Secret Love (The 4Ever Series Book 2)

by Isabella White

  “She’s premature. They discovered protein in the mother’s womb at her routine checkup today. It leads to all sorts of complications. I get to babysit.”

  Jake chuckled softly, then stepped closer. Not what she was hoping for at all. He bent down and placed his hand on the incubator while looking at the baby. “She’s so small.”

  “Yeah, that is what a preemie looks like.”

  “Ha ha, Miss Sarcasm.” Just then, the beeper in the incubator went off, frightening so his hand flew off as if it was a hot potato.

  Jumping up quickly to get to the incubator, Holly almost knocked him to the ground. Luckily for her, Teresse was close by and rushed in to assist Holly. Teresse removed the breathing tube with care and instructed Holly to use the manual pump while she gently used two fingers to compress the baby’s chest. When everything was stable, Teresse reinserted the breathing tube and the baby started making funny soft complaining noises that reminded her of a goat.

  “She needs TLC,” Teresse said.

  “But it hasn’t been twenty-four hours.”

  “She still needs it, Holly.”

  “Okay, let me go wake up her dad.”

  “Jake’s here. He can do it, he’s got nothing else to do while Ty is still asleep, and I’m sure he won’t mind, will you, Jake?”

  Beside herself, she gave Teresse a look that said, Please don’t do this to me, I’m begging you, but Teresse was none the wiser.

  “I’m not sure about that,” Holly said, her voice breaking, which she hated. She noticed Teresse looking over her shoulder at Jake, waiting for his reply, ignoring what Holly said completely.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Jake just had to go and do the opposite of what Holly wanted. FUCK!

  “Take your shirt off,” Teresse requested.

  Jake looked nervously around, while Holly pretended to get the baby ready. “What… no dinner first?” he joked.

  Unbelievable. But Holly still had to fight to keep herself from grinning.

  “Jake, this is not a joke. The newborn needs skin-to-skin contact.” Teresse was adamant. Jake pulled his shirt over his head. Thank heavens she wasn’t looking, because her gasp of remembrance—and she would gasp—would probably make him gloat or something.

  “Now I can understand why all the women go gaga around you.” Teresse just had to say something like that, but Holly refused to turn. She didn’t need any reminders.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Jake being pushed into the chair. He was chuckling. Thankfully, Teresse was blocking her face from his view. She could feel her face burning with anger as hot flashes rushed over her body. Here he was, quite content with doing Teresse’s bidding, when he’d left her when she’d needed him the most. Hold it together, Holly. Don’t cry. Please, tears, stay away for a while longer, she begged in her head.

  Picking up the infant’s fragile body, she took extra care in making sure that all her tubes didn’t become twisted. The little one was so tiny, she fit into one of her hands. The diaper almost fell off as she moved her gently over to where Jake was sitting. In the chair. Shirtless.

  Do not cry. You can do this. She placed the baby gently into his waiting arms, which were like two tree trunks.

  “Shit, she is really small,” he whispered, looking clueless as to how he should hold her.

  “Just relax your arms,” Holly advised. “She won’t break.” She watched him for a short few seconds, then concentrated on the patient again, placing her in just the right position so that her entire body touched his.

  “What a beautiful picture that makes,” said Teresse in awe.

  Holly smiled, but the tears were close. All the beautiful picture did was remind her of a time when he hadn’t been there. A time he should’ve been there. She hated him. No, she loathed him. Loathing was stronger than hatred.

  “Would you excuse me for a second? I need to check on a patient.” Tears glistened in her eyes.

  Teresse noticed; she tilted her head to one side, her expression pensive. “Sure,” she replied.

  Nodding her thanks, Holly hurried out, while Jake sat all content with a baby in his arms—a baby who wasn’t even his. Finding the nearest room she could slip into, she did so, and let the tears run freely down her face. She’d thought her anger at Jake had lessened over the years, that it had just settled into worry over what he would do if he ever found out about Jamie, but right now, the rage she’d felt for him five years ago boiled up inside her and threatened to spill over. She couldn’t believe he was in the NICU right now, cuddling a tiny premature baby—a stranger’s baby, at that—without a care in the world. She was furious at him. How did he see her again for the first time in years with such ease? She was beginning to hate this case, but only because she didn’t believe this would be the last time Jake would make an appearance. Especially not after what he was experiencing now. It was all her fault, really. She’d wanted an update. She just hadn’t wanted one from Jake. What was done was done.

