by Madison Faye
The first man to make me come like that.
The first man to make my heart and my body and every single part of me ache for more.
I sink into my office chair, blinking in disbelief and trying to slow my racing pulse. I mean what was that? Besides my own temporary insanity, besides me having my first official “hookup” ever, as in sleeping with a guy who I’ve literally just met. Besides the fact that he’s, well, who he is?
I mean what was I even thinking? Or was I at all? Was it just that after thinking all the time, and maybe too much, for my entire life, that I finally didn’t? Or is that he does that to me—is it that Jack makes my over-active, insane brain just chill out enough to let my heart take over?
Or, maybe it’s just that I’ve been working too hard and this is me losing my fucking mind.
I swallow, still trembling from the adrenaline and the orgasms I’ve just had. I wake up my computer and type in the password, and before I know it, I’ve got a browser open and I’m navigating to the website for the Just Cause organization. I chew on my lip as I re-read their mission statement, my eyes darting over the pictures of field hospitals and refugee centers.
I mean, was he serious? Is the mob hitman, because that’s certainly what he is, really looking to run across the world to go help orphans and refugees? Or was that just bullshit to get into my pants, or worse, bullshit to get into my pants in order to get me to help him get away?
I frown, feeling sick at the thought. But no. I know what just happened was insane, and I know I don’t even know him, but I do know that the idea of him just using me doesn’t check out. Not with what happened between us. Not with the way he looked right into me like no one else ever has.
I look at more of the Just Cause website before I sink back in my chair in my tiny little office and look around. This really is it for me here. Yes, I love my job, and I love the work I do, but this hospital really is an old boys club. There’s no promotion for me here, and I know in my heart I’ll spend my career here working ER trauma for drunk driving crashes, stupid college kids getting hurt, or the odd gang-violence.
And don’t get me wrong, again, helping people is why I became a doctor. But, there’s more in the world I could help with, and I know it. My eyes look over at the computer screen again and the images I’ve been looking at, and I sigh before I glance at the clock.
Fuck, I’ve been gone way too long.
I jolt up from my seat and dash from my office back to the ER. I run around a corner before suddenly, I almost go crashing right into a guy. With a gasp, I jump back, steadying myself and bringing a hand up to my heart.
“Whoa, sorry, miss—”
The older man with the grizzled grey stubble frowns. “Sorry, Doctor Linetti?”
I arch a brow. “Yes?”
He clears his throat and pulls something out of his jacket pocket.
“Dr. Linetti, I’m Detective Hall. I was actually hoping to speak with you.”
“Oh?”
I swallow, trying to look as surprised as possible even though I think I know damn well what he’s looking to talk to me about. Or who.
“Detective, I actually can’t talk right now, I’m on rounds.” It’s true, but I also do not want to sit here lying to a cop. Because deep down, I know I would. I know he’d ask me questions about Jack, and I know damn well the truth isn’t what he’d get from me. I don’t know if that makes me crazy or stupid or worse, but I swallow it back as I look up at him.
He frowns. “Right, well, when would be a good time? I just need a few minutes of your time to ask you some questions about a patient of yours.”
I smile. “Detective, I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss anything about any of my patients—”
“But you can if I roll in here with a warrant, right?”
I frown and swallow thickly. “I’m sorry, what is this about, Detective Hall?”
He smiles. “The man you treated earlier, Jack Corbin?”
I frown, and he sighs heavily.
“The guy handcuffed to the damn bed, doctor. Ring any bells?”
“Oh, right, yeah,” I say distractedly.
Just then, mercifully, my pager goes off.
“I’m sorry, detective, I really can’t talk now. Perhaps later?”
“I’ll be around, Dr Linetti,” he grunts with a gruff smile. “I’ll speak to you later.”
“Yep,” I say dismissively, already turning and walking away from the detective.
“Oh, and Dr. Linette?”
I sigh and turn again. “Yes?”
Detective Hall frowns.
“Your patient, Mr. Corbin. He’s extremely dangerous. I’m not trying to frighten you, but the FBI is getting involved on this one too due to his mob connections. He’s considered a huge flight risk, not to mention the high-level assassination risk we’re putting on him.”
I frown. “You think he’s trying to assassinate someone?”
Detective Hall shakes his head. “No, Doctor. I mean someone, or probably several someones, want him dead. The man turned his back on the mob, as far as we hear from our inside sources, which puts him at a huge risk, even here in this hospital.”
My blood chills, my stomach knotting as I glance back down the hall towards the recovery wing where Jack is. That is, unless he’s already gone. The thought has me souring inside, my eyes dropping along with my heart at the thought of him being gone. But I quickly shake it away, the fear of him leaving slowly being replaced by the fear of this harm Detective Hall says the mob wants to inflict on him.
“Thank you, detective,” I smile thinly. “I’ll speak to you later.”
