Take Your Medecine

by Arianna Hart

  “With an offer like that, how can I resist?” He was not going to make it through this.

  Hearing Macayla’s laughter from the other side of the door didn’t help the situation any.

  “Do you need to inspect my, uh, deposit, or can you just take my word for it?”

  “I’ll take your word for it. If you are lying to me, I’ll put the IV right back in. I’m only shutting it off, I’m not taking it completely out until I’m sure you won’t need fluids in a hurry.”

  “Great. Did you say you had some sweats for me? I think I can probably put them on by myself if you bring them to me.”

  “Okay. Just a sec.”

  “Oh, I found your laptop in my truck, I stuck it in one of the bags of clothes and brought it into the house,” Macayla said, handing him his pants around the door. She would be relieved when he covered some of that skin up. After she removed the IV bag he could put on the sweatshirt too. It was a shame to cover up something that attractive, but she kept getting distracted when she looked at him. Better he cover up, than she make a fool out of herself. “Are you all set? I’ll help you over to the kitchen table; it will do you some good to sit up for a few minutes. Plus it’s closer.”

  “Can you get me my laptop after we sit down? I need to check a few things.”

  “Sure. Let me take the IV out and then you can put on a shirt. I’ll get your bag after that. I don’t have an internet line, but you can use the phone line if you need to.”

  “I’ll be all set. How do you function with no internet access?”

  “I have it at work and in the hospital. If I need to look up something or check my e-mail I do it then. I’m at work most of the time anyway. Between work and karate, I’m only home to sleep and eat usually.”

  “Sounds busy. What do you do for fun?”

  “I go to karate and cardio kickboxing with Samara. I go out with some of the people from work.” She didn’t mention that the last time she went out for something other than a hospital function was over a year ago. “I play with baby Caitlyn. I read. I have lots to do to keep me busy.”

  “I didn’t ask what you did to keep busy, I asked what you did for fun. Do you have to leave the needle in my arm?” Jared was looking a little green around the gills as he watched her manipulate the IV. Hmm, wonder if he has a little fear of needles?

  “It isn’t a needle, it’s just a hollow tube. I only used the needle to get the tube under your skin. See, it moves.” Jared looked at the IV wiggling in his arm and turned green.

  “Great. I didn’t realize that,” Jared said weakly.

  “You’re afraid of needles, aren’t you?”

  “Of course not,” Jared denied.

  “Yes you are, don’t try to fool me. I can spot one of you a mile off. Don’t worry, I’m all done with needles. That is, unless you don’t take your antibiotics, then I’ll have to give them by shot.”

  “I’ll take the pills, I’m happy to take any pill you want.”

  “You know, you’re not such a jerk when you’re scared and hurting,” Macayla laughed patting him on the arm.

  “I wish I could say the same. Your bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.”

  “Here, I’ll help you get the sweatshirt on, then I’ll make you some dinner. How do you feel about chicken with rice and vegetables? I want you to stick to light foods for a while. I’m surprised you are ready for more than scrambled eggs. I normally make my patients wait a day before they can have solid food.”

  “You’re all heart. Anything is fine, I’m not picky.”

  “Then we’ll get along fine. I can make a simple meals, but my repertoire is pretty limited.”

  “What can you make?” He was still looking a little uneasily at the IV site.

  “Chicken, I can do just about anything with chicken. Spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and chili are about it. I can barbeque too.”

  “Sounds good to me. Why the specialty in chicken?”

  “When Kevin was in high school he went through a phase where he wouldn’t eat red meat. I had to learn how to cook chicken at least three different ways so we wouldn’t get completely bored. Plus, money was tight, chicken is cheap.”

  “How long did you take care of your brother?”

  “My father died when I was sixteen and Kevin was eight. I finished high school the following year and went off to college. Dad had a big life insurance policy, so I had a free ride for my bachelor’s degree. I was cruising through college, taking extra courses instead of working, because I could. I finished my degree by the time I was twenty. I was blithely applying to medical schools around the country when my mom got cancer. I came home to help take care of Kevin, he was only twelve then, and my mom died within three months.”

  “Wow, that was quick.”

  “Yeah, it was in some ways. She did not die peacefully. It was a painful three months. By the time they found the cancer it had spread from her ovaries to her stomach and liver. There wasn’t much they could do. They tried chemo and radiation, but it was too far gone.”

  “Then what did you do?”

  “I went to a local med school, picked up a third shift job, and took care of Kevin.”

  “You were awfully young for that. Wasn’t there anyone else to help out?”

  “No, I have a few scattered cousins, but no one wanted a twelve year old boy. If I didn’t take care of him, he would have gone to a foster home. As it was, I had to meet with a social worker weekly in order to keep custody. It wasn’t easy, but we got through it. Mom had paid off the house with dad’s insurance, and I was able to get scholarships to cover what I couldn’t pay for myself, I used some of the equity in the house, but I was afraid of using too much. I’m just lucky that I was able to get scholarships. If I had had to get student loans, I

  never would have been able to send Kevin to school.”

  “What happened to your dad’s insurance money?”

