LITMIR.BIZ

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that—but for some reason, Haley didn’t find it all that funny. “She just went on about what a good catch you are and how I should make an effort to land you. As if you were a prized fish or something. I tried to tell her you and I are good friends, but she just wouldn’t let it go. I guess that conversation was still on my mind when you suggested we have coffee and dinner.”

      “And when I invited you to my place to study.”

      “I really did need to do laundry,” she muttered, glancing down at her hands, which were now clenched in front of her.

      He shook his head. “I still don’t understand why it shook you up so much for her to suggest I’ve got a thing for you. I thought it was funny.”

      It was only natural, she assured herself, that her feminine ego would be a little piqued by that. “I guess I was just more tired than I realized.”

      The prevarication didn’t seem to satisfy him completely, but he nodded. “So we’re good, then?”

      She gave him a smile she hoped looked completely natural. “Of course we are.”

      To her relief, he smiled in return, his usual good humor returning to his warm blue eyes. “You don’t think I’m going to lure you to my lair so I can jump your bones?”

      She sighed gustily, her usual response to his teasing. “No, Ron, I don’t think you’re going to jump my bones,” she said drily, making him laugh.

      “Good. Now that that’s settled, can I have a sandwich?”

      She blinked a couple of times, then glanced toward the table, where a barely touched ham sandwich still sat on a plate next to her computer. “Of course. Sit down, I’ll make you one.”

      Sensing that she needed a change of subject, he talked about work while she moved around the small kitchen, assembling another sandwich and adding a handful of chips and pickles to the plate. She set the plate and a glass of lemonade in front of him, then took her own seat as she responded to his conversational lead. It was much easier to concentrate on their training than…well, other things.

      Because he was there and they were already talking about school, it seemed only logical to spend some time studying together after they’d eaten. Their lecture on the following Monday would be about antibiotic-resistant, hospital-acquired infections, so they discussed the topic together, quizzing each other on their knowledge so they would be prepared if their attending physician aimed questions at either of them.

      Settling into their practiced study routine, Haley was able to relax and put the former awkwardness aside, to her relief. Ron fell back into teasing, to which she responded with her usual retorts.

      As so often was the case, she picked up the information a bit more quickly than Ron—memorization just came easier to her than to him, though once he internalized the material, he retained it well. When she sensed he was becoming frustrated, she tactfully boosted his morale by reminded him how well he’d been doing in the rotation. Clinical skills were his strong point; the fact that he struggled a bit more with the memorization just meant everyone had different learning styles and strengths, which she had lectured more than once during the past two years.

      When both were satisfied they were prepared for Monday’s lecture, Ron glanced at his watch and stood to leave. “Thanks for the sandwich. And the study help,” he added, moving toward the door.

      She walked with him so she could lock up behind him. “You helped me, too,” she assured him. “It’s always easier to study with someone.”

      Rounding the end of the couch to join him at the door, she stumbled over a strap of the computer bag she’d left lying on the floor. She threw out a hand to steady herself, bumping against the lamp on the end table. She had no trouble preventing a fall, but the hematite bracelet she’d donned that morning caught on the lamp. Shiny, gray-black stones scattered at her feet when the elastic cording snapped.

      “Darn it.” She bent to scoop up stones, sweeping one hand beneath the couch to retrieve a couple that had tumbled under there.

      Ron helped her, plucking a stone from beneath the end table, another from the top of the table. “I don’t see any more.”

      “Thanks.” She shook her head. “Clumsy of me.”

      “Can you have the bracelet restrung?”

      “I’ll restring it myself when I have time. Kris gave it to me. The stones are hematite—supposed to be calming and grounding.”

      “Oh.” He dropped the stones he held into her open hand as if they’d suddenly turned hot. She knew he’d never cared for Kris. She’d always assumed it was simply a personality clash.

      “Okay, I’m off. See you Monday. Have a good weekend.”

      “You, too.” She caught the door when he opened it, preparing to lock it behind him.

      Ron turned on the step outside her ground-floor apartment, the familiar look in his eyes warning her that he was going to say something outrageous. “Hey, Haley?”

      Her lips twitched. “Yes, Ron?”

      “To make it clear—I find your bones totally jumpable. Just don’t want to do anything to mess up a good friendship, you know?”

      “Um—” She had no idea how she was supposed to respond to that.

      Laughing, he turned and walked away.

      After a moment, she shook her head, then shut the door with a bit more force than necessary.

      Trust Ron to make such an odd joke out of a situation that had already been awkward enough, she thought with a sigh of exasperation.

      She spent the rest of the evening wondering at random times if Ron really found her “jumpable.”

      Rounds on Monday morning went very well. Haley and Hardik had no difficulty with their patient presentations, and Ron sailed through his. To Haley’s relief, Ron was his usual self, cutting up with everyone equally, treating her as he always did. There was no more talk of bone-jumping or self-consciousness. Georgia McMillan had been released on Saturday, so they weren’t subjected to her blatant matchmaking. Telling herself it had been only a temporary glitch in their friendship, Haley was assured they could put it behind them and go on as they had been.

      She was very busy that afternoon, practically running from one assigned task to another, taking only a half hour for a lunch break. She didn’t see Ron until late in the afternoon. She had just stepped into the students’ room to type up some notes when he walked in.

      “Hi, Ron, how’s your afternoon…oh, my gosh, what happened?”

      Though she remembered that he’d worn a white shirt, red tie and gray slacks beneath his white coat that morning, he wore blue hospital-issue scrubs now. His expression was so grim she knew something must have gone very wrong for him.

      The spots of dark color on his cheeks indicated either anger or embarrassment, maybe a mixture of both. He spoke from between clenched teeth. “I screwed up. Big-time. Damn it.”

      Pushing herself out of the computer chair, she took a step toward him. “What did you do?”

      “Dr. Cudahy let me remove a patient’s central line. I’ve done that a couple of times before with my preceptor, so I felt pretty confident. Thought I’d impress the attending and the resident. Like an idiot, I pulled out the line—and forgot to put pressure on the site.”

      Haley winced, imagining the arterial blood spurt that would have resulted. “I hope you and the patient were the only ones in the vicinity?”

      “Oh, no. That would have been bad enough, of course, but Drs. Cudahy and Prickett were standing close enough at the time that we all got splattered. Prickett and I were wearing paper gowns, so only our collars and pants were hit, but Dr. Cudahy thought she was standing far enough away to be safe. She wasn’t. She got sprayed. She had to go change into scrubs.”

      Haley

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