“Are you single, Alexa?” God she loved how he said her name.
She replied without hesitation, her voice barely above a whisper, “Yes.”
He grinned down at her. “That is good, I would hate to have to break up a happy couple.” The confidence implied by his statement was such a turn-on.
Her gaze shifted from his eyes to take in his sexy grin and she once again found herself wanting to kiss him.
Finally gaining some semblance of composure, Alexa stuttered, “Um, what about you?”
Ethan cocked an eyebrow at her. God, was everything he did sexy? “What about me?” he asked.
“Are you dating anyone?” She held her breath waiting for his response.
“No, of course not. I have not been with anyone in a very long time and I would never have approached you if I was not free to do as I pleased.”
Something about the way he said that last part sent a tingle down her spine.
He leaned down and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His hot breath grazed her skin as he breathed her in.
“You smell amazing, delicious even,” he whispered.
He brushed the tip of his tongue faintly across her neck as if he just couldn’t resist one little taste. Alexa shivered as goose bumps spread all over her body.
Lifting his head to look into her eyes again Ethan whispered, “You are so beautiful, Alexa.”
Not really accustomed to compliments, a blush colored her cheeks as she glanced away from his intense stare.
He brushed his thumb over her heated cheek. “This makes you look even more beautiful, but why do you look away? Have I offended you?”
Alexa couldn’t help but giggle a little. Of all the liberties he had taken during their extremely short acquaintance, calling her beautiful had to be the least offensive.
“No, of course not, it’s just, I’m not used to compliments I guess.”
“Well that breaks my heart. Feel it, it is breaking as we speak.” He pulled her hand up and placed it over his heart, then leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You should hear how beautiful you are everyday of your life.”
Alexa had never felt so turned on in her entire life.
Just then, the song ended and another up tempo number started.
✧
“How about I buy you that drink now?” Ethan suggested.
“Sure, but I actually just want some ice water.”
Ethan pulled away from her and started toward the bar, still holding her hand. Her body felt the loss of his nearness immediately and she unconsciously stuck out her bottom lip in a little pout.
As they neared the bar, he turned to her with a knowing smile on his face as he asked, “Why do you look like someone just stole your lollipop?”
The reference made Alexa think of all the things she could be licking, causing her to stumble and fall into someone sitting on a stool at the bar.
“Hey watch it you fat cow, you made me spill my beer!” He spat as Alexa jumped back a few feet.
Before Alexa could even process the vile words the drunken asshole had just spat at her, Ethan had him by the throat down against the bar.
“Apologize. Right. Fucking. Now.” Ethan’s voice remained calm, but the rage pouring off of him was palpable. The man struggled against his grip, gasping for air that wasn’t coming, though to look at Ethan he could have just been casually leaning against the bar based on the amount of effort he seemed to be putting into it. Wow, he was strong.
It all happened so fast. Standing there in shock, Alexa’s mind was assaulted with the feeling of pure terror rolling off the man. He thought he was about to die. The force of it knocked her to her knees as she gripped her head between her hands, but no sooner than she hit the floor the pressure waned significantly.
“Alexa, are you all right?” She glanced up to see Ethan, the concern evident in his eyes as his gaze examined her for the source of her pain. How had he managed to get to her so quickly looking as if he hadn’t just been chocking the life out of some goon who was well over two-hundred and twenty pounds?
“I’m fine. Sorry, I guess I just got dizzy. Too much to drink maybe.” That was a reasonable excuse.
She looked towards the man crumpled against the bar coughing and attempting to get to his feet. His eyes were fixed on Ethan’s back, obviously terrified as he started edging his way towards the exit. Now that he was standing up, Alexa noticed the large dark wet stain running down his pants. His beer had spilled over the bar, this was something else. He had actually pissed himself.
Shit, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Oh fuck, what the fuck is wrong with that guy! Please God, just let me get out of here and away from that psycho freak!
Regaining her composure and completely sobered up, Alexa snapped her shields back in place to block the man’s panicked thoughts.
Ethan was still watching her intently as he helped her stand.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Alexa?”
“Yes, I’m fine. That was my fault, I’m so clumsy. You shouldn’t have done that.” The last part came out in a whisper as she looked down towards his feet.
