarm, a thousand-limbed beast
screeching a hollering my name. The wave breaks around me, and I’m surrounded.
My head is spinning, and I can’t make out a word anyone is saying. They’re
clamoring for a spot beside me, grabbing at me, throwing me question after
question, demanding answers. My mouth falls open wordlessly, and I fear they’re
going to smother me any second. I look around wildly, trying to find some way
to escape. But I can’t—I’m absolutely trapped. They press in around me as I
stand hopelessly rooted to the spot.

“Julia! Julia!” A voice screams above the din. I manage to
focus on a single face in the crowd. A smiling, airbrushed brunette is leering
at me from within the mass of people, shoving a microphone unceremoniously into
my face. “What’s it like to be the girlfriend of rock star Slade Hale?”

“Wh-what?” I squeak.

“It’s all over the gossip blogs!” the woman cries, “You, a
normal young nurse, saving the life of America’s favorite up and coming rock
star, falling in love with him all the while! Do you confirm or deny?”

“I...need to get to work,” I say, starting to grow angry
with these rude people. Don’t they know I have better things to do than talk to
them. “How did you people even find me?” I ask a man at my elbow.

“Your pictures were everywhere,” he tells me, “It wasn’t
hard to track you down! Julia, have you and Slade Hale begun an intimate
relationship?”

“That’s...you...” I splutter, “You people need to get out of
my way. I have a job to get to, a real job. Not whatever pathetic gossip
mongering you all are up to.”

“Ooh, she’s feisty,” I hear another voice say, “I love
that.”

“Let me through!” I shout, starting to shove my way through
the people. They won’t let me out. I’m totally stuck, paralyzed and helpless
within this sudden mob of press. I feel anger and panic commingling within me,
crashing down my spine and sending me into a blind fury. 

“How
is
Slade Hale in bed?” asks another voice.
“America is dying to know!”

“You’ll be dying outright in a minute if you don’t get out
of my way!” I yell back.

“Are you afraid that Slade is just using you as a novelty? A
sort of girl-in-every-port—hey!”

I snatch away the microphone of the nearest ingrate and
chuck it clear over the heads of the gathered reporters. I’m ready for a fight,
now.

“Make way!” says a high, shrill voice that I’d recognize
anywhere. “All of you, move it!”

A hand closes around my wrist, and I whip around to find
myself face-to-face with Penny.

“Thank god,” I nearly sob, grabbing onto her hand.

“Don’t worry babe,” she says, “I’ll get you out of here.”

Penny tows me through the crowd, all but tossing reporters
aside as we go. Finally, we break through the pack—the ER doors are in sight.
We hurtle toward the entrance, tripping over assholes with flash bulbs. The
security guards at the door let us through, stopping the surge of people behind
us once we’re past. I stagger into the ER waiting room, panting furiously. All
along the front doors and windows, reporters are staring in after us with their
noses pressed up against the glass. I have to keep my hands balled into fists
to keep from giving them the finger, every last one of them. I’m humiliated,
and scared, and totally in over my head.

“Julia,” Penny says, looking at me intently, “Are you OK?
Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I say, all shaken up. My adrenaline kept me from
getting too upset while I was out there, but now it’s ebbing away. I feel like
I’m about three seconds away from bursting into tears in front of the entire
waiting room, not to mention our peeping audience. “How long have they been out
there?” I ask, “Why are they here?”

“They’ve been out there for hours,” Penny says, biting her
lip.

“But why?” I insist.

“Haven’t you been online today?” she asks quietly. When I
shake my head, she sighs anxiously and pulls out her smart phone. It’s already
queued up to a popular entertainment blog. She hands me the phone, and I
nervously lower my eyes.

“Oh my god...” I mutter. Splashed all across the site’s
homepage are pictures of Slade and I leaving the concert. I look bewildered but
exhilarated, and Slade is absolutely beaming. Our hands are clasped in every
single shot. Why didn’t I think this was going to happen? The question of
whether the media would care about me never even came to mind. 

Of course, they don’t care about me. Not really. All those reporters
outside cared about was that Slade had a new woman. There was a new story to be
snatched up, nothing more. I was just a blog post waiting to happen for them.
They didn’t care about my life or my privacy, and they certainly didn’t care
about my job. I look nervously around the waiting room. Scared, irritated
patients glare back at me, and I feel about three inches tall. These people
have come here for help, not to be bombarded by a screaming horde of reporters.

