That Day by Karen Deen (best novels to read in english txt) 📕

even know about. That last night we worked together plays over and over again in my head every time I look at him. The agency might have cleared him of any wrongdoing, but I can’t get past it. You can bury it in bureaucratic bullshit, but it doesn’t change what happened. He didn’t do his job, and everyone paid for it. Well, I’m not letting it happen again.

No. Fucking. Way.

The doors to the ER open, making us all stop and wait.

“Mr. Kurt Dolan, can you follow me, please? Miss Elders would like to see you.” I can’t help myself, looking across at Scott and giving him a chin lift full of smugness. Just like a damn teenage boy would do. I feel sorry for Davina because she’s caught in the middle of it all. Watching her mouth the words ‘don’t be an asshole’ to me, I can’t help but smile a little at her. She knows me too well.

I follow the doctor in, and he stops just before Asha’s room.

“Asha seems to have had a fainting spell which resulted in her banging her head as she fell. I feel it’s the result of a drop in her sugar levels and dehydration. She tells me she hasn’t eaten all day, which isn’t good for her.”

“I agree, and I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. Are you sure it’s that simple? There was nothing else that would have caused it? Have you run blood tests to check?” His face tells me I’m managing to piss another person off today.

“Yes, Mr. Dolan, I have done my job, blood tests, scans which show no head trauma. Now, she is just resting, and we will hold her for observation for a few hours just in case, and we’re running another bag of fluids through her. Once that has finished, and I’m satisfied she’s okay, then you can take her home. But she should follow up with her primary care doctor tomorrow if she still doesn’t feel better, or within the next week as a follow-up just to make sure everything is fine.”

“Nothing serious in the way of a head trauma?” His patience at my questions is wearing thin. A sense of relief washes over me that it was just something simple, and the doctor probably thinks I’m overreacting.

“Like I said, the scans are clear. You need to calm down.” Like it’s that easy.

“Can I see her now?”

“Yes, but she needs to take it easy. No excitement for a few days.”

“I understand.” Following him into the room, I stand frozen at the end of her bed.

Her eyes are closed, with a pale complexion. Her blonde hair is tumbling all around her face and on the pillow. She’s still dressed in the floral dress from today, a sheet over her to keep the chill of the air conditioning off her. I know how little she is when she is curled up in my arms, but until this moment, I never realized just how fragile she is. The strength she shows every day, pretending to live a life that’s not her own, astounds me. I’ve seen so many people over the years having to do it, but with her, it tugs so much harder on me. I’ve done exactly what I told myself not to do.

I’ve fallen for Asha.

So hard there is no coming back from it.

I just hope she feels the same and we can get through whatever she is about to face.

Sounds of alarms from another room cause Asha to stir. Her eyes open slowly and focus on me.

“Kurt,” she whispers.

“I’m here, beautiful.” Taking my place at her side, I kiss both her cheeks, then softly place my lips on hers. Our eyes lock together.

“You scared me tonight.” I take a seat next to her and wrap my hands around hers that are lying in her lap.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a fuss.” Her voice is still soft but stronger than before.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Lifting her hands to my lips, my kiss lingers on them.

“How did you find me?” There’s confusion on her face.

“Jodie called me. She knows where you live, so when she got the call, she messaged me because she was worried.”

She nods her head just a little, and I can tell it still hurts to move it.

“Are you sure you just fainted? Nothing else weird happened today or this afternoon?” There is so much I want to ask her but can’t. Instead, I just have to lead her to tell me as much as she can remember.

“I was just silly and hadn’t eaten, it made me dizzy.” She’s avoiding eye contact, which tells me straight away that there’s more to it that she isn’t telling me.

“Why didn’t you eat?”

“I was writing.”

“I know you get wrapped up in writing, but you need fuel for the body. I’m going to make sure you eat from now on. I’ll make it my personal mission to be chief of food for the hard-working woman. I mean, if she runs out of energy with no food, imagine what would happen after a night with me. I think we’ll both agree that you need to keep that energy level at its peak.” I’ve never been so happy to hear her little giggle.

“So you say.”

“Oh, I more than say. I do—or correction, we do… a lot.” Although I know that’s on hold for a while.

“Well, I need to get better then.” Her hands are now squeezing mine.

“Absolutely.”

We both have a little laugh together and then the silence descends again. I can’t help myself, I want to see what she tells me.

“Why were Davina and Scott both there tonight? I thought you were working.” I sound like a jealous boyfriend. Her face looks worried as she tries to think what she can say.

“I was working. They needed to meet with me, you know, about work. That’s all.” Again, she turns away, looking out the curtain in her room where all you can