Tyler
I watched from outside the entrance of the hospital as she jumped into the car and drove away. I recognized one of the guys as her brother but who was the other one?
Well, whoever he was he definitely managed to stir up something in me. Something I didn't know existed or something I'd hoped would silently go away. Jealousy? Hurt? Protective instinct? I don't know.
I spotted Nic and Hazel galloping over to their cars with a ridiculous grin smeared across their faces. Maybe they could answer some of my burning questions but how do I go about asking them without coming across as jealous?
"Hay!" I called out before she jumped in her car.
She turned around skeptically and quite frankly, almost annoyed, "yeah?"
"Can I talk to you?"
She thought about it for a beat before she finally answered, "you better make this quick, Blake because I have dinner with my future husband to get to," she crossed her arms as she waited for me to continue.
"Hay, I'll meet you there then," Nic told her before I got anything out. She nodded and Nic drove out of the parking lot.
Damn! How do I do this? I've never been put in this situation before.
"Tyler! Speak!" Hazel snapped her fingers in front of me, saving me from drifting off into my thoughts.
"Right! Uhmm, who...who was that guy? The one with Kate and Alex?" I asked reluctantly.
She smiled at me suspiciously and knowingly, "why? Oh... jealous are we, Tyler?"
I was not in the mood to beat around the bush. "God, Hay. Please just tell me," I asked as calmly as I could.
She laughed, "I don't know, Ty. He's name's Justin and all she said was that he was a friend."
"Friend? As in boyfriend?" God, I sound like a creep!
"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know, Tyler. Why don't you just ask her?"
Well, this was going nowhere, slowly. Feeling no different than when this conversation started, I thanked her and turned to walk to my car.
"Tyler," she caught my wrist before I managed to take even half a step, "I don't want to over step any boundaries and please don't be mad at me but just hear me out."
That grabbed my attention so I listened with crossed arms.
"I've seen the way you look at her you know. I've known you for a long time and in these past 5 months or so, I've seen a side of you that I haven't seen in the past 5 years."
By now we were both comfortably leaning against the hood of the car while Hazel continued with her pep talk.
"Talk to her, Ty. Tell her whatever it is you're feeling instead of keeping it bottled up inside and only hurting her in the process."
"I'm not hurting her, Hay. Hell, I'm doing what I'm doing because hurting her is the last thing I want to do," I defended my actions.
"You think you're not hurting her by being distant after kissing her," that took me by surprise, "yeah, she told us about that. She said she's over it and everything but come on, she's a woman and I don't believe it for one second."
That left me speechless. "Why do women have to be so confusing? She seems to be over it from where I'm standing and I'm pretty sure that if she wasn't, she'd say something to me."
"Don't be so naive, Tyler," Hay warned, "can I just give you some advice?" I nodded. "I understand that you've been through some things and that's why you're acting like this but Kate's different. If you talk, she'll listen. Just stop with all the weird vibes and try talking to her. Open up and who knows maybe 10 years from now the 2 of you will be married with kids and dogs and all those cliche perfect couple things."
I laughed at the idea. "Just, think about it okay."
I smiled at her. "Thanks, Hay."
"Anytime," she replied, side hugging me, "can I go meet my future husband now or do you want another pep talk from me?"
"Nope, that's enough for one day," I scoffed.
She rounded the car and got into the drivers seat, "see you tomorrow, Ty."
"Yeah."
She drove away, leaving me alone with my thoughts. It was surprising to me how much she made sense and I hate to admit it but she was right. I've been trying to deny it for a while but I really, truly did feel something for Specs but was too afraid to admit it to myself until now. For the past couple of weeks, even my shrink tried to force it out of me but I could never bring myself to believe it.
I needed her almost as much as humans needed water and if telling her the truth was what it takes then so be it.
***
Kate
So, I survived my first week of night shift. Our schedules were changing but not permanently. The first, second and third year residents were adjusting to the night shift schedules. This entire week Dimitri, Tyler and I worked the night shift along with some senior residents while Nic, Javi and Hay worked the day shift.
The week was good. No fatalities from my side which I was extremely proud of but there was a certain amount of unexpected activity this week. For one, Tyler actually began being almost normal with me again. Ever since my birthday, he's been trying to get things back to normal with us. He started making conversation, not about ligaments and ventricles but just normal conversation.
I was on the fence on whether to welcome it or just ignore it all together. The one thing I did know was that if we were trying to be friends again, this time there won't be any mixed signals, not from me at least. So, I was careful with posture, word choice and body language.
"I'm not sure whether to say good morning or goodnight but whatever, see you guys when I see y'all," Dimitri shouted to us before he left the residents lounge.
"You doing anything this weekend?" Tyler asked out of the blue.
"Yes, sleeping," I answered while setting my coat neatly into my cubicle.
He scoffed, "that sounds like a plan."
I grabbed my purse and was ready to leave.
"Walk you out?" He asked, grabbing his keys, wallet and cell.
"Yeah," I nodded. After talking about the days work and the one patient that everyone gets that just drives them insane, we reached the parking lot. Orange skies greeted us while the sun slowly became visible.
"See you then," I said and started walking off without waiting for a reply.
"Specs!" He called out almost as if he had something to say.
I turned and eyed him suspiciously, "hmm?"
He looked stuck for words but the more likely case was that he was contemplating whether or not he should say what he intended on saying.
He racked his finger through his hair while a frown married his face. "Nothing. See you later, Specs," he eventually said.
I nodded at him with a confused smile before we both headed in separate directions.
See you later ?