She fell asleep again, only this time her sleep was dreamless.
When she woke up next she was feeling ravenous. A quick glance at the clock showed she’d slept soundly for about four hours.
Deciding to take a risk because she was over lying in bed, she got up again and padded into the bathroom. Maybe a shower would make her feel better.
Stripping off her nightgown, she stepped under the spray. It was like being reborn again. The water refreshed and revitalized her as it washed away the remnants of the past morning.
She flicked off the water and dried herself. She already could tell that she felt a hundred percent for the first time since she woke up.
Sophie decided to test something — each time she’d thought about Alex and where their relationship was heading, nausea overtook her and she was sick. As she changed into some yoga pants and a sweater, she emptied her mind of everything but Alex. His words from last night and the words he spoke to her on the phone filled her mind.
Her stomach stayed quiet and still.
She laughed at the absurdity of her theory. Alex hadn’t made her sick, a virus had — but at least her stomach seemed to have settled down.
Twinges of hunger pierced her senses and she made herself some toast. She took it to the couch and picked up the television remote. She would indulge herself with daytime television that had no meaning and no sense — just what she needed.
Fortunately, the toast stayed down and so did her second attempt at an electrolyte drink. She whiled away the afternoon with trashy television and little cat naps.
When the knock at the door came at six in the evening, Sophie knew exactly who it would be.
“I told you I’d be fine,” she said good-naturedly when she saw Alex leaning with one arm resting on the wall beside her door.
He straightened and cast a “doctor’s” eye over her, taking in her casual dress, disheveled hair, and, she was sure, a still pale face. She tried not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze. Finally she had enough.
“Are you done, because I’m getting pretty tired of standing with the door open.”
“Sorry,” he gave a small smile that melted her heart. “Hi Sophia.”
He went to make a move toward her but she held up her hand to ward him off. “Alex, I’m fine, seriously, and I’m probably still contagious. I don’t want to risk you getting this bug. We don’t need you being sick as well.”
She could see the indecision on his face. It was clear to her that he wanted to come in but if she was truthful, she did want to be alone. She needed to tell him that.
Sophie took a little step forward and touched his arm briefly. “Alex, I really appreciate your concern but I just want to be alone. I haven’t been sick again since this morning so I’m obviously on the mend.”
His answer was to reach out and pull her in for a hug. He held her close and rubbed his hand up and down her back. It took all of Sophie’s determination not to succumb to his hold. She stayed pliant for a few seconds and then straightened up and pulled away.
“I don’t want to see you at the hospital tomorrow,” he ordered. “I’ll let admin know you won’t be in.”
He reached into his pocket and extracted a card. “Here’s my home and cell number.” His warm hand engulfed hers as he pressed the card into her palm. “Use it any time, for any reason. Promise me you’ll use it, Sophie.”
“I promise,” she said as she placed the card on her entry table. “Thanks for stopping by, Alex.”
Tingles raced up and down her spine as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Goodnight, Sophie, sleep well.”
Sophie stood at the door and watched as he made his way down the hallway, her heart aching for her to call out to him, to invite him back. He must have sensed her looking at him because before he stepped into the elevator he turned. They communicated silently through looks. She told him how much she wanted him to stay but needed alone time. He told her he understood and respected her for her strong will.
Sophie lifted her fingers in a small wave and he answered with raising his fingers to his lips and blowing her a kiss.
She closed the door on a sigh, holding the blown kiss in her heart.
Chapter 10
Sophie walked through the double doors into the ER. The waiting room was full and after a quick glance at the triage nurse, she instinctively knew they were working to capacity.
She should’ve come to work yesterday. She’d woken up feeling fine, only the occasional twinge of nausea and one episode of throwing up after she’d cooked the scrambled eggs she’d craved. She’d stuck to plain food for the rest of the day and had been fine.
She swiped her card and the automatic doors opened — a cacophony of yelling, beeping machines, and phones ringing greeted her.
Just as she’d thought — it was going to be a fun day at the office.
The pungent antiseptic smell curdled her stomach and she took a couple of deep breaths to stave off the wave of nausea that crawled through her like an incipit insect. It looked like she was going to have these symptoms for a couple more days yet. She could deal with the occasional bout of nausea so long as she didn’t throw up again — she hated throwing up.
She stowed her bag and went out to the reception desk. “Morning, Dawn, what have we got?”
“Seriously, Sophie, you don’t want to know,” Dawn said on a sigh. “We had a multi-car accident overnight, two people dead, two seriously injured, and one in a stable condition, but because there aren’t any beds available, at the moment he’s in Resus One.”
“Local road or country?” asked Sophie. She’d been listening to a CD in the car on the way in so she hadn’t caught the news. Whenever there was a fatality on the roads, it always hit the news bulletins.
“About thirty kilometers north of the city. The usual suspects involved — speed, drugs, and alcohol.” Dawn shook her head and her face showed her distress. “When will they learn?”
