Chapter 6
Travis
In the morning, I woke up to find a beautiful woman in my arms, curves bountiful and creamy. Good. It hadn’t been a dream after all.
I smiled, pulling Janie closer and cherishing her company. Taking a deep breath, I committed her scent to memory.
Because she was perfect. Responsive, gorgeous, and so wet all the time. Gently, I ran my fingertips along her side, watching as goosebumps formed on her skin.
The brunette shifted in her sleep, hiding her face in her pillow, murmuring something I couldn’t understand. But I understood the need in her curves, the pebbling of her nipples as a musky wetness seeped between her legs again.
So I continued to run my fingertips over her body. Slowly, I leaned forward, kissing her vulnerable, exposed neck, sucking on it ever so slightly, leaving behind a faint love-bite.
“Mmm,” she moaned.
I chuckled, moving my lips to her breast, circling around the stiff pink crest nipple, wondering how far I should take things.
But before I could take her fully into my mouth, Janie’s eyes shot open, locking with mine. For a moment, a look of confusion painted her face, brows furrowed together. Then she blinked, and realization crashed through her mind. “Travis!” she gasped, pulling the sheets over her naked body.
“I’ve already seen everything,” was my throaty laugh, pulling her on top of me, holding her by the hips. “And I love every inch of you.”
“W-What?” she stuttered, looking at me like she didn’t believe a word I said.
“It’s true. I think you’re perfect.” With my fingers in her hair, I pulled the curvy girl in for a kiss again.
At first, the brunette was a little stiff, lips unmoving against mine. But after a few seconds, she melted into it, that pout opening sweetly. I held her even closer, our lips dancing together seamlessly. My hand ran up and down her back, outlining the curve of her spine as she mewled.
But after a moment, I pulled away. We were both breathless. “Do you believe me now?” came my growl.
“I…” she hesitated.
“Janie.” I took her face in my hands, gently caressing her cheeks. “You’re a beautiful woman. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” With a smile, I kissed the top of her head.
A crimson hue crept under her cheeks as she shyly looked away from me, then back.
The brunette was adorable. Knowing she would be too embarrassed to talk, I = wrapped my arms around that luscious form and held tight, resting her head on my chest so she could hear the beating of my heart.
We lay like that for a long time, just enjoying each other’s company while basking in the closeness.
It was perfect. But in retrospect, maybe it was a little too perfect to last.
***
By Monday, I was back at work.
“Hey Harper,” I said, walking up to my locker, shrugging off my jacket and tossing it inside. “How have things been while I was gone?”
“An absolute mess. No one knows what they’re doing. All the medical students are completely hopeless,” he grumbled.
“Oh? They’ve sent in the newbies already?” I cocked an eyebrow in his direction, pulling out a fiver so I could buy something from the vending machine. The selection was abominable. Your choice of disgusting protein bars or cheesy doodles the orange of radioactive waste.
“Yup. This morning. You should have seen them. Two of them threw up at the sight of a laceration – and it wasn’t even that bad. I mean, come on, if you can’t handle the sight of blood then you shouldn’t be a doctor.” He shook his head, sipping from his coffee cup. “We weren’t like that, were we?”
“If I remember correctly, you were one of the first people to get sick,” I said wryly.
“Yeah, but the guy practically had his guts hanging out of his stomach.” Harper shuddered at the memory. “I don’t know how he managed to survive that.”
“Some people are just resilient, I guess,” I said, tearing the wrapper to my protein bar. “Anyways, we should probably get out there.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” With a sigh, Harper got up. “And I was just getting comfortable too.”
“Well maybe if it’s a slow day, you can catch up on some daytime television. General Hospital or Days of Our Lives is it?”
His mouth pulled into a smirk.
“Yeah, right.”
Unfortunately, it was anything but a slow day. As soon as I stepped into the ER, the patients kept rolling through the doors, one after another. There was barely time to breathe, much less eat lunch or take a break.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked the nurse, finally managing to snag a moment to myself. “What’s up with all these people? We’ve never gotten this many before.”
“Didn’t you hear?” she looked up at me with a bored expression. Deborah was nearing her retirement, and had seen it all. “They closed Saint Luke’s, so all those patients are being sent here.”
“What? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“It was in our weekly bulletin,” she said in a bored voice while stifling a yawn.
“People actually read those bulletins?” I asked with disbelief.
Deborah shrugged. “They’re printed for a reason,” she stated flatnly, handing me an extra copy she had on her desk. “Maybe you should start paying attention.”
I quickly scanned the body of text but before I could finish, a large man came barreling through the doors holding a small child in his arms.
“Please!” he begged, eyes searching the ER in desperation. “You have to help my daughter, she’s hurt!”
“What happened?” I asked, quickly snapping into action. I swung my stethoscope off my neck, ready to check the girl’s vitals. “Sir, what happened?” was my urgent question. Already, a team of nurses rolled a gurney over, trying to pry the child from her father’s arms. But he wouldn’t let go.
“She… she fell,” he stammered, heartbroken.
“Okay, fell from where?” I prompted. “Any information you give us will be a tremendous help.”
