Heartburn: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World) by Tarrah Anders (100 best novels of all time TXT) 📕

“What’s that mean, daddy?” I grip the hospital bedsheets.

“You’re an adult now and we want nothing to do with you. You’ve disgraced our family time and time again. We’re done. Finished.”

He storms out of the room and I’m left all alone. Alone with nothing. He’s right. I’ve made so many mistakes and I always thought I would have another chance.

I’ve messed up in a big way. My mess up will not just affect me forever, but also Rogan.

Rogan.

Where’s Rogan?

He’ll never forgive me.

I shoot up in bed covered in sweat.

I haven’t relived that moment in a long time. I tried to lock up the past in a box and shove it into the back of the closet of my mind. Never to be dug back up. But being back in Sunnyville, I’m opening old wounds that I tried to bury for so long.

I haven’t seen or spoken to my parents since that day.

Maybe that dream is a reminder that I have business to tend to. Since my failed attempt with Rogan didn’t go so well, maybe I should try my parents.

5

Rogan

I’ve been running through the motions while teaching some of my med students this afternoon. I take a full day once a week to work with some medical students for their hands-on clinical. And today, I couldn’t tell anyone what I’ve said or done.

My mind is on her when it shouldn’t be.

There are too many questions in my head and not enough answers.

I should have looked into the new nurse joining our staff before her first day, then I wouldn’t have been so alarmed and dumbstruck when our eyes met.

Now, she is interfering with my day to day. I cannot afford to do that. To be distracted while I’m with patients.

I need to get down to the bottom of why Kindra is here. Otherwise, I will probably drive myself crazy.

I look at the clock and then back to the students.

“That’s it for the day! I believe a few of you are pulling the night shift, so make sure that you’re ready and alert. And I will see you later.”

Everyone runs out of the room, and I’m left in the silence with my own thoughts until Dr. Denise Slater, the head of Peds sticks her head into the room.

“Hey good lookin’, what cha’ got cookin?” She smirks, walking in and taking a seat in the front row.

I smile, appreciating the interruption of my thoughts.

“What are you doing slumming it down in the classrooms?” I ask, stepping away from the whiteboard.

“I have a labor lecture down the hall and noticed you standing in here looking like someone killed your puppy. Everything okay? You and Malibu Barbie break up yet?”

“Why? Would you take me up on that date if we did?” I ask.

“Oh honey, you know that you and I would be horrible as an actual couple. Besides, I don’t date, only fornicate.” She smirks.

“How could I forget?” I grin, remembering the nights that we spent together as residents.

We would be horrible together and that’s why nothing ever amounted to anything more than some no strings attached fun.

“No really, what’s up? You seriously looked a little forlorn when I walked by. Hate being a real doctor now?”

“How much time do you have? I can give you the Cliffs Notes version or the novel?”

“I want the Cliffs Notes. You know how I do when it comes to long stories,” she says sitting down.

“Your eyes roll back into your head and you start dreaming of Christian Slater and you causing all sorts of mayhem in a high school, blowing shit up.”

“Ah, to be a Heather.” She gazes up at the ceiling with a smile before she looks at me with a straight face. “So, what’s cracking?”

“So, the girl that I was in love with from high school, she’s back in town.” I say point blank.

“Wow. That’s a blast from the past. Does she bring back old feelings?”

“Yes and no.”

“Oh, that sounds complicated.”

“It is. She’s clearly turned her life around—”

“Like you did,” she points out.

“Right. Anyway, she’s now one of my nurses in the ER.”

“You’re shitting me!” Denise sits forward in interest. “Tell me more. Do we need to make sure the on-call room is open for you from now on?”

“I pretended that she didn’t exist, she tried to get my attention and now, all I can think about is all the questions that I have unanswered.” I explain, ignoring her question.

“How long has it been?” she asks.

“Eleven or twelve years.”

“Wow, you guys were babies!” she says.

“We were eighteen. After she left… after she left, I changed and pushed myself hard and now here I am. But with her back in town, will everything that I worked so hard for dissipate because of her? Everything that she touched, that we touched back then was tarnished. We were bad news. We were so blindly in love with one another that we couldn’t see that we were pulling each other down. I don’t want that to happen again.”

“Ro. I’ve known you for several years now. I’ve known you personally as well as professionally, and I can damn well say that there is no one and nothing that will deter you from your pathway. Look at you, you’re the attending physician in the ER. I know that you had a shady past, but look, you turned that shit around and became one of the most noteworthy individuals in town.”

“Keep going,” I egg her on.

“Oh, you suck, I’m trying to be honest and not trying to rub your bruised ego any.”

“You were kind of offering that when you walked in,” I remind her.

“This ex of yours, is she going to be a problem? Will I need to run any interference?”

“No. I have it handled. I think that I just need to actually talk to her instead of ignoring her or pretending that she’s not there.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Maybe you just need closure.”

“Closure,” I repeat nodding.

Yeah, that sounds like a good thing.

I