“No one will ever speak to you that way.” His words sounded a lot like a promise. One that she was certain he could back up after what she had just witnessed. The display should have raised all kinds of red flags. She should be afraid, he was a complete stranger after all, but fear was the last thing she felt. His protectiveness excited her.
He took her hand and headed after the escaping man who had only made it a few yards away.
The man’s eyes widened with fear at their approach as he stammered, “I, I’m sorry, man. I’m just drunk, I didn’t mean anything. Just let me leave and I’ll never come back here again, I swear.”
“Apologize to the lady.” Ethan’s voice was calm, controlled, yet the undertone of rage was evident.
The man didn’t hesitate. “I’m really sorry, ma’am. I didn’t think before I opened my big mouth, I had no right to speak to you that way.” His eyes darted to Ethan, searching for approval of his apology.
“Uh, it’s ok. Sorry I bumped into you.”
With that Ethan nodded and the man quickly crossed the remaining distance to the exit and disappeared into the night. He hadn’t even bothered to stop and retrieve his coat on his way out and it was the middle of December.
Alexa noticed a couple of big bouncers making their way through the crowd towards her and Ethan.
“You want to get out of here, go somewhere a little quieter where we can talk?” Ethan asked.
She should have said no. He was a stranger, a dangerous stranger if the last few minutes were any indication, but with his beautiful eyes staring down on her she gave the response that was in her heart as a bright smile lit her face.
“Sure.”
CHAPTER 3 - Just A Little Pinch
“Ms. Ryan? Ms. Ryan?” Barb whispered as she gently tapped Alexa’s shoulder, snapping her back to the present.
“I knocked before I came in, but you didn’t respond, are you okay?”
“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Guess I just zoned out for a minute.” Alexa smiled down at Chloe still sleeping in her arms, then looked back up at the kind nurse. “With everything the last couple of weeks I haven’t really had any peace and quiet to just think, so I guess my mind decided to take full advantage of the opportunity.”
“I certainly can’t blame you for that. I told you Dr. Kline is a miracle worker. It’s hard to believe that’s the same child I saw earlier. I hate to have to do this, but we need to get her blood sample now. Yours too.”
“Of course, can you do mine first? At least give her a few more minutes of rest, God knows she needs it.”
“Absolutely, if you can just shift her over a bit and give me your free arm.”
Alexa did as instructed. As the nurse swabbed the inside of her elbow with alcohol she started noticeably shaking.
The nurse raised her eyebrows slightly. “Afraid of needles?”
; “Um, no, I don’t think so. Well, I don’t know, I’ve never had to think about it. I guess I’m nervous because I don’t know what to expect.”
“Really, you mean you’ve never had your blood drawn? Never had a shot before?”
Alexa shrugged her free shoulder slightly. “Not that I can remember. I recall hearing something about there being bad reactions to vaccines in my family or something, so I was opted out of the mandatory stuff when I was a kid. There hasn’t really been any reason to have my blood drawn, I never get sick.”
“What about when you were pregnant with Chloe, your doctor would have wanted to run some tests early on, check your iron levels, etcetera?”
“No, I actually decided to use a midwife and have a water birth at birthing center. I wanted as little intervention as possible. She always came to my house for my checkups and the pregnancy was really easy. I felt amazing the whole nine months. I didn’t have any morning sickness or other problems to speak of at all.”
“Well, you sure are brave, and lucky! I had all four of mine naturally, though that wasn’t really by choice. Back when I was young that’s just how it was done, but you can bet I would have taken the drugs if they offered ‘em to me.” She chuckled as she swiveled on her stool and grabbed the syringe that was waiting on the nearby tray. “All right, honey, I’ve been doing this for a whole lot of years and I’m damn good at it if I do say so myself, so don’t you worry, you’ll barely feel a thing, just a little pinch. Look away, I’ll count to three and then do it, okay?”
Alexa shook her head and looked away.
“Ready, one...okay, it’s in there, told you it wouldn’t hurt much.”
Alexa turned to look while Barb snapped the first collection tube in place. “I thought you said you were counting to three?”
Barb gave her a playful wink. “I’ve learned over the years that it hurts a lot less when people aren’t anticipating the pain. Most of it is in our heads you know.”
After filling up another tube, the nurse removed the needle and placed a small cotton swab and Band-Aid on Alexa’s arm. Just then, Chloe started rooting around towards her free arm like she wanted to nurse. Alexa shifted her over and turned her head the other way. After a few moments she was still again.