I turn and walk calmly away, but the second I’m through the double doors to the recovery wing, I’m running. My pulse hammers as I race down the hall and around the corner, down another shorter, empty hallway to the far room where Jack is. I’m sure he’s fine, and I know this is just weird paranoia brought on my Detective Hall’s ominous words. But I just need to check—
I barge through the half open door to Jack’s room, and my whole world freezes. My eyes see him first, lying in his hospital, his face red and his muscles straining as he gasps for air. But then, my eyes refocus, and I take in the two men standing above him, both holding him down and the bigger of the two with a hand around Jack’s neck.
You hear stories of mothers lifting cars off of their kids after an accident—people accomplishing insane feats of strength and self-defense they’d never ever be able to pull off in a normal situation. Well, that’s what happens to me. I turn without even thinking, and I grab the fire extinguisher off the holder on the wall. I whirl, lunge, and before I know it, I’ve hauled the heavy metal extinguisher over my shoulder and brought it crashing down on the back of the head of the big guy with his back to me.
He grunts and crumples, his hand falling away from Jack’s throat. Jack gasps a ragged breath as I raise the extinguisher again and throw it as hard as I can across the bed at the second guy. He roars as it smashes into his nose, breaking it. But then Jack grunts, snatching up the extinguisher with one hand and slamming it hard into the side of the guy’s head.
He too, crumbles, across the hospital bed and Jack’s legs, and then the room is silent except for my panting breath, my racing heart, and Jack’s coughs.
I blink, shaking myself out of the daze and suddenly realizing what I’ve just done.
“Oh my God,” I whisper hoarsely.
“So much for do no harm, huh?”
I blink, my face ghostly white as I look up at Jack. But he smiles, his eyes hard as beckons me, and I sink into him as he circles his big arms around me. I shiver in his embrace, pulling close to him as I force myself to breathe through the adrenaline shakes.
“Hey, hey,” he says gently, stroking my back. “You did what you had to do, and I’d be dead if you hadn’t done it, Aria,” he growls quietly.
“Are they…”
I swallow, shivering and pulling away to squat down and take the first guy
’s pulse.
“He’s alive,” I whisper hoarsely.
Jack reaches for the second one laying across his legs and nods as he takes a pulse. “Not him either. They’re gonna wish they were when they wake up though. Hang on.”
He grabs a piece of wire I haven’t noticed from the table next to his hospital, and with one deft motion, he’s unclipped the ring of the handcuffs that’s attached to the hospital bed railing. He’s still shirtless, his muscles rippling as he slips from the bed, shoves the handcuffs in the pocket of his scrubs and grabs the wrists of the two guys. I watch, dumfounded, as he drags them to the door, glances outside, and then pulls them out.
“Wait, what are you doing!” I hiss.
I rush out after him to see Jack pulling the two guys into an empty elevator. He loops the handcuffs through a handrail inside and clips both of their wrists before he reaches into their back pockets and pulls out their wallets. I frown as I see him take out their ID’s and drop them on the two guys’ laps.
“What… what are you doing?”
“Sending a message,” he growls. “But also doing some good.”
He jams the button for the garage, which also houses the main offices of the hospital security and the on-site police unit, and then steps out as the doors close.
“A message?”
Jack smiles grimly. “The message is for Victor Lombardo. It says, I could have killed these two, but I didn’t. Instead, I’m sending them down to hospital security, who’ll see those IDs, run their names, and spot the laundry list of shit they’re both wanted for.”
He grins and shrugs.
“Told you I’m gonna be a whole new me.”
I’m still shaking and panting a little from what’s just happened, and he can spot it. He growls as he scoops me into his arms, and I gasp, sinking into him. He’s so warm, and he feels like home. Not to mention, just the feel and smell of him bring back everything that happened between us earlier, which lights a fire inside of me and has the heat pooling between my thighs.
“I wish you hadn’t have done that,” he whispers darkly.
“What, and let them kill you?” I spit back.
“Well, now you’re involved.”
I pull away and look up into his eyes.
“I think I already was,” I whisper quietly.
He growls and leans down, and suddenly I’m moaning as he kisses me slow and deep, taking my breath away.
“So I’m in this now, like it or not,” I say defiantly, and he grins.
“Yes, you are, baby girl.”
“So,” I swallow. “When would you—when would we leave?”
His lips curl into a small smile, his eyes burning into mine.
“To Vietnam?”
I nod.
“Now.”
I blink. “Now? Right now?”
Jack nods, and I shiver.
“You’d have to leave everything here behind though—”
“I don’t have anything here,” I say quietly.
“Aria—”
“I’m sure,” I say fiercely, looking into his eyes. “I’m sure.”
He growls and pulls me close as he leans in to kiss me again.
“So am I,” he purrs as I melt into him again. I kiss him deeply, gasping at the intensity in his lips before I pull back, blushing.
“But I need ten minutes.”
He nods, glancing around the empty hall. “Getting out of here is going to get tricky. There’s no way these two came alone, there’ll be more of Victor’s guys downstairs probably. And when I was faking being asleep earlier, a detective stuck his head in here looking for me.”
“Detective Hall,” I mutter. “He found me too.”
Jack swears. “Him? Shit. He’s a goddamn bloodhound.” He swears again. “Getting out of here is not going to be easy. Not with all of those pricks looking for me.”
I look down, when suddenly, a smile spreads over my face, and I look back up into his frowning face.
