“Yes, of course,” he said, still staring at the papers. He wasn’t reading them; they were upside down.
“Did I do something to upset you?” I asked. My mind went over every possible scenario. Maybe he was angry I was still seeing Josh, or maybe I had pissed him off during that morning’s code. I couldn’t think of anything.
“Reid,” I said quietly.
He looked at me, and the elevator dinged. The doors opened to the maternity ward.
Dr. Rosenberg stepped out into the hall, stopping at the line of windows. The nursery only had a few newborns, flailing their arms or sleeping.
“I need to tell you something, but I’m not sure I should,” Dr. Rosenberg said.
“Is it personal?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s about Josh.”
I sighed. “Doctor—”
“He came to my home, Avery. He told me to stay away from you.”
My head snapped in his direction, but he continued to stare at the babies without expression, as if he’d just told me it may rain.
“You’re lying.” I didn’t bother to hide the bite in my tone. I’d become fiercely protective when it came to Josh.
“You can ask my wife. And my daughter. They answered the door.”
I blinked and then looked through the glass, blank-faced and feeling foolish. So many emotions swirled inside me I couldn’t sift through them. A lump formed in my throat. “I’m so sorry,” I managed to say.
“I should stay away from you, but because I care about you, I’m going to say this one last time, Avery. Josh has become dangerous. He’s unpredictable, possessive, and emotionally immature. That can be a scary combination if you let this continue. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I nodded, unable to look him in the eyes. My cheeks flushed. “He’s not like that with me. He—”
“They never are until they are. You know as well as I do that it’s a process. We see it every day in the ER. You think those women get punched and kicked on their first date? You think their husbands separate them from the people who care about them right off the bat? You know how this works, Avery. You’re smarter than this.
“What I’m most worried about is that I can’t help you anymore. I have a family to care for, and Josh has made it impossible for me to continue our friendship.” He turned to me, sadness in his eyes. “I wish you the best. I really do. Good luck.”
I wanted to tell him he was wrong about everything, but what he said made sense. I couldn’t argue when part of me worried his assessment of Josh was true. “Th-thank you,” I said. I watched him walk away like it was nothing. Like he hadn’t just ripped my heart from my chest.
Avery’s eyes were wide and full of fire as she slammed my apartment door behind her and slapped her key onto the countertop while I worked to prepare her the meatloaf she’d requested for her birthday, using Quinn’s mom’s recipe.
I glanced over at the cake I’d made and used a clean dish towel to cover the sloppy icing. It wasn’t great, but stores didn’t sell strawberry shortcake birthday cakes, so I’d had to do some research online.
“Bad day, baby?” I asked, tossing my oven mitt on the counter. I leaned against the peeling Formica, folding my arms over my chest.
“Depends. Do you consider being humiliated a good thing, Josh?”
I fidgeted to stall, trying to decide how to answer. Her question sounded dangerously close to a trap. “Um … no?”
“I guess you didn’t think that over when you went to Doc Rose’s house.”
“Fuck.” I rubbed my palm along my taut jaw … I’m going to beat that prick’s ass.
“We’re lying to each other now?”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You deliberately kept the truth from me. Omission is lying.”