Long Distance Lover

by Donna Hill

  Gingerly she stood and slowly put weight on her foot. An ache ran up her leg, but it was bearable. She took a step and then another. Her heart pounded along with the throbbing in her ankle. Without the support of the boot, the injury felt more fragile, and it made her terribly afraid. Afraid that one wrong move would send her spiraling into agony. A thin line of perspiration made a trail across her hairline. Using the wall for support, she pressed her hand against it and lowered down to the stool. Her breathing came short and fast as if she’d been running. She tugged in long, calming breaths and unzipped her skirt from the back and wiggled out of it, sliding it over her hips, thighs then down her legs. She kicked it away with her good foot then picked up the oversize pants and put them on just as a knock came on the door.

  Alex peeked his head in the door. “Are you decent?”

  A hot flush infused her. “Yes.” Her voice came out in a thin stream. She heard the door close and quickly tied the drawstring around her narrow waist, just as Alex pushed back the curtain.

  “Good morning.”

  Kelly smiled up at him, her fingers still on the strings. His dark eyes rolled ever so slowly over her until she felt him undressing her. Her hands gradually moved from the strings to travel up her belly, to the center of her chest to rest on the pulse that raced in her throat.

  “How are you this morning?” He took one step toward her.

  “Pretty good. Looking forward to today.”

  “All my patients say that until I put them through the paces. Then they hate me and call me nasty names.” He grinned.

  Kelly laughed. “I’ll try to refrain from name calling.”

  “And so will I,” he teased. He glanced down. “How does it feel without the support?”

  “Scary.”

  “That’s only natural. You can put it back on and over the next few weeks we’ll work you out of it as the ankle gets stronger.”

  “Okay.”

  “When you get it on, come up front and I’ll go over the test results.” He turned, drew the drapes and walked away.

  Moments later Kelly came into the exam room. There was equipment that looked as if it belonged in a spaceship. She couldn’t imagine herself using any of it.

  “It can be a bit daunting,” Alex said, apparently reading her mind. “But it’s all for the best. All the machines are hydraulic in nature. So you will never lift or pull more than you are physically able to do, which is much different from weight training and resistance.”

  Kelly nodded as she walked and looked around.

  “But before we get started I wanted to go over your test results. Why don’t you have a seat?”

  She did as asked and sat in front of him. A small table separated them.

  Alex opened a thick folder. “First, your blood count is low. That can be worked with using vitamins and a solid diet. But what concerns me most are the X-rays and MRI.”

  Kelly sat up straighter in the chair and wrapped her arms around her body, bracing herself for the worst.

  “Your break is not healing the way it should by this point. The fracture still appears weak.”

  “What do you mean not healing the way it should?” Panic found a home in each temple and began to beat.

  “It’s been six weeks since the accident, correct?”

  “Yes, about that.”

  “In that amount of time, and at your age, the break should be completely knitted together and forming a thickness, which it isn’t.”

  The thoughts ran so hard and fast in her head she couldn’t catch them to form any words.

  “It could be due to several factors—diet, vitamin deficiency, genetics or a combination of all of that. In the meantime, I want to re-cast that ankle.”

  “Another cast? Not again.”

  “This one will be light, fiberglass and only up to your mid-shin. You’ll barely feel it.”

  “So you say,” she challenged petulantly.

  He chuckled. “That’s the spirit. First resistance, then name calling.”

  Kelly lowered her eyes and smiled.

  “And you’ll see the nutritionist before you leave today, to get you on a diet program to coordinate with the exercise regime. You need to be sure to follow it to the letter. It’s very important. Last but not least a bone-density test to see if there is any kind of deterioration in the bone that is making it fragile.”

  “What if you find…deterioration?”

  “It’s not all that likely, but possible. Let’s deal with it, if we come to that point. I want to be sure to rule out everything. That’s all.” He paused, studied her concentrated expression. “Are you comfortable with everything I’ve told you so far? Do you have any questions?”

  She looked him right in the eye and when she did, her breath caught short in her chest. The look of concern and sincerity was so strong and so powerful it totally took her by surprise. It conveyed an immense sense of security and well-being and she instantly sensed that she would be in good hands with Alex Hutchinson. Did he evoke the same kind of response in all his patients or just her? Or was his bedside manner simply Oscar worthy?

  His brows arched in question when several moments passed and she hadn’t answered him. “Kelly…?”

  She blinked rapidly. “Oh, um…no I don’t have any questions…right now.”

  “Good.” He stood up. “First things first. Let’s get the new cast on.” He came around the table and helped her to her feet.

  She inhaled the clean soap-and-water scent of him and realized how good that smelled. She swallowed.

  “Thank you.” She adjusted her crutches beneath her arms and followed him across the hall to the casting room.

  “Hey, Mark,” Alex said to the young man who looked as if he enjoyed playing with paints and putty all day. His royal-blue smock was splashed with an array of colors along with large dashes of white from the casting materials. His goggles were dotted with flecks of white along with the blue cap that thankfully covered his ponytailed head.

