LA: Loyalty or Annihilation

Chapter 9

Kristal's POV

"Absolutely not."

I stare at Maya across the nurses' station.

She grins.

"Absolutely yes."

"You've lost your mind."

"No, you just have terrible taste."

"I do not have terrible taste."

"Kristal, you said pineapple belongs on pizza."

"Because it does."

Three heads immediately turn in our direction.

"Oh, hell no," Marcus says from behind his computer.

I point at him.

"Mind your business."

"Pineapple on pizza became everybody's business the moment you said it out loud."

Maya laughs while I glance at the clock.

12:47.

Thank God.

Lunch.

My stomach has been threatening to file a formal complaint for the last twenty minutes.

"I'm going to lunch before I say something that'll get me fired."

"You already said pineapple belongs on pizza," Marcus calls after me. "Termination paperwork is probably processing now."

I flip him off over my shoulder.

Maya gasps dramatically.

"Hostile work environment!"

I laugh.

Actually laugh.

And it feels good.

This.

Normal.

Coworkers talking s**t.

Patients complaining.

Phones ringing.

People moving through hallways.

No Shawn.

No betrayal.

No—

Sirens.

My attention shifts automatically.

An ambulance pulls into the emergency receiving area.

Doors fly open.

Paramedics move fast.

Whatever hunger I felt disappears beneath instinct.

A stretcher rolls through the doors.

Woman.

Unconscious.

IV already started.

Oxygen.

One paramedic is calling out information while another pushes.

And behind them—

A man.

Frantic.

Talking too fast.

"What happened? Is she breathing okay? Her blood pressure—what does that mean? She just collapsed. She said she felt sick and then she f*****g collapsed—"

My body goes cold.

No.

The long black hair.

The suit pants.

The voice.

No f*****g way.

Shawn.

I stop walking.

He doesn't see me.

He's completely focused on the woman on the stretcher.

"Sir, we need you to let us work."

"I'm her husband."

Husband.

My eyes move to the unconscious woman.

Black hair.

Beautiful face.

Wedding ring.

Oh.

My.

God.

Jade Montgomery.

I'm looking at Shawn's wife.

For the first time.

Not a name on a public record.

Not a voice through an accidental phone call.

Not an invisible woman who unknowingly existed behind five years of my life.

Her.

She's real.

And she's unconscious.

"Kris?"

I blink.

Maya is looking at me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

Lie.

One of the nurses rushes over.

"Kristal, I need you in three."

I stare at her.

"What?"

"Danielle isn't back from lunch yet and we're short. I need another set of hands."

Room three.

The room they just took Jade into.

Of course.

Because apparently the universe woke up this morning and chose violence.

I could say no.

For about half a second, I want to.

Then I look toward the room.

A patient needs help.

Whatever happened between Shawn and me has nothing to do with the unconscious woman lying in there.

"Okay."

I straighten my scrubs.

Professional.

That's what I am here.

A professional.

I walk toward room three.

One step.

Two.

Three.

I enter.

And Shawn turns.

Everything stops.

His mouth parts.

My lungs forget what they're supposed to do.

His eyes lock onto mine.

"Kristal?"

Nobody moves.

Nobody breathes.

Then my gaze shifts past him.

Jade lies motionless on the bed while another nurse attaches monitors.

That's enough.

Whatever is happening inside me gets shoved into a box.

Lock it.

Deal with it later.

I walk toward the bed.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to step outside while we examine Mrs. Montgomery."

Shawn just stares at me.

"Kristal..."

I ignore him.

"Vitals?"

The other nurse gives me the numbers.

I move closer to Jade and check what I need to check.

My hands remain steady.

Thank God.

My mind?

Complete f*****g chaos.

But my hands are steady.

That's what matters.

"Shawn."

I finally look at him.

He looks terrible.

Scared.

Confused.

And underneath all of that is something I don't want to identify.

"Please wait outside."

"I need to stay with her."

"We need room to work."

"I'm her husband."

"I know."

The words hang between us.

His face changes.

Mine doesn't.

Not here.

Not now.

I turn toward the other nurse.

"Can you please escort Mr. Montgomery to the waiting area? We'll update him when we can."

"Of course."

Shawn still hasn't taken his eyes off me.

The nurse touches his arm.

"Sir?"

He finally moves.

Slowly.

Like he's waking from a trance.

I turn away before he leaves.

Because this isn't about Shawn.

It's about Jade.

Mrs. Montgomery.

My patient.

I focus on the monitor.

On the IV.

On her breathing.

On everything except the fact that the woman lying unconscious in front of me is the woman whose husband proposed to me.

The doctor is on the way.

Tests need to be run.

Answers need to be found.

And despite everything—

I look at Jade's pale face.

Please be okay.

Whatever happened between the three of us...

I wouldn't wish this on her.

---

Shawn's POV

Kristal.

She's standing right f*****g there.

For weeks I've wanted one thing.

One glimpse.

Just enough to know she's okay.

Now she's less than ten feet away from me.

And I can't move.

She looks...

God.

Beautiful.

Her auburn-brown hair is pulled back for work, but a few strands frame her face.

Her scrubs fit her perfectly.

Her skin looks healthy.

Her eyes—

Different.

There's something in them that wasn't there before.

Distance.

Especially when she looks at me.

"Sir?"

I blink.

A nurse is touching my arm.

"What?"

"We need you to wait outside."

Right.

Outside.

Why?

Then I look at the bed.

Jade.

Jesus Christ.

My wife is unconscious ten feet away and I just spent God knows how long staring at Kristal.

What the f**k is wrong with me?

"Can I—"

"We'll come get you as soon as we have information."

I nod.

"Okay."

I follow her out.

Embarrassment burns through me.