“Julia!” says a stern voice behind me. I turn to see Dr.
Kelly striding my way, his mouth a hard, furious line. The bottom of my stomach
drops out. I’ve never seen my medical director look this angry. For the first
time, I realize that the implications of all this might be much worse than I could
imagine. Am I going to get fired over this?

“Dr. Kelly,” I say, “I’m so—”

“In my office,” he says, “Now.”

I look despondently back at Penny. My friend gives me a grim
smile and I turn and walk away, trailing Dr. Kelly back to his office like a
puppy about to get put out in the rain. I walk into the small, enclosed room
and wince as Dr. Kelly shuts the door. I can sense that I’m about to get my ass
handed to me on a silver platter. Dr. Kelly has a reputation in the hospital
for his temper, and his zero tolerance policy for any nonsense in his ER. I
stand nervously as he crosses the room and takes a seat in his enormous leather
chair. “Sit,” he says, gesturing to a rickety chair before his desk. I obey,
and wait for my scolding to begin.

“I don’t even know where to begin Julia,” he says over
steepled fingers. I’m surprised that he’s not already screaming. “How in the
world did this happen?”

“That’s...a good question,” I say, “Slade got in touch with
me after he was discharged. We spent the day together, and—”

“So nothing happened between you two while he was in our
care?” Dr. Kelly presses.

I think about the electric moments that passed between us
while Slade was my patient, the way that my arm lit up like a circuit board
whenever my skin grazed him. But I don’t think that’s what Dr. Kelly is asking.
“There was nothing going on between us while he was here,” I say, “I mean...I’m
sure that feelings...were developing...”

“As long as you two weren’t making out on any of my hospital
beds, that’s all I need to know,” Dr. Kelly says. “I’m sure I don’t have to
tell you that what’s going on outside is unacceptable.”

“I know, Dr. Kelly,” I say softly, “I’m mortified by it
all.”

“I’m sure you are,” he says, “But...I also realize that it’s
not your fault these heathens are here.”

“Oh...Right...” I say, surprised by his diplomatic attitude,
“Thank you, Dr. Kelly.”

“What’s going on between you and this rock star anyway?” he
asks, leaning forward.

“I don’t really know,” I tell him, stunned by the fact that
he cares, “It’s a little complicated.”

“Well,” Dr. Kelly says, “I don’t like the sound of that.
Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re leaving for the day. Your being here is
too much of a distraction, and your paparazzi club is clogging up the parking
lot. I know that you’re going on vacation for two weeks, and I think that the
timing couldn’t be better. You need to go sort out whatever this is between you
and Slade Hale. And you need to do it soon. You’re one of the best nurses I
have, Julia. I don’t want to have to fire you over something like this. Go sort
out your personal life and be ready to dive back into work when you get back.”

“Thank you, Dr. Kelly,” I say. “Really.”

“Don’t mention it,” he says, “Really. Don’t mention it to
anyone. I don’t want to get a reputation for being soft.”

“No problem,” I say.

“Go out the front entrance,” he tells me, “And good luck.”

I nod and hurry out of the room. I head straight for the
front door, resolving to fill Penny in on everything later. Right now, the only
thing I need to do is get to Slade, sort out what’s going on between us, and
tell him all that I’m thinking. I make a beeline for the exit and run across
the parking lot to my car. Time is of the essence, here. The US tour starts
tonight, and Slade has to know how I really feel. I peel out of the lot and
speed on home to get decked out for another night of madness.

I practically crash through my own front door as I rush to
prepare myself for the tour kickoff concert. I have no idea what to
expect—Slade’s said that this show will be even bigger than the last one I saw.
My fingers tremble as I look through my closet for something to wear. I don’t
have time to scrutinize, I just have to go with the first good option. My eyes
fall upon a bright yellow crop top and tiny black denim skirt. That will do
well enough. I slip off my scrubs and throw on my costume, dressing on the way
to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, I rip out my bun and shake my
strawberry blonde hair down over my shoulders. I wish that Penny was here to
dress me up tonight, but I’m flying solo instead. If I just don’t think about
it too hard, I can keep the worst of my nerves at bay.