  He glanced up from his latest creation and pushed the goggles up to sit on top of his head.

  “Hey, Doc. What can I do for you?” He held a teenaged boy’s arm and continued covering it in gauze dipped in the paste that would eventually harden.

  “I have a patient for you. I need her fiberglassed. Right ankle.”

  “Sure thing. But it will be a while. The clinic is open today. I have about six in front of her.”

  “Hmm.” He looked around. “You’re the only one working today? What happened to Lenny?”

  “Yep, just me. Lenny is out sick. You’re welcome to do it yourself if you don’t want to wait. You still remember how, dontcha?” he teased.

  “I made my bones in the casting room,” he said, feigning a “goodfellas” accent.

  Mark chuckled. “Welcome home, partner. Pull up a seat.”

  “I think I will.” He turned to Kelly. “If you don’t mind someone kinda rusty working on you, I’d be happy to fix you up.”

  “Kinda rusty? You are kidding.”

  “Of course…it’s only been about ten years since I put on my last cast.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t pay Hutch any attention. He trained me. You have nothing to worry about other than his lousy sense of humor.”

  “Thanks a lot, Mark. I was trying to lull my patient into a sense of insecurity.”

  “See what I mean?” Mark said drolly.

  “Well, now that I’ve been exposed for the expert that I am, let’s get started.”

  He placed his hand at the center of her back and guided her across the room to a vacant workstation. A comforting heat flowed through her and she actually sighed with pleasure.

  “Everything will be fine. I
really do know what I’m doing,” he said in response to her soft moan.

  Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “I trust you.”

  Without warning, he scooped her up in his arms as if she were no more than a pillow and gently placed her on the table. Instinctively she’d wrapped her arms around his neck. Their faces were inches apart. She could feel the warmth of his breath brush against her cheek.

  “That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.”

  Alex worked with quiet precision, his large hands stroking her leg and ankle as he gently applied the gauze and solution to cast her ankle.

  Kelly held on to the sides of the table for dear life, sure that if she didn’t she would reach out and stroke the soft flow of close-cut waves on Alex’s head. Shivers ran through her body when the warm pads of his fingertips came in contact with her bare flesh. Could he feel her trembling? Her clit hardened to a stiff nub. And she felt her thighs ease slightly open of their own accord.

  “I’ll be done in a few more minutes,” he said briefly looking up at her. Her face appeared flushed, her back was slightly arched and her eyes were glassy. “Are you feeling okay—in pain?”

  He put his hand on her knee and that nearly did her in.

  She sucked on her bottom lip with her top teeth and shook her head from side to side as her panties grew more damp with his every touch.

  He frowned for a moment. If he didn’t know better he’d swear she was getting as hot as he was. It took his good sense, a will of steel and a potential lawsuit to keep from sliding his hands up her thighs. The muscles were taut, perfect and he knew what they would feel like wrapped around his back locking his body to hers. Oh boy, this was not good. He swallowed hard. Get it together, boy. This woman isn’t thinking about you.

  “Uh, just a few more minutes.”

  “Sure,” she said on a breath.

  “You okay over there, Hutch?” Mark tossed out from across the room, an equivalent of cold water on the fires of hell. It only made matters smolder.

  Alex and Kelly looked at each other simultaneously. Snap, crackle, pop. He licked his lips. Her nostrils flared searching for the oxygen he’d sucked out of her lungs. He lowered her leg.

  “All done,” he muttered then slowly stood, never breaking contact with her gaze, needing to assure himself that he wasn’t imagining what he saw in her eyes—his hunger, her want. He cleared his throat, stripped off the latex gloves then tossed them in the trash. “You’ll need to wait about a half hour for it to completely set. Hope you like the color. Red suits you.” He turned and walked over to Mark, patting him on the shoulder. “If you need some tips from the master, I’m in the directory.”

  “Still an arrogant SOB,” Mark quipped. “We still on for the game on Friday?” he called out as Alex pushed through the swinging doors.

  “Wouldn’t miss it. You’re overdue for a butt whippin’ anyway.” The door swung shut behind him.

  Alex hurried down the busy corridor to his office, his lab coat flapping around him. He needed to catch his breath and figure out where his mind had gone. He opened his door and quickly locked it behind him. He went to his desk, took the key from his ring and unlocked the bottom drawer. A bottle of unopened vodka stared accusingly back at him.

  He picked it up. His mouth watered, remembering the numbing effects of the odorless liquid. He turned it around in his hand then set it on the desk. He kept it there for times like this. Times when he needed a kick in the ass to knock him back to reality, a reminder of the dark hole he could fall into if he wasn’t on his game. He rocked his jaw back and forth in contemplation. Ruby would have to handle Kelly Maxwell from here on out. It was the only way the both of them would come out of this intact, he reasoned, even as thoughts of Kelly and the feel of her skin made his penis throb and push against the fabric that tried to contain it.

