3

Haven took a deep breath. She looked into his eyes as she settled into her seat. “You left and went into the army. I was still just a young teenager though I could have done anything at that point. You knew I went straight into medical school, and I had to stay with them. Do you remember how my parents were?”

“Controlling and neglectful?” he asked back. He did remember her parents. The married couple that lived apart from each other. Her mother was a horrible woman from everything he could remember about her. When Haven was in her last year of college, he remembered bruises covering her arms and legs though she tried to hide them. He wanted to go after her mother in any way he could.

Her father was not much better. He didn’t seem to care about the children he had unless they were working for him on the farm. She often did, and that was the only way her father seemed to even realize that something was even remotely different about his daughter. She was one of the smartest people in the world, and the man had her milking cows and working hard from dawn to dusk. Max wasn’t all that impressed with the two people that had produced her.

“Yeah.” She said with a sigh, “my mother hated the idea of me in school even more. When my dad had even less to do with her, she took it out on me. So when I finished school, I left. The problem was I got the phone numbers and everything as I left, but I didn’t have the email addresses. The email account I was using at the time was from their account. I had no way to access it after I left. I tried everything.”

“Oh, I see now.” He said as he also sighed softly. “I thought it was something I did.”

“Mack, really? “she asked as she looked at him. “No, it wasn’t you at all. I reached out to so many of my military friends and was trying to find you for years. I even called your parents just to leave my information so they could give it to you. I have to believe they never did.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I haven’t talked to them since I left.” Mack said as he shook his head. “It seemed like fate had other plans for us. However, here we are now.”

“Mack, how did you get shot?” She asked.

“Not now.” He said as he looked out the door. He moved his hand over hers and gripped it slightly. “Not here.”

“Well, you are going to be here for a while,” Haven said as she looked at him.

“Were you my doctor?” he asked, changing the subject.

“No.” she said as she laughed, “The hospital has a policy about friends and family. We can’t work on them unless there is no one else too. You said my name as you woke up. I was kicked out of the room. Then I worked on another officer until they got him stable. Then I went downstairs to get changed. My boss had me finish my report before I could get back up here. I should be at work in the basement.”

“Basement?” he asked.

“I work in pathology.” She said.

“Well, that is different.” He said with a chuckle. “Well, what does your husband feel about you working with the dead so closely?”

“Husband?” Haven asked with a laugh, “I haven’t gone out with anyone in years.”

“Why the hell not?” he asked as he blinked, “Haven, you deserve to be happy with someone and a family of your own.”

“So do you.” She said with a smile on her face at his reaction. “I just haven’t found someone who kept my interest too long.”

“But you looked for me for years?” he asked, surprised.

“You were a friend. One of the few I had. Not like people are lining up to be my friend, Mack. They normally want something from me. You never seemed to want anything from me but maybe a better grade.”

“Well, you did make it, so I passed.” He chuckled and then winced as it hurt his shoulder. He looked at his arm with all the bandages. “But sweetheart, you do realize I did want something from you. I just had to wait for that.”

“What was that?” she asked.

“Wait till I can get out of this place.” He said as she looked at her, and she saw a flash of something in his eyes. It was something she had never seen before.

“Well, that will be a few days.” She said with a small smile.

“And then we will have a few days to get to know each other again.” He said with a sigh.

“I do have to get back to work.” She said with a smile. “I will come back up after my shift.”

“Don’t take too long,” he said as he closed his eyes. She looked back at him and smiled. Finding an old friend like him again was a one in a million. She walked right into one of the surgeons, and he looked at her.

“Not your normal place, Dr. Quintin. I think you are a few floors too high.” The man said as he looked at her, “Are you trying to take one of my patients.”

“No, this one is a friend of mine.” She said as she glared up at him. “I certainly hope you can keep him alive.”

“Maybe you should stay in your place.” He said.

“I will be up later when I am off shift.” She said as she walked to the elevator. She knew this was going to be difficult. Mack knew something was going on, and he didn’t tell her. When she walked out of the room, she could feel all the eyes on her. They were either wondering who she was, or she felt like she was now a part of whatever brought him there in the first place. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t want to leave him alone to fend for himself while he was still drugged with pain pills.

A new plan was forming in her head before she reached the basement floor. She walked towards the secured doors. She made a detour to her boss's office and sat down, waiting for him to look her way. He was on the phone. He looked at her and shook his head at her.

“She won’t be up there again.” The man said as he looked at her and hung up.

“About that.” She said. “I want a few days off.”

“So you can be with the cop?” he asked.

“Yeah, so I can be with the cop.” She said as she looked at him in the eyes. “He is an old friend.”