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Jo sat back down and didn’t tear her eyes away as he continued.
“I’m sorry for hounding you or saying you couldn’t handle the job.” He snickered. “Truth is, you were the brave one. You knew when to quit and get out of that toxic situation. I wish I would have taken your lead.”
Jo leaned back in her seat and considered those words. She had waited so long for him to say something even remotely similar. “I’m sorry nothing got better. And I accept your apology. Thank you for saying something.”
She was at peace the rest of the day, relieved that Miles had made the effort to put everything past them because she could already feel things taking her down a dark rabbit hole, and it worried her that she would regress from the place she now was.
She planned on avoiding Ali the rest of the day, though, because she knew how things had gone at lunch. She didn’t want to hear a third degree or have to share all the details of her rocky job before she reached CAPMed. It was best just to take a day and they could get to a conversation when tensions had been brought back down.
However, as she was eating a frozen dinner in her lounge pants and t-shirt, there was a knock at her door. She peered through the peep hole and saw Ali standing there. She opened her door but kept Ali waiting in the hallway.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, I was going to leave you alone, but then realized that if I leave you alone that resolves nothing and clearly something was bothering you today. You were rude to Miles. He said you didn’t want to have him working with you and that’s not how we handle things. If I put an assignment together, I expect it to be followed through.”
“Wow. So, I just salute you and do what you say like a dutiful soldier? Duly noted.”
Ali sighed. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m not trying to pull rank, Jo. But dammit, something’s bothering you, and I have the right to know what it is.”
“Because we’re sleeping together, is that it?”
Ali’s jaw hung down, and she stepped closer to the entrance of her apartment. “If a relationship is going to work, then you have to be honest with me. I thought we were in this together. The other day at the Farmer’s Market, you got it out of me. So, you can talk to me, Jo.”
Jo stepped back and allowed Ali to enter. She closed the door behind them and turned to face her. “Miles and I have history. He worked at my previous employer.”
Ali slowly nodded. “I noticed that but didn’t really think that would have anything to phase you on. You were in the same department?”
“Yep. And he teased me all the time about not being able to cope with the stress and the job duties, and he made me feel like I was failing every single day. Eventually, it got to be too much.” She felt the tears stinging the backs of her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” Ali reached out and touched her hand, and Jo kept her gaze.
“It was such a hard time in my life that everything related to it or reminds me of it gives me a bad taste in my mouth. I’m sorry if I was being short, but I needed my space.”
“I get it.” Ali slowly nodded. “But Miles is in the department, and he can’t be transferred for at least three months. Is that going to be a problem?”
Jo shook her head. “We had a talk, and he apologized. It turns out everything I felt was substantiated today, so I feel good about it.”
Ali smiled. “I’m happy to hear.”
Jo flipped her palm over and pulled Ali to her. “I’m sorry for being that way today at lunch.”
“Let’s not dwell on it,” Ali whispered. She moved in, and they kissed, and Jo was just glad they could put it behind them because losing Ali would be hard to face.
Johanna
Jo got to work, an extra pep in her step. As part of the residency program, Jo had to assist in so many surgeries, with Ali overseeing them. The last one Jo had was when Vincent was being worked on. And that was a bit uncertain. Plus, it wasn’t really even something that was planned. It just happened. For that surgery, she felt there was more at stake, and she wasn’t as accomplished at CAPMed, as she felt now. She looked forward to being in the thick of the situation and felt confident that this surgery was going to be a great success.
The case? Four-year-old little Mary had swallowed a penny, and it was lodged in her esophagus. It could be a dangerous surgery from everything that she heard, but one that often had very little complications. Jo didn’t have a relationship with Mary, that she had garnered with Vincent, so there was no reason to believe her anxiety would work against her. For that, Jo was relieved.
As she entered the elevator, she smirked when she saw Ali about ready to ride it up to their floor. “Are you nervous?” Ali asked.
“For what? I have the best teacher training me for this surgery. I’m excited.” Ali grinned. This was going to be a surgery where Jo would have to take the lead, with Ali being there as her guide when she felt the need to start to worry. Ali leaned in and gave Jo a soft kiss. It was warm and welcoming, just like every sexual encounter between them was.
“I missed you last night,” Ali whispered.
Jo winked. Truth was, they had decided it was best if they spent the night apart. Jo needed her rest, and she relinquished that Ali would only be her distraction. The elevator doors opened, and Ali went one way, with Jo heading to the nurse’s station.
May sat behind the desk and looked up when Jo approached. “Are you nervous?” May asked.