Sophie patted Dawn’s hand. She’d lost her husband and infant son in a car accident a couple of years previous. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for her, she’d been at work at the time and hadn’t been in the car. It was always tough on her when motor vehicle accident patients came in. It was a reason Dawn worked the night shift — she had no reason to work normal hours. No one to go home to. Sophie knew Dawn wasn’t much older than her. To Sophie, Dawn was too young to live a life alone.
“Have I told you how much I appreciate that you’re happy to do nights, Dawn? To know the department’s nursing staff is competently run when I’m not here is a big load off of my shoulders.”
The smile Dawn gave Sophie was like sunshine breaking through the clouds on a rainy day. “I’m happy to do it, Sophie, it’s helping me cope.”
“But if you ever want to change, Dawn I will accommodate your needs.” Sophie gave her an encouraging smile. “You can’t spend the rest of your life being nocturnal.”
“I don’t see my circumstances changing at the moment, Sophie, but thank you.” Dawn gave a small shrug. “If the need arises I’ll let you know.”
Sophie left the subject alone after that and went through the patients on Dawn’s list with her. She sat down at the reception desk and contemplated how they could make room to start seeing the patients that were lining up in the waiting room.
She only hoped there were no major incidents for the first couple of hours.
“Hey, Chucky, how ya feeling?” Sophie looked up and saw John, one of the residents, leaning against the desk. “Hope I don’t need to bring you a bucket every half hour,” he said jovially.
She shook her head, amused. No wonder he and Phoebe got on so well, their humor was similar.
“I’m fine, thanks, John, but if I need a bucket I’ll know where to look.” She looked down at her list. “Now tell me, what’s that status
of your patient with the lacerated arm?”
“All stitched up and being discharged this very minute with instructions to see his GP in a week to remove the stitches. I’m ready for the next patient.”
“Good to hear.” She smiled up at him. John always managed to lighten the mood. “How about use your bedside charms on some more patients, I know Marie would love for you to clear out the waiting room.”
“How can I resist when you ask so nicely,” he said, with a wink, as he walked off to see who he had to treat next.
“It’s good to hear you laughing, Sophie. I take it you’re feeling better?”
Sophie was imminently glad she had her head down — it gave her a few seconds to school her features and not let on to Alex, or anyone else in the department, how he affected her.
Her spine was still tingling at the sound of his voice. She had missed him yesterday. There was no surprise visit in the evening, only a brief phone call in the morning.
“I missed you yesterday,” she said quietly and then immediately slapped her hand across her mouth, her eyes darting to see if anyone had heard her declaration. “I can’t believe I said that.”
Alex leaned over the counter. “I missed you, too. You don’t know how hard it was not to see you last night, but I wanted to respect your need to recover. Next time I might not be so accommodating.”
“Let’s hope there isn’t a next time. I mean a next time that I’m sick, not that you won’t visit.”
Sophie reddened at her babbling. She gave herself a mental shake, she wasn’t going to let her feelings for Alex interfere with her work. She would be the consummate professional around him during the day, but she was going to have him over for dinner very soon. She’d truly been fooling herself to think that one night would’ve been enough. If Alex hadn’t turned up at the hospital, then maybe. Now, she could try to deny it all she liked, but she liked spending time with Alex and she wanted to do it away from the hospital. She wanted to get to know him and see if what she felt for him was something stronger than just a case of lust at first sight. She wanted him alone in the privacy of her own apartment, with all phones switched off or off the hook.
“What is going on in that beautiful head of yours, Sophia?”
Sophie couldn’t help it — she had to flirt. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
He laughed huskily. “I shall look forward to that.” As if realizing he’d been standing at the desk for longer than was necessary he straightened. “I’ve got another meeting with admin. I swear if I’d known I would be spending half my time in meetings, I’d have had second thoughts about taking on the job. I miss dealing with patients.”
“It’s only until you know all the procedures, then they’ll leave you alone.” She had a quick glance at the calendar. “Probably in another six months,” she said, winking.
Alex groaned. “I’ll have forgotten how to give an injection in that time.”
“Oh, be off with you, Dr. Scavoni.” She waved her hand airily. “If we need you I’ll be sure to call you.”
Alex gave her a return wink and strode down the hall. The space around her seemed eerily empty. Ridiculous, really, when she was sitting in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the ER.
When she was with Alex, he filled her senses totally and her surroundings disappeared.
“Earth to Sophie. Earth to Sophie.” An harried voice had Sophie looking up at the woman talking to her. She recognized her as Faith, one of the regular agency nurses they called when short staffed. Faith must’ve been called in for the night shift, as her eyes looked extremely tired.
“Sorry, Faith, how can I help you?” Sophie gave herself a swift, mental kick in the shins at letting her thoughts of Alex pull her attention away from the department’s needs.
“The patient in Resus One is declining rapidly, and I just can’t focus anymore.” Faith paused as a huge yawn possessed her. “I was due to knock off over an hour ago, is there someone who can relieve me?”
Phoebe was just arriving, so Sophie called out to her. “Phoebe, double time, I need you in Resus One now.”
