All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [8]
He shoved the thought away. He didn't care what she wanted. She was no longer in his life. She hadn't been for a long time. In a few minutes he would be on his way, and with any luck they wouldn't meet again for another ten years.
Dr. Fisher finished his stitching, handed Cole a prescription for a painkiller, and discharged him.
Cole got to his feet, feeling off balance. He suspected that had more to do with Natalie than with the gash in his head. When they reached the hall, he paused, unable to stop himself from looking around. There were a number of people in scrubs and white coats rushing around, but none of them had red hair. Or blue eyes. Or a mouth he could almost still taste ...
"Do you want to talk to her before we go?" Josh asked.
"No, I don't want to talk to her. Why would I want to talk to her? She is the last person I want to talk to," he added, finally cutting himself off. Judging by Josh's amused expression, he was making a fool of himself.
"Whatever you say," Josh replied. "I'll take you home."
* * *
Home for Natalie was a tiny attic apartment under the eaves of a three-story pink Victorian house, one of San Francisco's infamous painted ladies. But Natalie wasn't thinking about the city when she slipped into bed just after midnight. She was thinking about Cole and Emily. She hadn't been able to get either one of them out of her mind. On her dinner break, she'd run down the street to the local bookstore and picked up a copy of Fallen Angel. She was sure the book had nothing to do with Emily. Cole's newspaper wouldn't have reviewed it if that had been the case. And he hadn't appeared to know what she was talking about when she'd mentioned a book to him.
Still, she couldn't get the story out of her mind. She opened the first few pages and began to read. The opening scene took place in an off-campus dorm room where Ellie first met Nancy and their fellow suite mates, Linda and Maggie. Settling back against the pillows, she began to read.
Their friendship began on a sunny day in late September when Ellie and her parents arrived at Santa Cruz University, an hour and a half south of their home in San Francisco. The college spread across a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the infamous Beach Boardwalk with its aging but treasured wooden roller coaster.
Ellie was filled with excitement and joy but also a sense of trepidation. She had been worrying about her prospective roommate since she'd been assigned to room 232 at the off-campus dorm called Fontana Gardens, a three-story building a half mile from the campus. The only thing she knew about her roommate was that her name was Nancy and that she was from Los Angeles. It would be the first time in her life that Ellie had ever shared a room. Actually, it was the first time Ellie had ever shared anything. Her parents had spoiled her rotten. She knew that even if they didn't.
Ellie hoped that Nancy would like her. While Ellie had had all the material things money could buy, what she'd never really had was a girlfriend. She hoped more than anything that Nancy would be the best friend she'd always wanted.
Natalie drew in a sharp breath and closed the book, her heart racing as if she'd just finished a long-distance run. The names were changed, but the story was theirs. Fontana Gardens, the three-story dorm, was Paloma Gardens, named for the street on which it was located. Ellie was Emily. And Nancy was her. Their suite mates Maggie and Linda were Madison and Laura. And that first day in the dorm rooms still burned brightly in her memory. She'd been just as worried about meeting Emily as Emily had been about