by Laura Iding
Instead of answering, she pressed her mouth to the bare skin of his chest, licking, tasting. His skin was so hot it almost burned.
Soon the annoying barrier of their clothing melted away. Mitch took a moment to provide protection and then turned back to Dana. “Beautiful. You’re so beautiful.” Mitch kissed her everywhere—her breasts, her stomach and lower still. She tensed, then gave herself over to the sensation, her body shuddering in response.
“Beautiful,” he whispered again, kissing his way back up her body to her breasts. “I could watch you do that all day.”
As good as he’d made her feel, she wanted more. She wanted him.
He didn’t make her wait.
“Mitch.” He plunged deep, and she gasped his name. Mitch groaned low in his throat. For a moment he held himself still, not moving except for when he kissed her. “Please,” she begged. “Don’t stop.”
“Never.” He slid a hand beneath her hips to deepen the sensation, then began to move, slowly, gently at first, then with increasing urgency.
Dana didn’t recognize herself, the way she greedily took as much as she gave, glorifying in the maelstrom of their desire.
When pleasure exploded, sweeping them both at the same time, one thought dominated all others.
She loved him.
Mitch woke slowly, one satiated muscle at a time. When he opened his eyes and saw Dana sleeping beside him, he was glad to realize he hadn’t dreamed her. Those precious hours had been very real. With regret, he glanced at the clock. As much as he wanted to stay with her, to start this new day making love, he needed to get to the hospital to see his patients.
He dragged himself from bed, taking care not to wake her. Times like this made him wish he’d chosen to be a dentist. Even a Radiologist, didn’t have to take call as much as he did.
But the notion was quickly superseded by thoughts of his patients. Jessica in particular. How had she fared during the night? He hadn’t been paged, so he couldn’t imagine she’d been anything but stable on the ventilator. And what about Trina? Chances were, her aspirin levels were probably low enough to warrant a transfer out of the ICU.
After showering and changing his clothes, he was ready to go. Tiptoeing back to where Dana still lay sleeping, he gazed down at her for a long moment. He was partially surprised to realize he didn’t feel any panic or dread that he’d taken his relationship with Dana to a new level. Instead, he was forced to admit he liked the way she looked in his bed.
His family, especially his mother, would love her.
Mitch grinned and bent down, to press a feather-light kiss on her cheek. Dana stirred, murmured something unintelligible.
“Make yourself at home, sweetheart.” He told her. “I’ll call you later.”
She nodded without opening her eyes, then buried her face into his pillow. He straightened, then turned to leave.
On the way to the hospital, he took out his cellphone and called his mother. There was no answer at home, so he left a message.
“Hi, it’s Mitch. I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas. I’m going to the hospital now, but I’ll leave my home number in case you want to me call back later.” He recited the number, paused, then added, “I miss you. There’s so much we need to talk about, the past as well as the future. I have to work the holiday, but hope to make a trip back home soon. I love you.”
He snapped his phone shut, feeling as if a weight had rolled off his shoulders. Light-hearted, he felt like laughing. Even the cloudy gray sky couldn’t dim his happy mood.
No, nothing could bring him down. Not when he was busy making plans to have Dana meet his family.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DANA AWOKE TO find herself alone in Mitch’s bedroom. Disappointed, she sat up, holding the sheet to her chin and looking for her clothes, only to remember they were probably still strewn about his living-room floor.
The memory of how they’d made love on the sofa in front of the fire made her blush. Of course, that had only been the beginning. An appetizer of a sort. He’d made the rest of the night a special five-course meal. Absolutely perfect. Except for waking up alone. With a frown, she thought she remembered Mitch giving her a kiss and telling her to make herself at home. Obviously he’d had to go in for rounds first thing this morning.
Awkwardly, she yanked the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her torso, unable to bring herself to walk through the empty condo completely naked. Should she really stay until it was time to get ready for her shift? She felt funny being here without him. She found her clothes, then made her way to his bathroom.
Less than an hour later she rummaged in his fridge for something to eat. She found milk and eggs, but wasn’t in the mood to cook, so she went through his cupboards until she found a box of cereal. After eating breakfast, she wandered back into his living room, drawn by his overflowing bookcase.
There were several Cavenaugh titles, but she was surprised to find Mitch’s reading tastes varied from legal thrillers to horror to sci-fi and even a smattering of pure suspense. She found a suspense book she’d been dying to read and pulled it from the shelf. She built up a small mound of wood in his fireplace then lit a fire, taking his request to make herself at home literally. She curled up in a corner of his couch to read.
When the phone rang nearly an hour later, she hesitated. Not her house, not her phone. But had Mitch said something about calling her later? Hoping she was right, she set aside her book and hurried over to the phone.
“Hello?”
“Oh, dear,” the female voice said. “I must have the wrong number. I’m looking for Mitch Reynolds.”
“You don’t have the wrong number,” Dana quickly responded before the woman could hang up. “Mitch Reynolds is at the hospital. Do you want me to give him a message?”
There was a slight pause, then the woman answered. “Oh, yes. Please, tell him to call his mother, no matter how late he gets in. Is he all right? It’s been so long since I’ve spoken to him, I just need to know he’s all right.”
