“Oh I’m sure she’ll make time after the last incident.”
I’m hoping she’ll make time for another incident that comes to mind.
I swear I hear her voice. I almost believe it’s in my head until I turn and see her at the end of the corridor talking with Tania and Celine, who seem to be grilling her. She doesn’t see me down here, but I see her cheeks and the soft hint of rose that kisses them the way I want to kiss her. She’s in those fuck me heels again and the sight makes my head fill with ideas.
When she continues down the path I look back to Mac and find him staring back at me with curiosity in his eyes.
“What?” I ask him when he continues to stare.
“Nothing, just making an observation. It would appear that you have accepted you like her.”
I just laugh. “Accepted?”
“It’s okay son, you’ll see what I mean. Coffee?”
I nod. I’d like coffee. I’m going to need the energy for later.
I have much in mind for the good doctor. She’s placed me under some spell and I don’t want to break free just yet.
I plan to catch up with her later.
Miss Thing won’t get the chance to slip away from me twice.
I just hope she’s still in the game.
Abby
I could very easily fall into the zone of mindless today.
I mean the kind of mindless where you just sit and stare and reminisce.
I could do it in a heartbeat and just be a woman thinking about a man she spent the night with last night.
I can’t though. Right now I need to be a doctor.
I need to be a doctor.
Tania, Celine, and I are meeting Lizzie’s parents in about five minutes and that’s going to be an important meeting.
But that’s not why I have to get my head screwed on and be a doctor.
It’s because we just got Lizzie’s blood work back and I don’t like the results.
The results show a higher percentage of white blood cells which means her body is producing more to fight off infection.
I’d believe it was the stress of everything but the results show that she’s fighting something and I don’t know what the hell it is.
“Do you think it could be MRSA?” Tania asks Celine.
We’re making our way down to the visitors lounge now.
Celine looks deep in thought. I always read her expressions as a guide.
“I haven’t heard anything to say it could be, but we can’t rule it out,” she answers. “This is sudden. That’s what’s worrying me.”
“Me too,” I say quickly. “That level of white blood cells suggests something quite serious is going on. I think it could be causing the seizures too although she hasn’t had one in a while.”
“So that’s where we’re going with this, an infection. I don’t know, wouldn’t we have picked it up already if that was underlying?” Tania asks.
I considered that. It is definitely something we have to consider. However, it may be an indication of something else entirely.
I sigh and look from Tania to Celine. One thing I love about us is our ability to switch into work mode.
We place Lizzie under a mild dose of antibiotics intravenously. We’ll keep an eye on her over the next twenty-four hours and watch how she responds.
I see her parents ahead sitting next to each other in the lounge.
We met them briefly the other day and I asked if they wouldn’t mind talking to us a bit more and running some tests. After they speak with us they’ll be doing those tests and it will hopefully help us in some way.
Lizzie’s parents look more than worried sick, and it’s understandable. She’s been in the hospital long enough and, to date, no one is any wiser on what’s going on. I really hoped the problem could be managed with a stronger dose of a different medication. I guess I was wrong.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brown, hi there.” Celine welcomes them when we approach.
They both stand. Mrs. Brown looks like Lizzie but I can see some resemblance with her father.
“We’re in this room today,” I say, pointing to the meeting room on the left.
We take them inside and once everyone is seated Celine takes the lead.
“We’re still working on finding out what’s happening with Lizzie,” Celine states. “Today is about talking with you about your medical history, especially you Mr. Brown, because your mother had epilepsy. Can you tell me a little about that?”
“Of course,” he says. “She had it all her life, like Lizzie, but it wasn’t something that we frequently worried about. We just did what we were advised to manage it and it worked. She was fine most of the time. The seizures only came very sporadically. Not like it’s taken my Lizzie either.”
“And no one else in the family has it? You’ve never experienced anything like a fit or anything strange?”
He shakes his head. “I’ve never.”
“Me neither,” Mrs. Brown adds. “No one on my side has epilepsy or anything like that. I don’t know why this has happened. She was doing so well and getting ready to be married. Johnny’s barely left her side.”
I smile at that. Johnny is the kind of fiancée a girl definitely dreams about. You can look at him and tell he loves her fiercely.
He really has been at her side the whole time. He’s here every day.
“We’re gonna do our best,” I assure them both. Since there seems to be nothing more they can tell us in regards to their medical history, I decide to ask more questions about their household because Lizzie was with them when she had the first episode. It was them who brought her in. “Before Lizzie had that first seizure how did she seem to you?”
“Okay. She’d just come back from traveling and was excited about what she saw.”
“And she never complained about feeling unwell or anything like that?”
Mrs. Brown straightens. “She needed Tylenol. When Lizzie first got back, Johnny dropped her off home and she had a headache. Not a bad one, but she asked for some tablets. Does that help?”
“Yes, it could. Anything like that helps us to create a picture of what happened, or what is happening,” I explain, and make a note of it in my notebook.