  When she returned to the NICU, the baby was back in her incubator, and Jake was gone.

  “You okay?” Teresse’s voice came from where she was sitting.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just had to get out of here.”

  Teresse nodded. “You do know Jake, don’t you?”

  “It was all a long time ago—a very brief encounter. We didn’t know each other that long.”

  “Still, I can see that it upsets you whenever he’s around you. I’m sorry, Holly. I wished I’d picked up on it sooner. I feel like an idiot.”

  “Not your fault, not your problem. I’ll be fine.”

  Teresse left it there, accepting what Holly said.

  Holly left the NICU a few hours later, but when she returned two hours later, the baby’s father was there. Dr. Foucher joined them not long after, pleased that she’d pulled through the first and most critical few hours.

  As for her, she wished she could get the image of Jake holding the baby out of her head.

  HOLLY WAS OFF FOR THE ENTIRE DAY, but when five o’clock came around, she was back at Downsend. She was on night shift the entire week. Hopefully, she wouldn’t see Jake. At all.

  After changing into her scrubs and putting her white doctor’s coat on over them, she found Oliver with Aggie.

  “Have you seen him yet?” he asked.

  “Who?”

  “Tyler, who else?”

  “No, I think he’s still in the ICU,” she said.

  “You haven’t been to him yet?”

  “I’ve got other patients, too, Ollie.” She smiled. “I’ll go and see him as soon as I’m done.”

  “Aggie, have you seen Dr. Peters anywhere?” Ollie asked.

  What was with him and all his fucking questions?

  “He left an hour ago. He’s a busy doctor, Ollie.”

  “You can say that again.” His tone had a tinge of sarcasm.

  “Say what?”

  “Nothing.” He sauntered away, leaving Holly and Aggie frowning after him.

  Aggie shook her head.

  “What’s his problem today?”

  “Well, if truth be told, it’s not any different from the way you’ve treated Dr. Peters. Like crap, I might add.”

  “What? I don’t treat him like crap. He’s just not all moon, sun, and stars when he walks in here, that’s all.”

  Aggie burst out laughing. “Admit it, though. You were rude to him a couple times, Holly.”

  “I said I’d apologize, Aggs. I’ve just not had the time. And it’s not the end of the world.” Turning on her heel, she headed off to do her rounds.

  A while later, she found Rod talking to Aggie at reception. Holly did a double take just in case she was seeing wrong. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “Hey, Holls.” He gave her a hug. “It feels as if I haven’t seen you in ages. I came to check up on Tyler Benson.”

  “That’s awesome. He’s in the ICU. Come, I’ll take you,” she offered. “He really trusts you, doesn’
t he?” Holly didn’t ask why he was here instead of Jake.

  “He does, but he’s been in a fucking bad mood for the past two days.”

  “Oh. Why?”

  Rod shrugged, clearly not knowing the answer to that. Strange. Jake hadn’t been in a bad mood when she’d last seen him.

  “I hope this kid makes it. That was one hell of a tumor, Holls. He filled me in on it. It’s the first one he’s managed to remove as much as seventy percent. Ty was the perfect candidate. I just wish I’d been here to see him do it,” Rod said, his voice filled with admiration.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yup. Never thought he would do it, but guess TBG has lived up to his name.”

  Holly giggled as they entered the ICU. Mavis and George were sitting with their son. They smiled as Holly and Rod entered.

  “Hi, I’m Dr. Ballucio, sent by Dr. Peters to check on how Ty’s doing.” Rod shook their hands.

  Smiling at Mavis, Holly said, “This is the guy you should thank.”

  Mavis couldn’t contain herself; she flung her arms around his neck. Rod allowed the hug, stroking her back gently. “Really, I’m not the one you should thank. Holly did all the work.” Mavis let go and stepped back, smiling.

