Rescue Me

by Anne, Melody

  “Want to go to bed?” she asked him.

  She would swear Eeyore smiled. He definitely understood her. That was without question. He led the way to her bedroom and Patsy grabbed her jammies and went into the bathroom where she took a long, hot shower, trying to relieve some of the aches in her body.

  Some of the soreness evaporated, but the empty feeling of not having Kyle sunk deep within her was an ache she couldn’t take care of. She figured there was no way she’d go back to sleep, but as she crawled beneath her covers with Eeyore at the foot of her bed keeping her feet warm, she closed her eyes and was out instantly.

  Maybe tomorrow she’d feel like herself again.

  Or maybe not.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kyle jerked up in bed as his head twisted from side to side. Fight or flight kicked in as he pushed away grogginess. All of this occurred in about two seconds, but just that quickly, he calmed himself down as he realized what had woken him.

  On his nightstand, his pager was buzzing, a noise so ingrained he was instantly awake. Rubbing a hand over his face, he was shocked by the amount of stubble there. He turned and looked at his clock, seeing it was two in the morning.

  What the hell?

  He ran his hand across his cold bedsheets and realized Patsy had been gone a long time, though her scent hung heavy in the room. Not only had he slept like the dead, something he hadn’t done in at least ten years, probably longer, but he didn’t know what to think about the fact that Patsy had snuck off like some hooker he’d picked up on the street corner.

  He should be relieved.

  He wasn’t.

  Looking at his pager, he picked up his cell and sent a message letting them know he’d be there ASAP. Then he rose and stretched, his body sore from his incredible activity with Patsy then sleeping like the damn dead.

  There was no emergency at the hospital, so he took his time in the shower, letting the hot water soothe his aching body. He guaranteed he wouldn’t sleep like that again for the next ten years. He was a doctor. Sleep was a luxury.

  All through the shower he told himself he was glad she’d left. He hated messy morning afters. Ninety percent of the women he’d been with were aware he wasn’t a relationship guy, but there were the ten percent who wanted more. Those were the cases where he immediately regretted having sex. The pleasure wasn’t enough to deal with the drama.

  But he’d enjoyed falling asleep with Patsy in his arms. And he didn’t like that she’d snuck away from his place. Stepping into his bedroom, he went to his walk-in closet and grabbed some clothes, not caring what he wore.

  When he stepped back into the bedroom a piece of red caught the corner of his eye and he bent down, his lips turning up in a smile, his body going instantly rock hard.

  She’d forgotten her panties.

  He lifted the lacy things, fascinated with their sexiness. Patsy was so damn conservative on the outside, but she was passionate in the bedroom. He’d opened her up less than twelve hours earlier and wasn’t ready to let go. He stuffed the panties in his pocket.

  He hurried to get to the hospital. He knew she’d be there.

  Though Patsy had indeed left his bed without a goodbye, Kyle smiled as he made his way to work. He was going to see her again and couldn’t wait to touch her, make her blush, possibly even get her in an on-call room where he could test if the sex was as mind-boggling good when they were fully wake. They’d both been tired the day before. That could’ve heightened the sex, he tried to reason with himself.

  Or he was a fool and trying to justify his fascination with one certain woman.

  He arrived in the OR wing of the hospital just as Patsy turned a corner. She was looking down and he stopped, enjoying the view of her long legs as she drew closer. He could still taste her skin on his tongue.

  The second she looked up, she tripped, then righted herself. She gave a curt nod and planned on walking by. Kyle’s good mood evaporated instantly. She masked her beautiful features, but he’d seen that face filled with passion. There was no way he was allowing her to treat him like some hospital booty call.

  She might be back to her cool self with her hair pulled tightly back, minimal makeup, and bland expression, but he knew the real Patsy, or was beginning to. He wanted to delve a hell of a lot deeper.

  “Good morning,” he said, his voice deep, seductive. He wrapped his fingers around her arm to stop her from running.

  Her cheeks flushed. “I don’t have time to chat,” she said. “I’m late.” She tried pulling from his grasp without making it seem like a struggle. People passed by them.

  “You have a second,” he said, and she stiffened.

  “Let’s not make this awkward,” she told him.

  He smiled, waiting for her to look him in the eyes again. It didn’t take long because he knew she wouldn’t want any passersby’s to see his hand on her arm. He was a proper distance from her body, but people would talk—her worst nightmare.

  “You forgot something at my place,” he said, letting go and reaching into his pocket, pulling out the red scrap of lace. He kept them in his fist so no one would have a clue what he was holding.

  He didn’t think it was possible for someone’s face to turn that shade of red. It made him want to push her into the nearest empty room and see exactly how heated he could make her.

  She reached out to snag them, but he stuffed them back in his pocket. “I think I’ll hold on to them since you snuck out in the middle of the night. You’ll know where to find me to get them back.” She huffed and looked at him like he was a crazy person. He didn’t break eye contact.

  Without another word she stormed off, her stride long and angry. Kyle’s good mood returned. If she didn’t care about him or what had happened between them, there was no way she’d react the way she did.

