Dating Impossible (17 page)

He quirked a brow. “That’s the understatement of the
century.” Cruz stood and held a hand out to her. “We need to talk.”

Reluctance scurried through her, but she accepted his hand. “I
know.”

They took a couple of minutes to right themselves and sat
facing each other at the kitchen table.

“JJ…”

“Cruz…”

They’d spoken at the same time. He inclined his head,
indicating she should go first.

Dread curled tight in her belly. She swallowed her anguish. “Cruz,”
she repeated. “There’s something you should know.”

Concern entered his dark gray eyes. He covered her hands
with one of his own and squeezed. “Whatever it is, JJ, we will work it out. Promise.”

The warm understanding staring back at her made JJ hate
herself even more than she already did. “Um…” She removed her hands from his and
stood. The sound of her chair scraping against the tiled floor broke the taut
silence. “Christ,” she said, “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“How about at the beginning,” Cruz suggested.

She paced, wringing her hands together in front of her. “All
right,” she agreed, continuing her back and forth stride along the length of
the island. “The beginning. About a year ago, I dated a coworker of mine in
Beverly Hills
. Mark
Jacobs is a doctor that works in the ER. He was charming, smart, a little bit
older and experienced. I thought I could learn a lot from him.” She paused and
took a deep breath, steadying herself.

“At least at first. Then things subtly changed. I started to
notice little things about him I didn’t like.” JJ grimaced and stopped pacing. Shame
filled her. She forced herself to look at Cruz. “When things got a little
physical, I tried to break off our relationship. Only Mark didn’t take too
kindly to me ending things.”

“He hit you?” Cruz asked and his voice carried a deadly edge.

JJ nodded and tears filled her eyes. “Once,” she said. “Grabbed
me roughly a few times and left bruises on my arms. I got a restraining order,
switched shifts, avoided him as much as I could while I searched for another
job. Then strange things started happening. My orders in charts were changed or
omitted, putting my patients at risk. Then narcotics went missing and I was
blamed. The mandatory drug testing, defending myself against the state medical
board…”

She squeezed her eyes shut as the memories assaulted her. Moisture
escaped from between her lashes and she hugged herself tight. She heard Cruz’s
light movement and footsteps approach her. Soon, his strong arms enveloped her
in a supporting hug.

“It’s okay, J. He can’t hurt you ever again. I’ll see to
that,” he said.

JJ clutched the open collar of his shirt with her hands. “But
don’t you see? It’s happening all over again, Cruz. Only this time, one of my
patients had harmful effects.”

Cruz kissed the top of her head. “It’s going to be okay, JJ.
Do you trust me, sweetheart?”

She lifted her head from his chest and inhaled deeply. His
strong, masculine scent swirled around her. With the pad of his thumb, he
swiped a tear from her cheek. Unable to speak, she nodded.

“You were right all along.” A rueful smile spread across his
face. “As much as it pains me to admit the truth. The fact that our
relationship exceeds the boundaries of professionalism puts both our careers at
risk. Whatever happened to you with that asshole has no bearings on the
situation you find yourself in here.”

JJ stared at him, unable to believe what she heard. His full
gorgeous lips twisted into a frown. Her breath hitched. Heart shattering, she
released his shirt and stepped out of his grasp.

“Go on,” she said, surprised at the even tone of her voice.

“JJ,” he reached a hand toward her then dropped it by his
side. He glanced at the countertop where they’d just spent their passion for
each other. His darkened glance full of guilt rested on her face. “When I came over
here, I had every intention of telling you that we can’t see each other
anymore.” He raked a hand through his hair. “But damn it, I can’t seem to
control myself around you.”

Cruz didn’t care about her. She was just a piece of ass to
him. Humiliation washed over her. “Get out,” she said in a small, tight voice.

“JJ—”

“I said get out,” she repeated. “You know where the door is.”

Her throat constricted and fresh tears filled her eyes. She ran
from the room and threw herself onto her bed. In the distance, she heard the
front door open and close. Cruz had left. She could scarcely believe it. The
young girl inside her had believed in him. Believed that he would save her and
her career, but the woman she’d become knew better. Just when she’d let him in,
he’d rejected her. For several minutes the sound of her harsh breathing mixed
with her sobs saturated the air around her.

JJ was alone and once again in the fight for her very
livelihood.

Chapter
Twenty

JJ scoured through the documents before her, determined to
prove her innocence. She’d received word that the hearing with the Arizona
State Medical Board was scheduled in three days. Time was her enemy, especially
since she couldn’t find anything concrete to prove that she had nothing to do
with the narcotic theft or the harm done to the Sanchez girl.

Frustrated, she rubbed her grit-filled eyes. A yawn escaped
and she blinked. She’d been at this for hours. She missed going to work every
day, missed the hospital, the patients, the stimulation, and adrenaline rush. Worse,
she missed Cruz. Her heart skittered in her chest. Sadness pressed down on her.
JJ hadn’t seen him since he’d left her house two weeks ago. She lifted her
coffee cup to her lips and sipped. Her once steaming cup of joe was now bitter
and cold just like her current situation.
Wow,
very uncharacteristic thoughts for such an upbeat woman who’d had the world by
the balls
. JJ grimaced, unable to stand the mocking tone of that inner
voice she’d avoided listening to lately. She needed resolution and fast. She
didn’t know how much more of this shit she could take.

She glanced at the papers scattered before her. Cruz had
been right. No matter which angle a person looked at this situation, JJ
appeared guilty. She hated to admit it, but he’d been right to push her away
and save his own career. But she wished he hadn’t led her to think that he’d
cared about her. Well, she amended.
 