“What?”
I grin. “I have an idea.”
Chapter Eight
Aria
It’s actually about half an hour later when I finally make my way back into the waiting area. I’ve done all I can, and the plans are in place now that can’t be undone. Courtney is taking over my rounds for the rest of my shift, with me being vague about some stomach cramps. I’ve gone into the system and reassigned my patients to other extremely competent doctors, using the administrative password the ER shift supervisor accidentally saved on my computer when his was down.
Leaving without saying goodbye isn’t really going to be a problem—I mean it’s not like I’ve got many friends who are more than just coworkers. I feel bad about Courtney, because we’re at least fairly friendly towards each other even if we’re not best friends or anything. But I know when things are settled, I’ll find a way to reach out and apologize for just disappearing.
But I know I have to. I know in my heart that no matter how completely fucking insane it feels like to walk away from my job, my life, my career, and all the rest of it, it’s what I need to do. I won’t lie, it’s got a lot to do with the man who’s somehow stolen my heart out of nowhere. Like, a lot. But it’s not all Jack, it’s me, too. I’m leaving because for the first time, I’m jumping into the deep end and seeing where life takes me.
I walk into the waiting area, and instantly, Detective Hall is out of his seat and marching right over.
“Dr. Linetti—”
“Detective Hall, I just wanted to give you my official report on Mr. Corbin.”
I pass him my notes in a filing folder, and he yanks it open. His eyes scan the page before they darken and scowl just like I knew they would. He hisses under his breath before he yanks his gaze up from the page to glare at me.
“Dr. Linetti, pardon my saying it, but this is bullshit!”
I feign surprise. “Excuse me?”
“This is bullshit!” he barks again, drawing the concerned looks of other patients, doctors, and nurses in the waiting area.
“Detective Hall—”
“Like this part, right here?” He grunts, jabbing a finger onto the page. “Dr. Linetti, he came here in that car! It’s still fucking outside against that light post with crime scene tape all over it!”
I shrug. “Detective, he was lying next to it when the orderlies found him. I can’t guarantee he drove it. Until we assess the full composite of his injuries, for all we know, some of them may have been inflicted by that car.”
His face goes dark red. “Well who the fuck do you suppose the driver is, then!”
I shrug. “I’m not a detective, I’m a doctor.”
Detective Hall growls deeply.
“Miss Linetti—”
“Doctor,” I spit back.
He sighs heavily, his brow furrowing.
“Doctor Linetti, this is….” He shakes his head and looks at the report again. “And this shit! Are you kidding me? Self fucking inflicted wounds?” He roars, looking up at me furiously. “You can’t be fucking serious!”
I shrug, looking as neutral as I can, which is hard knowing that I’m giving misleading and downright incorrect medical reports to a police detective.
“He does seem like a depressed guy, detective.”
Detective Hall looks like he’s about to have a brain aneurism.
“Self-inflicted? To the fucking torso and shoulder?”
“I don’t know the details of his initial actions, I just patched him up after the fact, Mr. Hall. But he describes it as self-harm.”
“This is bullshit,” Detective Hall seethes. “And you fucking know it.”
I glare right back at him, my mouth tight.
“Anything else, detective?” I hiss darkly.
“Goddamn right,” he growls. “I want to see him.”
“He’s resting, he tore stitches,”
“Fuck that I don’t care.”
“And I’m imposing a doctor’s restriction,” I growl. “He needs the
night to rest.”
“The night?” Detective Hall hisses.
“The night.”
He snarls. “What time in the morning then?”
I smile. “Eight?”
“I’ll be here at seven,” he growls. “And I want to see him. Alone. That’s not a request, Doctor Linetti. Tomorrow I’ll be here with a court order. Understand?”
“Perfectly,” I smile thinly. “Will there be anything else, Detective?”
I’m buzzing inside, jumping around and on the verge of losing every single ounce of my cool. But mercifully, he doesn’t push back anymore.
“I’ll see you at seven, doctor,” Detective Hall grunts, turning and storming out through the sliding doors into the parking lot.
I let my breath out in a whoosh, turn, and I run. I rush through the ER intake, downstairs to the lower-level cafeteria. My adrenaline is roaring through me, but when I see the full body burn victim in the wheelchair trying to push Jell-O through the slit where his lips are, I snort a laugh. An orderly whirls and gives me a horrified and scandalized look, but I just shrug it off as I walk over to the burn patient.
“Enjoying yourself?”
“Blue raspberry sucks,” Jack mutters through the gauze.
I giggle quietly. “The lime is better, but that’s not until Wednesday.”
“Afraid I can’t make it for lime Jell-O day, then,” he grunts as he turns to wink at me through the eye holes of his hastily wrapped bandages. “But how about on Wednesday, we eat coconuts off the tree instead?”
“Deal.”
Chapter Nine
Jack
She pushes me out through a side door, and we book it for the parking garage. Up one level, we get to her car, and I slide in as she starts the engine. I turn and look at this woman who I barely know, and yet know better than anyone I’ve ever met—this woman who’s a stranger and yet the love of my life.
The woman who’s going to be my future, and my everything.