Truth

He took me by surprise. I had thought that he was asleep or was he and I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was? I pushed myself off of the door and stepped closer to him... I couldn't make out his face as it was badly bruised and swollen, but his eyes were a pretty light gray... his hair a birds' nest and his lips cracked and busted... was he in some kind of fight?

"broody much?"

I asked as I looked at him closely... Where have I seen those eyes before?

"No, not broody. I am just not in the mood for you nurses... thinking you know everything."

"Well, I am in no mood for you either and, frankly, when it comes to nursing, I think we know more than you do, don't you?"

"You think you know more than the current doctor does. So piss off, I want to be alone."

He grumbles. June wasn't wrong. He was a brute, but I wasn't going to let him intimidate me.

"Too bad big guy... I don't, so suck it up and if you knew better than we did, don't you think you would be home nursing yourself?."

He groaned loudly and shut his eyes... I took his file and read through it...

Name: Hudson Blakely

Age: 37 years old

He was involved in a motorcycle accident a few days ago and lost his wife in the accident...  Geez and here I was crying over a break-up... well we haven't ended things yet, but according to me, we have... I now know why this man was so bitter... I placed the file down and took a seat by the side of his bed.

If he was getting a new nurse tomorrow, there was no need for me to read his file... that must have been some accident... almost every limb was shattered... Honestly, if something like this had happened to me, I wouldn't want to live if I lost the person I loved in that way. I guess the big guy upstairs had other plans for him then.

I took out my novel I was reading from my pocket and started reading... at least I could get lost in my book for a few hours... my eyes burned from staring at the pages in my book. I have been spaced out for a bit thinking about Conner... lose sight of where I was and start the same page over again...

As much as I tried to forget him, I couldn't, my mind just kept taking me back to memories of him, and now that I think about it... Conner was most of the time away on business trips. What if they weren't all business trips? I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts...

"That wont help."

He whispered.

"What wont help?"

"Shaking your head to get rid of whatever it is that you're thinking. I take it, it has something to do with a man?"

"You shouldn't be taking anything, especially after you asked me to piss off."

He remained silent again... he had some f*****g nerve, didn't he? Snooping around for answers as to why I was crying... yeah buddy, I know more than you think I thought... I took the ring out of my pocket again... looking at it... I saved up for almost eight months to buy this for him... and kissing another woman was my thank you...

"Ava.. Conner is here..."

"What?"

I asked when June stepped into the room. I wasn't ready to face him yet.

"He asked for you. Sarah already told him you were here, so I thought I would just come to give you a heads-up."

I scrambled to my feet and the ring I was holding in my hands fell with a cling on the ground... I bent over to pick it up just when Conner stepped into the room...

"You dropped this"

I said as I slipped the ring onto Hudson's finger...

"We need to talk"

Conner said

"I do."

Hudson replied,

I stared between the two men, looking back and forth... Conner moved closer when he heard the voice of a man.

"Boss?"

He whispered...

"Boss?"

What the hell was going on here? Wait did he just say I do? Now I knew why his eyes looked so familiar.

I stood there looking puzzled. June looked as though she was about to jump out of her skin. But I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. So I turned to Conner...

"I am at work."

I said

"Please, I just need a few minutes to explain."

Hudson watched us closely, and I was sure he was starting to put the pieces of my puzzle together... even with a banged-up face, I could see the smug smile he had on his face. This asshole was enjoying this...

"There is nothing to explain. I saw enough to know everything I need to know."

I whispered...

"Conner, I think you should leave."

June said to him

"Keep out of this June. This doesn't concern you."

"As of now, I don't concern you either, so leave or I will have someone remove you."

I said

He looked as though he was about to argue again, but Hudson spoke up...

"I suggest you leave Conner before things get messy."

"I am sorry sir, all I want is a chance to explain to her that is all."

"Explain what exactly? That you're married with three kids?"

I inhaled sharply... Conner didn't say a thing to deny it, so I guess what Hudson said was true, yet for some reason I needed to hear Conner confirm it... Hudson wouldn't lie about something like that. He was Conner's boss after all, so he would know if he was married or not... I struggled to come to terms with what I had just heard as I stared at Conner with big eyes...

He looked like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't, he couldn't even look at me as he shifted from foot to foot, something he did when he was either nervous or stressed...

"Is that true?"

I asked as I looked at Conner.

"Just let me explain."

He said as he came towards me... he tried to take my hands in his, but I moved back away from him.

"Answer me, is it true?"

I asked again. 

"Yes but...

"Yes was all the answer I need, Conner, now if you could kindly find your way out please."

He turned to the door and left... what more was there that he wanted to add to that? Being married was bad enough now. What about those kids? Was his wife aware of his affairs or was she as oblivious as I was... should I reach out to her and let her know or just keep it to myself and wait for the truth to reveal itself?

What if she was one of those women who denied it when someone told her about her husband's extra-marital affairs? Even if it hurt, I would want to know if I was being taken for a fool behind my back... so many thoughts ran through my mind... didn't he care about his family?

"Are you okay?"

June asked me

"Yeah."

I said smiling, but my smile didn't reach my eyes...

She knew I wasn't, but she didn't push further, she gave me a hug and told me she would be coming by later for a girls' night, then left... I couldn't move... my mind reeled with the truth... the guilt I felt even if I didn't know he was married was there... How many people knew he was married and thought of me as scum?

" Never overthink it, Ava, it won't do you any good."