Eventually, the nurses all had to get back to work, and I sat behind the desk with two of them. They were a talkative bunch. Telling me about their lives and also how big fans they were of mine. They even asked a few questions to add on to their gossip with their coworkers and friends.

“So how did you and Dr. Keaton meet?” one asked me out of the blue. My heart raced in panic. Zaden and I never came up with a story to tell people if asked this specific question.

I said the first thing that came to my mind, “We have known each other since we were kids.”

The nurses squealed in excitement. “Childhood sweethearts. I love it,” one of them said. You could tell she was smiling brightly at how much her eyes were squinted.

The one that asked me the latest question turned back to me, “So you are the reason why Dr. Keaton kept turning down all of the ladies. He has a lot of admirers.”

She looked older than the other nurses and I instantly felt like she was the mother of the nurses. The nurse had peppered dark brown hair. Wrinkles around her eyes made her eyes squint whenever she smiled. She even directed me away from the gossiping younger nurses into a small room so we could talk privately. Which I was kind of grateful for.

As we sat down in the chairs, she slid off her face mask and directed me to do the same. I wasn’t too comfortable to do so. She then pulled out her phone and turned it off to show that she wasn’t recording anything. Placing her now turned off phone on the table, she turned towards me.

“He didn’t explain the backstory to you did he?” she asked, making me a little confused. She smiled, “I’ve been working with Zaden since he first started here as a resident. I know everything when it comes to him.

“I also know that the story he was planning on was that you and he met during one of your doctor's appointments. Not as childhood sweethearts,” she mentioned.

Letting out a sigh, I responded honestly, “I haven’t been making it easy for him to talk to. He keeps mentioning that girl he admires.”

The nurse cleared her throat, making me look at her. She then started to cough a little bit, but it felt a little fake, “Sorry. I had a small tickle in my throat.” She grabbed my hand, “Believe it or not, your childhood sweethearts story doesn’t fall far from the mark. Zaden hasn’t had it easy and he did have a childhood friend that made it easier for him.”

“What do you mean?” I heard myself ask.

“It’s not really my story to tell, but Zaden grew up thinking he wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love. It takes a lot for him to trust people because they tend to just leave him in the end, anyways,” she explained, “Zaden had been in the system since he was two, when his mother dropped him off in front of a police station with a letter.”

My mind instantly went blank. I could feel my mouth hanging open. Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting when I hardly knew the guy. But Zaden looked so put together that you wouldn’t think that he had been abandoned by his mother. But maybe that was the reason why he was the way he was as well. The perfectionist that didn’t have a thing out of place.

Before our talk could go any further, Zaden suddenly appeared in the room we were sitting in. The look of relief on his face showed that he was pretty sure I had run away the moment I had the chance. It’s funny how that thought never ran through my mind until I saw that look on his face. The nurse just smiled at me one more time before patting my lap in reassurance, then got up and left Zaden and I alone in the room.

He came up to me with a little worried look on his face, “What did Ms. Anne, talk to you about?”

“What do you think we talked about?” I answered with my own question.

“I guess I should have warned you about Ms. Anne. She is like the mother I never had,” he admitted as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

It was weird to see him like that. There was something he didn’t want me to know and he was worried that the nurse had told me that secret. Also, the fact that I got a glimpse into his past had me even more curious about him. There was more to him than what meets the eye. So much so that I almost forgot that he knew the name of my last elementary school.