  Chapter 14

  “So how did it go?” David asked as he held the hospital door open for her to exit.

  “Fine.”

  “That’s it? Fine?” He guided her toward the parking lot with his hand at the small of her back.

  She shrugged. “What is there to tell? I did some tests, got my ankle recast and…that was it.”

  He stole a look at her profile as he hit the alarm to disengage the locks on the car doors. “How does it feel?”

  “Fine.”

  “Hmm. Fine is the word of the day,” he said.

  “Sarcasm doesn’t become you.”

  “And one-word answers don’t become you.”

  Kelly opened the car door, turned once to look at him and got in without saying anything else.

  David came around the front of the SUV and got in behind the wheel. He turned on the engine and pressed his foot on the gas letting the car rev to a body-vibrating pitch. His jaw clenched. He leaned over and turned on the radio then took off.

  They rode for several moments in tense silence.

  “Look, I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t mean to sound so…”

  “Bitchy,” he filled in for her.

  “Yeah.” She chuckled. “Just a little tired that’s all.”

  “You’re entitled and forgiven.” He glanced down at her ankle as he pulled to a stop at the light. “I thought they only tinted those things for kids.”

  Kelly grinned. “I think it’s kind of fun. Hutch said this kind is much lighter.”

  “Hutch?”

  “Dr. Hutchinson. He put it on.”

  “I see. Didn’t think he was the kind of guy who had the time or inclination for such a lowly task as putting on a cast. I’d think he’d have someone do it for him.”

  “It was busy. He offered to do it to save time.”

  David gritted his teeth. The very idea that the good doctor had his hands on her… “That was thoughtful.”

  “Yes, it was.” The memory of that final look they’d shared made her pull in a short breath. She twisted a bit in her seat.

  “I thought maybe we could go out to dinner tonight. See a little bit of the city if you’re feeling up to it.”

  She turned to him. “Sounds good.”

  “I’ll get some recommendations from the hotel and make reservations.”

  Kelly leaned forward and turned up the volume on the radio then angled her head to stare out the passenger-side window. She wouldn’t see Hutch until Wednesday. She propped up her chin with her palm. That was an eternity.

  Alex strolled into his bathroom and turned on the shower full blast. He was beat and couldn’t wait for the blast of hot water to massage his overworked muscles. He’d spent two hard hours in the gym after work in the hope that he could sweat the ache in his groin away. Every time he thought about Kelly Maxwell, a lump formed in his pants. This was crazy. He felt like some inexperienced adolescent who never had none.

  He stripped out of his clothes and tossed them in a pile on the black-and-white tiled floor. He stepped over the heap and reached for the shower door, just as his phone rang.

  “Damn.” He started not to answer but thought it might be the hospital, even though he wasn’t on call. If there were any major accidents that required his expertise they would call him in Tahiti if they believed they could fly him back in time.

  He reached for a towel to wrap around his waist, but changed his mind. Nobody here but me. So what if his nosy neighbors across the street got a peek. It would give them something else to chat about other than the women who frequented his bachelor pad.

  He snatched up the phone in the adjoining bedroom. “Hello?”

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Charisse…how are you?” He sat on the side of the bed. He’d met Charisse Clark at a birthday party for Darren Butler, one of his college buddies and closest male friend. Darren had seen to the introductions having prepped Alex i
n advance that he had the perfect woman for him. Darren had the misconception that since he’d been happily married for the past six years, his goal in life was to marry off all of his friends—with Alex topping the list.

  Charisse was great to look at, intelligent, independent—had a great job and was a tigress in bed. A guy couldn’t ask for more in his woman, but for Alex something was missing. He simply could not figure out what it was.

  “Thinking about you,” she was saying.

  “Is that right? Good thoughts I hope.”

  “Always.”

  “So…what’s up?”

  “I was fixing dinner and realized that I didn’t feel like eating alone. I was hoping to get you over here, feed you, pamper you a little bit and send you on your merry way—in the morning.”

  Alex smiled slightly. The offer was certainly tempting. The last time he and Charisse spent the night together neither of them got a moment’s sleep. He could almost see that dynamite body of hers materialize in front of his eyes.

  He frowned and glanced down between his muscled thighs. Not a twitch, not a tingle. Nothing. For a flash he panicked. That had never happened to him before. Never. Even when he’d been stricken by a monster case of the flu, he’d still been raring to go.

  “Alex?”

  He blinked. “Uh, yeah…” What if he couldn’t perform?

  “Is that a yes?”

  He swallowed, closed his eyes and stroked himself for a moment conjuring up an image of him and Charisse twisting in the sheets. Zip.

  “I’m getting a complex over here. If you have something else to do, just say so.”

  “No, I’m sorry. Listen I don’t have anything else to do. I swear to you. I’m just beat. Had a long, rough day. That’s all.” He hoped that’s all it was.