Michael tried to position the pillow under her knees but from his seat in the chair the angle was difficult with out him looking right at her. When she bent her knees he saw the flash of lace but more intriguing was that the panties had ridden up slightly and showed just a bit of cheek where her bottom met her thigh. He had an almost irresistible urge to run his thumb nail along it to see if she would shiver. Damn, Dennison! It isn’t an apology if you turn into a lecher! He took a deep breath to clear his head and wheeled himself back to where she could see him. He handed her another pillow and told her to place it between her thighs. It would keep her legs from shaking. “How does that feel now?” he asked.
“Much better, thank you.” She found herself staring into his eyes. They were clear blue with a dark rim so they looked darker, almost navy. She found them fascinating but sad and guarded. She searched his face, high aristocratic forehead, aquiline nose, high cheek bones, sandy blond mixed with grey beard and mustache. He looked like a Renaissance hero in a modern suit, her musketeer. She smiled at the idea of that.
“Go ahead and put your arms over your head. Are you still comfortable? Do you need more pillows under your back?”
“yes, just one should be fine.” She hoped that he would touch her again but no, not this time.
“Okay, I am going to have them slide you into position in now. And perfect timing, your first aria is about to start. Concentrate on the music to help drown out the noise of the machine I will be right at the end of the table holding your hands.” Her eyes went wide as she slid into place.
“I’m right here Violetta. I won’t leave you.”
Violet swallowed hard as the table stopped moving and she was fully in the tube. She could feel her panic rising when she felt a warm hand hold hers she grasped at it with both hands and felt his other hand enclose hers. She could hear him talking to her through the speaker. Quietly he said “Should I tell you the story of your opera?” She squeezed his hand to say yes. She closed her eyes and felt herself relax as he began whispering “her opera”. She couldn’t believe she was in a hospital -having an awful test no less and she was indeed relaxed. Dr. Dennison was a miracle worker!
From his vantage point at the end of the table he looked down the length of her and it was killing him. He warned her that the magnets were going to start spinning and continued telling her the story. The fan to alleviate the feelings of claustrophobia must be cold because he saw her nipples harden under the thin cotton wrap. He stopped speaking for a minute lost in the thought of what would it feel like to have this woman under him. Have it be him that brought her nipples to peaks. Her chest rose and fell with her breathing. What would it be like to make her breath quicken, her heart pound, take her to the edge of arousal and watch her tumble over it. She squeezed his hand snapping him out of his daydream. He took a ragged breath and thought MARRIED! PATIENT! NEVER FOR YOU! trying to restore some sanity to his thoughts and he continued the telling of the opera.
They had all the images he needed by the middle of act two. Violetta and Alfredo happily ensconced in a country house and before the appearance of his interfering father. Michael was secretly relieved that he was able to leave the story on a happy note. Silly, considering she was more than familiar with the outcome but it pleased him anyway.
He escorted her to her dressing room and waited while she dressed.
When she came out Violet was surprised to find him waiting. She blushed to the roots of her hair and a shiver of pleasure ran through her. “I... You have no idea how much what you did helped. I never could have gotten through it otherwise.” she gave him a shy smile lighting her face like candles. Michael didn’t know you could be this happy and this miserable at the same time. If he hadn’t actually gone to medical school he would swear his heart was breaking into pieces in his chest. He forced himself to smile back.
“Yes, well...you’re almost done with the gauntlet of tests. I’ll see you back here for the surgery in three days.”
“What about the storm they’re predicting? It is supposed to be bad.”
Michael tried not to laugh but she looked exactly like six year old praying for a snow day. “You’ll need to be here by 5:30 AM. It isn’t supposed to get going till later in the day. At that point you’ll be stuck here whether it snows or not, I’m afraid.” She looked a little crestfallen. “If it is any consolation, I’ll be here too.” He wasn’t sure but he thought he saw her smile.
The Night Before Surgery
Michael woke gasping for air. His chest was pounding and his pulse raced. He glanced at the clock, 3:52 AM. He’d have to get up in a couple of minutes anyway but that was some damn dream. Odd, he wasn’t one of those people that ever remembered their dreams but this was so vivid. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a sex dream. He looked down at himself, disgusted. He'd been dreaming about Violet, doing things he wouldn't dare even if he could and despite free reign of his sexual fantasies, the best he could manage was a sort of half hard erection.
The reality killed even that. She was his patient. She was married. She was way out of his league. He might be handsome if he weren't surrounded by hardware but she was breathtaking. The kind of woman men felt lucky to stand near let alone touch. He didn't know why but he sensed that there was more to her than she let people see. The steel hidden in all that silk. He sensed it when they had first talked with the way she dismissed the pain she had felt. He saw it again when she had taunted him about his lack of apology.
He loved the fact she called him on it. Everyone was afraid of upsetting the cripple so they treated him like the broken man he felt like. She didn't. She expected him to act like a man and a decent one at that. The things he was doing in his dream were not the things a decent man did to a woman like that. In the real world she held all the cards, she would determine whether or not he could see her and how. In his dream he was the dominant one, telling her exactly what he was going to do to her. Not that it was ever going to happen in the real world. He needed to get going or he was going to be late for surgery.
