Clementine (23 page)

“Addison?” Bethenny
asked from behind her. Addison whipped around, not having heard the door open over her own thoughts.

“Can you take your break now
, Beth? I need to vent. I promise it won’t take long, I have to see a patient in like twenty minutes.” She pleaded, checking her watch restlessly.

Bethenny
frowned, obviously concerned about Addison’s current state. She nodded and held up her hand to indicate she needed a second.

Bethenny turned
to the other three students she was completing rounds with and explained, “Guys, I need a minute, go on without me and I’ll meet you before we go in to see Ms. Jones.”

Addison le
d Bethenny toward
the locker room, knowing the nurses lounge wouldn’t be private enough. The two girls searched all of the bathroom stalls and made sure no one was in the showers before she began to explain everything to Bethenny. There was so much she needed to get off her chest and she wasn’t sure she had enough time to get it all out. She started with their relationship the year before, all of the ‘dates’ they went on as friends, the note he’d left on her pillow, the fact that he’d driven to Houston for her, and everything that had taken place within the last three weeks.

“I knew it! I knew it when I saw you two that first day,” Bethenny squealed, shaking her head and clasping her hands over her mouth.

“God, it was so obvious looking back. You practically swooned every time he came in for morning meetings. Oh my god and you got picked for his surgery!” Bethenny continued, her eyes growing wide.

“No! Bethenny, Holden had nothing to do with that. Dr. Warwick chose. I’m not that unethical! Holden hasn’t favored me at all over the past few weeks
, at least not while we’ve been at the hospital,” Addison suggested, unable to conceal a timid smile.

Bethenny jumped up off the bench. “Oh my
god, so you’re telling me you guys have been in this awkward relationship during this entire rotation? You guys have totally had sex haven’t you? You love him!” Bethenny was on a roll and Addison kept trying to interject but Bethenny was pacing excitedly. Before Addison could step in and deny that they’d even spent the night together yet, she paused knowing she couldn’t deny the second part of Bethenny’s statement.

“When it’s just
me and him, Beth, it’s amazing, but it’s been so hard having to act like there’s nothing between us when we’re here. I feel like a mistress or something. Oh god and then there’s Stacy. I’m pretty sure she would happily throw me under a bus to be with him and although she’s horrible, she
is
really
pretty... what guy could resist that?”

Bethenny burst out laughing.
“No, absolutely not. Even though you guys are hiding it, it’s obvious you two are meant to be together. The looks he gives you during our morning meetings even make me melt a little bit. It’s ridiculous.”

“I know. He’s... I can’t even explain it. It’s amazing. I just get so fed up with Stacy sometimes.”

Bethenny kept listening as she vented. Addison knew she could have talked to Holden about Stacy but they had so little time together this week she didn’t want to waste any of it on
her
. Not to mention, no one understood a catty woman like a best girlfriend. She tried to explain as much as she could before they both had to go back work. She felt so much lighter after finally spilling everything to Bethenny and she knew her secrets were safe with her friend for one more week.

“Seriously, you cannot say a word about any of this, not every to Henry,” Addison warned, hoping she didn’t make a mistake in trusting her friend.

“Duh, I won’t tell anyone. I can’t believe you held out on me this whole time; I’d be mad if this wasn’t so completely awesome,” Bethenny giggled as they pushed through the locker room door and ran back to the ward.

One thing continued to nag
Addison as the week passed on.
Why hasn’t he told me about the fundraiser yet?
Knowing she couldn’t take Stacy’s word for it, she’d casually mentioned it to a few nurses in the ward and each of them had confirmed Stacy’s information. This Saturday the hospital was hosting a fundraiser and Holden would be in attendance, without her.

“I mean who even wants to go to some dumb fundraiser anyway
, Beth!” Addison shouted from the kitchen as she prepared them a quick dinner Wednesday night. They’d camped out in the living room the past two days in preparation for Friday’s exam, and as a result, Bethenny had been exposed to more talk about “that lame fundraiser” and “that slutty Stacy” than she cared to count.

“Seriously, I couldn’t agree more,” Bethenny appeased her, continuing to read through her notes. “I really do agree with you,
it’s just that I don’t want you to get distracted by all of this. I know he loves you Addison. You’ve told me everything, and only a guy in love slips a pastry from your favorite bakery into your locker every morning for the past three-freaking-days. I mean, if you weren’t my friend, I’d throw up from how sickeningly cute that is.”

Holden
had
been especially supportive that week. He knew Addison was worn down from her upcoming exam and the secret limitations of their relationship. He’d tried to help where he could and morning pastry delivery was a pretty good start. The last few nights on the phone she’d almost caved and asked him about the fundraiser but if in fact he wasn’t asking her to attend or god forbid he’d be hanging out with Stacy that night, she wasn’t sure she could compose herself enough to study before Friday. So, she’d resolved to try to push it out of her mind until she walked out of the exam.