  “Rod, I told her the other day it was you, so just soak it up.”

  He chuckled, going over to Ty to check his pupils.

  “What are you looking for?” Holly asked.

  “I thought you weren’t into yucky brains,” Rod teased.

  “Humor me,” she said.

  “Jake made me look at what felt like a million scans. I have to report back to him on Ty’s vitals and progress. But he needs time to recover. We’ll only know whether the operation was a success or not when he wakes up.”

  George and Mavis shook his hand again and thanked him. Holly walked him out.

  “Thanks Rod. You don’t know how much that meant to me.”

  “Holly, it wasn’t me, okay? Jake saw it as getting more experience. He doesn’t get many patients like Ty, so you should really thank him.”

  “Still, if not for you, he’d never have taken a look at the file.”

  “I know you think he’s made of ice—cold and hard—but he’s not like that at all, Holly. He’s actually a nice guy.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Enjoy your day, Dr. Ballucio.”

  “The way you said that was so sweet. Music to my ears.”

  Holly burst out laughing, hugging him goodbye. She watched him leave. Rod returned twice a day to make sure that Ty was doing all right and then left with a quick goodbye each time. He once drank a quick cup of Holly’s coffee before he went, but not before he wooed all the nurses with his charm and beautiful blue eyes. Even Teresse melted.

  “We can see who is rubbing off on you, Dr. Ballucio,” Aggie stated.

  “Good, as long as it’s not the only thing that is rubbing off on me.”

  That comment had everyone laughing.

  On day five, Holly checked in on Ty, taking coffee for George and Mavis. As she was handing each their cup, Ty opened his eyes and mumbling sounds came from his lips. The mumbling soon turned into agonizing, heart-wrenching screams.

  Reacting immediately, Holly shouted for a nurse to phone Jake and page Ollie.

  Within minutes Ollie rushed into the ICU, first checking Ty’s eyes. It was evident by the look on Ollie’s face that this wasn’t normal.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s not normal.”

  The panic Ty’s parents felt was evident on their faces and in George’s tone. “Where is Dr. Peters? He needs to be here.”

  Ty screamed again—a sound she’d never heard. And as frustrating and scary as it was, there was nothing she could do for him. A horrible feeling emerged within her gut.

  Finally, Jake rushed into the ICU. “Move!” he shouted, pulling Ollie out of the way. He looked into Ty’s eyes. “I know it hurts, okay? Bear with me,” Jake spoke gently.

  “My head…” Ty moaned, finally making a sound other than excruciating screams.

  “I know,” Jake placated him. Turning, he shot orders at the nurses. They moved so fast, one would swear they’d hadn’t been in the room at all.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that, Jake,” Ollie said.

  “Of course, you haven’t. Now leave.” Jake was brusque.

  Shaking her head, Holly accompanied Ollie out, too.

  Once out of the room, it was clear Ollie was fuming. “He thinks he’s God, just because he takes risks others don’t.”

  “Calm down, Ollie.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it, Holly,” he whispered, but his words dripped with emotion. “In all my years as a doctor, not once.”

  Ty had been screaming the whole time they stood outside his room. Eventually, thankfully, it stopped. A few minutes later, Jake walked out.

  “Who paged you?” he demanded, inches from Ollie’s face. “You had no right to be in there.”

  “Dr. Peters, Ty was in pain. I had him paged,” said Holly.

  He whipped his head around to glare at her. “Don’t ever do that again. He is my patient.”

  She was on the cusp of reminding him that he was fifteen minutes away, but Ollie cut in. “What happened in there is not normal, Jake, and you know it.”

  “Agreed. It’s not normal for your typical tumor, but life-threatening tumors are a different story. If you had the gumption to operate, Oliver, you would’ve learned that there are a number of different types,” he spat condescendingly, saying Ollie’s name as if it held venom. He pivoted away.

  “Yeah. Pity we all can’t be gods like you!” Ollie yelled after him. “Fucking arrogant bastard.”

