Aftercare: Second Chance Romance

by Jennifer Hartley

  “Landon, for god’s sake,” she breathed, feeling herself sweat.

  “Is it so hard to believe how much I want you?” He drawled. “You believe me right away when I say I want to had sex with you. Your sweet little vagina won’t let my fingers go when I’m taking you and I’m pretty sure my dick’s bruised from it. Why do you doubt me when I say how much want you?”

  He took a lock of her short hair and tucked it behind her ear. Watching her blush, he continued, “I can’t believe it’s only now I knew about you, Regina. We wasted so much time not knowing about each other. I intend to make up huge for the times I should have been having sex with you.”

  “Landon...” Regina murmured, swaying towards him despite being seated already. He looked around them before trailing a finger down her throat, making her swallow hard, then to the wide valley between her breasts. Her nipples peaked painfully against her t-shirt, making him grin. Up and down his finger went to her throat, between her breasts.

  “My dick’s actually chafed,” he growled against her lips. “At least tell me you’re a little sore.”

  Regina squirmed, crossing her legs self-consciously. Her face was a ripe tomato shade when feeling the familiar, sticky pool gathering in her vagina. He continued smiling at her as if he knew exactly what was going on in every part of her body. She nodded in answer to his question.

  “Good.”

  Her breath hitched, chest rising and falling sharply with each entry and exit of air. Seriously, how was this happening to her? Landon kissed her hand then suggested they go back to filling out the rest of his basic personal information. He lounged more comfortably beside her, an arm settling around her shoulders while he continued caressing her knee and the lower portion of her thigh. He seemed amused at the obvious speed in her breathing and the red blush that wouldn’t leave her cheeks. Despite her unsteady voice as she read the questions out loud, he answered them without teasing or distracting her again.

  They encountered a problem when she needed the name of his insurance provider and number. The card was in his wallet- which was not in his jeans pocket. It had fallen out and was still in her bedroom. Regina proceeded to the next portion of the form.

  “Emergency contact?”

  “My brother. Brantley. His number is...” After Landon rattled it off, he said, “I wonder if he’s on duty today?”

  “He’s a doctor too?”

  “ENT,” Landon explained.

  The form complete, Regina marched up to the desk again and narrowed her eyes at Melisha. “I’m done. My boyfriend’s wallet is missing and it has his insurance card. But he’s a doctor here and he broke his nose, damn it. Doesn’t his employment give him some priority here? All you guys are doing is having coffee and chatting.” She said, looking pointedly at the group of nurses lingering on their coffee. Even Melisha had a fresh cup.

  Melisha did not disguise rolling her eyes at Regina before looking at the chart. She suddenly squealed. “Why didn’t you say it’s Dr. Stewart?”

  “I’ve been trying to tell you but you kept interrupting and told me to fill out the bullshit form first.” She dropped the clipboard on the table and glared at her. “Don’t pin this on me.”

  But the nurse didn’t apologize. Although she herself took a wheelchair to Landon and had the other nurses help him, it was too late in Regina’s eyes. The nurse kept them waiting for close to an hour because she believed to be doing proper protocol. As she tried to wheel Landon, Regina snapped, “No, not you. You’ve done enough. Sir,” she called one of the male nurses, a stout, young man with limp dark hair. His name was Gabriel Thorne. “Would you mind helping us? Your fellow nurse here is clearly too busy manning the desk to be of any significant help.”

  The dig was not lost on Melisha but she could only relinquish her hold on the bars with a haughty huff before walking coolly back to the reception desk. Gabriel gave Regina a friendly smile. “Don’t mind her, miss. Dr. Stewart, sorry you were kept waiting. I’m Gabriel. I assisted you in a surgery a few weeks ago.”

  “I remember. I believe I’ll need to have a word with your supervisor regarding polite behavior towards the girlfriends of patients.” Landon answered as he was wheeled to the emergency ward. “Here, Regina.” He said, and to her surprise, he took her hand.

  “So, what happened?” Gabriel asked, glancing at their joined hands and seeing Regina blush. Regina opened her mouth to answer but Landon beat her to it.

