by Deanna Roy
I flopped back on the pillow. Who was this man?
I had to know more.
I leaned over the side of the bed and pulled my laptop out from under the side table. I propped it on my knees and fired it up, heading straight for Google.
I typed in the search box. Dr. Darion Marks.
I got some easy hits at first. His graduation from med school. A couple hospitals’ press releases when he joined their staffs. His LinkedIn profile.
But nothing about a wedding. No dying wife. I found his father pretty easily, though. Dr. Gerald Marks, on the medical board. Hmmm. I wondered if he was the mysterious benefactor that got me my job back. But Darion said he didn’t know anybody with that kind of money. I took him at his word on that.
He was thirty-two Good to know. Nine years older. A largish gap, but not unreasonable. I clicked on a strange link that I felt probably wasn’t related to him but looked interesting.
Then sat straight up. The doctor took his art more seriously than he let on. While he was in medical school, he actually had a show of his work at a small gallery.
I clicked through the images. They were not unlike the one he had knocked out in my art room, almost impressionistic images of people, very close up, faces filling the canvas, or hands, or legs. No nudes, not like the one he had done of me. This made me a little happier than it should have.
I closed the laptop. I couldn’t think of anything else. Darion. Darion. Darion. Had he written me while I was sleeping?
I jumped from the bed and dashed into the living room. When I saw the Pink Monster, I couldn’t help myself, but dived right onto it, naked skin and all.
I buried my face into the fur, squealing a little as I remembered him braced over me.
I wanted him back. I wanted him right then.
My bag was under the table, so I bent over the arm and snatched it up. My phone had three text messages.
Two were from Darion.
I fell back on the sofa, clutching the phone to my chest. God, I was like a lovesick teen.
For the first time since I had been a teen.
I refused to go down any dark path. The third message was from Corabelle, so I pulled it up first. That way I could build a little anticipation for what Darion might have said.
Don’t forget the bachelorette party tonight! We’ll be by to get you at 8!
Damn. That was going to be so fun. But what if Darion was free?
I took a deep breath and scrolled back to pull up his first message.
You looked so beautiful sleeping there. You made it hard to leave. I’ll message you later, when you’re up.
I pressed the phone to my skin again. He definitely knew what to write a girl.
Then the second message.
Cynthia is doing well. It’s been a good day. I wish when I walked by the art room, you were there. Let me know when you are up.
I checked the time stamp. The second message was at 8:30 a.m. Ha, we were not a good match on sleeping in. But I could have guessed the doctor was an early riser.
I could cure him of that in a hurry.
What to say back? Please come back here and do everything again?
I laughed out loud. So much for one-and-done. I was practically begging him back.
Besides, we’d gone for two in the same night.
I held my phone directly in front of my face as if it could tell me what to say.
Finally, I figured it out.
Feeling pretty sheltered this morning. Off to buy more condoms.
He didn’t answer right away, which I would expect since he was at the hospital. I decided that rather than sitting around to wait for a break in his day, I would shower and get myself together. I had a long night ahead.
I tapped off a quick note to Corabelle about the bachelorette party, asking her what to wear, and stepped into the shower.
I could not stop thinking about Darion. His hands on me. His mouth. I stuck my face in the spray, trying to shake off the memory. I had to get on with life.
But I didn’t want to. I wanted to stand there and relive every minute.
And I wanted to do it again.
My phone chimed a couple of times from the counter, but I forced myself to take my time washing my hair and wait to see who it was. Probably just Corabelle and Jenny. They were super fired up about tonight. We were going to have dinner at some Italian place, then head to a party hosted by Jenny’s director guy. Supposedly the whole cast of some movie would be there.
Gavin was meeting us. I wondered if Darion could go.
Good grief. I wanted to introduce him to my friends already? What had happened to me?
I toweled off and picked up the phone. Corabelle had told me to wear something sensible, since it would be a long night. Ha. Her definition of sensible and mine were probably not in the same universe.
Jenny had also written, telling me to ignore Corabelle and wear the skimpiest, most daring outfit in my closet and I could probably end up with three hot hookups before the night was over.
Oh, that Jenny.
I ran my fingers over the third name. Darion. He must have been watching for my message.
If you’re buying the condoms, I’m going to go lobby Duffrey to get you a raise.
I smiled and typed in another one.
Off to a bachelorette party for a friend tonight. What are you going to be up to?
He was clearly between patients or on break, because he answered immediately.
Pining for you in Surgical Suite B. On the clock until midnight.
I glanced at the clock. Did I dare? I could do what Jenny said, put on my trampiest outfit, and then show up at the hospital. I felt a little rush as I typed my next message.
Tell me when to meet you, and I’ll see you there.
Chapter 34: Darion
I checked on Cynthia just before my scheduled break at 6:30. She was sitting up, practicing her card tricks again. After her little friend Andrew got the Pokémon I sent him, he had sent her another special deck. I was glad she had found another child her age to relate to. I hoped her immune system would bounce back soon so she could see him more easily.
“Are you and Andrew going to run around taking money off the staff?” I asked her. “Because I wholeheartedly approve.”
