Finally, it’s all done and I’m pretty sure I have enough time to stop at the flower shop to get an arrangement of flowers.
I explain to the florist that I’m in a huge rush and that I want the biggest arrangement of flowers in a beautiful crystal vase.
“Make sure you put plenty of pink roses in there, please. They’re her favorite,” I say.
I just want things to be perfect for Willow. I anxiously pace back and forth while the florist works on the bouquet.
This is going to be the first niece or nephew to be born into the Wellington family, which is shocking seeing as I have three brothers and a sister all in their late twenties and early thirties.
The florist shows me the arrangement and I begin to wonder if I’ve gone just a little bit overboard. It’s huge. I’m not even sure it’ll fit in my car.
I fight with the arrangement and try not to break any of the beautiful flowers. I twist and turn it in several different directions in the front passenger seat, but it just won’t fit. After wasting way too much time, I say fuck it and plop it on the floor behind my seat. If a few flowers get broken, oh well, I need to get to the hospital.
This is Willow’s first pregnancy, so I think labor usually takes some time, well, at least that’s what I hear. At any rate, I rush through traffic like a bat out of hell. Parking at the hospital has turned out to be a nightmare. Is it a full moon or something tonight? Is everyone in Seattle in labor? I find a parking spot ten miles away in a parking structure. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it feels like it’s ten miles away. In my work heels, while carrying this enormous arrangement, it might as well be that far.
I’ve bumped into three people, just trying to get to the elevator. Every other word out of my mouth is, excuse me or I’m sorry. I can’t see over the flowers, so I’m trying to look through the stems to see where I’m going, but not with a lot of success, obviously.
Willow better really enjoy these flowers for all this trouble I’ve gone through. But I know she will. She’s not only my sister-in-law but the best assistant I’ve ever had and she’s one of my best friends. After she started dating Asher, I was worried she would get a more prominent position at Wellington Corp., seeing that she was dating the owner of the company. Willow surprised us all and said she wouldn’t dream of taking a different position, that she loved working for me. Willow and I have a wonderful relationship and I can’t wait to meet my new niece or nephew.
Barging off the elevator on the maternity floor, I quickly find out what room they’re in from the nurses’ station. Still trying to see through the flowers, so I don’t take anyone out on the way, I rush into their room. I can hear a baby crying. No, please don’t let that be Asher and Willow’s baby.
“Please don’t tell me I missed it,” I say, as I enter the room.
Just as the last word slips out of my mouth, I crash into someone. The vase slips out of my hand, hits the floor, and shatters into large pieces. The water splashes up from the floor all over me, and the person I ran into.
Mumbling my apologies, I immediately get down on my hands and knees to pick up the broken glass. I hear people telling me it’s OK, that they’ll call a team in to clean it up, but I’m just so upset I’ve ruined it. I went to so much trouble to get this here and at the last second, it’s destroyed. I still can’t look the person in the eye who’s covered in as much water as I am. I can tell it’s a man, his pants and shoes are soaked and he immediately squats down to help me pick up flowers and glass.
“I’m so sorry about getting your pants wet,” I say completely embarrassed.
“Here, let me help you with that,” a soothing, sexy voice says.
Noticing his voice, I slowly gather the courage to look up at his face, he’s gorgeous. He has dark brown hair that’s almost black, framing his perfectly chiseled nose, chin, and cheekbones. His beautiful milk chocolate eyes take my breath away. I shake my head, close my opened mouth and try to bring my racing heartbeat under control.
After what I went through with my last boyfriend, I threw myself into my work and gave up dating for good. My reaction to this man comes as a surprise to me. I’m so mesmerized, that I’m not paying attention to what I’m doing. Try as I may, I just can’t stop looking at him. Blindly, I reach for a large piece of glass and it stabs me right in my palm. I quickly pull my hand to my chest and hold it closed with my other hand. It’s one of those things where you know it’s bad, but you can’t bring yourself to look at it just yet. And you really hope it’s not as bad as you think it is.