  “It’s a sex-related injury,” he said, making Gabriel laugh.

  “Landon!” Regina protested, freezing on her tracks to glare at him. Gabriel suddenly had a coughing fit as he looked away while Landon smiled up at her blandly.

  “What, sweetheart?”

  Regina put her hands on the armrests as she leaned toward him. Her eyes big despite her scowl, she hissed, “You don’t tell people that!”

  “Sweetheart, health care providers need to know everything that led to the injury. It informs them on the treatment.”

  “You couldn’t say you hit a wall?” Regina demanded.

  “I would think a nose that may be broken from colliding into a wall could be very different when getting it from having sex.” He said, spreading his palms open in apparent helplessness. She frowned, realized he was playing her and came close to kicking him in the balls.

  “Oh, my god!” She groaned. “Just be more discreet, alright?”

  “I don’t see why you’re embarrassed. Sex is the most natural thing in the world,” Landon replied breezily. He beckoned at Gabriel to come forward and wheel him to the ward. As Regina turned crimson from head to toe, he continued, “Besides, you’re not the one with tampons up her nose. Hey, there,” he said, nodding at a few nurses and doctors looking at them with open curiosity. “Yes. I’ve got tampons up my nose. Dr. Darwin,” he acknowledged formally to a slim man with a receding hairline and grim features, as if he was often at the receiving end of bad news. The man nodded at Landon, frowning.

  “Dr. Stewart. Are you alright?”

  “Best feeling I’ve had in a long time, doc,” Landon called out, giving him a backward wave because Gabriel was still wheeling him.

  Despite the argument, Landon and Regina were still holding hands reaching the ward. Doctors and nurses milled about interviewing and giving treatments to patients in various emergency situations. A little boy was screaming about his broken arm. An elderly man seemed to have a ceramic cat stuck to his hand. Partition screens gave each bed some privacy but not all health care professionals drew them closed all the time.

  A male nurse and Regina helped Landon out of the chair so he could sit at the foot of a cot. “I’ll send the doctor for you right away, Dr. Stewart,” the nurse said to Landon. “And miss, you did alright putting the tampons in his nose. It’s a smart move. I never thought of it but it makes sense.” He was smiling but it was impressed rather than amusement.

  “It was Landon’s idea,” Regina murmured as Landon slipped an arm around her waist.

  “She’s my girlfriend, by the way,” Landon told Gabriel. “Regina Abbott. She’s in I.B.” He said as if she had discovered the deepest secrets of the universe.

  “Oh. Well, nice to meet you, Regina.” Gabriel told her. “I’ll go now. And don’t worry too much. It will be alright,” he assured them before leaving.

  “He’s nice,” Regina said to Landon. “At least that’s the first friendly one we’ve encountered.”

  “Sit with me, Regina,” Landon didn’t wait for her to do it, simply tugged her by the hand so she was next to him. He put an arm around her shoulders and discovered the tension in them. “Hey, relax. Gabriel’s right. It’s going to be alright.”

  She sighed and laughed weakly. “I’d believe you, but you look like hell, Landon.”

  “I look a lot worse than I feel, sweetheart,’” he insisted, tweaking her on the nose and making her laugh. She looked at him apologetically.

  “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Landon.”

  “Come on, now. It�
�s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault,” he told her firmly, looking deeply in her eyes to make sure she believed him.

  Forgetting about his nose for a moment, she leaned in to kiss him. Landon retreated sharply, yelping in pain. As she stared at him in horror, the curtain was pushed open. Regina leaped off the bed guiltily while Landon winced from the pain. Suddenly looking past her shoulder, he gave a salute. “Well, hello there, loser.”

  The man sighed loudly and ran a hand through his thick, dark copper hair. He looked as tall as Landon, but leaner. Any man paled to Landon in looks although the one standing before them had a pleasant enough face, and was even quite good-looking. He fixed the collar of his white coat before glancing at the clipboard in his hand. “Had to see it with my own eyes. What are you doing here on your first day away from work? Can’t live without me?”

  “I assume you know each other,” Regina remarked, looking at the two men with open curiosity.