Cynthia shook her head at me. “Dary, I’m not a cardsharp. I’m a magician!” She held up the fanned-out deck. “Take a card!”
I reached out, then pulled back. “From anywhere or a special place?”
“Anywhere!”
I pulled a card out.
“Look at it, but don’t show me!” she said.
I took a peek. Ace of spades.
“Now put it back in,” she said. “Anywhere.”
I stuck it back in the fan.
She awkwardly shuffled the deck, catching an errant card that popped out. I pretended not to notice it was the ace of spades. Finally she fanned the deck out again. “Pick any card.”
I pulled another one out.
“Is it the ace of spades?” she asked.
I held it out. It was indeed. “Very good,” I said. “You’re getting better.”
She took the card back and held the stack close to her chest. “Yes, I am.” A card slipped out of her grip and landed on her lap. Another ace of spades. I pretended to look at my iPad and held in a laugh.
I glanced at the clock in her room. 6:30. My crotch tightened. Tina would be arriving.
I squeezed Cynthia’s arm. “I’ll be back again in a little while,” I said. “Angela, you’ll be here until eight?”
The woman nodded.
The halls were fairly quiet as I made my way through the ward. Saturday night. I had definitely spent more weekends in hospitals than out with friends. Even in med school, when we all knew our free time was about to end, we didn’t party much. By the time you got there, the majority of the wild kids were elsewhere. The med students had to blow off steam, certainly, but they didn’t tend to do it with raucous weekend parties.
>
I buzzed into the surgical wing. The hall was empty. A few rooms were operational farther down, probably lengthy surgeries, the type that took twelve or more hours, a few late-afternoon scheduled ones, and possibly an emergency or two. But most routine work was long over.
I paused in front of the door to Surgical Suite B. I assumed Tina’s badge would get her access back here. If she wasn’t in the suite, I’d go back out to catch her and get her through.
The door lever clicked as I pushed it down. I let my eyes adjust to the lower light, scanning the room to see if Tina had made it in.
Then I saw her.
She lay on her side on one of the gurneys, her head propped up on one elbow. Her outfit wasn’t like anything I had seen her in before, or would have even imagined. Very short black leather skirt. Spike-heel boots to her knee, leaving plenty of leg in between. A top that could best be described as a crisscross of straps. I expected any movement to reveal something delicious.
Her hair was down, crinkly instead of sleek.
“Hello, doctor,” she said. “You might want to lock the door.”
I whirled around and twisted the latch. I took a second to get myself together and turned back to Tina.
She was sitting up now, one leg crossed over the other, the black boot swinging. “You’re way over there,” she said.
I headed for her, trying to take normal, measured steps, but I wound up hurtling in her direction, and the second I made it, pressing my mouth to hers like a dying man.
I ran my hand along the crazy shirt, fingering the straps. Built inside were little cups that acted as a bra, but that was nothing to pull away. I shoved them aside and leaned down, that naked exposed breast in my mouth as fast as I could get it there.
She arched against me, and I remembered all the exquisite sounds she had made the night before.
I pushed her legs apart so I could get closer. My hand closed over a naked knee, then up.
Another luscious surprise. Nothing in the way there.
My fingers slipped inside her. She was wet as hell already. Her face pressed into my neck, keeping her from crying out.
I had a good feel for what worked for her, and I plumbed every bit of that knowledge. She tightened against me, her hips moving with me. She was so close, her breathing fast.
I withdrew, and she let out a tiny squeal. I jerked her forward, closer to the edge of the gurney. She got it, and reached to unbuckle my pants. I groaned as she reached inside the boxers and the cool air hit my skin.
She scooted even closer, tugging a condom from inside her shirt. She ripped the package open and rolled the circle along the length of me.
I could barely stand it, so anxious for her.
Tina surveyed her work and sat back a little, wrapping her legs around my waist. I pushed her skirt up and out of the way and just dove in with one sharp plunge.
She gasped, leaning back, propped on her hands, one sweet breast exposed between the straps of her shirt. I felt completely out of control, trying to hang on as I held her hips, working inside her. I reached between us and circled the nub.
Tina closed her eyes, keeping our rhythm, but I could feel her muscles closing around me. She tried to keep quiet, but little sounds escaped. When she started to orgasm, I knew the difference in the pitch.
As she gripped the mattress on the gurney, I let go and released into her, breath ragged. Jesus. She sat up and held on to me, rocking against me as our bodies pulsed together.
I clasped her, letting our heart rates settle at the same time. I was still inside her, and didn’t want to withdraw, to move on with the work shift. For the first time since I became a doctor, I wanted to blow everything off and do what I wanted. Normal life. A regular job you could just skip for a mental health day.
“Your patients, doctor. They’ll be waiting,” Tina said, her breathing back to normal but her voice still catching.
I squeezed her. People had told me this could happen. A girl could just snare you. I would never have believed it until now. I pressed my lips into her hair, loose and wild. “Can I see you after my shift? Will you be up?”
She laughed a little and pulled away. “At midnight? I dare say the party will just be getting started.”
I nodded. “Tomorrow, then?”
