“So, tell me about this man who has conquered the fortress known as Makenna Lewis’ heart.” And with a cheeky grin and a sparkle in his eye, Zander has just done the impossible. Render me speechless and make me smile at the same time.
Chapter 22 – “Change is Gonna Come”
7 a.m. starts suck ass. Or balls. Yeah, big hairy smelly balls, that is what 7 a.m. starts are like. Especially when you’re feeling sick. And that’s me this morning. I know I must be a sight to behold too. I dare not look in the mirror because I know I look just as bad, if not worse, than I feel.
My head is throbbing, my stomach feels like it has been turned inside out, and the smell of anything is making me dry retch. It’s been getting steadily worse over the past few days, and I’ve been burying my head in the sand and fight against the nagging thoughts in my head. It’s just not possible.
Not a chance in hell.
So I’m on my second bottle of water for the day already, and all it’s doing is making me pee constantly. All I do is sleep and pee and work. Occasionally, I’ll eat if I absolutely have to and the smell of the food I’m shoving in my mouth doesn’t make me gag, but I’m pretty much a sick shell of Mac. Kate’s worried about me and she’s already suggested I get checked out today during my shift, but I hit the ground running as soon as I arrived and haven’t had a chance to sit down, let alone see a doctor for a check-up.
After finally catching a break and spending a spare few minutes to catch up on my patient charts at the nurse’s station, I look up to see a grinning Noah staring down at me.
“Hey, stranger,” he says cheerfully before frowning. “Shit, you look like hell. Why are you still working?”
“Hi to you too!” I reply snarkily before sighing and resting my hand under my chin to stop my head crashing down onto the desk in front of me. “I’m sure I’m okay. Just tired and nauseous. I’ll be right after a few days off from this place.”
“How’s Daniel? I haven’t heard from him in over a month. He’s not answering calls or texts or anything. Keeping my boy busy I take it?”
Damn. He hasn’t told Noah that we broke up, or that we had a non-break up before I turned up and confessed my deepest secrets to him before running away, again.
“Ah yeah, something like that,” I say, dismissing him.
“Everything’s okay with you two, right? Seriously, Mac, I wouldn’t have believed it unless I’d seen it with my own eyes, but he’s happy, and it is all because of you. I never thought it would happen for either of you.”
God, that hurts to hear. Will I ever be ready to face the giant hole in my heart where Daniel Winters used to be? Where he should still be.
Scratch that.
Where he’s always going to f**king be.
“Don’t worry, WD. We’re all good.”
“Shit, we’re back to the WD thing, are we?” he says, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand just like Daniel does when he’s uncomfortable or nervous. Dammit, why can’t I stop thinking about the man? Day and night, everything reminds me of him. It’s likes water torture to my heart.
“Hey, we may not be sleeping together anymore, Taylor, but you’ll always be WD to me,” I add with a wink.
He chuckles. “Yeah, well I think we had a good run of it. But there was always gonna be a time when it didn’t suit one of us anymore.”
“Yep.”
“What about the others?” he asks inquisitively.
“There are no others, not anymore. There haven’t been since I met Superman, I mean, Daniel.” Damn slip of the tongue. Oh Superman’s tongue. Now there is something I do miss, not as much as the man himself, but a close second or third definitely. The things he can do when he….
“Mac?” Noah’s voice cuts through my errant thoughts, bringing me back to the now.
“It’s good to see you settling down. And I’m glad you’re with someone like Winters. He’ll treat you right. You know that, don’t you?”
Who would have thought The Walking Dildo could be so caring?
I look up at him, struck by the sincerity staring back at me. “Yeah, I do.”
“Good. Well, I better get back. I’m due in the OR in twenty minutes.”
Then it hits me. Like a giant wrecking ball to the gut.
“Shit!” I jump up, covering my mouth with my hand as I race past Noah and straight towards the nearest trash can I can find, emptying the entire contents of my stomach in the middle of the ICU.
“Mac, are you okay?” he asks, immediately rushing to my side and grabbing my hair while I continue to dry retch.
“I think you need to go home, hon.” He reaches around and feels my forehead. “No fever. Have you been feeling off for a while?”
“Probably the last week. Just really tired, and then feeling really shitty when I eat. And the smell of anything seems to put me off food completely.”
The man beside me chuckles. He has the audacity to laugh at my illness.
“What? Why the hell are you laughing? Does this look funny?” I say, pointing towards the vomit filled trash can.
“Mac, you need to go up to obstetrics and have a test.”
I gasp. What the hell? “No Noah, there is no way I’m pregnant. I have an IUD, remember? And I haven’t had sex in-”
“What?”
Oh, good one loud mouth McGee. Let the cat out of the bag why don’t you? “Ah, nothing. I’ll be fine. Thanks for helping, but I’ll go clean up and head home.”
“Mac” he growls. “You can’t ignore this. Go get tested. I’ll even take you up myself.”
“Noah I’m-”
“No. Don’t fight me on this. Go get tested, then I can breathe easy knowing that it’s nothing other than the start of morning sickness. Damn, I can’t wait to give Dan a ribbing for getting one past the goalie. “
“No, you can’t!” I shout, a bit louder than planned.
“What? He’ll be over the moon, Mac. He’s always wanted kids. And the way he looks at you, I can tell he’s already imagined having them with you. It’s written all over his face.” He explains.
“I’ll go get tested, just to shut you up. But you can’t say anything to Daniel. Not yet. I’ll wait to see if there is anything to tell him first. You have to promise me, Noah.” I’m pleading now. This whole situation has turned into a shit fight of epic proportions.