“Is there anything else we can do to help?” she asks.
“No, what you’re doing today is plenty. We’ll contact you if we find anything more but we’ll speak anyway, and you know you can call any of us if you want to talk or check on Lizzie.”
We’re always busy, but one thing Mac has instilled in us is making sure we’re available to talk to our patients’ family or loved ones. Working as a team so that one of us can be contacted when needed. I think that’s important too.
The look of appreciation on both their faces makes puts me at ease.
With that said, we show them to the section where the blood tests will be done and we head back to the main office.
My phone buzzes in my pocket when I step inside and I pull it out to see a message from Dylan. The message preview says it’s him but I never saved his number in my phone.
Clearly he did and the realization makes me grin from ear to ear like an idiot.
I open up the message and my skin blazes.
Meet me in archives, still got your panties.
“What is that smile?” Celine beams.
I look to her and Tania who’d folded her arms and stared at me with wild curiosity.
“Nothing,” I lie.
“Oh my gosh, you’re doing it again. You can’t do that.” Tania pretends to pout. “Just tell us already.”
Celine, the sneaky minx, swipes my phone from me, not giving me the chance to throw them off my scent.
Her jaw drops when she reads the message and she shows it to Tania.
“Oh. My. God!” Tania says.
“Give me my phone back guys.” I wince and Tania hands it back to me.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say last night went well.”
That was the first thing they ask
ed me when they saw me this morning, and I just said it was nice. But that was me being coy. There was nothing coy about the scandalous way I behaved with Dylan last night. Nothing at all.
“It did,” I confess. “Are you guys gonna be okay for a little while? I’ll just go see him and then come back super fast.”
Celine smiles back at me. “How about you don’t come back super fast? We got things covered so take some time, go…rendezvous with your boy.”
“Thank you.” I give them one last smile then leave.
I am the kind of person to keep work on my mind. I keep my patients on my mind all the time and I have to admit, Lizzie’s case is bothering me.
While I can’t do anything at the moment to make our pace go faster, I think I’ll indulge in some me time.
I left Dylan’s place early this morning.
I wasn’t sure if I could stay.
Should is more the word I’m looking for.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I did. I just didn’t know if it was just a one-nighter. I’ve never had a one-nighter so I was playing it safe.
Plus…there is the whole part about him being Mac’s nephew. Suppose Mac thinks I’m crazy and shouldn’t lure his nephew away into temptation?
I smile at the ridiculous thought of temptation.
It’s not Dylan who has to worry about temptation. It’s me.
I open the door to Archives. I walk in and I can’t stop smiling.
Normally I hate coming down here because it’s a little creepy.
Today feels adventurous.
It’s basically an old library with rows of shelves and boxes that take up miles of space. I swear it’s miles. You’d be in here for a whole day looking through files and still need more time to find what you want.
Dylan steps out from behind one of the pillars. He’s not smiling, he just looks at me.
“Is that you Miss Thing, walking around with no panties?” he asks, teasing.
“Maybe…” I bite the inside of my lip. This morning was definitely a first. Getting into a taxi with no panties, I was so aware of myself.
“I should check.”
“Or you could give me the pair you have.”
“Those are mine now.” He moves closer to me.
“Yours?”
He reaches for my hair and picks up a lock, allowing it to twirl around his finger. “Mine. You know you could have woke me, then maybe I would have been nice and given them back. Why’d you leave? Has the game ended?”
“Game?” I quirk a brow.
“Game.”
“No…it hasn’t ended.”
“Good, because we’re going to be in here for a while.”
I gasp when he takes my hand and leads me into one of the little rooms.
I’m about to say something when his lips cover mine.
That’s it, all it takes, and I’m gone again.
He backs off my coat and we start pulling on each other’s clothes.
In less than a minute he has me naked. He shrugs out of his pants and picks me up, setting me down on the desk.
I can’t believe I’m doing this here. The thought barely registers as I watch him roll a condom down the length of his cock before he plunges into me.
He slams in, taking me all over again just like last night.
The wild rhythm takes us and I get lost in him all over again, and again.
He pumps into me with wild reckless abandon, relentless. Faster and faster, rocking my body into oblivion and severing me from reality.
My mind shatters at the same time my soul shudders with raw delight.
How the hell can this feel better than last night?
Or this morning? Like this is a whole other experience that was waiting around the corner to take us.
I gasp for breath, trying to catch it against my moans, and he speeds up faster. Pounding, jackhammering, fucking me hard.
I already knew from when we began that there would be nothing slow about us today.
We both cry out in a shared release of pleasure that came rapidly.
I look at him; his hair is wet with sweat and his eyes are still filled with need.
The same need I feel brewing inside me.
The need to have more.
He cups my face and kisses me. Hot and passionate, with the molten heat that runs through my veins and flows from him to me.
“More Abby…I want more of you.” He smiles and brushes his nose over mine.