“Okay,” Phoebe answered as she hurried off toward the staff room.
“Thanks so much for filling in, Faith. I’ll make sure you get extra pay for the time you’ve worked.”
Sophie sat back in her chair. Yep, it was definitely going to be one of those days.
The morning passed and they managed to get through most of the patients in the waiting room. Sophie only had a couple of episodes of nausea and was starting to feel extremely lightheaded.
Time to get something to eat, she thought.
She went to stand, but the room started whirring around her and her ears buzzed as if her head was the new home for a swarm of bees. She stuck her arm out to get some purchase on something solid, like a wall or filing cabinet or desk, but she connected with a hard surface of warm flesh. Her knees started to buckle and she then found herself being pushed unceremoniously in a chair and her head thrust between her knees.
“Deep breaths, Sophie,” ordered Alex as his fingers wrapped around her wrist to check her pulse.
The buzzing in her mind was receding along with the blackness that had threatened to overwhelm her.
“Your pulse is starting to slow now. Do you want to tell me what happened?” Alex asked as he squatted in front of her.
She kept her head bent for a few more seconds before gingerly lifting it. Her eyes focused on a pair of gray linen clad legs, strong, muscular thighs stretching the material. She recalled the feel of those thighs brushing against hers.
She groaned. How could she thinking about things like that when she’d just almost passed out?
“What’s wrong? Do you feel faint again?” Alex’s spoke the words rapidly. “I’ll call to see if a bed is free.”
She grabbed Alex’s hand to stop it from reaching for the phone. “Alex, stop. I’m fine. I was feeling lightheaded before I stood. I haven’t eaten much in the past couple of days.” She stood, determined to show him she was fine. She swayed slightly but straightened herself. “See? I can stand and I’m not about to faint. I’ll have some lunch and then I’ll be as right as rain.”
As Alex crossed his arms across the strong expanse of his chest, she knew she hadn’t quite convinced him she was totally recovered.
She bent and got her handbag and straightened again. “Look, no swaying, no knees buckling, no more lightheadedness.” She ran her hand along his arm, the fine hairs bristling under her touch. “Can I go now, Doctor?” She was trying to lighten the mood. A small smile broke out over Alex’s face and Sophie blew out a breath of relief.
“Be careful with what you eat. It’s likely your stomach is still sensitive.”
Sophie rolled her eyes at his concern. “Yes, Alex. I’m going to the local deli and get a toasted sandwich and some soda. Is that okay?”
Tremors rippled through her when his lips landed softly on hers. She hadn’t seen the kiss coming and that made it even more special. The kiss was short and sweet and her heart ached at the gentleness Alex was displaying toward her.
“Yes, Sophia, that is fine.” He headed toward the door but turned to look at her before leaving. “I’m going to be tied up with finance all afternoon, going over bloody budgets. But I’m cooking you dinner. My place, seven o’clock.”
It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact and she was grateful for it — she didn’t want to cook and she did want to spend time with Alex.
“Sounds great,” she said. “And Alex, thanks for coming to my rescue earlier.”
He smiled again and walked out of their shared office. She stood for a few more moments before she headed out to get something to eat.
The afternoon passed without too much drama and definitely no more epi
sodes for Sophie. It was a relief to walk through her door and collapse on the couch. She rested her feet on the low coffee table and closed her eyes. She could sit for a few minutes and then have a shower and get ready to go to Alex’s place.
She must have drifted off to sleep because she was jolted awake by the sound of someone knocking on the door. Her living room was darker than it had been when she’d sat down. She raced to the door and flung it open.
“I’m so sorry, Alex, I’m late aren’t I?” She flipped back a loose strand of hair that had fallen over her eye. She must look a mess, still in her crumpled uniform and her hair all over the show.
“It’s okay, Sophie, you aren’t late. I’ve just got home and wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She tried smoothing down her uniform. “Well, as you can see I’m fine. I must have dozed on the couch, but I’ll be at your place on time — if you let me go now, that is,” she said after looking at her watch.
He laughed that sexy, husky laugh and she tightened her grip on the door and tensed her knees — she really didn’t want to show him how much his close proximity and laugh was affecting her.
“See you soon, Sophie.”
“Bye. Oh, and Alex?” She waited until he’d turned his attention back to her. “So it begins?”
It took a moment before the meaning of the words sunk in. They were the same words he’d spoken to her on New Year’s Eve, before they’d danced. Before they’d left together and spent the night in each other’s arms. With those same words, she’d just told Alex that tonight marked the start of a personal relationship between them. What had happened before was in the past. From tonight onwards, it was a fresh start for the both of them.
“Yes, Sophie, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Chapter 11
Twenty minutes later Sophie’s hand was poised to knock on Alex’s door. She pulled it away and swiped her suddenly sweaty palms down her jeans.
Why was she so nervous? She’d had dinner with Alex many times — they’d even shared a meal earlier this week before she got sick. There was no need for her to be this nervous. Nothing had changed from earlier in the week, except that they were taking their friendship to a deeper level. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
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