  Landon winked. “This here is Dr. Jeremy Kane. We’ve known each other since we were in diapers. He was still wetting the bed at six, though.”

  “Damn you, Landon. Sorry,” Jeremy told Regina, flushing a little. “But he’s right, we’ve known each other all our lives. But the bed-wetting thing is a product of his oft-deranged mind. You are...?”

  “Regina Abbott,” Landon answered.

  “Regina Abbott...oh.” Suddenly, Jeremy flashed his pearly whites on her. It was a friendly but knowing smile. “Ah. So you’re that Regina.”

  “That Regina?” She echoed, pale eyebrows drawing together. As Jeremy peered at Landon’s nose critically, she asked, “Is there like, a Regina One, and Regina Two?”

  As Landon laughed, Jeremy assured her, “Don’t worry about it, Gina. Landon said that’s your nickname, right? You’re the only one. He’s been mouthing off about you since-”

  “Jeremy,” Landon suddenly warned.

  Regina thought she was going to die on the spot when she realized what it meant. ”Landon! Did you tell him?” She glared at him accusingly, wondering if she should drag him out of the hospital first. What was the use of kicking him in the balls if he was getting treatment right away? Landon shook his head quickly, his eyes widening in disbelief.

  “What? No,” he protested as Jeremy tapped his nose. “Ow!”

  “Can you breathe?” Jeremy asked.

  “I have tampons up my nose. What do you think?” Landon growled. Seeing Regina looking murderous, he quickly continued, “Sweetheart, I swear on my life-”

  “Oh, swear on whatever you want, Landon! You had to tell him about the diaphragm?” It was one thing when he told her in public very inappropriate, sexual things he would like to do to her. It was a secret turn-on. But when he talked about her, and something that was basically a traumatic accident, to someone else, that was crossing the line. She stared at him with hurt shimmering in her eyes and a tremor in her lower lip. Landon continued shaking his head, looking distressed at her expression.

  “Diaphragm? What diaphragm?” Jeremy asked, making another note on the chart. “Speaking of, is it true you had a patient last week who had a diaphragm stuck because of sex? How does that even happen? Did she tell you how big the guy is?”

  “Oh god!” Regina shrieked while Landon glared at Jeremy. “Is nothing private in this hospital?”

  ‘’Be quiet,” he ordered Jeremy, suddenly turning pink. Jeremy stared at him in confusion, and then at Regina, who still looked angry. Back and forth he looked at them before his face cleared upon putting two and two together.

  “Oh. Err...honest to the god, Regina, Landon didn’t tell me about that. It’s the nurses. He just said he met you in a club and has been sighing and looking far more idiotic than usual every time you call or message him. I didn’t know that patient was you. Why didn’t the guy stick around? He could have helped you-”

  “Jeremy,” Landon said with a loud sigh. Regina wished for the floor to swallow her up. “Shut up.”

  “Ah.” Jeremy nodded slowly, looking at him then at Regina when realizing another fact. He made a face at Landon. “Well, getting it out of her is the least you could do after...that.”

  “Just drop it,” Landon ordered him, shaking his head. “Regina, sweetheart. As you can see, I didn’t tell Jeremy all the details about us-”

  “That’s a surprise,” she retorted, crossing her arms stiffly.

  “But I did tell him I think you’re great and so sexy.”

  “He did,” Jeremy confirmed. “Alright. Landon.” He snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. “Forget about your girlfriend for the moment. Are you feeling anything? Numbness in your arms? Pain in your neck? A headache? Anything that’s off?”

  “How about removing the tampons now?” Landon snapped.

  “Just answer his questions,” Regina said resignedly. She just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

  “No, no, no. I’m fine. All I want is to get out of this hospital, so I can spend the rest of the day with Regina.” Landon cleared his throat. “If she will still have me.”

  Despite her annoyance and embarrassment, Landon Stewart could be disarmingly sweet. He was the most tactless person she knew at the moment. She wanted to deck him on the head with the nearest bed pan. At the same time, she wanted to hug him and kiss him.

  She gave him a little nod and shrugged, hugging herself. But it was enough for Landon to look at her with great relief.