  That stopped Jake in his tracks. Turning slowly, he retaliated. “In case you’ve forgotten, and let me give you a subtle reminder here,” Jake sneered, “It was this arrogant bastard—” he jabbed a finger into his chest—“who just saved that kid’s life.” Satisfied, Jake lifted a brow, turned, and resumed walking away.

  Holly snorted. Now this was the Jake she knew. She grabbed a hold of Ollie’s arm and led him away, to the staircase, of course. He needed to calm down.

  She knew he was livid and angry with himself, too, because he couldn’t be more like Jake. He wasn’t brave enough to take risks.

  “Don’t let him do this to you, Ollie.”

  “He has a point.”

  “No, he doesn’t. He’s an asshole, and you should not simply accept what he dishes out. You are a brilliant doctor, too. Don’t try to be a second Jake, please.”

  He burst out laughing. She didn’t understand what was funny. At all. “Sorry. But I find it hilarious to hear a woman say that about him, especially one with your hair color.”

  Squinting at him, she asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Jake has this thing for strawberry blondes. Ever since I’ve known him, he’s been like that, screwing every single one who happened to cross his path.”

  Was that why he’d gone for her in the first place? She forced herself not to scowl. “Well, not this one,” she lied.

  Jake returned the next day to check up on Ty. He wasn’t screaming in pain anymore. Holly took his vitals. He was still tired, opening and closing his eyes

  “You should sleep,” Holly advised.

  “Nope, you shouldn’t. I need five minutes, Ty.” Jake walked in just as she spoke. She wished she could leave, but she wasn’t done yet. Ty smiled as if Jake was the sun.

  “How’s the head, Ty?”

  “What happened? Was that normal?” Ty asked, his voice soft.

  “It happens every now and then,” Jake confirmed. “You up for some math?”

  “Oh, please!” Ty groaned. “As much as I love you for saving my life, I will have no choice but to hate you if you do that to me.”

  Holly grabbed the mercury sphygmomanometer—the one preferred for high-risk patients—wrapped and tightened the cuff around his upper arm, then pumped the bulb to inflate the cuff
so she could get an accurate reading of his blood pressure.

  “C’mon, it’s easy. Even my two-year-old can answer them,” Jake teased.

  Holly stopped pumping. It felt as if someone had stabbed her in the gut. She resumed pumping again, pretending she hadn’t heard, that it didn’t affect her in the least. But she was rattled, so much so, she had to concentrate to make sure she wrote down the correct readings.

  All she could think about was that he had a two-year-old; Jamie had a half-brother or -sister. He’d chosen Kate’s child above hers. She could feel her heart shattering. She didn’t want it to hurt as much as it did, but she couldn’t deny that it did. A lot. As soon as she was done, she smiled at Ty, then left.

  In her safe place, she called her mother. Her free hand trembled as she waited for her mother to answer the phone. She didn’t even greet Jane when her voice came through.

  “He has a two-year-old, Mom,” Holly said. She couldn’t get her head around the fact that he had a child, and that he had no qualms about flaunting the fact in her face. What made that child so special, and her girls not? She came from a well-off family, too. Well… her father was rolling in it, as one of the best architects around. Still, they weren’t a doctor family.

  She cried while Jane scorned Jake. Her words calmed Holly down.

  Her pager beeped. Taking a deep breath, Holly wiped her eyes. “I’ve got to go, Mom.”

  “Jake’s a bastard! I’m so sorry, baby.”

  “I’m not, not really. Jamie is amazing, and I’ll always be grateful for that. It’s his loss.”

  “It is. You should feel sorry for him. Not knowing her.”

  “I don’t. I really don’t.”

  Just before ending their call, Jane apologized for going off on her colorful tangent.

  Fuck this. She would confront the bastard. There was a question she needed an answer to. Why was this kid so damn special, and hers hadn’t been?

  Reception was quiet, thankfully. Leaning over the desk, she asked Aggie if she’d seen Jake. She was told he’d just left. Holly knew if she hurried, she could still catch him. Without missing a beat, Holly turned and ran down the main stairs that led to the ground floor, hoping she could beat him to the exit. She didn’t care whether a gazillion people would end up being witness to what was about to take place—because tonight, everyone would know what a bastard he really was.