Cora isn’t mine. I have no claim on her but fuck I want her to be mine.
8
Cora
I’m surprised the young doctor had the guts to ask me out in front of other people, but then again, he did have the advantage of me being stuck in the elevator. I look up at Patton, who is standing next to me. He’s staring at Dr. Young with a clenched jaw. I wait for him to look at me, and I can tell he doesn’t like the fact that I’ve been asked out, but he’s not going to stop me.
I almost says yes, just to see if he gets jealous but decide to be honest.
I tell Dr. Young, “You seem like a nice guy. But I’m in love with someone else, and even though he doesn’t feel the same, I just don’t think I’m ready to date right now.” My intention to be honest kind of got away from me. I was very, very honest.
I don’t look at Patton again. The elevator doors open, and I walk away briskly.
I realize that Patton isn’t following me and know that it has to be because he really does feel differently. I’m just someone he promised to look out for. That’s it. My heart hurts so much I can’t help crying as I walk down the hall because I feel like I just lost everything.
He doesn’t want me. The sooner I realize it, the better off I’ll be.
I get in my car and look around for Patton, but he’s nowhere to be found. I definitely said way more than I should have. Everything was going so easy, I should have left well enough alone.
But I take a deep breath as I pull out of the parking lot and head home. It’s crazy, but no matter how well it was going, I know I wanted more and couldn’t settle for less. I can’t just be friends with him.
I can’t seem to stop crying. I cried all the way home, and once I got home I melted into my couch, clutching a pillow as I continued to cry. Granted, it did slow enough that it was no longer a snotty, ugly cry.
The flow of tears, however, seems to be endless, and I clutch the pillow as though it were a lifeline.
It takes me a few moments to realize that someone is knocking at my door and a few more before I’ve wiped my face and eyes with tissues and go to open it.
Patton is standing there, and he comes inside as soon as I open the door. “We need to talk.”
He walks past me into the house and starts to pace next to the couch. He’s not looking at me, which is actually good.
I brace myself the best I can knowing he’s come to tell me he’s sorry he led me on or maybe he’ll tell me again how I am too young. Whatever he’s come to say in the way of rejection, I do my best to steel myself before allowing myself to respond. “Okay, so… talk.”
Patton peels off his suit jacket and wipes at his sweaty brow, making me wonder if he’s nervous or if he ran to my house from the hospital. “We need to be clear. What you said in the elevator. You said that….”
I fist the tissues in my hand as I watch him struggle to finish the sentence. I decide I’m not going to help him since he’s the one who’s come to reject me. And then he looks at me.
His mouth drops, and he rushes toward me. “Cora, you’ve been crying.”
I sniffle. “I’m fine.”
He grabs on to my shoulders, and then tilts my head by touching his finger to my chin and pulling me up. He looks straight into my eyes. “You said that you’re in love with someone and have been for years. I need to know who that is, Cora.” Patton is looking at me so intensely that I’m sure he’s not kidding.
Does he really not know?
I have nothing to lose. All I can do is trust he’s not going to break my heart again. “I’m in love with you, Patton. It’s… it’s always been you.”
Patton looks at me like he can’t believe what I said, so I start to say it again, but I’m cut off when he pulls me into his arms and kisses me so deeply and so well that I’m dizzy when he pulls back.
“Cora, I’ve been in love with you since I first met you, and since that time, there’s been no one else. For me, there is no one else but you.”
PATTON
Once the words are out of my mouth, I wait for the guilt to come and crush me for daring to love Jason’s little sister the way I do but instead, I feel a burning warmth in my chest. And any lingering guilt I held on to evaporates as Cora runs her hands over my chest before pulling me down for another kiss. We fit together like we were made for each other. Regardless of our age difference or anything else, I’m going to love this woman until my dying day.