Mitch’s mother? For a moment Dana thought she couldn’t possibly have heard right. Then her words sank in. “I’m a friend of his so I’ll give him the message. He’s fine. Er…how long has it been since you’ve talked?”
“Over a year.” Mitch’s mother sounded near to tears. “No one in the family has heard from him for so long. Please, ask him to call me back as soon as possible.”
“I will.” She forced the words past her constricted throat. Mitch had a family. The phone dropped from her numb fingers, hitting the counter with a clatter. Blindly, she grabbed for it. She couldn’t fathom why he’d told her about losing his son and his divorce, yet not mentioned that he hadn’t spoken to his family in a year.
She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold.
Maybe he had a good reason. Not all families were nice and cozy, she knew, but his mother hadn’t sounded like some horrific person. Heck, his mother hadn’t even questioned the strange woman answering his phone. If her mother had called and a strange man had answered the phone, you could bet the guy would have been drilled non-stop for information.
A wave of nausea surged over her. She abruptly remembered how upset her last boyfriend had been to find out her mother had been sick because Dana hadn’t shared that very personal part of herself with him. Now she knew what it felt like to be on the other side. Mitch had tried to warn her, but she hadn’t listened. Mitch wasn’t as engaged in the relationship as she was. He’d claimed he didn’t want to hurt her, and her blithe response had been that she was responsible for her own feelings.
Well, she was. The feeling of her heart being ripped to shreds was a direct result of her actions. She’d made the decision to stay. To make love. Mitch had gone through a lot over the past two years—it wasn’t his fault he wasn’t ready for more.
She was fooling herself to think he might love her in return.
Dana let herself into the house she’d once shared with her mother. Memories flooded
over her. She wished more than anything that her mother was there. She could have used her mother’s sound logic and common-sense approach in talking about Mitch.
She had to go to work in four hours, but she didn’t know how in the world she was going to face him.
Eyes burning with the need to cry, she stoically blinked back the tears and headed to the kitchen.
She picked up her father’s phone number from where she’d left it on the counter and stared at it. Talking to Mitch’s mother had made her realize she owed it to her father to at least talk to him.
After dialing her father’s number, she held her breath, waiting. When he picked up, she sighed in relief.
“Hello?” his tone was wary.
“Hi, it’s, uh, Dana.” She swallowed hard. “So. How are you?”
“Dana. I’m so glad you called.” He paused. “Do you have time for lunch today?”
“I’m sorry, I have to go to work soon. But maybe after the holidays we could find some time to get together.”
“I’d like that.” He sounded pleased.
“Great.” Dana took the piece of paper with her father’s number on it and put it behind a magnet on her fridge so it wouldn’t get lost. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Dana. We’ll get together soon.”
She couldn’t bring herself to call him Dad, but hung up the phone feeling somehow at peace. She was finally ready to forgive him.
Now, if only she could learn to ignore the pain of a broken heart.
Mitch drove home for lunch through another inch of snow. The snow had been coming down on and off over the past few days. Not a blizzard, but steady. Luckily, the plows were able to keep up.
He stepped inside and was more than a little disappointed to discover his condo was empty. The half-open book on the sofa and the smoldering remains in the grate of the fireplace were proof Dana had stayed for a while, but although he searched around the sofa, his kitchen table, even the bedroom, he didn’t find any sort of note.
He frowned. Why would she leave without a word? He opened his phone and checked again, but there were no new messages.
His appetite gone, he jammed his fingers through his hair. He tried to tell himself she’d just gone home for a change of clothing, but his instincts were clamoring loudly in his head. He’d picked up his phone to call her house when he saw it. She had left him a note after all.
Call your mother.
While he was happy his mother had returned his call, he was puzzled by the underlying tone of Dana’s note. It seemed terse. Angry.
Quickly, he dialed Dana’s home number. The phone rang and rang, then her answering-machine came on. Forced to leave a message, he asked her to call him back, then hung up.
At least he’d see her at work later.
He debated calling his mother back, then decided to wait. He had been planning to surprise Dana by taking her home to meet his family. He’d been so confident he’d already booked airline tickets, but now he wondered if maybe she wouldn’t appreciate him planning her days off.
Mulling over the best time to spring the tickets on her, he headed back to the hospital. Only two days before Christmas and for the first time in a long time he was actually looking forward to the holiday.
The afternoon dragged by slowly. On any other day he’d have been tempted to leave the ICU patients in the hands of his residents, but he wanted to wait until Dana arrived. Maybe they could have dinner together in the cafeteria again.
He stood and watched Dr. Andrea Drake, one of his residents, place a central venous catheter in their new patient, Mr. Grady. A gentleman in his sixties, Mr. Grady suffered from chronic congestive heart failure. Mitch had already ordered a Foley catheter and had given Mr. Grady Lasix to pull off the extra fluid in his lungs. But Mitch wanted the central venous catheter so they could keep an eye on his fluid status, because he also suspected Mr. Grady was malnourished and dehydrated.
