After being out much later than expected, Amy drove Rose home. Heading inside the building, Rose decided to wait a bit to be sure Amy was gone before going to James'. She walked to her door and, to her horror, she found Adam waiting and he was crying in the most unattractive way possible.
"Adam," Rose gasped nervously, "what are you doing here? I thought that…"
"I needed to talk to someone," he croaked and started speaking incoherently between sobs. Rose listened carefully and vaguely understood that it was something to do with a patient in his ward passing away.
Rose may have felt bad if she wasn't so annoyed, either way, he shouldn't be reacting so harshly given his line of work, "I'm not sure I'm the right person to…"
"Please," he sobbed loudly and Rose noticed her neighbors peeking out at her to see what the commotion was.
Rose rolled her eyes and opened the door, shoving him in, "Adam, I'm not sure why you came here but..."
"I don't have anyone else to go to," Adam cried out, "…he died, right there in front of me," he broke down crying again.
"Adam," Rose sighed and patted his back, "I wish I knew what to say but I'm no help. Maybe call a coworker, or somebody who understands what you're dealing with."
Adam pulled her into a hug, "it's you I need right now. I know you've been keeping secrets and I was hoping you would learn to care about me like I do about you, but you never gave me a shot."
"I can't Adam," Rose began and she felt his lips on her neck in a desperate attempt. "Ok, you need to stop," she said sternly and pushed him away, but he held on tighter. Then she felt a sharp pain on her neck as he clamped down. She cried out and shoved him back forcefully then slapped him with all her might.
Her hand came up to her neck, "what the fuck is wrong with you!" She turned to her mirror and just as she feared, he left a small mark behind. She choked back tears and turned back to him, "what have you done?"
"Rose, I'm sorry," Adam began, but Rose was already pushing him out.
She opened the door and gave him a final shove, "no, you're not going to say anything else. I'm not going to hear it," and slammed the door.
Rose hurried back to her mirror and examined the red mark that wasn't fading. This was bad, really, really bad. She told James that she broke up with Adam, how was she going to explain him being in her flat and this happening.
Now she was crying and she pulled out her phone and sent James a text claiming she didn't feel well and would be staying home. Sure, he'd be disappointed, but not as much as he would if he saw the mark on her neck.
The following morning, James received another text from Rose telling him she still wasn't feeling well and would be staying home. He offered to stop by and take care of her, but she refused and said that her mother would be coming by.
He was crestfallen because not only did their secret keep him from seeing her, he realized he had never stepped foot in her flat. He didn't even know where she lived and that bothered him.
After an unusually frustrating morning, James went to lunch, grateful for a break. There he saw Rory eating as well and decided to join him, "it's Saturday, no lunch with Amy today," he inquired as he sat down.
"Nah," Rory shook his head sadly, "she said she needed a girl's day out so she's meeting Rose at that new café, probably making more wedding plans that she doesn't trust me with."
James tensed, "lunch today? I thought that was your tradition, lunch on Saturdays," James hoped Rory's answer would ease his worry.
"It is," Rory agreed, "but she said Rose was busy the rest of the week."
James nodded and checked his watch, "you know, I forgot I was supposed to make an important call. Sorry to leave you."
"It's fine," Rory said gloomily.
James checked the time once more, he had 45 min left on his lunch and he headed upstairs to change, telling Lynda that he was headed out and will hurry back. He wasn't sure why Rose was lying but his he was going to find out.
Rose and Amy sat at an outdoor table, enjoying the spring weather, and ate their lunch.
"I don't know why you're so self-conscious about it," Amy told Rose.
"Amy, I'm a teacher, not some hormonal sixteen-year-old," Rose grumbled, checking it with the reflection of her spoon.
"I thought you broke up with Adam," Amy asked.
Rose put the spoon down, "I did, he just showed up at my door and…" Rose's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw James approaching, "oh shit," she yelped as her hand slapped against her neck to hide the mark.
Amy gave her an odd look then noticed James pulling out a chair beside her and plopping himself down. Amy glared at him, "what are you doing here?"
"Nice day," he said casually, "thought I'd enjoy the fresh air and get some lunch, same as you."
Amy looked over at Rose who was sitting uncomfortably, holding her neck, and trying to make it look casual. Her eyes darted around, but never settled on James and she could tell she was uneasy. She turned back to James, "you have to leave."
