Stern Desire Love Redeemed Read Online Free PDF Page A

what
    I think?"
    "What?"
    "I think you're attracted to him, and from the questions he's asking, he's interested in you."
    "I don't think so."
    "What? That you are attracted to him?"
    "Yes."
    "When was the last time you felt this way about a man? I've never heard you talk like this before."
    "He is not attracted to me."
    "Kyra, if I were a man, you would be my girlfriend...my wife, the mother of my children. I'd have you knocked up, tied up..."
    "Can you be serious, Jenn?" She was not making the
    situation any better. "He's a patient. There has to be something wrong about that. No, let me correct myself. There is something wrong about that. I could be brought up on charges of sexual misconduct of a health-care
    worker."
    "This is a very gray issue, Kyra. First and foremost, he's not a vulnerable patient, he's not cognitively impaired, he's hospitalized for an injured leg, and you did not force yourself on him or intimidate
    him."
    "I was taught in school that it was inappropriate to have anything other than a nurse-patient relation, and accept it as that."
    "Actually, the Code of Ethics states that you are
    responsible to establish and maintain ethical boundaries with your patients, and if faced with unethical issues, to remove yourself from the situation."
    "What's the hospital policy?"
    "Zero tolerance. Can't date a patient or patient's
    family member for six months after discharge or you'll be fired."
    "So, I'll be violating hospital policies?"
    "Yes, and the Code of Ethics. Even if he's the one that
    pursues you, they can say you did not act in the patient's best interest, and you abused your nurse-client relationship."
    "What I'm afraid of is if I continue to be his nurse, I will eventually cross a whole lot of boundaries."
    "Then remove yourself from the situation, Kyra."
    "I don't think I can."
    "Kyra, please be careful," she warned. "You
    know this place. There are eyes and ears everywhere."
    "Jenn, I want to do the right thing, but I can't. I don't have the mental or physical strength to separate myself from him."
    She smiled. "My friend, you have got it bad, but do you
    think you are the first nurse to fall for a patient? You know Kathy. Her husband was her patient, but she asked for a temporary transfer back to the ER until he was discharged from her unit."
    "No." I shook my head. "Not a patient, not
    me. No way."
    "Kyra, there is nothing wrong with love. It's been eight freaking years. It's time for you to let go and move on. You are a beautiful person inside and out. You deserve to be happy. You need to let
    someone back in your heart, baby. Life is not fair; we see that almost every day. It's your comeback that counts. You have to give love another try." She stuck some more fries in her mouth. "You are your worst enemy, you
    know that? You have chased away so many good men. You remember Steven? He is now one of the best plastic surgeons in Miami. We could have gotten free work if we ever needed it. And he was hot, too."
    "I don't know why I talk to you sometimes."
    She spoke the truth, but I had no idea how to do what she was suggesting. I'd cut off all feelings for so long. I didn't know how to turn them back on. I began to play with the ring on my left hand.
    "You know, sometimes you make me regret finding that ring and giving it to you," Jenn said.
    "If it was not for this ring, we would not have been best friends," I pointed out.
    "Who knows? Maybe you would have been happier and not been held hostage by it. Do you ever take it off?"
    "Only to clean it."
    "Why don't you try wearing it on the other hand, for
    starters?"
    "I don't know, Jenn, but I'll try," I promised.
    She leaned back in her chair, and a smile crept across her face. I knew she was coming up with something smart.
    "What?" I said, annoyed.
    "After eight years, you should be like a virgin again."
    "Oh my God! Jenn, you are insufferable."
    "You are going to make someone very happy." She
    smiled mischievously.
    I took up my tray and dumped it in the