(♫
12)
“Is everything okay Addison?”
Holden asked from the other end of the line.

She took a deep breath, focusing on the ceiling as she lay in bed.
Do I bring it up or do I let it go?
Holden was working at the hospital as usual, and she didn’t really feel it was the right time to ask about the fundraiser, but didn’t she owe it to him to be honest?
No, wait until after the exam.

“What? Oh, yeah
… I’m just tired,” she lied.

She could hear the relief in his voice when he spoke, “Yeah, this has been a long week
for you. Let’s celebrate this weekend.”

Oh, you mean by going to a fundraiser with Stacy?

“Let’s go out Saturday,” she offered, seeing how he would respond. It wasn’t the most honest way of getting her answer but it was about all she could muster.

“O
h,” he faltered for just a moment, enough time to give her the answer she was looking for, “let’s just see how the week takes us. You might want to go out on Friday.”

“Yeah, we’ll see.” She spoke in a clipped tone. “I’m gonna go, talk to you tomorrow.” She spoke, not wanting to show how much his unintentional confession had affected her.

“Okay,” he answered, allowing a long pause to fill their air space. “I miss you, Addy.”

It took her almost an hour to get to sleep after she’d hung up.
She tossed and turned, unable to get the image of Holden and Stacy out of her head. She knew it was against the rules for her to attend the fundraiser and she didn’t mind that Holden was going without her. It was for his job, after all. It was the idea of him riding to the event with Stacy and her friends. They didn’t know about Addison so it wasn’t even as if they were breaking girl code by flirting with him. They saw him as free game.
Just trust him. This will all be over on Friday.

Chapter 27

Addison walked out of the exam review
with an overwhelming sense of relief.  If she saw Holden in the hallway now, he’d be able to pull her into a kiss, push her against the wall and take her right there.
Hah,
silly hospital rules, I guess that still wouldn’t be allowed.
She smiled to herself and walked as fast as she could to the locker room to grab her stuff.

Bethenny was closing her locker when Addison walked in.

“We’re done!” Addison cheered.

“Sweet freedom.
I don’t even know what I’m doing to do with myself,” Bethenny proclaimed as she sunk down on the bench near their lockers.

“You mean what you’ll do with the three day break before we start our
ER rotation on Tuesday?” Addison said, breaking their bubble of momentary happiness.

“Must you completely ruin this moment for us?” Bethenny joked, giving Addison a playful glare.

Addison sat down on the bench next to her for a moment, “Sorry, I’m taking my frustrations with Stacy out on anyone who can walk.”

Bethenny patted her back, “No worries
. Have you talked to you-know-who about tomorrow?”

“I wanted to wait until after my exam was over
in case the rumors were actually true. I could barely focus on studying already; I didn’t want to be emotionally unstable as well.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you. You said he was going to pick you up from here?”

“Mhm, we’re going out to dinner to celebrate the end of my rotation. He should be waiting for me outside now,” Addison said, picking up her bag and standing up off the bench.

“Well you better go get your man!” Bethenny joked as two
male residents pushed the locker room door open.

Addison gave Bethenny a knowing glance, “Perfect timing,” she muttered, pulling her friend toward the door.

“If everything ends up horribly, can I just be the third wheel for you and Henry tomorrow? I can’t imagine sitting home alone.”

“It won’t. But yes, we’ll just force Hen
ry to do girly stuff with us,” she promised. “That actually sounds fun.”

“How do you think you did?”
Holden asked as she slid into the passenger seat of his Range Rover.

“Good, I hope. A few of the questions stumped me so I had to think them over
for a while but I felt sure about most of them.”

The test results wouldn’t affect her P
A certification but they could definitely impact her career. The students who received the highest grades on each rotation’s exam would be offered a spot training and working in that respective rotation within Hyde Park Hospital. That meant that Addison could potentially be working in one of the best neurology and spine wards in the nation. She thought back to how amazing it had been to assist on a spinal surgery and felt the same pang of guilt she’d had the past few days. She’d made a promise to herself that she would go into family medicine. There was such a high demand for family practice PAs and she wanted to make the right decision about her future, not the decision that seemed the most glamorous.

“Earth to Addison,” Holden spoke, drawing Addison out of her thoughts.

“Ah, sorry I’ve got lots of things on my mind,” she answered, turning her full attention to him. “Have I fully explained how happy I am to be done with that rotation?” she asked, turning up the radio a bit.

“
The three texts you sent after you left the test with nothing but explanation marks sort of did the trick,” he joked, squeezing her knee. “Guess you can tutor me now?”

“Looks like it. Maybe I’ll even let
you
assist in a surgery... but I don’t know... I’m
much
smarter than you now, we probably aren’t even compatible,” Addison continued to joke eliciting a deep laugh from Holden.

“Where are we going anyway?” Addison asked as they exited the highway.

