Saving Forever - Part 3 (4 page)

She wanted to grab the magazine beside her on the table and wallop his thick head with it.

“What’s a huge opportunity?” Elijah called from the doorway. He wore blue scrubs that made his eyes bright and a Santa hat attached on a string.

Dr. Thompson stood and clasped him on the shoulder. “Surgery go well?”

“Fantastic,” Elijah replied. His eyes flitted over to Charity.

She smiled at him in relief. Maybe her father would drop the conversation now that Elijah was here.

“I just got Charity in with Dr. Cheeves.” The way he said it, you’d have thought he found the cure to the common cold.

“Really?”

“I know! And Charity’s trying to tell me she’s not interested.”

So much for dropping the conversation. “Dad. I love my job. I appreciate you speaking to… to Dr. Cheeves, but you should have asked me first.” There, she said it and had remained calm.

“Fine. I’m asking you now. I got you back on track to become an MD.”

She inhaled and forced the air out through her nose. So much for remaining calm. Did the man have no ears? “I can’t just up and quit my job. I have a contract with them.” She knew it wasn’t the right thing to say. The man needed it spelled out for him.

“Atlanta, right?” Her Dad’s thumb tapped against his chin. “Dr. Parker! I’ll call him and explain.”

“No you won’t!” She looked at Elijah for some kind of support. He just shrugged and grinned at her. Obviously enjoying this special family Christmas moment. “I am done with med school. D-O-N-E. Done! I don’t want to be a doctor! Not now. NOT EVER!” She stomped her heeled boot, trying to emphasize her point. How come the only way he understood her was if she acted like a child?

Her father blinked in surprise.

The intercom clicked on and a female voice requested Dr. Thompson’s presence in the OR.

Saved by the bloody bell!

“I need to go. We’ll talk about this later.” He hugged her awkwardly and grabbed a wrap before heading out the door.

Charity flopped down on the couch and rubbed her temple. “That man…” she shook a finger in the direction her father had left, “is going to be the death of me.”

Elijah walked over to the cart and looked through the containers. “He is pretty ballsy, but you have to admit, that was a pretty nice move, trying to get you back into med school.”

“He’s Doctor Scott Thompson. The man can move mountains with his medical connections and natural ability. He doesn’t want me in school, he wants his name back in the system.”

“Maybe he thinks you’re better than he is.”

She scoffed. “I highly doubt it.”

Elijah began piling food on a plate. “He told me a couple of weeks ago how good you were. Amazingly steady hands with a natural instinct to fix things.”

Her Dad had actually said that? “You a tad hungry?”

Elijah’s plate looked ready to snap from the weight of food on it. “I’m starving! Seems I’ve built up quite the appetite.”

She scooted over so he could sit beside her. “Really? What did you do?”

“A gorgeous blonde.” He winked and bit into his chicken salad sandwich. “A couple of times actually.”

She grinned and shook her head. “You’re terrible.”

“That’s not what you said last night.”

She laughed. “Stop it. What if someone hears you?” Or worse, her father walked back into the room?

“I don’t really care.” He started on a wrap. “This food is delicious, by the way! It really has been a crazy nonstop morning.” The hospital intercom paged Elijah for a code blue. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop.” He stood and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll give you a shout later?”

She nodded. “Sounds good.” What would she do for the next few hours? Head back to the hotel and sleep? “I’ll keep the cooler in here if you want more. There’s still loads left.”

He stuffed his mouth full of the pasta salad and grabbed another wrap as he headed for the door.

Charity cleared the table and tossed the used plates in the garbage. She put the food back in the cooler. She wiped the cart and brought it back down the hall to return it. A nurse with long blonde hair stood with her back to Charity, working on an iPad.

“Excuse me,” Charity said. “I just wanted to return this. I borrowed it earlier.”

“I’ll be with you in a moment.”

When the nurse turned around, Charity gasped.

Chapter 5

The nurse smirked at Charity. “I know who you are.”

Charity felt her eyes narrow as she stared at the girl. She had colored her hair blonde since the last time they had met in the elevator, or the time before when Charity had kissed Elijah to save him from her. She smiled at the nurse. “I never got the chance to thank you. If it hadn’t been for you, Dr. Bennet and I would never have gotten together.”
Take that, crazy girl!

The smirk disappeared, and a fake look of shock crossed her face. “I didn’t know you two were still together. Elijah told me he was single. Dr. Thompson saw…” the girl let her voice trail off, waiting for Charity to take the bait.

“
Chief
Thompson, Dr. Bennet and I are clear on everything. Game’s over, sweetie.” Charity pushed the cart through the door. “Have a nice Christmas.”

The girl’s comment as Charity walked away was definitely not festive.

Charity left the hospital and headed back to her hotel. She headed down to the fitness room and worked out for an hour. When she got back to her room she showered and changed into a tank top and jogging pants. She noticed her phone flashing. She had missed a call from her father. She checked her voicemail.