Get your s**t together, Shawn.

My wife collapsed.

This isn't some f*****g reunion.

I sit in the waiting area.

Or try to.

Thirty seconds later, I'm standing again.

Then pacing.

Then sitting.

Then standing.

I don't even know how we ended up here.

The ambulance came.

Paramedics asked questions.

I answered whatever I could.

Did she hit her head?

No.

Any known medical conditions?

Not that I know of.

Medication?

I listed what I remembered.

Allergies?

No.

Had she eaten?

Yes.

What?

Chinese.

And somewhere between the questions and sirens, I never paid attention to where the ambulance was taking us.

Of all the clinics in Los Angeles...

This one.

Kristal's.

I sit down again.

Maybe Jade ate something bad.

Food poisoning?

We had Chinese last night.

My stomach is fine, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

The thought makes another one follow it.

The restaurant.

Fuck.

It was Kristal's favorite Chinese place.

Mine too, eventually.

I drove there last night hoping—

I stop myself.

Jesus Christ.

Even now?

I went there because part of me wondered whether Kristal still ordered from there.

Whether I'd bump into her.

Like some pathetic coincidence would put us in the same room and she'd suddenly decide she wanted to talk to me.

She didn't show.

Maybe she doesn't go there anymore.

Maybe she changed that too.

Her number.

Her schedule.

Her routines.

Her favorite places.

How much of her life has she changed just to make sure I can't find her?

Enough.

I rub both hands over my face.

Stop thinking about Kristal.

My wife is back there.

My wife.

Jade.

She collapsed in my arms.

For all I know, something serious is wrong.

And I'm sitting here thinking about another woman because I finally saw her.

I lean forward, elbows on my knees.

"Get your f*****g priorities straight."

A woman across from me looks over.

I don't care.

I close my eyes.

Immediately, Kristal's face appears.

She looked good.

Really good.

Not happy to see me.

Definitely not that.

For one second when she recognized me, I saw the pain.

Then it vanished.

Professional.

Controlled.

Gone.

And that hurts more than I expected.

Because I remember when my presence used to make her smile.

Today, it made her freeze.

Worse?

I brought my wife into her workplace on a stretcher.

Jesus.

I didn't choose this clinic.

But Kristal doesn't know that.

She probably thinks—

No.

Doesn't matter what she thinks right now.

Jade matters.

I stare toward the doors.

"Please be okay."

I don't care what the diagnosis is.

Food poisoning.

Dehydration.

Exhaustion.

Anything manageable.

Anything fixable.

I just need her to wake up.

And when she does...

I need to do a much better job remembering which woman I'm actually here for.

---

Jade's POV

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

That.

Right there.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Is f*****g annoying.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Someone turn it off.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Seriously.

I swear to God—

My eyes pop open.

White.

Everything is white.

Ceiling.

Walls.

Sheets.

For several seconds, I stare upward completely confused.

Where the hell am I?

Then the smell hits me.

Bleach.

Antiseptic.

Hospital.

My heart starts pounding.

Why am I in a hospital?

I try sitting up.

Bad idea.

The room tilts.

"Oh."

I drop back against the pillow.

Cold.

Why are hospitals always so f*****g cold?

I shiver beneath the thin blanket.

Then memory begins returning.

Kitchen.

Coffee.

No.

I didn't drink coffee.

I walked into the kitchen.

My stomach felt horrible.

Shawn asked if I was okay.

I told him I thought I was going to be sick.

Then...

Nothing.

"Shawn?"

No answer.

I look around.

He's not here.

Panic rises immediately.

"Shawn?"

The monitor beside me starts beeping faster.

Where is he?

What happened?

Why am I—

The door opens.

A woman walks in.

"Mrs. Montgomery?"

"Where's my husband?"

My voice comes out sharper than intended.

"He's in the waiting area."

"Why?"

"We needed room to examine you."

"I want him."

"We can get him."

I try sitting up again.

"Mrs. Montgomery, take it easy."

"I don't know what's happening."

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

My breathing gets faster.

The machine responds.

Faster beeping.

Great.

"Look at me."

The woman's voice is calm.

Firm.

"You're safe."

She comes closer.

"Now, take a slow breath through your nose."

I try.

"Good. Hold it."

I do.

"Now breathe out slowly."

Again.

"That's it."

She does it with me.

In.

Hold.

Out.

Again.

My heartbeat gradually slows.

The room stops spinning.

"Better?"

I nod.

"A little."

"I've already asked someone to get your husband."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I finally look at her properly.

She's gorgeous.

Coco-brown skin.

Auburn-brown hair.

Blue eyes.

Wait.

Blue eyes.

My stomach drops.

No.

I study her face.

I've seen this woman before.

Pictures.

The private investigator's report.

Social media.

Photographs of her leaving this very clinic.

Photographs of her beside my husband.

Photographs I stared at for hours asking myself how the f**k Shawn Montgomery built an entire life with someone else.

Oh my God.

Her expression changes slightly.

She knows I've recognized her.

Of course she does.

She knows exactly who I am.

For the first time in my life, I don't know what the hell to say.

This is her.

Not the other woman.

Not Shawn's fiancée.

Not a photograph in a file.

Kristal Jones.

The woman my husband fell in love with while he was married to me.

The woman he lied to for five years.

The woman he was still mourning when he came back home.

And she's standing beside my hospital bed.

I swallow.

"You're Kristal."

She becomes perfectly still.

For one long moment, neither of us speaks.

Then Kristal's professional mask settles firmly into place.

"Yes."

One word.

That's all.

But suddenly, I don't give a damn about the monitor anymore.

Because for the first time...

I'm face-to-face with the woman who lived the life I didn't even know I'd lost...