“Her treehouse,” he said in a choked voice. “Please tell me that she’ll be alright. I keep trying to wake her up, but she won’t wake up.”
“Sir, we will do everything in our power to help her, but we can only do that if you let her go.”
Reluctantly, he eased his grip, tears rolling down his cheeks in glistening streaks. “Please, you have to save my daughter. She’s the only thing I have in this world. She’s my everything.”
I nodded. “We’ll do everything we can.” Without another word, I followed my team into one of the exam rooms.
Time was of the essence. A little girl was gravely injured with what looked like a serious concussion, and the medical team had to move fast. Suddenly my dalliance with Janie seemed very far away, almost completely erased from my mind. Because there were lives to be saved … and only I could do it.
Chapter 7
Janie
After my night with Travis, time seemed to go by at a snail’s pace. Every day at work, the hours would crawl by. Sometimes I’d stare at the clock for an eternity, but the hands would never move. I was always eager for my shift to be over, hoping to catch a glimpse of him in the hallway but it never happened.
It was like the man had vanished off the face of the planet.
A month went by with no word from him, tick tock, tock tock.
Had something happened?
No, he was probably just busy or something. He was a doctor after all, and they’re constantly on the move.
Still I held onto the hope that I’d bump into him but as one month turned into two, I was starting to lose faith. My mood darkened, and I spent more and more time cooped up in my apartment staring at the walls.
One such day, there was a knock on the door. My heart fluttered with excitement. Could it be him? Quickly, I jumped to my feet, about to run and answer the door before skidding to a halt, catching my reflection in the mirror. In an almost pa
nicked state, my hands patted down the rat’s nest on my head while simultaneously smoothing out the creases in my pajamas. I looked like a mess. In fact, I was a mess, but that didn’t mean I wanted Travis to see me like this…
Knock. Knock.
“Janie. I know you’re in there,” called someone. “Answer the door, will you?”
My shoulders sagged in disappointment the second I realized it was Mandy. “Coming,” came my voice, dragging my feet as I headed for the door.
God. I didn’t have the patience to deal with her right now, but as the door opened, a wan smile crossed my face.
“How’s it going?” was my weak voice.
Not hesitating a beat, Vanessa pranced inside, and as always, made herself right at home. My buddy plopped onto the couch and kicked up her feet, smacking some chewing gum loudly.
“Whatcha watching?” she asked, remote in hand.
“Nothing, really,” I sighed.
“Do you want to watch a movie?”
“Um,” I hedged.
“Don’t even try to tell me you have plans. I know you’ve been staying at home, binge eating Oreos ever since Travis ghosted you,” she said easily, eyes still on the TV.
“He didn’t ghost me.” I protested. “He’s just busy…”
This time, her gaze swung my way, penetrating yet kind.
“For two whole months? Babe, that seems unlikely.” The blonde sat up, looking me square in the face. “I know it’s hard to face reality but it’s obvious what happened.”
“Mandy please, I don’t want to have this conversation right now.”
“Well, you can’t keep avoiding it. You’ll never get over him.”
I bit my lip. The truth was I knew what my friend was saying was true, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. Why else would Travis avoid me all this time? But there had to be a reason. He wouldn’t just do that to me, would he? When we were together, he’d looked at me like I was the only girl in the world. He’d told me that I was gorgeous and beautiful. That had to mean something.
“Look, it’s happened to me before too. It’s happened to everyone, because frankly, it’s the oldest trick in the book,” Mandy said kindly. “A guy does everything to get you in his bed. He acts like the perfect gentleman. He warms you up with a couple of drinks. He says some sweet nothings that get you hooked and then he reels you in. It’s a horrible, horrible game and I’m sorry you had to become a part of it. You, of all people, don’t deserve it,” she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “But who needs this Dr. Travis person anyways? I’m sure you could find someone a thousand times better if you really tried.”
I sat in silence, mulling over her words. My heart ached at the thought that maybe it was true. I had just been the objective of some guy’s petty games. Travis had won and now I wasn’t even on his radar.
No.
I just couldn’t accept that. I wouldn’t accept it.
There was something real between us, and I’d felt it that night. It couldn’t have just been a pointless one-night stand.
“But, you know what?” chattered my friend. “Forget him. Tonight it’ll just be us girls. What do you say?”
There was a silence as I battled the painful lump in my throat.
“Sure,” was my fake happy reply. I forced a smile on my face, trying to convince her that I was okay even though it felt like my heart was breaking into a million pieces.
“Babe.” She held me by the shoulders. “You can’t fool me with that smile. You know, if you need to cry or something, I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, Mandy, but I’m okay,” I whispered. “Really.”
She pressed her lips together unconvinced, eyeing me closely. “You don’t have to act tough. I know how hard it can be to get your heart broken by a crush.”
I swallowed again, eyes a little watery.
“I’m fine. Let’s just watch a movie.”
Mandy continued to stare at me for a while, biting her lip. “Okay,” she relented. “What are you in the mood for?”
A movie? That was the last thing on my mind.
“Anything. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Alright,” my buddy said, taking control. “How about something funny? That should lift our spirits a bit.”
