A Heart Reborn

by BK Harrell

  Coop had never been unsure of what to do after sex, but this wasn’t just sex. This was a monumental transformation in their relationship. This was more than he’d ever experienced in his life, and the connection was beyond words. He decided the gentlemanly thing to do would be to retrieve a warm wash cloth and clean her up. After he was finished, he launched the wash cloth across the room not wanting to get out of bed. Coop wrapped his arms around Sarah and pulled her into his chest. “So beautiful Sarah. Thank you for giving me such a precious gift.”

  Sarah was so worn out she could barely mumble a response and curled even deeper into Coop’s body.

  Coop laid there holding Sarah in his arms as she slept. He didn’t want to fall asleep but she had worn him out. He didn’t know when they would see each other again and he feared that something would happen to keep them apart. This is how he wanted his nights to end and his days to begin. Holding the love of his life and waiting for the day her belly swelled with their child. Not that he would readily admit it, but he was ready to be a father. He saw his brother and sister with their children, and he wanted nothing more than the fulfilling joy that they had with a complete family. Coop kissed Sarah on the temple and whispered, “I still love you, Sarah Buckley. I always have.” Then he drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Seven

  Sarah awoke the next morning to the sound of her alarm, but she found herself cocooned in the most delicious warmth possible. She was intertwined with Coop, as he held her close to his chest and slept. Sarah laid there for a moment looking up at Coop and taking in his handsome features. His scruffy jaw that had left a little bit of razor burn on her inner thighs the night before, the peaceful look of contentment that spread over his face as he slept. She assumed he must be a heavy sleeper, as her alarm didn’t even make him budge. Tracing her fingers along his jaw, Sarah, whispered, “I love you, Coop. Always have and always will.”

  Knowing she didn’t have a lot of time to spare she careful disengaged herself from her human heater and went to take a shower to get ready for work. As she turned on the shower and let the steam fill the room, she let her fingers drift over her body remembering the exquisite love making they’d performed last night. She still felt tingles in all the right places. Just as she was about to step into the shower, Sarah felt Coop’s arms wrap around her.

  “I rolled over and you were gone.”

  “Sorry about that, but some of us have to work today and you have a plane to catch. Plus, I figured if I woke you, we’d both be running late.”

  “It’s a chance I’m willing to take.” Coop said as he lifted Sarah into the shower and proceeded to play her body like a fine Stradivarius violin.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Sarah found herself thoroughly washed, sexed and sated. She thought that she could get used to waking up like this every morning. Unfortunately, Sarah looked at her watch and realized she was running late and hoped that the holiday traffic would make her commute to work a little easier, although she had no idea how long it would take to get there from here.

  True to form, Atlanta traffic was unpredictable, she hit two stalls and an accident on her way to the hospital. Sarah parked her car and almost sprinted into the labor and delivery ward, but to no avail, as she arrived she found all her bright-eyed and bushy tailed residents and students looking at her. This was a first for her. She was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave, but dammit she deserved a little fun and a life as well.

  “Good morning, all. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. We have a short day today, no clinic and that should give you time to relax, study or just do nothing. Let’s hear about our patients, make some rounds, discharge some people and go home. Any questions? No. Good. Dr. Jones please begin.”

  Sarah listened intently as the residents gave their reports. She asked pointed questions and was happy to see people had been studying up on the current cases they had inpatient. As soon as the reports were finished, they performed their walking rounds and chatted with the patients. Finally, they came to the last patient that had been admitted to the ICU step-down unit. “Jeremiah, please tell us about Mrs. Adams.”

  “Mrs. Adams is a thirty-two-year-old-prima-gravida, who presented to the office for routine follow-up at thirty-eight weeks with elevated blood pressure of 180/110, 2+ lower extremity pitting edema, and 3+ protein in her urine. She was admitted to the hospital for a twenty-four-hour urine collection and protein which was extremely elevated. She was started on a course of IV Magnesium due to the risk of moving from pre-eclampsia to eclampsia. After advising the family of the risk and benefits of early C-section, the patient elected to move ahead and deliver via C-section two weeks early. Patient had a normal procedure and delivery. Post procedure, her blood pressure decreased to normal levels, protein decreased to 1+, and the edema resolved. She had a normal hospital course, was discharged ninety-six hours after delivering and went home with a healthy baby girl. At her two-week check-up patient was again noted to have elevated blood pressure and protein levels. Her lower extremity edema had returned and was 3+. The decision was made to admit Mrs. Adams to the hospital, but before she could be released she went into eclampsia and had a grand mal seizure in the office. She was transported via EMS to the hospital. Her magnesium levels were stabilized and she has had no more seizure activity. normal Electro-encephalograph (EEG), normal Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), and normal twenty-four-hour urine as of this morning. She has remained in the step-down unit pending discharge to home.”

  “Very good. Is it unusual for a postpartum patient to experience eclampsia?”

  “Yes, however, according to the literature, the incidence is approximately 7/10000 cases.”