When he was certain Andrea had successfully placed the catheter in Mr. Grady’s subclavian vein, he headed over to the nurses’ station. Dana was getting the rundown on the patients and didn’t acknowledge him.
He waited patiently for her to finish. When she turned from the board he took his chance. “Hi. I missed you at noontime.”
“Really?” Her cool tone sent warning tingles down his spine. “Did you return your mother’s call?”
“Not yet.” He wrinkled his brow. “Is something wrong?”
She stared at the assignment board, refusing to look at him. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to chat. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
What had gone wrong? Mitch wanted to grab her arm and force her to talk to him, but she was right in that she was officially on duty. As much as he wanted to talk to her, this wasn’t the time or place.
As he reviewed Mr. Grady’s past medical history written up by the medical student, his mind wandered.
The note. It had all started with the note. Dana must have spoken to his mother. With a guilty rush he realized he’d never mentioned anything to her about his family. Was that why she was so angry?
Anxious for a chance to explain, he bided his time, waiting for Dana to take her dinner break. When the hour grew later, past eight o’clock, he wondered if she’d skipped dinner to avoid him.
He found her in Jessica’s room. He watched her for a moment as she held Jessica’s hand and spoke to her softly. “I just got off the phone with your mother. Chad and Wendy are doing great. They send their love.”
Jessica clutched Dana’s hand, her movements jerky, anxious.
Dana continued, “I called Rick last night, as you asked, but I don’t know if he picked up the message or not.”
Finally Jessica seemed to relax and closed her eyes. Dana turned to leave, but she halted abruptly when she saw Mitch standing in the doorway.
“Do you have a minute to take a break?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Too busy.”
“You didn’t take time for dinner,” he pointed out. “Surely you have five minutes to spare?”
He got the sense she wanted to argue, but instead she nodded and headed for the nurses’ lounge.
Thankfully it was empty. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest. “Have you called your mother yet?”
Why was she so concerned about his mother? “Dana, I’m not stupid. Obviously you’re upset with me because I didn’t tell you about my family. I’m sorry.”
“Look, if you don’t want to tell me about your family, that’s your choice.”
“It’s not that I tried to keep some big secret, Dana.” He was floundering a bit and tried to backtrack. “What do you want to know?”
She shrugged. “Whatever you want to tell me. Are you close to them?”
“Yes. We’re very close.” He tried to understand where she was going with this.
“Even though you haven’t spoken to them for over a year?”
“Dana, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Really, you’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
Dana glanced down at the floor, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mitch, but I think family is a big deal. It’s part of who you are.”
He didn’t know what to say in his own defense. Because she was partially right. His family was a big part of his life. He’d just needed a break, a chance to start over.
A chance to heal.
“Your family seems very nice.” Her tone softened just a little. “I hope things work out for you, truly. I’m not upset with you, I’m upset with myself. I just need a little time alone. Please, excuse me. I really do need to get back to work.”
Helplessly, he stepped aside and watched her walk away.
He loved her, but the words stuck in his throat. Because loving Dana meant being in a relationship for the long haul. And not just the two of them, but a family. Children.
He waited for the panic to grab hold.
It didn’t.
Instead, he realized how empty his life would be w
ithout Dana. Suddenly he understood why Gwen had been willing to take the risk.
Could he do this? Could he really commit to Dana?
Christmas was just around the corner. He prayed it wasn’t too late to win her back.
Dana managed to avoid Mitch for the rest of her shift. Luckily, the time seemed to pass pretty quickly until it was time to head home.
Since she’d skipped dinner, she should have been hungry, but when she stared at the contents of her cabinets, she couldn’t seem to dredge up any sort of appetite.
Closing her eyes, she rested her head against a cupboard, remembering the tortured expression in Mitch’s eyes when he’d told her about his son’s death. And how brave his ex-wife had been to try again.
Maybe she’d been too hard on him. Yet she also knew how much she loved him. If he wasn’t ready for a relationship, she was probably better off without him.
Knowing that in her head didn’t make the truth easier to bear in her heart. Giving up on thoughts of eating, she left the kitchen and headed up to her bedroom. But she wasn’t tired, so she sat for a while, staring outside at the lightly falling snow.
One thought struck her as she got ready for bed. Her relationships in the past had never hurt as much as this recent situation with Mitch.
And for the first time she wondered how much of that was because she’d never let herself fall in love this deeply before.
Christmas Eve dawned with snow flurries. Dana tried to listen to Christmas tunes through her headset as she shoveled her driveway, but keeping her spirits up was difficult.
She made a couple of dozen Christmas cookies, finishing just an hour before she was scheduled to start work. She packed a bunch in a small tin, then headed out into the wintry cold.
The unit was busy when she arrived. Her heart sank because new patients would no doubt mean that Mitch would be hanging around in the ICU for most of her shift.
For once she wasn’t in charge. But when she saw Amy come out of Jessica’s room, she instantly knew something was wrong.
“Is Jessica all right?” She hurried over.
Amy shook her head. “She’s worse. Barely responds to verbal commands. Her head is fine—we’ve already gone for a CT scan just to make sure. But she’s giving up.”