  “My dad always took care of the finances, my mom really didn’t know how to manage a large sum of money. She paid off all the bills, paid for my schooling and the house. After that, there wasn’t much left. When she died, she only had enough insurance to pay for her own burial. There wasn’t any left over for more schooling for me, forget Kevin. I was lucky I got my first degree paid for.”

  “You worked damn hard to become a doctor. Do you regret it?”

  “Not one minute. I won’t lie, it was hard working and raising a teenage boy, but I wouldn’t have given him up for anything. That kid overcame the death of both of his parents within three years, and he never got into trouble, caused me any problems, or didn’t do what was expected of him. We went to counseling, and I’m sure that helped, but I still think he just has a core of strength inside of him that got him through the tough times. He is in Georgia now working for Habitat for Humanity for the summer. He just told me he is taking some summer courses too so he can graduate early. He’s worried about taking advantage of me, when I was the one that used up all the insurance money.”

  “That wasn’t your fault, your mother wanted to pay for your schooling. I’m sure she never thought that she would die and leave you with the burden of paying for his education.”

  “That’s beside the point.” “Then what is the point?” “Kevin is not going to start his adult life with college

  loans if I can help it. I got a free ride, so should he.” “Seems like you more than paid your fare, but I guess I can see what you mean.”

  “Good. I’ll go get your computer, if you get tired, let me know and I’ll help you to the couch. If you can make it, I’d like you to sit up for another twenty minutes or so. You’ll be able to eat some dinner, then you’ll be ready for bed.”

  “Bed? It’s only six o’clock; I won’t be ready for bed by six thirty. That’s ridiculous,” Jared scoffed. He was asleep by six thirty-five.

  Chapter Six

  Macayla was reading in bed when she heard the thump, and then the cursing. Checking the clock she saw that it was after
midnight, Jared probably had to go to the bathroom again. She put on a robe and belted it tightly before she went downstairs.

  “Here, let me help you.” She slipped her arm around his waist and helped him stumble across the room. Just because he was progressing quickly he thought he was all better already. Men!

  “I didn’t want to wake you,” Jared said as he grit his teeth in obvious pain.

  “I wasn’t sleeping, I was reading.”

  “Another murder mystery?”

  “No, a medical journal. Things change almost hourly in the medical field. If you don’t keep up regularly, you could miss out on important information.”

  “I didn’t think delivering babies had changed all that much in the last fifty years.”

  “You’d be surprised. Delivering babies is only part of my job; I take care of women before and after they have babies too you know.”

  “I guess I never thought of that.”

  “Yeah, well, you aren’t the only one. Be careful in the bathroom, I don’t want you falling and ripping those staples.”

  “Me either.”

  Macayla got some more pain medicine while Jared was in the bathroom. Since Jared was off the couch, she pulled out the bed and put clean sheets on it. It would still be too small for his huge frame, but it had to be more comfortable than his present sleeping arrangements.

  “Are you okay in there?” Macayla asked when Jared still hadn’t come out of the bathroom.

  “Yes. I’m just trying to work up my courage before I get up,” Jared said through the door.

  “Come on, I’ll help. I’m coming in, be sure you’re dressed,” Macayla warned.

  Macayla wrapped her arm around Jared’s waist, on the opposite side from his wound. The bathroom was very small so she had to press herself right up against him to maneuver him out. Her unfettered breasts pressed against his chest and she felt the heat of him right through her robe. Great. Getting him across the room in one piece would be hard enough without worrying about whether her nipples showed through.

  When Macayla eased him onto the bed, he looked up at her with surprise, “you mean this pulled out into a bed, and I’ve been squished into the couch all night?”

  “Yes, I didn’t have a chance to pull it out before you fell asleep. Don’t complain, I could have left you crammed in the couch all night. Look, I even got you fresh sheets and pillows. Since I’m up anyway, I might as well check your dressing, I also brought you more pain pills.”

  “Thank God.”

  “Here, take them first, then I’ll check your side.” Macayla gave him the pills and some water, then went to get her scissors and more gauze and bandages. If he hadn’t pushed it too much, his staples would be ready to be removed in a few days. She cut the gauze that was wrapped around his waist, then gently pulled back the dressing. It stuck in places, which indicated dried blood. That wasn’t so unusual, but she noticed quite a bit of bleeding near the edges. He had been pushing too hard.

  “Jared, do you want the staples out?”

  “Yes! Can you do that?”

  “Not if you keep pulling them. They are puffy and bleeding because you are trying to do too much. You have been shot; you need to let your body heal. I can’t help you if you abuse yourself. I’m putting a new dressing on. If you behave, this will be the last dressing I have to put on. In a few more days I can ‘steri-strip’ it and remove the staples. I can’t do that if you keep pulling open the wound.”

  “Is that all doctor?”

  He sounded like a peevish child, and she just had to goad him further. “If you are really good when I take the staples out, I’ll give you a lollipop.” She reached over him to rewrap the gauze.

  “I’ll give you something,” Jared growled as he pulled her onto the bed.