I can’t believe I cut myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I really hope he didn’t see what I did. I look back at the man, whose name tag reads Dr. Peters. He’s still kneeled in front of me, wearing a white coat and blue scrubs, and now has his hand held out to me. With his eyes, he looks from my hand to his. Yep, he definitely saw. We both stand and I hesitantly place my hand in his, then slowly open it. Blood quickly pools in my palm and drips to the floor. I immediately close it and pull it out of his hand. I can’t believe how much blood there is. Oh, this is bad.
“That looks deep, let me walk you down to the ER. I think it’s going to need a few stitches,” he purrs.
Do men purr? Well, it sure sounded like purring to my ears. Crap, I’m in trouble.
He grabs some gauze from the workspace, takes my hand back and wraps it applying firm pressure.
“Oh, I couldn’t. I just got here. I haven’t seen the baby yet,” I say unwillingly.
“Amelia, you need to have that looked at. You’re bleeding all over the floor. We’ll be here when you’re done. Go get your hand taken care of. You’re not holding my baby with a bloody hand,” Willow insists.
Dr. Peters is still holding my hand and the gauze is quickly turning red with blood. Looking from my hand to Dr. Peters, I nod my head. He turns to a nurse, tells her that he’s taking me down to the emergency room and he’ll be back later. He gently lets go of my hand with one of his hands and indicates that I should walk out of the room. He still has his left hand on my injured hand holding steady pressure, while his other hand goes around to the small of my back guiding me to the ER.
“You really don’t have to do this. I’m sure you’re extremely busy,” I tell him.
“It’s not a problem. I was doing a colleague a favor delivering Willow’s baby, she was in her car trying to get here, but Willow progressed faster than we expected. It’s a girl, by the way. A beautiful, healthy baby girl. I’m off duty now that she’s made her arrival.”
Tears instantly form in my eyes and spill down my cheek. I’m so happy for Asher and Willow. Asher has been through so much these past three years.
“I’m sorry, does your hand hurt? Am I applying too much pressure?” he asks with a concerned look in his eyes.
“No, it’s nothing like that. I was just thinking, how happy I am for my brother and his wife. This is the first baby to be born into our family,” I say, wiping my tears with my other hand.
“So that was your brother? I can see the resemblance, was the other woman in the room your sister?”
“Yes, that was Ava, my brother Asher, is the proud daddy. I have two other brothers, Aiden, and Adrian, who are probably waiting in the waiting room with our parents.”
“I’m detecting a pattern with the A names. Does your name start with an A, as well?” he asks.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Yes, my name is, Amelia,” I reply.
“My name is Dr. Kyle Peters, it’s nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand, but it seems that I’m already holding it,” he says with a devilish smirk.
We take the elevator all the way down to the first floor where the emergency room is. He holds my hand, applying firm pressure the whole way. He talks to another doctor, then I’m immediately put into a curtained room. I take a seat on the bed and Dr. Peters sits next to me, which is a good idea, seeing that if he lets go of my hand, I might just bleed to death. Alright, another exaggeration. I won’t bleed to death, I know.
&n
bsp; “Amelia, this is my good friend, Dr. Spencer Matthews, I call him Spence. We went to medical school together. He’ll be looking at your hand,” he tells me.
I nod at the two doctors, as I catch a slight grin on Dr. Matthews’ face. He puts on a pair of rubber gloves, then Dr. Peters lets go of my hand, allowing Dr. Matthews to look at it. As he lets go, there’s a huge rush of feeling that comes back into my hand. He removes the gauze, layer by layer, until the cut is exposed. Blood instantly runs down my hand. Dr. Matthews grabs fresh gauze and covers the wound applying pressure.
“Looks like we have ourselves a gusher here,” Dr. Matthews says, giving my hand back to Dr. Peters to hold.
“I’ll have a nurse get everything ready, you’re going to need some stitches. I’ll be back in just a little bit. Dr. Peters will continue to apply pressure, while we’re waiting for everything to get all set up.”
He takes off his rubber gloves and flings them like a slingshot into a garbage can, then leaves the room.
