Their conversations overlap, so I don’t really hear either of them well. They both end the call within seconds of each other.

“I’m out. I’ve got a date.”

Andy glances at Mitch. “You sure you can drive in this?”

Mitch’s smile is wicked. “Don’t have to drive. I met this little brunette on the elevator last night. She invited me down to her place for lunch.”

“You just ate,” I say pragmatically.

He winks at me. “I’m suddenly very hungry. Don’t wait up for me.”

Andy shakes his head. “You’re worse than Dave.”

“Don’t hate the player,” Mitch says getting to his feet. “I might be back. So don’t go having sex on the couch.”

“I have to go into the hospital. I’m hoping Cate will come with me. We shouldn’t be long though.”

Mitch grabs his coat before saluting us goodbye while heading out the door.

“So, will you come to the hospital with me?”

There is hope in his eyes. He knows what he’s asking of me and I’m not sure I’m ready. He may be used to walking in the cancer ward, but one experience was enough for me to last a lifetime. Still, if I’m going to be with this man, I need to get used to what he does for a living.

“I don’t have a change of clothes, remember? I have heels and a skirt. I can’t walk in the snow like that.”

“Actually, I drove this morning which turned out to be a mistake. I left my car because they have volunteers with four wheel drive who are playing taxi. I’ve arranged for someone to pick me up in ten minutes. The roads should be better on the way back and I can drive us home.”

I sigh with a smile. “Okay, I’ll go.”

He’s practically beaming his pearly whites at me. He’s knows I like a man with good teeth and his are dentist approved.

“If you look at me like that, we’re going to miss your ride,” I tease.

“Are you daring me to see what I can do in ten minutes?”

He tosses me over his shoulder before I can answer and shows me just what he can do in that short time. It’s a hell of a lot.

When he gets the call his ride is here, I’ve just finished getting dressed.

“Is your office open tomorrow?”

I check my phone. “I’m not sure. I don’t have any messages from them yet. Do you know what the weather man says about tomorrow?” I haven’t watched the news since I’ve been here.

“Supposedly, the snow will end late tonight. We will have up to eighteen inches when it’s over.”

“Eighteen inches?”

He nods and helps me get into my coat. We head downstairs and once we get outside the wind howls and snow lashes over me. I can’t imagine driving in this weather. This area isn’t supposed to be prone to snow like this. I feel like stomping my feet like a toddler that my first winter in DC area is the worst they’ve seen in years.

We dash over to the SUV that waits at the curb. When Andy opens the front passenger door, I’m just as shocked to see the woman driver as she is to me.

“Hi,” she says as Andy ushers me to sit in front.

I recognize the blonde ponytail the woman sports. I can’t be sure it’s the same nurse as the one I caught kissing him. But she does have on scrubs.

Andy climbs in the back. “Thanks for the ride, Becca.”

“Yeah sure. I was on the phone with Stacy when you called in. Since I drove right by your place, I offered to pick you up.”

“Becca, this is my girlfriend Cate. Cate, this is Becca. She’s a nurse in the oncology unit.”

“Girlfriend?” She says the word under her breath. I’m not sure she even realizes she’s said it out loud. “Nice to meet you,” she says with a cheery smile I can tell is forced.

She holds out her hand and for a second I’m tempted to pull a Mitch. Then again, I’m not positive she’s the nurse that’s been hitting on Andy. She could be another nurse interested in him, and could I blame her?

“You too,” I say giving her a genuine smile and shake her hand briskly.

When it’s obvious no one is going talk, she turns on the radio. I song I recognize is playing. As I hum with the song, Becca maintains a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel. I wonder if it’s because the roads are snow covered and slick or if she’s grief-stricken to find out Andy’s off the market. I’ll keep on wondering because there is no way I’m going to ask.

The hospital isn’t far. When she parks, an older Nick Jonas song, Jealous, starts to play. It’s almost funny how fast she turns the car off killing the song midsentence.

Andy takes my hand as we walk into the building. He tries to be nice and make small talk with Becca, but her clipped answers are indication enough she’s not happy.

When we reach the ward, Becca takes off her jacket and introduces me to the other nurses sitting at the station.

“Hey everyone. This is Doc Drew’s girlfriend, Cate.”

I get a few smiles. A few others trade glances between Becca and me. I’m starting to wonder if Becca is a former girlfriend or fling of Andy’s. She does know where he lives.

“Weren’t you here earlier, Doc?” A male nurse with dark hair and a round face asks, easing the tension and cutting off my thoughts.

“Yes. I’m back to see Tasha. Her mom wasn’t here earlier and has asked to speak to me.” He lays his coat on a chair and steps back over to me.

“Well aren’t you nice? Must be the southern upbringing. Doc Chad, the ass, wouldn’t ever come back in for a patient.”

The other nurses laugh at the guy’s comment. Andy shakes his head and steers me away from the station.

“I shouldn’t be long.”

We walk down a hall that isn’t as sterile looking as the hospitals I’ve been in. The walls are paneled in a medium wood grain color and have colorful pictures of puppies and kittens on them, making the place look much more cheerful than it is. The glass fronts of patient rooms are bright with hanging blinds that can be opened or closed for privacy. The hallway is large and there are only rooms on the one side.

“Wait right here.”

We stop on the opposite wall from a room where a little girl lies in bed. “Tasha” is written on a white board outside her room.

I nod and try to breathe through the anxiety. It all rushes back to me despite how everything looks different.

“Doc Drew,” a nurse calls before he can enter the room.

Her hair is blonde and swings around her shoulders as she bounces over to him.

“I thought I wouldn’t get to see you today. When I heard you came back, I had to come up to see you.”

She reaches out, but he holds out a hand and steps back. His face shifts and he almost looks angry.

“You have stop or I’m going to go to human resources again. I’m not interested. My girlfriend over there can attest to that if you need to hear it from someone else.”

Andy points at me and I straighten. So this is the girl I saw kissing him. Then who is Becca?

Her hands fall to her sides. “Fine, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

She spins on her nurse’s shoes and they squeak in protest. She clomps off and Andy glances up and me and shrugs. I give him a thumbs up and he smiles a little. He glances away from me when a little girl tugs on his lab coat.

He kneels down to be at her eye level. I’m given a clear view of the small, pretty girl with brown skin and a bald head. She has a pink headband on with a bow. She looks so tiny compared to the IV pole she walks with.

“Doc Drew,” she says in a tiny voice. “They shaved off the rest of my hair. Do you like it?”

Andy’s smile couldn’t have been bigger. He reaches up and touches the side of her face. “You are beautiful.”

Her baldness is another reminder of how Andy is so much stronger than I am. He’s ready to slay the cancer dragon, while I’m ready to be consumed by its fire.

Her eyes dip. “You think so even without my hair?”

His finger gently lifts her chin. “Absolutely.” Then he leans in and whispers something in her ear.

She smiles but it doesn’t exactly reach her eyes.