  “God, you’re strange, Stewart. I’m removing the tampons one at a time now,” Jeremy announced, sitting in front of Landon and whipping out the tools. Regina saw him take out a clamp. Putting a hand around his head, he asked, “Is this alright?”

  “For kissing? Or for sucking your dick?”

  “Landon!” Jeremy and Regina yelled.

  “Geez, will both of you relax? I’m the one with the broken nose here.” Landon complained. “I’m fine. Get them out, although I don’t see the point being that half the staff already seen me with it.”

  “You told me to put them up your nose,” Regina reminded him as Jeremy clamped the first one.

  “I didn’t know you were going to insist on taking me to the hospital,” Landon pointed out. He glared when Jeremy suddenly pulled away. “What are you waiting for?”

  Jeremy waved at the clamp. “I can’t have this anywhere near you when you won’t shut up. Although I think Regina will swear her life to me if I cut your tongue. Shut up and let me do my job, Landon,” he said impatiently.

  So, at last, Landon kept quiet. Jeremy dropped the bloody sticks of cotton in the steel dish and examined Landon’s nose again, touching it carefully as well as the area around it. “There’s still swelling, but nothing that an ice pack and some medication can’t fix. The same goes for your shiners, Landon,” he said, noting the purpling marks under his eyes.

  “His nose isn’t broken?” Regina asked.

  “Didn’t I tell you how great she is? We’ve known each other for just a little over a week and she already fusses over me like a mother hen,” Landon told Jeremy, smiling at Regina happily. Try as she might, she couldn’t resist responding in kind to him. Awkwardly, she stood next to him again and he grasped her hand.

  “But, I’m putting gauze in the nose just in case.” As Landon began to protest, Jeremy complained, “Doctors really make the worst patients. Landon, come on. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same. Besides, it’s only for three days.”

  “First, you can’t be in my shoes because you have measly size eleven feet while I have an impressive thirteen,” Landon retorted. “Second, my nose is fine. I don’t need any more stuffing in there. It hurts, as expected, but I can breathe.”

  “You don’t, but you’re not completely out of the woods yet. We’ll have to monitor your nose for a few days and also be on the lookout for any headaches or discomfort you might have,” Jeremy told him. Regina was glad that a doctor was telling him, rather than her. Landon might wave aside her concern but he should know better about arguing with a professional. Hopefully
.

  “Wait here while I get you some painkillers. Regina,” Jeremy offered his hand and smiled at her. “I almost forgot to say it’s great to meet you.”

  She shook hands with him shyly and watched him leave the room. Landon tugged at her hand again, so she would sit down. He smiled as she played with his hair.

  “Satisfied that I’ll live?”

  “Stop making a joke out of it, Landon. I was really scared.” She scolded him, shaking her head as he tried to kiss her. She leaned away and he pouted.

  “Sorry about that,” He hugged her on his side and kissed her hand. “But Jeremy’s right. Doctors really are the worst patients. If we can’t sit still, we think every diagnosis on us is bullshit. Well, this time the doctor is right on the money. Are you alright?”

  “I am now,” she said. To her surprise, Landon urged her to rest her head on his shoulder. It was a little awkward because of their heights but he didn’t have to make such an adjustment so she could do this. Her head resting on him, she twined her fingers with his. “I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

  “I’m not hurt. Maybe a little embarrassed but I’ll live. Say, sweetheart,” he said, putting a hand on her knee.

  “Hmm?”

  “I may not be in great pain, but you know what will make me really happy right now?”

  “Tell me,” she picked up her head from his shoulder, eager to accommodate him. “You want Jell-o?”

  The playfulness in Landon’s smile was mirrored in his eyes too. “Tell me you’re not wearing panties?”

  Her blush overtook her entire face in an instant and she slapped at his hand crawling between her thighs. ”Landon!”

  “Such a turn-on when you say my name like that,” he teased her, trying to touch her vagina again. She slapped him harder, smirking as he squeaked.

  “Serves you right. God, Landon. Will you behave?” She said exasperatedly.

  “You know how children get a treat when they behave with the doctor? And they get candy?” He said, rubbing his hand. “I want my candy, sweetheart.”