“Hi Charity. It’s nearly four. I don’t know if you are at the house. I tried calling but no one picked up and I wasn’t sure if you would pick up the phone. We just received a heads up that there’s been a bus crash and they are sending us the emerg. I won’t be back for dinner. Neither will Elijah. I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble. I’m… I’m sorry.” The phone clicked suddenly as if he was embarrassed for apologizing.

She sent him a text back to let him know she heard the message and it was no problem and she had left food in the cooler for him and Elijah.

Another message popped up on her screen after she sent the one to her father. It was Elijah.

So Sorry. Bus crash and won’t be getting out of here for a long time. New shift is coming in and we are short staffed.

She replied:
NP. Come by after if you want. Hope the crash isn’t too bad.

Outside, snow fell in heavy flakes that sparkled in the dark with the help of the hotel’s parking lights. The roads looked slushy and a big mess. The snowplow trucks probably couldn’t keep up with the amount of snow coming down. Charity shivered and turned the heat up a bit higher in the room. She was glad she didn’t need to be outside tonight. Hopefully her Dad and Elijah would be careful later, or even just stay at the hospital if they were too tired to drive.

Her phone began dancing and buzzing against the desktop.

Julie!
“Hello.”

“Merry Christmas, sweetie!”

Charity smiled. “Merry Christmas to you too!”

“How’s the weather in Atlanta? It’s snowing to beat the banshee here.”

“I know. I’m in New York.”

Julie screamed. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have had you over.”

“I figured you were working. I wasn’t planning on coming but I need to meet with the building guy tomorrow morning for my Dad’s gala and the only available flight was yesterday.”

“So you’ve been stuck in a hotel all day?”

Charity laughed. Only her friend would worry more about her than she did herself. “Actually I had dinner with my Dad and Elijah last night.”

“Thompson tradition?” Julie was referring to Charity’s mother’s fondue.

“A slightly modified version, but yes.”

Julie whistled. “I thought you were on the rocky road with both of them.”

“I was. I am. I…” She blew out an exasperated breath. “You got ten minutes?”

“I have all the time you need. I’ve a feeling it’s going to take longer than ten and I’m dying to know what happened.”

Charity dropped down on the bed and got comfortable; this was going to take a while. “You want the good news or the bad?”

“Oh no. I’m not sure. Wait! Don’t start anything. Let me grab a glass of wine. I’d drive over to you – are you at your hotel? Or…” She giggled and then whispered, “Or someone else’s place?”

“Have you been drinking?”

Julie giggled again. “It’s Christmas and I’m off work today and tomorrow. Simon and I visited his folks, then mine and now we are relaxing. They say the storm’s supposed to continue through most of the night. Hold on a sec.” A cork popping sounded and a moment later she picked the phone back up. “Okay, I’m ready. Even sitting by the fire. So tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

“I was in my Dad’s office at the hospital and offered to make dinner. I don’t know why, but I did. Dad left and the next thing I know, he’s back with Elijah and telling me that Elijah’s coming to dinner as well.”

“Did Elijah know you were there?”

“I don’t think so. He looked surprised and ticked at the same time.”
But he still looked hot.
“But he agreed to come. Probably because of my father.” She wished she had a glass of wine now. A bottle of water just didn’t feel the same. “I went shopping yesterday morning and picked up stuff from the butcher. He talked me into this great little gourmet set that’s like a fondue but without having to deep fry stuff. Anyways, I also did a bit of clothes shopping and then headed over to my Dad’s place. Got everything ready, and we ate there.” She stopped talking, waiting to see if Julie would get mad at her for stalling. She didn’t have to wait long.

“So what happened? Elijah and you made up, right?”

“First my Dad and I had a fight.”

“Oh no.”

“We had a doozy. Threw everything on the table while Elijah was there. Then he left. It was pretty awful.” She filled Julie in on the argument and that they actually made amends. “Then, just when I think we are actually going to be on comfortable speaking terms, Elijah tells him that he’s been seeing me!”

“No!”

“Oh yeah. Dad blows a gasket. Apparently he walked in on Elijah and that crazy nurse a couple of weeks ago.”

“What?!” Julie pulled the phone away from her mouth and called out to her husband. “Simon, did you know Elijah’s been hooking up with the red-headed nurse?”

“Wait, Juls. He isn’t. The nurse set Elijah up. She must have figured out I’m the chief’s daughter. She’s a work of art. I saw her today and she dyed her hair blonde.”

“Like your hair?”

“Maybe.” Charity giggled. “Who knows? Anyways, that whole thing’s all cleared up and then I had to drive Elijah home.”

“
Had
to drive him home?”

“My father actually asked me to. Hard to believe, but I couldn’t disappoint the man.”

“Whatever. You just wanted to bone the hot guy.”

Charity laughed. “How does a woman go about boning? And what year are you from? The eighties?”

“The wine I’m drinking is. So did you bring him home? Did you stay?”

Charity pictured herself and Elijah in his living room. “I stayed.” She pulled the phone away from her ear when Julie screamed again.

“Sweet!! Is he as hot in bed as he looks?” Male laughter echoed in the background of the phone. “Ignore Simon. He’s laughing at me, but he’s dying to know the answer as well.”

“Simon and Elijah are buddies. I’m pretty sure Simon and Elijah have talked.”