  “How long should she have to worry about this re-occurring?”

  “Usually, this condition should stabilize and isn’t reported after the six-week mark postpartum. To answer your next question, no she’s not at increased risk of seizure activity in normal life and wouldn’t need anti-seizure medications. However, should she become pregnant again, she will be considered high risk and followed closely.”

  “Excellent. Medical students this is what you are expected to learn. We don’t work eight to five and leave it at the office. Jeremiah, see Dr. Jones and both of you work on getting her discharged. After that, Dr. Jones make sure everyone’s charts are finished and discharges are finished. You guys can check out with him when you’re done. Then, you’re free for the rest of the day. Dr. Jones, find me when everything is completed, and you’ll be free for the day as well. Also, remember, we have call on Saturday so everyone will need to be here bright and early. Monday is your day off and then you are here Tuesday and Wednesday and free until call again on Monday. So, enjoy your time off. That’s all. Get it done and get out of here.”

  Sarah turned to walk away, and ran right into Lincoln and Nicole’s daughter, Aubrey, as she rounded the corner. “Hey Aubrey. Fancy meeting you here. What brings you by this early on a holiday?”

  “Dad had to do rounds this morning and then we are heading to East Lake to play golf. Made more sense to come with him and save time. Plus, I got to drive this morning.”

  “Speaking of that, how’s it going? Your mom was a little concerned about you driving around Atlanta.”

  “I think I’m doing a fabulous job, but I think dad has just about worn a hole in the passenger side floor mat from trying to hit the imaginary brakes too much. Sometimes, I feel sorry for him because he didn’t expect me to come along, and didn’t have a long time to adjust to the idea of a teenager. Especially one who wasn’t his biological child, but I love him so much and he loves me and Nicole. You should see him with baby Landon.”

  “How is your mom taking not playing golf right now?”

  “She’s bitchy about it, but just started putting and working on her short game. Doc said two more weeks and she can start full swings again. Her goal is to start back in January if all goes well, but definitely early February at the latest.”

  “Well, I wish her
luck. Tell her I said hello.”

  “You can do that. She and Aunt Marcie are in the doctor’s lounge waiting on the men to finish so we can go to breakfast and then they’re doing a spa thing. Landon is with the nanny and Jennifer and I are going with the guys to play golf.”

  Sarah gave her a quick hug and walked around the corner to the doctor’s lounge. When she opened the door, she was immediately ambushed by the two women in question. Quickly returning their hugs and grabbing some coffee, Sarah sat down and prepared herself for the interrogation to commence.

  “Oh my God, Sarah. You had sex.” Nicole said.

  Sarah blushed. “How did you know?”

  “Honey, you have this calm, serene look about you that only comes with great sex. Was it you know who?”

  Sarah, still blushing, could only nod. She listened as both women let out little screams of joy for her. Then braced for the impact of both women lunging at her at the same time.

  “So, what happened? Did you guys talk about the past and the nine-year-old elephant in the situation?” Marcie said.

  Sarah explained the situation and how things happened. She recounted her conversation with Harry and his anger towards her. She talked to them about needing someone and how they had been texting lately, and decided that she wanted to see him and then one thing led to another and here she was. Sarah watched as both women looked at her with a stunned expression.

  “We didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did and neither one of us has any regrets about that. The biggest regret I have is what’ll happen when I tell him about Harry. I have a feeling all good time visits will be canceled, and that ride will be closed for the foreseeable future if not permanently. I’ve got to tell you though, it was better than I remember. Maybe it was the yearlong layoff I’ve had, or maybe it was being with the man that I’m still in love with.”

  “I think it’s the still in love with thing. I know you think he’ll hate you forever, but I think he loves you, and will get over it. He’ll eventually see the good in having both of you in his life,” Marcie said. Marcie turned to Nicole and whispered something in her ear before turning back to Sarah. “Your off for the day, right?”

  “I’m done when the chief resident checks out with me. It could be an hour, it could be six hours, but honestly I’m hoping it’ll be on the hour side.”

  “Great, it’s settled then. You’re coming with us today. Breakfast, then a spa day, and you and Marcie can have drinks this afternoon while I watch and sulk,” Nicole said as she picked up her phone and dialed a number.

  “Lincoln, baby. Who’s the on-call OB today? Because, I need a favor.”

  “Anything for you baby. Dr. Graham. Why?”

  “You know I never ask, but I need to steal Sarah away and she is just waiting on her chief to finish the paperwork and checkout. Do you think you could get Heath to do the checkout so we can steal Sarah away?” Nicole said with the slightest hint of a pout in her voice. “Baby,” she said with a pout in her voice. “I’ll make it up to you tonight. No not like that not for another two weeks, but that’s a possibility.” Nicole said with a furious blush as she hung up the phone.

  “So, good news, you’re done for the day. The men and children can fend for themselves. There’s a stack of pancakes calling my name we need to get to.”

