Waking Up to Love Read Free Page B

her vitals are fine, you can tell her everything then.”
    “Two weeks?” Rob said. “That’s all?”
    “Seems easy enough,” Scott said.
    Rob excused himself to go back into the room and check on Debra.
    Dr. Nguyen looked at Scott and Ramona, waiting for any more questions. When neither of them said anything, he told them, “I’ll print out a list of instructions for her care. It won’t be too difficult, mainly keeping close watch at all times and making sure she doesn’t suffer any unexpected shocks. But I would like to say that she seems to be in the right hands. You all seem to genuinely care for her.”
    He walked away.
    Ramona started to walk back into room 418, but Scott stopped her. “Wait,” he said.
    Ramona twisted out of his grip. His fingers were scratchy and calloused, as they had always been. Even when they were children, long before he started working with his hands, she’d thought his fingers were rough. That part about him hadn’t changed. In so many little ways, he was the same Scott he always was.
    She felt her pulse quicken at his touch. This was the child who’d played games with her, the boy who’d watched out for her, and the man who’d left her behind, all in the same frustrating package. She didn’t want her heart to flutter. She didn’t want the corners of her mouth to instinctively curl into a smile. Most of all, she didn’t want his touch to feel so comfortable, so warm, so right.
    “I need to ask you something,” he said. “Something very important.”
    He leaned forward until they were the same height. His expression was dead serious, and whatever he was going to ask her, he meant it. For an extremely long second, Ramona thought he was leaning in to kiss her.
    He didn’t. Instead, he looked her straight in the eyes and asked, “Can you pretend to be your sister? At least for a few days?”
    Ramona thought about it for ten seconds. Her heart beat. She blinked. Finally, after ten seconds of waiting and thinking, Ramona Scapizi had her answer: “Hell, no.”

Chapter Three
    Ramona needed to catch her breath. She needed some air. Unfortunately, she was in the middle of the fourth floor of Farber City Memorial Hospital. It wasn’t like there was a park within walking distance. Mostly, though, she wanted to get away from Scott McInney and his begging eyes. She would not fake-marry him. She would not pretend to be her twin.
    Before he could say anything else, she ran down the hall and straight into the nearest waiting room. Here, surrounded by so many strangers, Scott wouldn’t dare make a spectacle of himself.
    The waiting room smelled like used Band-Aids and window cleaner. Ramona was suddenly aware of her surroundings, and those surroundings were anything but pleasant. An old lady sat in a corner, nursing what looked like a broken arm. A Hispanic couple sat with their five-year-old son, rubbing his back as he coughed up a lung and a half. A skinny guy had a gash in his shoulder, a teen girl was half asleep against the wall, and a housewife had her husband holding an ice pack against her eye.
    Scott rushed into the waiting room after her. He had that same pleading look on his face.
    “Ramona,” he said, holding up an invisible ring, “will you please do me the honor of being my pretend wife?”
    Ramona couldn’t think straight. This was not the place for thinking. This was not the place for relaxing. This certainly wasn’t the place for Scott to get down on one knee and fake-propose to her.
    Apparently “hell no” wasn’t a strong enough answer. She probably should’ve added a few more swear words, or a slap.
    “Scott, please,” she whispered to him.
    He remained on his knee. “Ramona Scapizi,” he said, louder than ever, “please say yes.”
    Everyone in the waiting room turned their attention to her. The woman with the black eye even pulled away her ice pack so she could get a better look. The people in this waiting room were struggling with their own