“It’s a surprise. I hope you’ll be excited about it, but it’s sort of late notice,” Holden said, putting his blinker on and turning left into the mall parking lot. His sentence instantly reminded Addison of the fundraiser. She’d been so consumed with being done with her exam she’d forgotten to ask him about it. A black cloud suddenly formed over her perfect day. She’d pushed the question off all week and she was tired of having to second-guess Holden’s feelings for her.

“Ah, hope the surprise doesn’t conflict with your fundraiser tomorrow,” Addison spoke icily
as Stacy’s lies flashed through her mind.
Why can’t students be invited... and why didn’t he tell me about it himself?
She kept her focus on the passing trees, feeling her blood begin to boil. She knew she should have brought it up with a better attitude, but any composure regarding the subject had melted away days ago.

“Are you kidding me? Can anyone keep a secret in that damn hospital?” Holden snapped as he pulled
smoothly into a parking space.

“Guess not. Stacy spilled the beans the other day. Apparently you guys are riding
in a limo together,” Addison accused, raising her eyebrows. She hated how snotty she sounded, but she hated the idea of the two of them together even more.
So help me, if Stacy was telling the truth I will kick his ass.

“
Addy. Tell me you didn’t actually trust Stacy. She told you I was dating my sister for Christ’s sake,” He paused, looking through the windshield, “Once again that woman is at the root of drama. Does she even see patients or does she just wander around the hospital stirring every pot?” Holden tugged his hand forcefully through his hair.
Whoops…

Addison instantly warmed at seeing Holden’s annoyance and she reached out to grab his hand. “I didn’t trust her
; the other nurses confirmed there was a fundraiser as well, so I didn’t know what to believe,” she spoke candidly, trying to catch his eye. “It’s okay though, really. I know students can’t go, which is why all you guys are going together...”

“You probably have to go, so I won’t even take it personally,”
she continued, trying to muster a genuine smile. She could spend the day with Bethenny getting their nails done and relaxing; it didn’t have to be so bad if she kept herself busy.

Holden shook his head, angling himself toward her. His brown eyes, the color of dark chocolate with flecks of hazelnut, seemed to pin her to the leather of her seat. Reaching out, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before beginning to speak.

“Addy, I’m not going to that fundraiser without you. I didn’t tell you about it because I didn’t want you to get your hopes up. You were so busy this week I didn’t want to add something else to the list.” He ran his hand down her face and cupped her cheek. She leaned into his warm touch instinctively as he continued to speak. “There were still a few hoops we had to jump through before you and I could be completely free to date. While your rotation technically ended today, your exam grades haven’t been returned, not to mention the fact that you still have quite a few rotations left at Hyde Park Hospital. I knew HR would have a problem with my influencing other residents into giving you special treatment in your future rotations.”

Addison opened her mouth to protest that he’d never do something like that, but he continued.

“I knew the best option was to go to Dr. Warwick. I met with him on Wednesday and explained the situation. That we had been friends before you left for PA school and that while I had feelings for you then and now, I decided not to act on them until after your exam.”

She gave him an inquisitive loo
k. “Obviously the second part is a lie but the last thing either of us needs is a serious disciplinary action or an investigation into this relationship. Dr. Warwick told me that because I brought it to him, he’d talk with HR and settle it for us.” He paused again, taking a deep breath.

“Today he finally told me we were in the clear
. As long as you discuss our relationship with your future head residents and we signed an agreement with HR on Monday, I was free to invite you to the fundraiser.”

Addison was speechless. While she’d been studying and worrying about her exam, he’d taken everything onto his shoulders. She almost couldn’t believe everything he
’d said in the last few moments, that he cared enough to make sure she could attend the silly fundraiser. He could have gone without her and she wouldn’t have held it against him. Instead, he’d surprised her yet again. Her eyes fell to his lips, the perfectly proportioned lips explaining that their obstacles were over. She didn’t have to worry about getting kicked out of the program and he didn’t have to worry about getting fired. She could be with him for the entire world to see.

“
Which brings me back to the surprise.” He smiled wide, his good mood clearly restored, as he hopped out of the car and walked to open her door. She climbed out, looking up at him with a mystified expression.

“We’re at the mall because the fundraiser is black tie and I wanted you to have something you’d feel beautiful in,”
he said, smiling down at her as they made their way to the entrance of the mall. “I know its last minute and I’m not sure how long you’d need to pick a dress out for things like this, but I want you to pick out a dress, any dress; it’s my gift to you for being done with your exam.”

Addison stopped dead in her tracks pulling her hands from Holden’s easy grip.
He looked back at her, confused as she reached down and pinched her arm before blinking a few times. Holden’s laughter caused a smile to spread across her face.

“Sorry, just wanted to make sure this wasn’t a dream,”
she grinned, before crashing into him and throwing her arms around his neck.