“Not about you two. Simon’s asked general stuff but he hasn’t squealed on anything between you guys. And trust me, I tried to get Simon to find out what happened when Elijah flew down to surprise you. I’m not getting off this phone until you tell me. I will harass you for days, weeks, months! You know how persistent I can be.”

“Fine! We had a very good time. Nobody left disappointed.”
That’s all I’m telling you!

“Ah! You’re a bugger! Do you think it’s serious?”

Now that was the million-dollar question. “I don’t know. I think it could be.” She suddenly wanted to change the subject, as if talking about their relationship would jinx it. She wasn’t superstitious, but still… “I brought my Dad and Elijah lunch at the hospital today. However, apparently Happy Daddy turned back into the Grinch.”

“Your dad is not the Grinch.”

“The guy basically enrolled me back into med school to restart my residence here in New York!”

“Noooo!” Julie took a sip of her wine. “Are you going to do it?”

“Really? Whose side are you on?”

“Yours. Come on, you know you’d be an awesome doctor.”

“Has he been talking to you? Juls, I love my job. I’m not going back to med school.”

“I know. It’d just be nice to have you back in New York.”

It had been nice seeing Julie the past few months. “I’m going to be here more til the gala. We’ll plan something the next time I’m back.”

“When do you fly to Atlanta?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Next time you’re here let’s go out.”

“Deal.” They chatted a bit longer and then said their goodbyes.

Charity got up and showered and found Elijah’s T-shirt. She slipped it back on and sniffed the collar. She could smell his cologne through the fabric. She settled back on the bed with her laptop. The prep for the Valentine’s Auction needed to be done before she met with Malcolm. He had emailed a short while ago to wish her a Happy Christmas and confirm things for Friday.  Yawning, she leaned against the bed frame and went over her notes for tomorrow’s meeting in town. Hopefully the weather would be better, or at least the roads, when she headed out to the building where the gala would be. Then again if it stormed all day tomorrow, she would be forced to stay here and hang out with Elijah. That wouldn’t be so terrible.

Her phone buzzed. She smiled when she checked it.
Elijah’s ears must be burning
. It was from him.

Weather sucks. Just finishing my shift. What are you up to? BTW sandwiches were awesome again.

She texted him back:
I’m just chillin’ at the hotel. Come by if you want. It’s closer to sleep here than drive to your place (safer too).
A pleasant tingling circled deep in her groin at the thought of what they would do before falling asleep.

Hell yeah. On my way now.

His blatant statement made her laugh. She replied and told him to drive safely and then jumped out of the bed to check her hair in the bathroom. It had gone curly. She wouldn’t have time to straighten it so she pinned the sides away from her face. Digging through her makeup bag, she found strawberry-daiquiri lip gloss Julie had bought for her and applied it. Staring at the mirror, she decided to find something else to wear. She planned on keeping Elijah’s T-shirt, but it and a pair of panties might look more comfortable than sexy.

She dug through her clothes.
Arrrgghh
! Why hadn’t she packed anything sexy? Workout clothes, business stuff, and the dress she had bought yesterday. Loaded with everything but the good stuff – not even a matching pair of underwear and bra! She pulled the shirt off and put on her pink leopard-pattern bra. Slipping on the hospital scrub pants, she went through her case one more time.

A rap on the door put her in a panic. Clothes lay sprawled all over the bed and on the floor. She grabbed what she could and stuffed it into the suitcase. She dropped down on the ground trying to find it all. Another knock sounded, a little louder. “Coming,” she called out and hurried to the door. She peered through the peek hole and opened it. “Hiya.” She forced her breath to sound normal even though her heart pumped faster, wanting more oxygen.

Melting snowflakes clung to Elijah’s hair and shoulders. His tired face broke into an appreciative smile as his eyes ran from her face down and slowly back up again.

“Oh shoot!” She jumped behind the door. She’d forgotten to put a top on and had opened the door wearing just her bra and Elijah’s hospital pants.

Elijah followed her in and shook his head so water from the snow fell on her. She squealed from the cold and held her hands up to deflect it. “I recall the last time I came to your hotel room you were scantily clad then too. I could definitely get used to it.” He stripped his jacket off and hung it on a hook. He leaned in and pressed his body against hers.

His cool lips crushed hungrily into her. His hand moved to her face and began stroking her, his thumb running along her chin. “I thought about you all day. I can’t get you out of my head.” His hands trailed down the straps of her bra and lightly traced the skin trying to burst above it.

Her eyes closed from the pleasure his touch created. She wanted to lie on the bed and watch him come apart above her, knowing she had done it to him. He could do the same to her again and again. And again.

His mouth left hers as a pair of fingers gently tugged her bra straps down over her shoulders.

“I can take this off,” she whispered as she started to reach behind her back.

“Keep it on… for now.” He kissed her shoulder and brought his mouth down to the curve of her breast. “It’s very sexy. I like the pink against your skin.”

She sucked her breath in from the tremors his touch sent rippling inside of her.

He pulled a part of her bra down to expose her and when he sucked a nipple into his mouth, wetness warmed between her legs.