“I want more of you too.”
“Come home with me later?”
I look up at him and nod. “Yes.”
I get the feeling that saying no to this man is something I’ll never do again.
Dylan
This is much better…
I’ve been sitting by the window for the last half an hour watching her.
The sun has just risen, brightening the room and beaming on her.
Abby is here, wrapped in the sheets with her hair sprawled out against the pillows.
This is what I wanted to see yesterday.
Her in my bed with the sun kissing her skin.
Listen to me.
Holy hell.
Talk about transformation.
Yet, I like it.
Last night was another wild night with her I’m not likely to forget.
She stirs, waking, and slides her hand across the sheet to reach for me.
Watching her do that is something I can’t quite describe. When she doesn’t feel me there, her eyes flutter open and she sits up, her gaze landing on me.
That smile on her beautiful face is enough to make me stay in this room forever.
“Good morning,” she says sweetly.
“Yes, it is good. I definitely agree,” I answer.
She laughs, wraps herself in the sheet, and makes her way over to me.
I pull her into my lap and we kiss. It feels like we’ve always done this. It feels like I want to keep doing this.
She glances out the window and her face brightens up even more when she sees the view before us.
“Oh wow. This is what it looks like first thing?” She gasps as she scans the surroundings.
“Yeah.”
The view before us looks like a screensaver. The water is a mix of blue and sunlight. The ripples moving through the water make the sailboat rock gently on the shore.
The ambience it sets off is pure serenity.
“Should we have breakfast outside by the pool?” I suggest.
“I would love that.”
I make her pretty much the same breakfast I did at Mac’s the other week. But I had some pastries I’d gotten yesterday. She loves the croissants.
We talk while we eat and she’s gotten me hooked on her chatter on Star Trek. I’ve never seen it and she can’t believe it. I had that reaction too when I told a few of my friends who are into it.
“You are the only person I’ve ever met who’s never seen Star Trek. It’s fantastic.”
“Well if you think so I’ll check it out. I gotta say though, you don’t seem like the kind of girl who would like that. First you were talking rom coms, then Star Trek. That part I don’t get, but I like it. How on earth did you get into it?”
There’s a noticeable shift in her mood. I take note quickly and see that she’s thought of something that’s made her sad.
Her situation has been on my mind. I’ve thought about it a lot and want to ask, but hold off.
“Um…Jack, my ex. That was his name. He was a huge fan. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t really be talking about him. It’s weird, but that was where my Star Trek obsession came from. Him.” She lifts her shoulders slightly.
“It’s not weird to talk about him. I don’t mind it. Talking helps. Did my advice help you? One day at a time, one step at a time?”
“It did…” She tucks a lock of her silky hair behind her ear and stares at me openly. “It was like the last thing I needed to hear, so yes. I should have said thanks well before now.”
&nb
sp; “It’s okay. Remember, you were pretending you couldn’t recall certain things?” I smirk playfully.
“I know. That was so stupid. I just couldn’t believe I kissed you.”
“And why did you kiss me?”
She thinks about it and smiles wider. “I wanted to. But seriously, I was going through some stuff when you first met me.”
“I gathered that. Stuff to do with…Jack.”
She nods slowly. “Yes…it’ll be the third year in three months. I get like that every year. The first year was the worst.”
“How did he die Abby?”
“Brain tumor. It was the inoperable kind. He had treatment and um…it didn’t work. It just came so suddenly. No real warning. Well…maybe there was, but he never said,” she explains, and a tear falls down her cheek. I move my chair closer to her and she continues. “I think his mom knew. There was signs that she did. Like she expected it. He was the kind of guy who wouldn’t want to worry me. I’d known him from when I was twelve.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Yeah…it was. Me and my mom moved from Atlanta after my parents split. We lived with my aunt and he lived next door. We left St. Louis together and came here, studied together, and he died in the first year of residency. It was more like the first few months. He never saw Christmas.”
“I’m so sorry Abby. That’s awful. It’s…well, I sensed something was up with you when we first met. Then when you first told me about him I understood more. It’s hard to let go. No one can tell you exactly how. You will try everything under the sun sometimes, and what works for one person may not work for you. So I’m glad I was able to help in some way.”
“Thank you. You, um, said that you made it there. I mean to the point where time helped you move on and you remembered the good parts. Who was it for you?”
I draw in a breath and glance down at the wicker twined together on the table before us. I look back to her and feel a little tongue-tied.
“A few. Best to say that because I’ve known many. Been there when many of my friends and comrades died. It’s hard when you get to know someone and you build this bond of friendship with them, then they’re gone and you’re supposed to accept that it’s the nature of the job. You’re supposed to accept that those things happen. That’s easier said than done though. A lot,” I express. “I have to say though that I really took my cousin’s death hard, and my aunt. Mac’s wife and his son. I never expected that. When you expect it you expect it, when you don’t there’s no heads up.”
Dylan Page 12
