Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Quinn)

I walked away from Annora without hesitation. The necklace I left in her palm wasn’t something I would normally part with, but because it was her gift to me, I feel fine letting it go now. I know she will keep it safe. I hope what I told her before I left her will be enough to make her want to meet with me soon. It feels like I have waited forever for her, yet I know in my heart I will keep waiting until she is ready.

I look at my watch to check the time, then I make my way to the wing that housed the veterans’ program. Aaron and I are to meet the staff of doctors, physical therapists, massage therapists, nurses, and counselors. All trained in helping veterans recover from wartime trauma. We will keep everyone in the program on staff, taking recommendations for fresh staff to replace those that were let go, and interviewing candidates for head of the program. Though if none stand out, we have a plan to bring in someone we already know can! handle the job.

Major Rylan Danvers was the medic assigned to my unit when I first enlisted. Rylan wasn’t a major then, nor was she the surgeon she is today. There was a point in time where she had a crush on me, but I set her straight by letting her know I had a girlfriend. Me not having one at the time wasn’t important. We became good friends. I believe she has a thing for Aaron, so that may be an issue, but I think it will be fine.

I walk into the reception area to see a few patients waiting on benches, pale blue chairs, or in their wheelchairs off to the side. Phones ring somewhere behind the reception desks, music pumps out of the physical therapy room, the sounds of weights clattering against workout equipment echoes through the halls. All that takes me back to the many times I

went through recoveries of my own injuries.

Part of my mind knows that being here could trigger my own trauma, yet know that being

here is better than running from those memories. I hear Aaron’s voice from down the hall to my right, so I turn in that direction to see who he is talking to. I push through a set of swinging doors to find the physical therapy room. Aaron is standing with a woman I know

well but didn’t know was on staff here.

Dr. Dionne Masters. My ex-lover and ex-psychiatrist. What the **k is she doing here? We both crossed the line between patient and doctor during our session one day. It led to some good times in my life, but the way it ended made me regret ever crossing that line.

“Ah, there you are. I was wondering where the other half of this duo was, but now I have my answer,” Dionne exclaims as she noticed my arrival.

Nothing about her has changed at all. Her chestnut brown hair is left loose to flow down her back in waves. Her clear hazel eyes are assessing me in the same way I am her. Only her stare is shrewd, and a little cold. The flash of a smile let me know she was thinking the same thing that flashed through my mind as I look at her.

That first time in her office, the day we went from doctor/patient to lovers. My hands all over

her extremely toned body. Dionne is an avid runner, yoga enthusiast, and hiker in her spare time. We **ed all over her office that day. We had the time since I was her last session of

the day. No secretary to hear Dionne moan my name as I pounded into her.

I take a deep breath to clear my head. This woman is toxic and trouble to my system. I give Aaron a hard stare as I walk further into the room. “What is she doing here?”

“That was what I was asking her before you walked in,” Aaron replies.

“Well, would you like to ask me that yourself, Quinn?” Dionne asks me. She steps up next to me, her perfume bringing more memories to mind.

“You’re not listed as being on staff with this program or anywhere else in this hospital. Why are you here?” I question her. My anger is clear in my voice.

“There is that anger I remember,” she laughs in that dismissive way of hers that I always

hated.

“Alright, stop playing games with us and answer the f**g question,” Aaron demands.

“His protector, as always, Aaron. Things with you two never change. I’m not here in any professional capacity, don’t worry.” Dionne takes a step away from both of us, pulls up the sleeve of her jacket, then shows us her left arm. From her elbow to her wrist, there is a scar

that looks to still be healing.

She is a patient here. Well, f***k. This is going to suck..

“What happened?” The question popped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I don’t

want to know. I shouldn’t have asked. This will make her think I still care about her.

“Aw, are you asking because you genuinely want to know or out of reflex?” Dionne asks with that f**ng smile back on her face.

“I don’t have time for this s**it.” I spin around and stalk across the room to the doors.

This day has been fantastic so far. The love of my life thinks I am an a**ole for how I treated my date a week ago. Now the woman who came so close to being my wife is standin In the hospital that I now own. What else can go wrong today?

I back track to the reception area and ask for directions to the staff lounge or offices of the doctors on staff. With that information in my head, I take off in the direction I am given. A few minutes later, I found my goal. I make my introductions to all those around and wait for Aaron to join me.

I feel bad for leaving him behind to deal with Dionne, but she brings out a dark side of me I would rather not deal with today or ever again. Some lines should never be crossed. Some things just can’t be undone. At some point, the boundary between doctor and patient got so

blurred I can never recall which one of us made the first move.

The lingering looks she would give me when I was leaving her office let me know she was attracted to me. I never thought she would act on it or even reciprocate my mild flirtations. Then, when we took things too far, there was no going back for either of us. What for me started out as purely sexual, a release of tension, soon turned into something deeper.

Spending time with Dionne outside her office was when it all went in a more serious

direction. Lunch dates turned into dinner dates. Dinner dates turned into breakfast the next

morning. Soon we were going on morning jogs together, hiking on the weekends, or even camping when our schedules allowed.

The five-year age gap didn’t bother me. We had so much in common that the age difference meant nothing to us. The day I asked Dionne to marry me was also the day she told me about our baby. She was pregnant with my child. It stunned me, and I didn’t know what to say. That was the beginning of the end for us.