That
was probably her own fault. He’d never said or indicated that their
relationship was anything other than fuck buddies. So why had she even thought
it possible?

Because you
wanted it too much.

Yes, she’d wanted it. Had wanted him since high school. Still
wanted him. Now that she’d tasted what he’d had to offer, she was ruined for
any other man. Tears filled her eyes and her throat constricted. She didn’t
fucking have time for this. She had to find a way to get herself out of this
mess.

****

Cruz slammed the door to his office. Frustration coursed
through every vein in his body. He’d spent the last two weeks retracing JJ’s
steps, pouring over incident reports, patient charts, interviewing employees on
her shifts and he had yet to come up with any evidence to prove her innocence. Someone
had to know something. Why were there so many similarities between what had
happened to her in
Beverly Hills
and here at PGH? He’d even gone so far as to look into her ex-boyfriend, just
in case he had been responsible, only to find out the prick had left last week
for a European cruise with another woman.

Lucky for him because if Cruz could get a hold of him for
laying a hand on JJ, he’d probably kill the bastard. It had taken every ounce
of restraint to control his fury when JJ had told him about her abusive relationship
with Mark Jacobs and how he’d treated her.

No wonder she’d resisted having a relationship with Cruz. She’d
experienced something no woman should ever have to go through. He clenched and
unclenched his fists as he paced his office. He remembered the look of pain on
JJ’s face when he’d told her they could no longer see each other. His heart had
splintered, but if she thought it was because of what she’d told him about
Mark, so be it. As long as people believed there was a relationship between the
two of them, he wouldn’t be able to investigate the charges against JJ properly.
Everyone he’d talked to before he’d broken off their relationship had clammed
up, not wanting to say anything against the boss’ rumored girlfriend. Never mind
that the rumors had been true.

Now that JJ was on suspension and it no longer appeared they
had a relationship, people had opened up to him, but he still hadn’t garnered
any answers to save her. Time was running out. The state board hearing was in a
couple of days. Administration had already told him that he’d have to cut JJ
loose if she lost her medical license. Risk Management had become involved and
full disclosure with the Sanchez family had already occurred. Even though the
girl was fine, the medical error had happened right under JJ’s nose on hospital
grounds. Lawyers were involved and the hospital would probably pay an
insurmountable sum of money in lieu of a lawsuit.

Cruz had planned to make everything up to JJ once he’d
cleared her name. He’d never considered the possibility that he wouldn’t be
able to save her. God, how she must hate him. Would she ever forgive him? Give
him another chance? He cursed and raked a hand through his hair. How the hell
did he fix this?

Chapter
Twenty-One

Today was the day of JJ’s hearing with the state medical
board. Cruz had hoped to be there in attendance to show his support of her. Instead
he was harassed, juggling multiple patients all at once. Again he cursed the
fact he was a doctor short as one of his other docs had called in sick with the
flu and he was stuck covering JJ’s shift himself. At this very moment, two more
ambulances were en route with trauma victims from a multiple-car crash on
Interstate 10. Anymore and they’d have to start diverting patients to another
hospital. Since the trauma bay was set up and ready for the incoming crash
victims, he decided to check the status of a vented patient who was supposed to
go up to the ICU. All the orders were written and completed. He just needed
transport to move him out. One less person on his list to worry about.

Cruz rounded the corner and saw Angie. She glanced around surreptitiously
before she entered his patient’s room. What the hell was she doing here? She
wasn’t on shift today and was dressed in tight fitting blue jeans and a red
sequined blouse. Had Angie been called in to help? If so, why hadn’t she
changed into scrubs? He frowned and followed her, stopping at the doorway to
exam room six. The hum of the ventilator as the machine assisted the patient to
breathe in and out and the occasional bleep of the heart monitor were the only
sounds in the room.

As he watched her, she used what looked like a three
milliliter syringe and drew a measured amount of a medication from a vile that
appeared to be insulin. He wracked his brain. This particular patient wasn’t a
diabetic. There were no issues with his blood sugar on his chemistry. Insulin
was untraceable. If a large enough dose was given and the patient’s blood
glucose dropped, he’d go into a diabetic coma and die. No one would think to
check a blood sugar level since diabetes wasn’t in this patient’s history until
it was almost too late.

Oh, my God!

“Stop,” Cruz shouted and entered the room just as she was
about to inject the insulin into the patient’s intravenous line. Cruz’s heart
hammered against his chest. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Angie’s wild gaze narrowed on him. The needle was already inserted
into the y-port of the patient’s IV, but she hadn’t pressed the plunger on the
syringe yet. “Why’d you do it, Cruz?”

Her clear intention to follow through with the injection showed
in her eyes. Her painted red lips twisted and he stilled. He had to tread
carefully. “Do what, Angie? What did I do?”

“Choose her,” she said. “You chose her over me.” She pouted.
“We could’ve been happy, you and I.”

Confused, Cruz struggled to understand. “Choose who?”

“That red-headed biker whore freak! That’s who!” she
shrieked.
 
“She’s all you care about. I
loved you and you threw my love in the gutter.” A sneer turned her usually
pretty face into an ugly mask of rage.

Panic swelled in his chest. The woman who stood before him
was unbalanced and capable of anything. He had no doubt that she’d kill his
patient. “Angie, I didn’t choose anyone,” Cruz said, carefully taking a couple
of steps toward the gurney. “You need to listen to me. That medication isn’t
ordered for this patient, and especially not that large dose of it. Do you
understand? You could kill an innocent man. You need to stop what you’re doing
and move away from my patient. We can go into my office and talk this over.”

“No,” she shouted at him. “You’re a liar. You lied to me and
now you need to be punished.”