Violet groaned when her alarm went off. She turned it off and hid under her pillow for a few more seconds but if Allyn had taught her anything growing up, sometimes you just needed to be there and in this case she needed to be at the hospital and be ready to have surgery. The car would be here in half an hour to get her and she wanted to wash her hair and braid it so it wouldn’t get in the way of the doctors.
She smiled. She imagined most of Dr. Dennison’s female patients end up with crushes on him. After all it wasn’t everyday a handsome, intelligent, caring man focused all of his attention on you. It was more than a little addictive. And his hands were so warm, weren’t doctors supposed to have cold hands? Okay, enough daydreaming about the handsome doctor, she needed to get to the hospital.
This would be so much easier if Allyn had been here but it couldn’t be helped. He had wanted to cancel his trip when the plans changed but the work was too important to just give up on something they had spent years working on. She wasn’t going to let the Indian government put off the mother and child welfare clinics just because she needed to get her back fixed. Allyn had promised that he would be there when she woke up and he was going to call and speak to Dennison before the surgery anyway.
The Morning of Surgery
Michael had been at the hospital for an hour already and it was only 6:00 AM. Violet’s surgery was going to last 6-8 hours. He needed to stop referring to her as Violet even in his head. Ms. Bellows, her name was Ms. Bellows and as far as he was concerned it wouldn’t ever be anything else. He’d eaten, changed into scrubs, gone through the case with the surgical residents who would be working with him. There was nothing to do but go speak to Ms. Bellows and her husband.
Michael was shocked when he entered the curtained off cubicle to find Violet sitting by herself. He wanted to put his arms around her she looked so miserable. “I don’t understand.” He blurted out “What could have possibly kept Mr. Bellows away when you were go
ing for surgery?
“Allyn had meetings that were unavoidable in India. I felt it was more important that he be there than holding my hand for the few minutes I’d be here before I am taken in. He said he would call you.”
“ I am still shocked that a man would leave his wife alone at a time like this.”
“Wife! Oh no, Allyn is my brother though he doesn’t look it. We had different mothers.” just then Michael’s pager went off.
“I am sorry I have to take this.” He was confused, thrilled but confused as he called the page operator and sure enough it was Allyn Bellows.
“Mr. Bellows, I have been given to understand you are in India. Yes, She explained that it was unavoidable. Of course, I will call the minute we are done with the surgery and again when she is awake in recovery. Do you have any questions for me? Um... Yes she had mentioned her fear of hospitals but she never went into detail as to why. I see, that must have been awful for her. Yes, I will do everything I can to make her comfortable while she is here. When are you due back? You may be delayed, the storm is expected to last a couple of days so Logan may be closed. I promise I will take very good care of her. I will talk to you soon, you can leave your number with my office. Good Bye.”
“That would have been Allyn. As usual right on time!”
Michael could barely hear what she was saying over the pounding in his heart. She wasn’t married! He wanted to do some god awful dance if he could have. Oh Christ! Now he was going to have to cut her open. His heart sank. Orthopedic surgery was a nasty brutal thing. To straighten her spine he was going to have to cut her hip open and chisel out a good size chunk of bone. Then he was going to have to cut open her back from well above her waist to the top of her ass. Then he was going to have to screw the bone into the spine itself with large Titanium screws that would be supplemented with tie rods for lack of a better term.
Oh God, now he understood the rules about doctors not treating family and loved ones in a way he had never really thought about. But that was absurd, it wasn’t as though he could be in love with Violet Bellows. They had only spoken a handful of times and one of those he’d been yelling at her and she at him. She was just very beautiful and that was what swayed his thoughts. Once she was draped for surgery she would look like every other patient. He would just have to do a better job for her than anyone else could.
The Hospital during the Nor’easter
Where were those screams coming from? Those weren’t pain, that sounded more like terror. He had been at the hospital since coming in for the Bellows surgery. That was almost thirty-six hours ago. This storm was supposedly going to last at least another two days. There was already almost three feet of snow on the ground. With the wind howling, drifts had made it impossible for the snowplows to get through some roads. Police were bringing people in since some of the ambulances were stuck. It was a nightmare. All surgeries were cancelled, except for life threatening conditions. He was stuck here but those screams had woken him from his sleep.
Where were they coming from? Finally he found the source. Oh, please no, he thought to himself, not his shy Violet.
He entered her room and her distress was palpable. Her eyes were wild with terror not just pain. He moved to her bed.
“Violet! Tell me what is wrong!
“The storm! We’ll be killed in the storm!” They were 15 floors up and here the wind was screaming at the windows, sounding more like a jet engine than a snow storm. Some fool had left her drapes open. He rolled to the window and closed the drapes. That helped decrease the noise and blocked out the visual effect of the storm. Both of these seemed to lessen her terror. He pulled out his phone and punched up the music app. In seconds he had found what he was looking for. “Violetta, Listen to your opera.” The overture of La Traviata began. He went back to her bed and lay the phone down on it. He took her hands in his. They were shaking and felt like ice.