Now that Dr. Matthews left there’s an awkward silence between us. Looking up into his eyes I whisper, “Dr. Peters, you don’t have to stay, thank you for walking me to the ER. I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’m sorry.”
“Please, call me Kyle. And I couldn’t leave you now, if I let go of your hand, you just might bleed to death,” he says, seriously.
Oh my God, I was just thinking that.
I know he’s joking because he can’t hold his serious expression and it turns into a sweet smile. Damn it all to hell, I don’t want him to leave either. But men are scum, except for my brothers and dad of course. I can’t let myself be fooled again by a sweet smile and a good looking man.
“Kyle,” I confirm with a smile.
It’s a nice name and feels good to say out loud. No, men are scum, stick to your plan, it’s a good plan. Plain and simple, no men! Men are scum.
“Is your hand hurting? I can get Spence to get you something for the pain. It looks like it really hurts.”
“No, it’s not that bad, really,” I say out loud.
Although, in my head I say, ‘Yes, my hand hurts like a son of a bitch.’ If he holds it any tighter, I think I might lose a couple of fingers from lack of circulation.
“It shouldn’t be too much longer. Tell me about your family?”
I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to keep my mind off my hand by keeping me talking. It’s really sweet what he’s trying to do, though.
“Well, Adrian is the oldest. He owns Wellington Construction. Then there’s Asher, he’s the CEO of Wellington Corp. Next is Aiden, he’s a lawyer, then me. He and I both work at Asher’s company, where I’m the VP of Marketing. Last, but not least, there’s Ava, she’s the youngest. She’s also a lawyer, but she works for a firm just outside of town. Both of my parents are retired and we all live within a five-mile radius of each other. We’re a pretty close family. What about you?”
“My parents are divorced and I have a sister, Chloe,” he states sadly, then looks to the floor.
Just then, Dr. Matthews comes in with a nurse, but I can tell that Kyle was reluctant to talk about his parents, or it could have been his sister. I’m not sure which. He seems relieved not to discuss it anymore. He gives me a warm smile to hide what looks like sadness, then turns his attention to Dr. Matthews. My eye’s travel to where he’s looking and I see Dr. Matthews getting a shot ready to numb my hand. I instantly tense up, knowing exactly where that needle is about to go. Kyle senses my unease and rubs my back in small circles. Instantly his touch relaxes me.
Kyle
Spence had good timing. I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel comfortable lying to Amelia about my sister. Going into details about my family though, isn’t a good idea either. Usually, I just tell people that I’m an only child to avoid all the unwanted questions about my family. It’s just easier that way. I don’t know why I told her I have a sister. It just came out. I just couldn’t lie to her.
There’s something special about this woman. I sensed it from the first moment I saw her come into that room with those ridiculous flowers. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, when she collided with me and dropped the flowers. When I saw she cut her hand on the glass, my heart sunk. I don’t know why I felt so drawn to her. An overwhelming urge to help her coursed through me, which was ridiculous. She’s a stranger. As a doctor, I see injuries far worse than this all the time. I never get this worked up inside. I could have just as easily wrapped it up for her and told her how to get to the emergency room, but for some unknown reason I felt the need to take her here myself.
The past two years of my life have been a living hell. Between finishing my residency program at the hospital and everything that happened with my family, I haven’t had time to have a relationship or even date for that matter.
When I saw Amelia though, I couldn’t help but think there’s something special about her. I didn’t want to let go of her hand. Spence comes in to numb her hand and she tenses up. I don’t know what comes over me, but I find my hand on her back, soothing her.
“Alright, this will only hurt for a second. When you’re all numbed up, we’ll stitch you up, and you’ll be as good as new,” Spence tells her.
If Amelia thinks she’s fooling anyone, she needs to think again. I can see it written all over her face. I know that cut has to hurt. It is pretty deep. I let go of her hand again to let the nurse prep her. Spence steps up with a needle, then Amelia takes a deep breath and holds it.
“Hey, just look at me,” I say.