“Sure.”
As she flicked through our options, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything the blonde said. For the past two months, I’d been ignoring the obvious. Travis didn’t want me, that was clear as day. I just didn’t want to admit that he’d used me for sex, but now it all made sense.
How had I been such a fool?
“Mandy, shouldn’t you be out on the town or something?” I said abruptly. “Why are you here watching a movie? Weren’t you dating that guy Brett or something?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” she asked suspiciously. “And no, his name was Brent, not Brett. We broke things off two weeks ago.”
I smiled wanly.
“Well, don’t you have more fun things to do?”
She sighed.
“No, in fact I don’t. I’m here to check on my best friend who’s been holed up in her apartment for months on end now. And babe, you look terrible. What happened to getting your hair done? Your nails? At least change out of your PJs.”
I had to laugh a little, looking down at myself. The fuzzy fabric was light blue with pictures of cuddly sheep, and Mandy was right. I looked ridiculous, if not pathetic.
But my friend got up then.
“I’m just concerned about you, okay? I get it if you need some space, but please, please, please come out with us next week sometime. It’ll be fun,” she pleaded.
I rolled my eyes, a smile creeping at the corners of my lips.
“Okay,” I promised. “Will do. Keep me in the loop.”
“Great!” my friend bounced up, movie forgotten. “I’ll leave you in peace, but Janie. Those pajamas. You’ve got to change.”
And with that, the blonde breezed out the door with another “toodle-oo!” leaving me in peace. The apartment was strangely silent once the whirlwind had passed, and I sank back down onto the couch, form limp. Because I wanted to move on. I wanted to accept what had happened and chart a new course for my mind’s eye. But unbidden, an image of Travis filled my mind, that tousled hair as black as ink, those blue eyes penetrating. A wave of sadness swept over my form again … and I lay back on the couch, sinking into nothingness.
***
I stayed on the couch for a long time in silence, hugging my knees to my chest. Whenever my eyes closed, I pictured Travis with his beautiful, smiling face.
Why had he done this to me?
I just didn’t get it.
Determined to get to the bottom of all this, I took a deep breath. There was one way to attack this problem head on, and I’d been dilly-dallying, trying to avoid causing waves. But you know what? This pain was too much. No one deserved this kind of agony for months on end. So straightening my pajamas, I got up resolutely, walking with determined steps to my front door. My hand grabbed the doorknob firmly, wrenching it open, and I stepped into the hallway.
Okay, halfway there. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself forwards and crossed the hall to his door, rapping with my knuckles in what I hoped was an assertive manner.
Knock, knock, knock.
Oh god, that was loud. It came out a little harder than I intended to. In the silence that followed, nerves bubbled up inside, making it hard to keep still. I bit my bottom lip in worry, waiting for him to answer the door. Because what would I say? What would he say? Would we fall into each other’s arms, or fight like cats and dogs?
But there was no answer. Slowly the seconds ticked by. Soon, they turned into minutes, me shifting my weight uneasily from foot to foot.
I knocked again. Shit, still no answer.
I guess no one was home. What was I supposed to do now?
Quickly, I turned on my heel and headed back to my apartment, determined to write him a note and slip it und
er his door when suddenly, a distinct buzzing noise interrupted my thoughts.
My head jerked up to see my cell vibrating on the coffee table. Oh damn. It was probably just Mandy again, checking up on me. With an exasperated huff, I reached for the phone, expecting to see Mandy’s avatar on the screen.
But instead, there was a notification from Period Tracker. Huh? Period Tracker is an app I installed years ago, but hardly ever use. It tells you when your periods are due, and buzzes if your period’s late. Fortunately, my period’s hardly ever late because I don’t exactly get around.
But this time, my brows furrowed as I tapped the screen with one fingers. A bright green bubble popped up.
Your period is two months late!
What? I blinked, thinking this was a sick joke.
Two months late? Was that possible? No. That couldn’t be right.
I probably just forgot to log my last period and the program was off-kilter as a result. But the more I thought about it, the more horrified I became. I hadn’t had my periods since, well… Travis.
No. It couldn’t be. Was I pregnant? My chin trembled, desperate to wake up from this nightmare. This couldn’t be happening. All my life, I’d played by the rules. This wasn’t supposed to happen to me.
My stomach churned, tying itself into a knot. Had Travis worn a condom that night? Of course he had, right? After all, the man is a doctor for crying out loud, responsible for peoples’ lives. He’s detail oriented, prescribing medications and analyzing diseases down to the atom. This one detail wouldn’t escape him would it? But the fact is that I couldn’t remember because that night was all a blur of frantic kisses and hot creaming that made me come.
Resolutely, I tossed on my coat and grabbed my keys. I had to make sure, and there was a simple way to find out.
In a matter of minutes, I was at the twenty-four hour pharmacy on my block. The clerk behind the counter greeted me with a snide smile while staring at my pajamas. I know, I know, I look like shit.
“Do you need help with anything?”
“No, I’m okay,” I mumbled under my breath, utterly embarrassed by my current situation.
Dr. Travis, I Love You Page 5