  “I don’t know what she just promised, but just say thanks and let’s get out of here.” Marcie said.

  “Thanks. Anything I can do for you just let me know.”

  The women headed down stairs to the car to go eat breakfast. As they sat down at IHOP, Sarah could tell she was still going to be the center of the questioning. In her mind, she was trying to think of any subject she could change to, to get the heat off her. “So, Marcie. How are the wedding plans coming?”

  “Nice try, newbie. We’re here to talk about you. Good try though. We can talk wedding stuff after we talk about you. So, you and Harrison huh? Does he look as good undressed as he does dressed?”

  Sarah blushed. “Better than I remember. He always had a great body, but the boy I knew has grown into a man and filled out in all the right areas. The funny thing is that he still knows my body like it was just yesterday. I’ve never felt so fulfilled when I was with someone else. Not that I have a lot of experience. I mean I know y’all know about last year, but that was only the third guy I’d ever been with.”

  Marcie laughed, “Honey, I’m not one to talk. I’ve been with one and I’m marrying him. Nicole over here has been with three, and she married the last one so don’t think that a number has anything to do with it. When you know, you know.”

  “Sarah, I can tell you from experience that being with the right one makes everything work. I know you’re scared about telling Harrison about Harry, but it’ll be a blessing in the end. He may hate you to begin with, but he’ll come around, because nothing is more important than family.”

  The women continued their chat through breakfast enjoying each other’s stories. Finally, the check came, and they left to go get massages. Sarah skipped out on the mani-pedis since she had one yesterday, but enjoyed the facial and body wrap.

  After a wonderfully relaxing day, Sarah went to pick up Harry and meet her mom for dinner. Her mom rarely felt like cooking when she was on nights. Not that Sarah could blame her, because she didn’t feel like doing much when she was on nights either. Thankfully, hers were down to one night every nine days as opposed to four in a row and rotating every week to different schedules. Sarah understood why she did it, because she felt like the new nurses needed the attention and this was the best way to do it. Sarah got her love of teaching from her mom, and that was the best thing about working for Lincoln and Cole.

  “Harry, how was your night? Did y’all get any sleep or did you stay up all night playing video games?”

  “We tried to stay up, but finally fell asleep playing Call of Duty around four-thirty. We slept late and then played baseball this afternoon. How was your night? Did you have a good time?”

  “It was fun. Work was good. I played a little hooky and spent most of the day with Ms. Marcie and Ms. Nicole. I was helping Ms. Marcie with her wedding plans. She is marrying Mr. Cole in a few weeks and we have to get everything ready for their big day.”

  After dinner, Sarah had barely made it to her room before she got a text from Coop telling her that he was in Phoenix and he would let her know when he got to the hotel. She felt better knowing that he was safe, but she already missed him like crazy. Sarah got ready for bed and just as she was climbing in her phone rang with a Facetime call. Sarah smiled knowing it was Coop.

  “Hey beautiful. How was your day?”

  “Uneventful. Rounds were short because I got kidnapped by Marcie and Nicole to discuss wedding plans. We had a spa day and talked about us.”

  “You mean I was the topic of interrogation by those two. What a day you must’ve had.” Coop said while laughing. “I bet they couldn’t wait to drill you about my prowess in the sack. I hope you made me look good.”

  “Coop, you know it’s not hard to make you look good. You have that all sewn up. Anyway, I meant to ask you when are you coming back? Not to sound needy, but I already miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. I’ll be back in three weeks. I should be back for the bachelor party and then the wedding. Apparently, it’s going to be a week-long celebration of love. Not to be presumptuous, since you’re in the wedding, do you need a date to the rehearsal dinner? I could meet you after the rehearsal and take you to dinner?”

  “That’s quite forward of you Mr. Cooper, but I think I’d like that very much. So, what’s your schedule while you’re out there?”

  “We have practice in the mornings, and then usually a game in the afternoon. Afterwards, we will break down game film and see what they need to work on. We have a couple of top prospects coming up quickly, and they wanted to spend a little more time evaluating them. Hopefully, one of them isn’t my replacement.”

  “No, one could replace you. They’l
l be talking about you long after you have left the game.”

  “You know Sarah, I think that is undoubtedly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I mean I hope that I leave my mark on this game. What does your schedule look like?”

  “Same old same old. I have call every nine days, so, I’m on Saturday and then the Monday after Thanksgiving. Our schedule changed up a little bit in December because I’m involved in the wedding so I have call twice in five days then not for almost three weeks. I switched off Christmas with Dr. Schwartz and took the first night of Hanukah for him. It all worked out for the best.”

  “I need to let you get some sleep, since you didn’t get much last night. Before I go though, show me what you’re wearing?”

  Sarah smiled. “Okay, but only if you show me.” Sarah panned the camera down her body showing Coop her barely-there boy shorts and tank top. Her nipples trying to poke through the top as she listened to the sound of his voice.

  “Wish I was there with you. I could warm you up. You look a little cold.”