She looks at me with those soulful blue eyes, while Spence quickly administers the shot. She didn’t even flinch. Spence puts six stitches in her palm, then wraps it with gauze.
“OK Amelia, you’re all set. Keep it dry for a few days and if you have any problems, you can give Dr. Peters here a call,” Spence says with a grin.
“Oh, I don’t really know Dr. Peters. We just met up in maternity. My sister-in-law just had a baby girl. Speaking of which, I really do need to get back up there. I haven’t met my new niece yet,” Amelia says, as she grabs her hand and stands to leave.
“I’ll walk you back up there. I need to close up a few cases and see to some paperwork,” I say, hoping I can spend just a little more time with her.
“OK, thank you, that’s very kind of you.”
“How’s your hand? Does it feel better?” I ask her.
“Yes, it’s a little sore, but it’ll be fine. Thank you for asking.”
Riding back up to maternity in the elevator, I come up with a brilliant idea to spend some more time with her. Reaching in my pocket, I pull out a business card and write my cell phone number on the back of it.
Handing it to her I say, “Here, this is my personal phone number. If Spence didn’t do a good job, or if you have any problems with your hand, give me a call.”
Her cheeks turn the cutest shade of pink as she takes the card.
“Thank you. Do you always give such wonderful patient care?” she asks.
“Only to the ones as cute as you,” I reply.
Where in the hell did that come from? I’m such an idiot. Her cheeks deepen to a new shade of dark pink.
The elevator dings and stops at the maternity floor, as my heart plummets to my feet. We both step off and she walks toward her brother’s room, as I walk to the nurses’ station.
She turns and walks backward and says, “Thank you for taking such good care of me and personally seeing to my hand. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Amelia, watch out,” I say, as she nearly walks into a laboring mother walking the halls.
She apologizes to the woman, shoots me a smile, then disappears into her sister-in-law’s room.
Chapter 2
Amelia
I have to be the biggest accident prone person alive. First the flowers, which led to stitches, now I almost plow a pregnant lady over in the hallway. But when I walk into the room and see my beautiful
niece, none of that matters.
“Give me that baby. Come meet your Auntie Amelia,” I say, taking possession of her from Asher.
She’s the most beautiful baby girl I’ve ever seen. Tears instantly flow down my face, as I look at the purest and innocent being I’ve ever seen.
“She’s just beautiful Asher. Look at this beautiful baby girl. What did you name her?” I ask, looking from Asher to Willow.
Willow looks at the two of us with the utmost peaceful look and says, “We named her Abbey Olivia Wellington.”
“Willow, that’s beautiful and as perfect as she is,” I say with a huge smile.
Naming her middle name after Asher’s first wife, who was taken from this earth far too soon by a drunk driver, has to be the most touching sentiment I’ve ever heard. Fresh tears fall from my eyes, as I remember the beautiful woman Olivia was. It just proves the type of person Willow is and why I love her so much.
Abbey starts to cry, then she turns a deep shade of red. I think she may be getting hungry.
“Here you better take her back. I should let you guys have some alone time. I’m so sorry about the flowers.”
Just then I realize my entire family is in the room. I was so focused on Abbey; I hadn’t noticed until just now.
I give Asher a kiss on the cheek, hug Willow, then kiss my little Abbey on the head. I say my goodbyes to my family, who are all sitting and standing in the room just pouring their love to this amazing new addition to our family.
“Amelia, you don’t have to go. I’ll just try to feed her, and then you can visit a little more with us,” Willow says.
My mom stands and says, “No, sweetheart, you need your rest. You and Asher need some alone time to bond as a family. We’ll leave you guys alone.”
She says this as she grabs Aiden by the arm and pushes my dad toward the door.
Everyone says their goodbyes and kisses baby Abbey. We’re standing in the hallway talking, when I see Dr. Peters out of the corner of my eye. He eyes me in return, with a sexy half grin that sends tingles to my happy places. Stupid happy places, they’re the ones that got me in trouble with my last boyfriend. To be honest, he was my first real boyfriend and what a disaster that turned out to be.
Running Into Love - The Complete Box Set Page 17