  Macayla was taken by surprise, and was completely unprepared for the assault on her senses. One minute she was changing his dressing, and he was acting like a pouty little boy. The next minute he was kissing the life out of her. She had no time to prepare her defenses; he had stormed the gates before she even knew he was at the door. She was kissing him back with all the enthusiasm contained in her compact body when she felt his hand on her rear end. He was running his hands from her butt to the tops of her thighs and back again. Her robe and the tee shirt she wore for pajamas had ridden up when she took her impromptu trip across the bed, and he was touching the bare skin of her legs. Shivers went down her spine and the blood roared through her brain. She was lost in a fog, and didn’t feel the need to find her way out any time soon.

  Jared’s side hurt like hell but he didn’t care. While Macayla had been bent over working on his side her robe and tee shirt had gaped open, and he could see straight down them.

  He had been in agony watching her the entire time she was treating him like a four year old. He didn’t know how she divorced herself from the spark that lit between the two of them, but he wasn’t going to be the only one who was up all night in misery.

  With one arm wrapped around her, he used his free hand to hold her head while he plundered her mouth. Her gasp of surprise was the only invitation he needed to invade her mouth. The burning in his side was nothing compared to the burning in his blood. He wanted to touch her everywhere, but was afraid if he let go of her she would bolt. He didn’t have the strength to play tag around the room. Instead, he pressed her closer to his chest so he could feel the weight of her breasts against him. He moved his hand down to her behind and gently squeezed.

  Reaching around to pull her even closer, Jared felt a pain slice through his side and caught his breath in a hiss of pain. Macayla froze immediately. Damn it! He went from feeling her warm body under his hands to seeing her fumbling with the ties of her robe.

  “Macayla, we can’t just ignore this.” “Oh yeah? Watch me.” Macayla walked around the bed without making eye contact and fled the room. * * *

  Macayla tossed and turned for hours before getting a sketchy few hours of sleep. Her dreams were vivid, and erotic. She blamed her state on Jared, and rightly so. Her sex drive had been absent for so long when it came back, it came back with a vengeance. It was like her body was making up for lost time.

  Macayla showered and got dressed before she went downstairs. She refused to believe that she was avoiding Jared, but neither was she looking forward to another run in with him either. She sat down and tried to analyze her reaction to him. It had been eight years since she had been in a relationship with a man. She had gone on dates, but they were either work related, or mostly platonic.

  Her last real boyfriend she had met when she was a freshman in college. That relationship had deteriorated into a physical and psychological nightmare that had only ended when her mother had died and she had been forced to care for her brother and think of someone other than the walking dysfunction that was her boyfriend.

  Looking back, she could see where she used her brother, school, and later work as excuses not to get involved again.

  Her therapist had said she wouldn’t truly be healthy until she let go and learned to trust someone enough to have a sexual relationship again. Macayla thought that that was bull, but she wasn’t going to argue with an expert.

  Although she no longer went to therapy, she thought her doctor might have been on to something there. Macayla knew she was something of a control freak, but really didn’t see anything wrong with it. Hey, everyone had to have at least one vice.

  She’d had men accuse her of being frigid, but she knew she was capable of feeling passion. Obviously, if she had any doubts they’d be taken care of now. Last night she had completely let go of all control and given herself over entirely to Jared’s kiss. The fact that she was able to do so with little or no reluctance worried her.

  Macayla was never going to be anyone’s doormat again.

  It had taken a long time to find her self-confidence and build up her self-image; she was not about to lose her sense of self because some gorgeous looking man wanted her in bed.

  She knew th
at some relationships were between equals, but she had seen very few of them. Samara and Connor had one of those marriages, but Samara had had to work pretty hard to get it through Connor’s head that she was his equal. Macayla didn’t know if she had that much patience in her. Samara was more laid back, things didn’t get to her as easily as they did Macayla.

  She tended to take control over whatever situation she found herself in. Yeah, and Jared was just going to let her do whatever she wanted. Right. He hated the fact that she was telling him how to take care of himself, and he came to her for help in the first place.

  No, the smartest thing to do would be to keep things on a platonic level, and when the time came for Jared to go off to his next job she could watch him go without losing a piece of herself. She just needed to stay in control, and stay out of his reach. Whenever that man touched her, she went up in flames.

  With the decision made, she went downstairs to see how he fared through the night.

  Jared had fared pretty well, all things considered. The medicine Macayla had given him had made him drowsy enough to fall asleep, despite the pain in his side, and the pain in his groin.

  He figured Macayla had her reasons for running away every time they got out of control. He had seen restraining orders when he investigated her past, but that was a long time ago. He knew she felt something for him. What she was going to do about it, well that was another story. If what she said was true, Jared was going to have three weeks to figure out a way around her reluctance. Jared smiled to himself when he heard her hesitant step on the stairs. He had heard her showering close to an hour ago, and figured she had been delaying her trip down stairs.

  “Well don’t you look bright and sunny this morning,” Jared said when she went into the kitchen without so much as a look in his direction. She was dressed in jeans and green shirt that matched her eyes. Her hair was in a riotous mass around her head.

  He had seldom seen it loose, and hadn’t realized how long it was. The curls hide the length and thickness of it, but when it was down he was able to get the full effect. It was like a curtain of flames spilling down her back. The curls bounced over her shoulders and around her face in wild abandon.