I Queued Three Hours for Her, But They Didn't Wait Three Minutes for Me novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Swab

Eli's POV

I walked out of the hospital at seven in the morning after a twelve-hour night, and Bianca's boyfriend was leaning on my car.

I knew who he was from the way she'd described him.

Tall, handsome, the kind of man who smiled while he was taking something.

A small woman in a pink cardigan stood next to him with her arms wrapped around herself.

"You're the nurse," he said.

"I'm a nurse," I said. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Gabe." He didn't offer a hand. "Bianca's boyfriend."

"Ex," I said. "She told you no in front of a hamster. I heard about it."

His smile stayed in place, but a muscle jumped in his jaw.

"She's confused. She's been through a lot, and she doesn't need some stranger moving in on her while she's weak."

"Is that why you came out here at seven a.m. with her cousin?"

"That's none of your business," he said.

The woman had started to cry.

It was very quiet crying, the kind that made a person want to hold a door for her.

"Please," she said. "Please, I just want my cousin back. I made a mistake, and she won't talk to me, and I think you're keeping her from us."

Her eyes were red and streaming.

I looked at them for a moment.

Then I reached into my jacket pocket, where I always keep two or three sealed alcohol swabs, and I held one out.

"Your eyes are running," I said. "You'll want to wipe them. Menthol stings if it gets in the tear duct."

Her crying stopped at once.

She looked at the swab and then at my face.

Gabe took half a step forward.

"What did you say to her?"

"I said she should clean her face. Take it. It's sterile."

"You're a nurse, right?" Gabe said, low. "You have a license. A complaint to the board can really ruin a career. Harassing a patient's family. Someone could write that up."

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