Slow Down | ✓

09. REBOUND

09. REBOUND

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN two and a half weeks, Elijah wakes up without the feeling of sorrow weighing heavily on his heart.

He shifts his gaze to the phone laying at the head of the bed. His mind goes back to the night before ━ where he fell asleep with Aliyah on the phone.

They spent the whole night talking about anything and everything and while Elijah was on-call, luckily, nobody had needed him for anything, giving him the space to talk to the woman he was already starting to like.

He doesn't have the time to reflect on the call when his pager beeps, interrupting his thought process.

TRAUMA/911

He releases an annoyed sigh, ready to go back to sleep.

FOLLOWING AN EMERGENCY SURGERY on a guy that decided it was a great idea to jump down two sets of stairs because it was faster therefore shattering his leg bones, Elijah exits the OR, making his way to the dressing room.

Considering his shift ended halfway through the surgery, he's ready to go home ━ maybe go out for a drink, despite it being midday.

As he changes, a thought comes to mind ━ maybe Aliyah is free.

Yet again, his thoughts are interrupted by the Attending Lounge door being pushed wide open, his best friend stepping through with a wide smile on his face and arms extended in triumph.

"Guess who just performed a very successful minimally invasive endonasal endoscopic surgery?" Kendrick exclaims happily before pointing to himself, "This guy! And to celebrate, I'm buying you a drink, my friend."

Elijah snickers as he goes to pull his shirt on, "I'm gonna have to pass."

Kendrick scrunches his face up, weirdly, "Do you have something better to do?"

"Hopefully," Elijah throws his friend a wink, "I'm gonna take Aliyah out to lunch."

Kendrick freezes, "I have so many questions and nowhere to start ━"

"I know," Elijah chuckles, "I can see the gears turning in your head. Take your time," He patronizes.

Kendrick kisses his teeth before pulling his shirt off to change, "First of all, who's Aliyah?"

Elijah sighs, "Remember the woman I slept with the night Gianna left me?"

"Ah," Kendrick emphasizes in realization, "The rebound?"

With furrowed eyebrows, Elijah turns to his best friend, "She's not a rebound, man."

"Sure," Kendrick deadpans, "How did you find her again?"

"Her brother came in all messed up and she was there and you were kinda eating away at my brain so I gave her my number."

Kendrick couldn't be any more confused, "Nigga, what? While I'm glad you were thinking about me, you gave her your number? You gave your rebound your number?"

Elijah throws his scrubs into the laundry basket, aggressively, "Can you stop calling her a rebound? And, you were the one telling me to try with her after I told you that I'd just gotten out of a relationship."

"Okay, but I'm Kendrick James," He points to himself, "Unless it's something to do with a brain or medicine in general, you really shouldn't be listening to me."

"And I usually never do, but I realized something," Elijah pauses, his mind overrunning with thoughts, "I loved Gianna. I did. And then, she broke my heart ━ which led me to believe that she never really loved me, only the idea of me. You know, the big house that we could move into, the walk-in closet where she could put all her clothes that I bought ━"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kendrick stops his friend, pulling his pants on, "You think she was with you for your money?"

Elijah nods, "She had to be. It's pretty much public knowledge who my family is," Shrugging, he looks down, another thought plaguing his mind, "I mean she can put up a front all she wants saying that it's because I never spent time with her anymore but I have a feeling that's not the case so it's either that or she was bored."

Kendrick sends his friend a sympathetic pout, "I doubt it, man. Eight years is a long ass time and for her to be bored right at the height of your career? That's a bit shady if you ask me."

Elijah shrugs, his mood dampening significantly, "I don't even wanna think about it anymore."

Finally he pulls on his shoes and grabs his stuff, throwing his hospital sneakers into his locker.

"Imma catch you later, man," The ortho doctor tells his best friend before grabbing his bag and leaving the room. He removes his phone from his back pocket to send a short text to the woman that's been on his mind all morning, only to receive a response in record time.

this chapter was lowkey short but that's fine 🤣🤣 i might either publish another chapter tonight or in the morning

also we're gonna find out more ab elijah's family in a later chapter

ALSO ALSO WE FINNA GET SOME ELIJAH+ALIYAH CONTENT IN THE NEXT CHAP

ALSO ALSO ALSO wattpad wildin out with these notifications