Free Stitches and Scars by Elizabeth A. Vincent

feel his breath on her mouth as their lips almost touched. The sound of the door opening startled them both, causing them to jerk away from each other. Ethan quickly pushed back in his chair and grabbed Kate’s file, flipping it open. With a defeated sigh, Kate turned and lifted her legs back onto the gurney, feeling the blood slowly rush back into her body and relieving the ache in her ankle. The red-headed nurse who had been in the room earlier stepped in and looked from doctor to patient and back again.
    “How is everything going? Do you need me for anything? I was just heading out for lunch and thought I would check.”
    “No, I think we’re doing fine.” Ethan kept his head down and continued to read over her chart. The nurse turned around and was heading for the door when Ethan spoke up. “Lisa?”
    “Yeah?” The nurse turned back to face him.
    “Could you grab an ice pack for Miss Thomas, please? I’m sure her ankle could use it.”
    “Sure,” she said with a bat of her lashes. “I’ll be right back.”
    As soon as they were alone again, Ethan turned back to face Kate and stared blankly. She could sense that he wasn’t sure what to say, and neither was she. A few minutes ago, they were only a few inches from each other. The energy between them had been undeniable, and she knew he felt it, just as he knew she had. They had been so close to kissing, and yet now they sat as distant from each other as they could in the small room and were at a loss for words.
    Kate wondered if perhaps he was regretting what almost happened, and that thought brought with it a wave of rejection. It wasn’t until he started to smile that she felt some relief. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Lisa walked back into the room.
    “Here you go.” She placed the ice pack on Kate’s ankle gently. “Do you need anything else?” she asked Ethan, who was already shaking his head. “I’m heading out then.” As she turned to leave the room for the last time, Kate looked over at Ethan, wondering what he was going to do next.
    In one fluid movement, he stood and started to walk towards her, but paused when Lisa walked back through the door again. Kate let out an annoyed sigh. Ethan heard her frustration and felt the same way. He gave Kate a quick wink before turning his attention to Lisa.
    She was only in the room for a second and yet it took an entire minute for what Lisa said to register in Kate’s mind. And even then, she couldn’t be sure if she had heard her correctly. She looked at Ethan and the expression on his face said everything.
    Her stomach dropped and her eyes closed as she silently repeated Lisa’s words.
    “ I almost forgot to tell you. Your girlfriend called about an hour ago. She said she’s sorry she won’t be able to meet you for dinner tonight. But she’ll call you later.”

 
     
    Chapter 7
    Broken
    T he instant Kate heard the words come out of Lisa’s mouth, her heart sank. Did she just say girlfriend? she wondered. I am such an idiot. She hadn’t looked at Ethan since his face had confirmed that what she’d heard was true. Kate mentally scolded herself for being so stupid and for actually assuming that he was single and interested. He’s just like all the other jerks I’ve met. How could I be so dumb?
    “Kate?” His voice was reluctant.
    “What?” She knew he wanted her to look at him, but she refused.
    “Could I please explain what just happened? I want to—”
    “No,” she cut him off.
    Kate didn’t want to hear anything he had to say, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Part of her didn’t know if she was angrier at herself or him. She knew it was ridiculous to be angry at him. It wasn’t as if the two of them were dating; they had just met. She felt stupid and humiliated for thinking that perhaps he’d felt the connection she had. Apparently he didn’t. Then again, he had almost kissed her.
    “Kate, please. I …” He paused and took a step