  She was fighting her feelings for him as much as he normally fought any kind of commitment. Maybe he was a goner with this woman. That would certainly be a first.

  “Dr. Armistead?” a voice called, pulling Kyle from his thoughts as he turned to find his favorite nurse standing in a doorway.

  “Hi Helen,” he replied. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “Technically you’re early,” she said with a smile. “But thanks for coming in. I’m concerned about your patient from three days ago, and you were due in at six this morning anyway.”

  Helen didn’t overreact and didn’t misjudge situations. If she was worried, there was a reason for her to be.

  “Take me to her and explain the problem on the way,” he told her.

  Patsy would continue to stay on his mind, but he could compartmentalize for his patients. When they came to him he promised to take care of them and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

  “Rita’s skin graft on her left cheek doesn’t seem to be taking. I’m worried about an infection and want you to see right away since it’s her face,” Helen said. “She’s been trying not to complain, but she’s also been in pain, unable to sleep and not wanting to take meds. I convinced her to have a dose a couple of hours ago.”

  The two of them walked to the patient’s room together and Kyle put thoughts of Patsy aside. He’d do his job, and when things slowed down he’d find his girl.

  They were nowhere close to being over. She could run but there wasn’t anywhere she could hide, not in his domain. Let the chase begin.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Patsy had always followed one rule—do not sleep with co-workers. There was a specific reason for that rule—moments like the one she’d just encountered. Morning afters were horrific, or so she’d been told. She was very aware how true that was after seeing Kyle in the sacred halls of her hospital.

  How long would it take to not be mortified at the sight of him? Looking at him had reminded her of everything they’d done together, and it wasn’t an unpleasant memory. But knowing she’d ne
ver be doing it with him again made seeing him painful. She had never imagined sex could be so amazing.

  None of that mattered though. She had to pull herself together, and fast. She was meeting Nicole for lunch, the master interrogator. There’d be no way to hide how she felt about Kyle if her sister caught so much as a whiff of this.

  Maybe she could file the memories away and pretend it never happened. That thought was less than appealing, especially when she had long, lonely nights ahead of her. Her lifestyle was her choice. No one had forced it on her. But on the rare occasion she let her guard down, she admitted it was lonely at times.

  She quickly made her way to the café where Nic was meeting her. Sitting down, she pulled her compact from her purse and groaned at her image. She might convince her sister she looked like this because of a hard day’s work, but if she was honest she’d say she looked like she’d been thoroughly pleasured for many, many hours. Her lips were swollen, her neck reddened, and, although her sis couldn’t see underneath the clothes, her body was satisfyingly sore with some definite sex marks on her skin.

  She’d never hide this from Nicole, but she would give it a valiant effort.

  Just looking at herself caused flashes of the night before to run through her muddled brain, of how he’d climbed on top of her, of how his lips had tasted every inch of her skin, of how that pleasure had built . . . and built . . . and . . .

  Stop it!

  She internally screamed at herself as she dumped cold water on a napkin and held it against her forehead. She was seriously in bad shape, and no matter how she tried talking herself down, telling herself to forget, she couldn’t pull it together as easily as she normally did.

  “Is something wrong, my darling sister?”

  Crap! Of course Nic was right on time. No traffic jam would stop her sister from finding her in a mess, mumbling to herself as she tried to cool her fevered body.

  “I’m good,” Patsy said as she attempted a nonchalant smile. Nic looked perfect as usual in a green blouse and slim fitting slacks that molded to her perfect frame. Even childbirth hadn’t lessened her sister’s beauty. Hell, it had enhanced her already perfect curves.

  Nic sat across from her with an inquisitive look on her face. Patsy knew that look well, knew her sister was analyzing the situation and would have it summed up in no time at all. Dang it. She should’ve stated an emergency and cancelled this lunch.

  Before Nic could say anything, the waitress came and took their order. With the café close to the hospital, the wait staff knew how to feed people fast so they could eat and get back to work, one advantage in Patsy’s corner.

  Alone again, Patsy reluctantly looked at her sister, who was beginning to smile as light dawned in her knowing eyes.

  “Are those signs of sex I see on your neck?” Nic asked, her lips turning up in a megawatt smile.

  Kyle had gotten a bit . . . frisky as he’d tasted her. Makeup didn’t seem to be covering the evidence of his excitement. She should’ve worn a damn turtleneck beneath her scrubs.

  “No. I have a rash,” Patsy said, her cheeks flushing. She never had been a good liar. It wasn’t a good trait in her field of work; she couldn’t assure a family everything was okay when it wasn’t.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hickey on you,” Nic said in wonder. “Not ever. Not even as a teen. It had to have taken a lot of skill for some guy to mark you.”

  “No one has marked me,” Patsy said with a glare as her fingers traced her neck where Kyle’s mark beamed out like a damn lighthouse beacon.

  “I want details. A lot of details,” Nic said as the waitress dropped off their food. Patsy picked up a few fries and stuffed them in her mouth so she had an excuse not to talk. “I’m patient. Take your time eating.”

