Healing Hearts: A Second Chance, Small Town Romance Novel

Chapter 3

Sage

There isn't anything I can do now but haul my ass out of bed and start to get ready to check out of this small motel and head over to Willowbrook. I stopped off at the Mineral Springs Motel which is nestled amongst the mountains and forest land on the banks of the Elk river. It's a stunning location but then to be honest, anywhere in this part of the US is. It feels as if I am close to home. Which strictly speaking I am.

It's not that I'm dreading going home. Okay, maybe a bit. The last thing on my agenda was having to move back in with my parents until I have enough money behind me to rent a room somewhere or a small house in Willowbrook. But they're kind of hard to find and I did try. So the last option was asking my parents if I could have my old room back.

"Of course you can, honey. You don't even have to ask. It's just as it was when you left." My mom had said when I phoned her a couple of weeks ago. The excitement in her voice was sweet but in my heart I just wanted my life to stay as it was. You know the life with Miles, the life at Michigan State, not a massive distance away in Virginia. Back home. In my old room.

As I get ready and throw some things in my overnight bag, I groan just thinking about how my room back home will be. It'll have all my stuff in it from when I was a kid. I try not to think about it and sweep the room with my eyes to make sure I've not left my book on the bedside that I read last night. I have my mobile in my back pocket of my faded black jeans that have rips on the thighs and the shin from being worn so much.

I tie my hair up into a ponytail not even bothering to brush it, after all who have I got to make a good impression for? Nobody. Exactly. That's my point. Make-up is not on my mind nor is having a shower. I had one last night and I can take a long soak in the bath at my parent's home. It should only take me another couple of hours to get there. Last night I was just too tired and emotionally drained to carry on.

The sun is rising and across the trees I can see the promise of a beautiful day heading our way, even if it is going to be blazing hot. The mornings are gorgeous as are the sunsets. I'd love to stay and just take all of my surroundings in but then I guess I'll have plenty of time to do that when I get back to my hometown since I haven't secured another position yet either.

So, you may be wondering what happened with my job at Medical State. Cut backs. That's what happened. Although I have a sneaky suspicion that since Miles was leaving and he was the senior doctor there, a decision was made to let me go. Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic and having an over-active imagination also doesn't serve me well. Paranoia perhaps. I shrug my shoulders, none of that matters anymore.

I'm here now without a job, without a boyfriend who I thought was going to be my fiancé and I'm just lost. Totally, utterly lost. I feel bereft, empty, hollow and my eyes I know without having to bother looking in a mirror are sunken with dark circles. I've also lost some weight. That's what a break up will do to you. It leaves you a complete wreck if you're not expecting it and you're not the one who instigated it.

I'm trying so hard not to think about Miles and the fact that he will be on his way to London now, if he hasn't already left. After the night in the restaurant I was so shell shocked that I just got up and left. He didn't call after me he simply let me go. Looking back, he was more than likely trying to avoid any sort of embarrassment and conflict in the heart of a busy restaurant.

We hardly spoke for a couple of days, besides our shifts meant that we were like ships passing in the night. We hardly saw each other and at the hospital we didn't bump into each other. Personally, I think he was avoiding me and I definitely was avoiding him. In hindsight I think I thought that by ignoring him the situation wouldn't be actually happening. Only it was and after three nights when we were both back at the apartment, Miles made a point of stopping me during my dinner.

"I'm really sorry, Sage. I never wanted to hurt you." Jeez, don't you just hate it when they say that. If I hadn't been so darn hungry he'd have been wearing my plate of spaghetti and tuna. "It's just something I have always wanted to do. I should have discussed it with you, I know that only." He stopped and ran his fingers through his hair. I wish I didn't love him so much, I wish I could hate him and despise him but I couldn't. My heart was breaking literally in two. I pushed my plate away from me, I wasn't hungry anymore.

"Yes, Miles. You should have done. How am I supposed to have known this. At least if you had of discussed it with me, perhaps I could have thought about. I may have decided to give London a go too." I left it unsaid unless of course you don't actually want me to go with you. Suppose he didn't ever intend for me to go. Suppose our relationship had run its course, in his mind anyway. Certainly not in mine. I'll never know the real reason.

I'm in the car and take a last look at the cabin I stayed in for the night, turn on the ignition and make my way out of the motel car park and head onto the I-64 towards home. I should arrive at my parent's house for around half ten.

Dolly Parton's I will always love you plays on the radio and my eyes fill with fresh tears. Seriously, how many tears can one person shed? My stomach knots. AGAIN. The pain sears through my chest and if wasn't for the fact that I'm a qualified doctor, I'd think I was having a heart attack and about to die.