“Hey, are you alright?” Aaron’s voice brought me back to the present.

I look at Aaron. His expression was one I am awfully familiar with. Worry. I hate that the situation with my almost-wife put that look in his eyes again.

“I will be. Let’s go talk to the chief here so we can see what needs to be done to put this. program back on the top of the list.”

“We could ban Dionne from the hospital,” Aaron suggests to me as we walk towards the meeting area.

“That would be satisfying, yet unprofessional. As much as I would enjoy that, we have so much on our plate to deal with first. If she makes any moves to cause problems, I will deal

3/6

Chapter 8

with her then,” I explain to him as we stop in front of the door to our meeting with the program’s staff.

“What are you going to do about Annora? I saw her in the crowd during the meeting earlier. I know you talked to her afterwards. Are you going to talk to her further?” Aaron’s question made me stop reaching for the doorknob.

He was the only person here who knows about my relationship with Annora. He was there

that summer with us as we fell in love with each other. The closest I have ever come to

telling anyone else about Annora was while I was with Dionne. That was when she was just

my therapist.

I told Dionne that there was a woman I loved and lost long ago, but left it at that. Dionne assumed that the woman I referred to was dead. I let her believe that so she would not pressure me to talk about Annora. She did anyway once our relationship became more intimate. I refused to talk about it further. There was no way I was going to share my relationship with Annora with any other woman.

I wasn’t trying to keep Annora’s existence a secret by any means. I just didn’t want to talk about her with anyone other than Aaron. It was sharing something special with people who didn’t need to know. Sharing something I had hoped to rekindle once I found her again.

“I met her at the fundraiser last week,” I confess to him.

“Oh, really? How did that go? No, wait, don’t tell me now. We will talk about that later over beer and nachos as we go over the list for who to hire for the last seat on the board of directors.” With that last statement, Aaron opened the door and greeted the doctors inside.

The next two hours went by slowly as we went over every detail of how the money for the program had been spent. We asked each doctor to make a list of equipment, tools, or anything they were lacking. Anything that would be needed to provide top-notch medical care to those veterans who came to the program. Then we asked them each for a wish list of items they thought would make the program and their areas of expertise work better.

We told them to give us both lists in a week. That would give plenty of time for each doctor to decide what they needed and wanted. Aaron and I want this program back to full working order as soon as possible. The work it used to do can be achieved again. As Aaron and I walked out of the meeting to go to our next one, we both agreed we would hire Rylan to head the program.

After our last meeting of the day, we were both sporting massive headaches and full briefcases. All I want to do is take my suit off, kick my feet up, then devour a plate of nachos with a beer. I told Anton I would meet him at his place as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot. I call Rylan from the car but get her voicemail. I will try calling her again once I get to Aaron’s place. With luck, Rylan will be available and open to our job offer.

I stopped by a store for beer, but as I was walking back to my car, my phone beeped, signaling I have an email. I put the beer in the back seat, hopped into the driver’s seat, then pulled my phone out of my jacket’s inner pocket. My brows lifted in surprise at the number that showed up. Annora sent me an email. I took a deep breath before I opened her message. My mind goes crazy about what she will say. I pray it is not a rejection. Opening the message, I read it aloud.

Quinn,

Your appearance back in my life has taken me completely off guard. Your being back in my life will upset the balance I have worked years to achieve. I think it would be best to keep our relationship strictly professional. I have enough drama in my life with an ex-husband and his new wife. I don’t want to add more to an already full plate.

There are so many happy memories of that time, but that is just what they will stay as. Sweet memories of my first love. That is all you can ever be for me, Quinn. I am sorry. I know from the look on your face today you are hoping for me. The children we were then are not who we are now. I will always love that boy you used to be. The man you showed me last week is not someone

I want in my life.

Thank you for rescuing me from Kyle last week. I wish you well in all things and look forward to seeing the good you and Aaron do for Mercy General.

Please respect my choice.

Respectfully, Dr. Annora Winters.

Well, isn’t that a kick in the nuts? Rejected after finding her after all those years spent apart. What a blow to the heart and ego. Somehow, I figured it would be like fitting two lost puzzle pieces together. Turns out that we are pieces of two different puzzles.

The door to the past has been closed.

I drop my phone on the passenger seat, place my head in my hands, and just sit there in the dark interior of my car. After all these years, I have finally found the love of my life again. She wants nothing to do with me. I f***ng ruined my second chance in one night of hopeful thinking. I slam my hand on the steering wheel, then go back into the store for something stronger to drink than beer.

5/6

Chapter 8

Tonight will be a long night of drowning my memories in whiskey.

As I drove to Aaron’s new house, a beep from my phone signaled another email, then a few seconds later the sound of a text message. I ignored both as I continued to drive. Whoever they were from could wait until I was safely parked in Aaron’s driveway. I never touch my phone or receive calls while driving. I find it both irresponsible and distracting.

I have enough to think about now to distract my mind from the road. Between finding the love of my life again, and Dionne showing back up, things have gone from positive to straight up gloomy as f**k. Time to compartmentalize my life again. Focus solely on business and business only.

Don’t know what happened with this baby issue but seems that Quinn not knowing about Grace will turn things upside down for Annora.

Jazmine Schwark

Wait wait wait! So he has a kid with tis Donnie chick?? and zero mention of