She ran her thumbs along my cheeks. “Let me know when you leave here. We’ll figure something out.”
I kissed her again, long and deep and thoroughly. We were still joined. I didn’t want to pull away.
But Tina dropped her legs and moved back. She produced a tissue. “I thought of everything,” she said.
She had. Except for how I was supposed to concentrate after this.
Chapter 35: Tina
I took a taxi to the restaurant to meet Jenny, Corabelle, and a couple of her friends. I almost went home to change my outfit before going out. I had worn a hooded jacket through the hospital so nobody would recognize me in this crazy getup, left over from my goth days.
But I didn’t really have time to stop, nor did I want to spend the extra money to go out of the way. So, I headed straight to Romeo’s.
The restaurant was boisterous and full of amazing smells. I spotted the girls at a big table in the back corner and threaded through the patrons all trying to talk over one another.
“She made it!” Jenny said, passing me a glass of wine. “And look at those boots! Mama mia!”
I unzipped the hoodie and flashed them the shirt. They all erupted in a chorus of hoots. “Wow, Tina!” Corabelle said. “Have you come out of your shell or what?”
I slid into a chair next to Jenny. “No shells around here. I’ve just been a respectable working girl since I’ve been in San Diego,” I said.
“Must be the doctor’s influence bringing you back around.” Jenny elbowed me. “You’ll have to tell us what happened on the Pink Monster.”
The other girls looked confused. Corabelle explained about the sofa. She introduced Melody and Kate. The conversation turned to the menu, and I was relieved not to have to give a blow-by-blow of Darion’s visit. I wanted to keep him to myself for now, like a luscious secret.
“Hey, Cora,” Jenny said, “tell us about the honeymoon. Where are you and Gavin going?”
Corabelle blushed a little, which I found amusing. Gavin was crazy all over her whenever they were together. Jenny and I had discovered them in a tangle on more than one occasion.
Both the girls were very open about their sex lives. I wasn’t used to tight girlfriends. I had friends here and there. And we went to clubs and partied and hung out, but there was nobody I’d call particularly close. Some of them were weirded out over my refusal to be in a relationship. And eventually they’d all pair off, and having an extra single girl around wasn’t fun.
But Corabelle and Jenny were fine with whatever. Jenny in particular was a man-hopper, so she and I saw eye to eye on that.
Work had been enough. And now there was Darion.
Corabelle described their plan to take a cruise down the coast into Mexico. “Turns out it isn’t expensive at all to do that, and my parents are paying for it,” she said.
Ever practical, that girl. “How’s Manuelito?” I asked.
“He’s good. I think his mom will end up working stateside soon, and it will get a lot easier.”
Jenny swirled her wine glass. “I still don’t see how you can stand having her around.”
Corabelle shrugged. “Sometimes you have to accept what life hands you.”
I wished I could confess my suspicion that Darion was Cynthia’s father to the girls, but like our moments in Surgical Suite B, it seemed better to just keep it to myself.
“You girls are getting waaaay too serious,” Jenny said. “We are here tonight to parTAY before Corabelle gets all tied up in the land of mortgages and minivans.”
She lifted her wine glass. “Here’s to all of us banging man-meat as hot as Gavin.”
Everyone laughed as we clinked our glasses together.
After
dinner, Jenny jumped up and announced she had a surprise. Her director boyfriend had sent a limo to fetch us to his party.
“We haven’t paid the check,” Corabelle said as Jenny pulled her from her chair.
“Already taken care of,” Jenny said. “Let’s GO!”
I downed my glass, wondering what sort of insanity Jenny was about to drag us into. I hadn’t gotten any messages from Darion, but he said he’d be on shift until midnight. I figured any hospital would be pretty crazy on a Saturday night.
The sleek limo waited outside the restaurant. Jenny crawled in first, then the other girls. I wondered if I should skip this part. I felt distracted and anxious to see Darion. But Jenny reached through the open door and dragged me inside.
The seat wrapped around the perimeter. Everyone was cast blue from a twist of neon on the ceiling. Corabelle handed me a glass of champagne. “Here we go!” she said.
Jenny leaned in excitedly. “All right, everyone has to confess the craziest place they’ve had sex.” She set the empty champagne bottle on the floor and spun it. It landed on Melody.
“I’m a virgin,” Melody said
“What!” Jenny said. “WHAT?” She glanced around. “We’ve got to do something about that!”
“Jenny!” Corabelle said. “Some people wait for the right guy!”
Melody nodded. “Just hasn’t happened.”
Jenny looked outraged. “The right guy is the one with a functional penis!”
“It’ll happen,” Kate said.
“Don’t tell me you’re a virgin too!” Jenny said. “I’m going to schedule an intervention!”
“Not everyone likes sex with strangers like you do,” Corabelle said.
“But it’s good for your metabolism!” Jenny said. “It’s the fountain of youth! The magic elixir! It’s the meaning of life, the universe, and everything!”
“Nope, I’m quite sure that is 32,” Melody said with a giggle.
“42,” Corabelle corrected.
I sat back and sipped the bubbly. Jenny was really on a roll. “Give us yours, Jen,” I said. “Craziest place for you.”