“Obviously,” her reply was slow and measured, “we need some time apart.”
“Works for me,” he ground out. His visage was unblinking.
“Same here,” she agreed. “Besides, I need to spend more time closer to home.”
In silence he exited the living room. Upon reaching the door, his grip upon the doorknob tensed ever so slightly as it opened. He knew once he stepped across the threshold he was letting her go. He’d meant what he said when he told her he was tired. A part of him knew she was, too. But as with so many things when it came to dealing with his headstrong lover she simply refused to surrender. Jack cast a glance over his shoulder at Sabrina; the look was equal parts sadness and frustration.
“Good for you, Bri.” Jack made a rude noise. “At least now you won’t have to worry about dragging around that damn umbilical cord you’ve been tethered to since the day we met.”
The “time apart” was to have been no more than a few days. But ‘a few days’ turned into a week. A week suddenly became a month. Eventually, one month gave way to another, and another... Soon, they were over.
That had been a year ago.
In that time, they had had little if any contact. Other than her occasional medically sanctioned visits, she rarely journeyed to the West Coast or “his turf”—the Los Angeles branch of CTU, the Counter Terrorism Unit. It seemed the Fates, for the most part, were merciful on those few occasions she did journey to the facility. Her encounters with Jack were either brief or he was nowhere to be found. The latter usually entailed him being off on a mission, a thought she did not like to entertain; it was difficult enough when they were together to tune out the contemplations of danger and violence he was subjected to. Unfortunately, now that he was no longer in her life, such examinations, if she gave pause to them, were the fuel for horrific dreams at worst or barely restrained anxiety at best. Any information each gleaned about the other was almost always via another party; never anyone from either’s immediate circle. Always someone along the periphery.
Like now.
When the handsome government official had requested to have his Neurological exam moved up a few months and even offered to come to “her turf” she had thought nothing of the gesture. Generally, after the requisite post-op checkups were done, subsequent exams after brain surgery—even for an aneurysm of the magnitude she’d operated on with him—were only required yearly, some even bi-annually. But this patient was an exception to that rule and not just because of his power and charm.
Ever the shameless flirt, a personality trait she had come to appreciate about him, he’d joked that if he’d known emergency brain surgery was all it took to get a woman as beautiful as her in his orbit he’d have tried to burst a blood vessel years ago. Much to her surprise, Sabrina found herself deviating from her steadfast rule – never cultivate a personal relationship with a patient outside of their initial one which existed as doctor/patient – and forming an acquaintance with him.
Secretary of Defense James Heller was used to being the exception to the rule.
It was an aspect of his personality Sabrina not only possessed herself but one she held a deep and abiding appreciation of. The other traits—arrogance, confidence, charm, ruthlessness, and, yes, sensuality—she was more than familiar with as they were all exhibited by the men she’d known and loved all her life: her father, Viktor Cassadine, and his nephew, her “brother,” Stefan Cassadine—as well as the latter’s two sons, her “nephews,” Nikolas and Andresj Cassadine.
How most of those traits managed to skip the gruff, silver-haired political powerhouse’s daughter Audrey Raines both amused and mystified Sabrina. And although Audrey had attempted at every turn to insinuate herself back into Jack’s life when he and Sabrina were together, despite her disdain for the soft-spoken Department of Defense liaison, it never impacted Sabrina’s interaction with Audrey’s father. Besides, Audrey was not the issue. If anything, Jack’s ex-lover was more of a non-issue. Something Sabrina was positive that in spite of the monumental headache she could be at times, the willowy, manipulative blonde would probably be crestfallen to discover.
Silently Sabrina admitted if she was being honest with herself, she was thankful; the change in locale meant there was virtually no chance of her crossing paths with the one person who after all this time could still disturb the rhythm of her heart.
Jack.
The need to direct her thoughts away from those of her former lover was what turned Sabrina’s attention back to the conversation at hand; she was not positive but she thought she’d heard Heller mention his name.
“I’m sorry, James,” seated at her desk, Sabrina continued scrawling notes in his chart, “did you say something…about Jack?” She said a silent prayer that her inquiry held just the right blend of casual and aloof.
“Yeah, I was saying that as much as I enjoying getting to see you, Sabrina, I’m really glad you were able to squeeze me in now.” Emerging from the exam room he smoothly tucked the gray tailored shirt into a pair of perfectly creased black Ralph Lauren slacks. “I get the feeling,” he eased on his suit coat, “I’ll be pretty busy in the next month…what with Audrey’s upcoming wedding to Jack.”