  Patsy was trying to form a feasible story in her muddled brain. But sex must have made her IQ drop because she was coming up blank.

  “Waiting,” Nicole patiently said, taking delicate nips from her onion rings. Her sister looked elegant even while eating cheap diner food.

  “I didn’t plan on sleeping with him,” Patsy finally said. The truth might actually set her free if that saying meant anything.

  “I get it. Been there, done that,” Nic said with a laugh. “Who is it? How was it?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Patsy told her.

  “Because it was terrible?” Nic questioned.

  “I wish,” Patsy said with a sigh. She was giving in. Of course she was. “It was the best night of my life, but it can’t happen again.”

  “Why not? You’re an adult. I’m assuming he’s of legal age,” Nic said with a laugh.

  “I’m glad you’re amused by my misery,” Patsy said with another glare.

  “I’m never amused by anyone’s unhappiness,” Nic said. “But clearly you aren’t miserable. You’re just confused.”

  “More than confused. I don’t have time for an affair, and if I did it wouldn’t be with an arrogant doctor who changes bed partners more often than he changes his sheets.”

  “Did he say he didn’t want to see you again?” Nic asked, her eyes narrowing.

  “No,” Patsy admitted. “But I know.”

  “How do you know?” Nic asked.

  “Because I’ve been around this type of man since I began school. They like to wrack up the notches on their bedposts. It’s just who they are.”

  “Maybe you should talk to him. Most fights we have with other people are one-sided,” Nic pointed out.

  “We aren’t exactly in a fight. I snuck off when he was asleep, and now I’m avoiding him. I have a career to think about.”

  “Honey, you’re a great doctor and will only grow better over time, but don’t let your personal life go to hell because of it. There’s more to life than work,” Nic said.

  “I don’t want more right now,” Pasty told her.

  “You know you could always bring him to the house for dinner,” Nic said, clearly excited at the prospect.

  “There’s not a chance of that happening,” Patsy told her.

  “Oh, come on. That’s a clear way of judging if he’s strong enough to last. You know how the boys are.”

  Nicole wasn’t kidding. Not a single guy Patsy had shown an interest in had lasted past one visit with her in-laws. Her sister’s husband and his cousins were incredibly over-protective of Patsy, especially since she’d almost died as a teenager. They didn’t think any man was good enough for her.

  Maybe that would be the best way to get rid of Kyle. He’d take one look at her family and run for the hills. The thought was oddly depressing. But she shook her head as she tried convincing herself that’s what she wanted.

  “He won’t want to come, even if I invite him,” Patsy said.

  “You won’t know unless you try,” Nic told her.

  Before Patsy could respond her pager went off. She looked at the message gratefully as she stuffed the last bite of her burger in her mouth and stood.

  “I have to run,” she said.

  “Saved by the ding,” Nic told her with a laugh.

  Patsy rolled her eyes as she stood. Nic joined her and gave her a big hug before letting Patsy leave. Family was a blessing and a curse. But at least she had a job she loved more than anything else.

  She’d get through this just like she got through everything in her life. She was strong. She had to be. No one or nothing was going to keep her from becoming exactly who she was meant to be.

  That settled, Patsy walked with confidence. She refused to allow one night of recklessness to change anything about her. Even if she couldn’t get that man out of her mind—even if the thought of not being with him hurt.

  She was a doctor and she’d go through many life changing decisions in her life. What she needed to do about Dr. Kyle Armistead wasn’t going to be one of those decisions. That was already
decided.

  If only she felt better.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Dr. Lander to OR three. Dr. Lander to OR three.”

  The announcement flashed over her pager and cell phone at the same time. Patsy rushed down the hallway toward the operating room. She was full of energy after downing a monster-sized coffee and getting more than three hours of sleep the night before.

  She stopped in the scrub room, her heart thumped at the sight of Kyle at the sinks. He looked as good as an oasis after being lost in the desert for three days. He turned and looked at her, a distant gaze in his eyes. That stopped her wandering mind. She was instantly concerned.

  “Thanks for coming so fast,” he told her, his voice tight.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked as she moved beside him, now in full work mode, not worried about the awkwardness that had been between them for well over a week.

  “We have a six-month-old baby who was in a car wreck. It caught fire. His other doctors stabilized him, but the left side of his face is burned. We need to save as much of the skin as possible and seal up the wounds.”

  Patsy felt her blood run cold. She couldn’t help but think about her own nephew and how her sister would feel if it was him on an operating table. She was shocked by how upset Kyle appeared to be by the situation, though. She didn’t take him as the type of doctor to look at his patients as people rather than canvases.

  “Doesn’t Dr. Forbes normally handle emergencies?” she asked.

  The need to scrub so thoroughly was sometimes frustrating when a patient was waiting, but adding infections to the baby’s injuries wouldn’t do him any good at all.

  “Kian’s not here, and I’ve worked with more children,” he told her, not seeming at all offended by her question. “I want to do this case.”

  “I’m sorry. That was a stupid question. Thanks for including me,” she told him.