“It hurts so much!” She was still terrified and in pain. Where was the damn button for the morphine pump. He searched in her blankets, finally finding it and repeatedly pressing it.
“There now that will help.” He was desperate to do more. Her hair had been braided back for the surgery though in her distress some of the curls had come free. He smoothed her forehead and moved the hair out of her face. She still seemed to be looking at him without seeing. “Should I tell you the story of your opera.” She blinked in response, which he took as a yes. He whispered in her ear. “Violetta was the most beautiful woman of her age. No man could look at her and not want her.” Violet closed her eyes at his words and the soft whispers at her ear. The morphine helped to ease the pain and the story gave her something to focus on. Her handsome doctor was holding her hand. She could feel his warm breath on her fingers. She turned her face to his and he smiled. She was coming back to herself. Without thinking he started kissing her fingers. If this was the reward for enduring the pain she would take it. The music was so beautiful, his words in her ear were like poetry. The morphine dulled the pain but did not entirely remove it. It did lower her inhibitions enough to ask “Kiss me.” Michael stopped the story and looked into her eyes.
Had she read his mind, but then he wanted to do much more than kiss her. While he had been whispering the opera in her ear he was fixated on the sliver of her creamy white shoulder that the johnny coat left exposed. He desperately want to taste her plump, rosy lips, slide his tongue past them to hers, explore the hard edges of her teeth. No, it would not be right! She was his patient. She was in the grip of pain and on drugs that lessen one’s grip on reality. But, but... That slice of shoulder tantalized him. He inched forward, barely moving. All he had to do was drop his head and brush his lips just there at the edge of the gown. His body seemed to have a will of its own and without thought did exactly that.
Violet saw his eyes close. He craned his neck slightly and brushed his lips across her shoulder. She closed her eyes and warmth flooded her body, a better balm for her pain than any drug. If this slight touch from his lips could melt her what would real passion from him feel like. Her breath caught in her throat like a sob. She let her body melt into his touch, letting the thrill of it drive the fear and the pain away. Then she moaned and he broke the contact. The pain came flooding back worse than before.
“No!, don’t stop, it is the only thing that helps.” she cried, her eyes wild with torment.
“It is... It's not right. You are my patient. I must respect the bounds of propriety.” He felt miserable saying it.
“I don’t care... is there somewhere you can kiss me? Please! I need to lose myself in something beautiful, other than all this pain.” Her voice was starting to keen like the wind outside. Michael didn’t care if they took his license. He would do anything to bring her some relief. He looked at her hand in his. Turned it as if just realizing that he was holding such an exquisite object. He placed one of the fingertips against his lips. She stilled and seemed to stop breathing, watching him with wide eyed fascination. He kissed each fingertip in turn and then turned her hand palm up. Michael whispered to her, his mother used to do this to soothe him as a child and began to lightly caress her palm with one of his fingers. Drawing them down the center made her warm. She looked at him with such, devotion but that didn’t make any sense. It didn’t matter to him right now. All he knew was he would stay here till she made it through the storm.
Violet closed her eyes and willed her breath to slow. His light tracings on her palm were sending waves of pleasure through her body, warm liquid relief. The tracing stopped but he still held her hand, she would scream if he let go. He must think she is asleep. This feeling was the opposite of sleep, which brought peace. In this state every nerve ending was on edge, all her senses focused on one spot. Through her lashes she watched him bend his head to her palm, with the slightest touch he kissed it. When she didn’t stir, he kissed more deeply. She moaned at this intimate gesture. He wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him. He pulled back from her hand and she continu
ed to feign sleep. Once he was convinced that she had not woken he continued the kisses on her palm. Violet thought she would burst from desire but she did not want to scare her dear sad doctor. Her breath deepened and she curled her fingers just slightly to caress his face while he kissed her palm. The fine points of his beard tantalizing her fingertips. She wanted more than him just kissing her hand. Slowly, so slowly he almost didn’t notice the movement she drew her hand to her collar bone. When it got there he stopped the kisses. She could feel his eyes on her.
“Are you my shy Violet or Violetta right now?” he whispered. She felt her mouth purse and the corners curl in the barest of smiles. She could be anything for him. She could feel the warmth of his breath before his lips touched hers but when they did Violet felt bathed in light. She allowed herself the smallest of peeks to see if the wonderful feeling really was coming from him. She imagined that if sleeping beauty were real this is what she would have felt like. This was maddening, how could she kiss him back if she were supposed to be asleep but if she “woke up” now he would bolt, she was sure of it. She fought to keep her breathing deep and even when she wanted to pant. Eventually she let her jaw go slack just a little. Would he try to deepen the kiss, please! her mind screamed. The kiss stopped. She wanted to cry and missed the taste of him already. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and opened her eyes. There not 3 inches from her face was Dr. Dennison. Her eyes fluttered in shock that she hoped he would read as waking up.
His Lady Godiva (Lovers and Other Strangers) Page 2