James glanced at Rose, noticing her odd behavior, "why, it's just three healthy friends eating lunch."
"What's wrong with you," Amy snapped.
"Nothing," James spoke innocently, "I just thought I'd join you two for…" he trailed off and looked back at Rose, "is something wrong with your neck?"
Rose shook her head and turned away, hoping he would just leave. Amy watched Rose shy away and growled at James, "I'm not sure what you are trying to do here, but either you leave or I make you leave."
James stared Rose down, but she kept her eyes trained to the floor. "Fine," he spat, sending the chair flying as he stood.
Amy grumbled out loud, "I don't know what I'm going to do with you two." She swatted at Rose's arm, "will you stop sitting like that, you act as if James has never seen a hickey before."
Rose looked up over Amy's head and saw James staring back at her, his eyes searching her skin with a look of disbelief that quickly turned to fury. She'd never seen him so mad, not even at the party when she thought he looked angry, this was terrifying. Now his intense stare was directed at her, his face reddening as he grinded his jaw. He then turned and stormed away, quickly getting consumed by the heavy lunchtime crowd and disappearing.
Rose moaned and buried her face in her hands, crying. This was a nightmare and she wasn't sure how she was going to explain this, not now.
"I'm sorry he did that," Amy said patting her on the back, "I don't know what's gotten into him lately." She could see Rose was very upset and wanted to find James and smack him for ruining a perfectly nice day by being…well…James.
Rose barely heard a word Amy said, she was more focused on what she was going to tell James. Then her next thought was of where James was headed now and she got a bad feeling that he was going straight for Adam.
"Shit," Rose cried out, springing to her feet and wiping the tears from her face. She noticed Amy watching her, perplexed but there was no time for explanations. "I gotta go," she uttered and reached in her wallet, tossing a few bills at Amy before hurrying away.
Ignoring Amy's plea to stop and talk to her, Rose rushed toward the street, looking for a taxi. After several failed tries at hailing one, she finally got one to stop and she jumped in, told him her destination and was on her way, hoping it wasn't too late.
James wasn't sure what emotion he was feeling as he stormed back to his car. It felt like every bad one was jumbled in his mind and he couldn't decide if he was hurt, angry, sad, or furious. He didn't even know who these feelings were aimed at more, Rose or Adam. Sure, he could easily blame Adam and every fiber of his being wanted to beat him to a pulp, but at the same time, Rose had been lying to him just like everyone else.
She said everything with Adam was over, but apparently that wasn't true. Then she texted him the night before claiming to be sick and he didn't even want to imagine the reason why. With all the lying she's been doing lately, he wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
He got to his car, glancing behind him knowing Rose wouldn't dare follow him, then got in and sped away. While he drove back to the hospital he tried to tamp down his anger while he held in the pain wanting to burst from his chest.
It was a quick drive back, either that or he was too furious to notice the time. He pulled into his parking spot, shut off the engine, and leaned back in his seat closing his eyes while telling himself that those weren't tears pooling up. He inhaled deeply and pushed everything down until he felt nothing. "Work mode," he called it, where nothing but the job exists.
Walking into the hospital, Lynda found him right away and hurried over.
"There you are, Dr. Noble, I was worried you weren't coming back," she said pleasantly while handing him a chart. "They're waiting for you upstairs and everything is…" she trailed off, "is everything alright?"
"Fine," he said coldly, not even looking back at her. He opened the chart and gazed at it, forgetting what he was supposed to be doing that afternoon, and headed for the lift. Suddenly someone sprinted by and caught James by surprise, knocking the chart right out of his hands and sending papers flying about.
Lynda's eyes widened when she saw James' murderous glare and his fists clenched. Then she noticed the one responsible for the collision. It was Adam and he stared back at James, frozen.
"Um, oops," Lynda said, trying to keep things cheerful and hurried to clean up the forms knowing she had to get James out of there quickly. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she had a feeling Adam was involved somehow.
"It would be you," James snarled at Adam, his voice bleeding with hatred, "why don't you watch where you're going, you stupid ape!"
Lynda jumped in front of James, turning him around and pushing him toward the lift, "just head on up, Dr. Noble, I'll bring you the chart in a moment."
James resisted at first, but he knew what she was doing and she was right. He began to walk away when he heard Adam's voice.
"No James," Adam spoke loudly and even Lynda was caught off guard by the lack of respect in his tone and words. James stopped in his tracks and turned back around, his eyes aflame with rage as he stared Adam down.
"I'm not going to let you bully me or anyone else," Adam announced, not backing down, knowing James wouldn't do anything to him. Adam took a step closer, speaking loud enough for others around them to hear, "Rose told me all about you, she told me about your past, and everything you put her through. She told me what names you called her, she told me about the bear, and she told me how you intimidated her all those years."
Time seemed to stop around him as James listened to every word, wondering how long she had been talking to Adam behind his back and what else she has been saying. He bit the inside of his cheek and could taste the blood rolling onto his tongue. He cracked each individual knuckle on his fingers, one by one, "she told you all that, did she?"
"We talk a lot, did you think she wouldn't, she's still afraid of you and I'm telling you that I won't let that happen again, not to her or anyone else here," Adam spoke proudly as if awaiting applause, only nobody knew what he was talking about.
"I'm not sure what you're accusing me of, but that person isn't me," he approached Adam and Lynda made to stop him but he went around her, "if my behavior offends you, then just keep away from me and I'll do the same to you. We'll be invisible to each other, then there won't be a problem anymore, will there?"
"No there won't," Adam swallowed nervously, watching James tower over him.
"Good," James snarled, his eyes burning into his. He turned and began to walk away, then paused, "also, Adam..." he spoke over his shoulder as he felt his heart rip in two, "tell Rose the same goes for her."
"Done," Adam nodded then turned away with a proud smile on his face. That's one obstacle out of the way.
Rose finally reached the hospital after sitting through traffic, every single stoplight, and any other obstacle they came across. It was the longest drive ever and Rose was ready to leap out and just run to the hospital. As soon as they stopped, she sprinted inside and hurried upstairs. She went straight to James' office, only to find it empty. She tried calling his phone again, forgetting about the terrible phone reception, then shouted in frustration.
"Uh, Rose," a small voice came from behind and she turned to see Lynda, looking worried. "Dr. Noble left for the day. Well…he sorta got told to go home."
As bad as things already were, Rose feared the worst, "what did he do?"
"Nothing," Lynda assured her, "I mean…he was kind of angry, like really angry, and Dr. Jones came to talk to him. She said she would take over for the day and sent him home to cool off."
"Did he mention where he was going," Rose asked, she doubted he'd be going home.
Lynda shook her head, "I didn't want to upset him anymore by asking questions."
"Thank you, Lynda," Rose said and headed back to the lift.
"Also," Lynda called to Rose nervously, "just after he got back from lunch, Adam said something about you telling him about all the mean things he used to do to you and Dr. Noble said for you to stay away from him from now on."
Rose's knees nearly buckled as panic set in, she slumped against the wall and she tried to steady her breathing. Lynda hurried to her side and supported her.
"I never…" Rose sobbed, "…he's lying."
"I gathered that," Lynda told her, "but it's not me you need to convince."
James drove past his flat, knowing Rose would be looking for him there and he was not about to let her find him. He smacked the steering wheel angrily, regretting ever giving her his key. He continued to drive with no real destination for over an hour, replaying everything in his mind, not just recent events but every aspect of their relationship to this point and he felt cheated and foolish.
Finally, he parked his car and decided to speak to the one person who never judged him and would always put up with him when he was in this kind of mood, and that was Jack. He walked into the building with purpose and bypassed the desk, heading straight for the back, and ignoring the women calling for him to stop.
He knew where Jack's office was and was on his way there when he ran into him, catching him by surprise.
"Hi," Jack said happily then he noticed the look on his face, he knew that look, and he quickly ushered him into his office, telling the women it was fine and not to worry.
James stormed into the office and paced, feeling like he was about to explode.
Jack shut the door and pushed James to sit down, bringing him a bottle of water which he refused by throwing across the room, knocking over several books. Jack glanced back at the splattered wall, "ok, I was meaning to redecorate that part of my office anyway." He took a few steps back and watched James for a brief second, he's dealt with James through many ordeals and has seen him in many moods, but nothing compared to what he was witnessing right now, "care to tell me what's going on then?"
James stared forward, his eyebrows drawn downward, his eyes piercing, and his jaw tight. He gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in as his foot tapped at a frantic rhythm. Then his eyes met his in a cold stare, "it's volcano day."