“Ok, now comes the hard part. I hate to say it, but I’ll warn you this one is probably going to hurt you a lot more than your own did. I’ll be quick and if we’re really lucky she won’t even wake up.”
Amazingly, Barb was right. Chloe barely stirred while she drew her blood.
“Now, I’m going to go run and check these samples into the lab down the hall, then I’ll come right back and show you the way to Dr. Kline’s office.”
Alexa considered trying to put Chloe’s jumper back on, but not wanting to push her luck, she decided to leave her in just her onesie. It was the middle of summer after all and quite warm out. True to her word, Barb was back before Alexa could even get all of her things loaded into the diaper bag.
“Here, let me carry that for you since you’ve got your hands full already. Just follow me this way.” Barb grabbed the full diaper bag and expertly slung it over her shoulder as they headed out the door.
✧
They proceeded down the long hallway passed several more exam rooms, a restroom, and an intersecting hallway that seemed to go for quite a while in both directions. While they were walking Alexa was able to take in the facility in a way that she hadn’t been able to when she was so busy trying to console Chloe. Everything was clearly state of the art. She saw signs for the lab, x-ray and ultrasound, treatment, and even a cafeteria. The décor was clean and modern, yet warm and comforting, much like Dr. Kline himself.
At the end of the hallway they turned left and came up to a small waiting area.
“You can just have a seat here. Dr. Kline will be with you shortly. If I don’t see you again before you leave, you have yourself a good day and take care of that sweet baby, ya hear?”
Barb placed the diaper bag on one of the empty chairs and patted Alexa’s shoulder before heading back down the hallway.
Alexa eased into another empty chair, trying not to jostle Chloe too much. As she glanced at the time on her cell phone she thought this had to be some kind of record. Chloe had been asleep for nearly forty-five minutes. She hadn’t slept that long in over two weeks.
Sitting there she took a moment to take in the area, noticing a security keypad on the door to Dr. Kline’s office.
That’s weird. I wonder what he’s hiding in there.
Alexa laughed at herself for being so suspicious. He probably just stored confidential patient records in there, maybe some prescription pads or samples from pharmaceutical reps that he didn’t want falling into the hands of some receptionist with a drug addict boyfriend. Still it made her very curious to learn more about the good doctor. She had kept her shields up initially, but now she was determined to listen in on Dr. Kline briefly.
Just then, the door swung open.
“Alexa, please come in. I’m glad to see Miss Chloe is getting in a nice little nap.” He smiled at her warmly as she brushed past him and entered the spacious office.
The room was huge, with bookshelves lining two of the walls, while pieces of art that Alexa could only assume were very valuable lined the others. One piece in particular caught her eye. It was of a man, and even though he was standing in the open, she couldn’t really see him when she was looking directly at the painting. It was like he was behind some sort of veil, quite an interesting visual effect. When she looked off to the side, she could swear it looked exactly like...him.
Of course it looked like him, even after all this time she still saw him everywhere. Every man going around a corner or leaning in a dark alley was him. She felt him everywhere, but he was never really there when she looked again. Her mind had been playing cruel tricks on her for all these months, she had learned to ignore it, but something about the way the man in the painting was standing with his head cocked to one side was so familiar.
“Well, Alexa. So far, Chloe seems to be the picture of health. Even with the recent weight loss, she is still well within the normal range for height and weight. Of course we never want to see a child her age lose weight, so while we are waiting for the results of your blood work I would like for you to try these supplements. Give her one ounce right before each nursing. You can try giving it to her by bottle or spoon feed it to her.”
Turning her attention to the small package Dr. Kline had slid across the desk, Alexa picked up one of the containers examining the contents. The liquid was a milky brownish red color.
Inquiring about the ingredients of the mixture, Alexa lowered her shields to hear Dr. Kline’s thoughts. She was met with telepathic silence as he said aloud, “It’s my own formula of vitamins and minerals with some beet juice. It should soothe Chloe and help her to gain back some of the weight she lost.”
Usually when Alexa lowered her shields she was flooded with the thoughts of anyone nearby. She sat there for a moment in silence and searched with her mind for Dr. Kline’s stream of consciousness. As she probed with her ability she was met with an almost physical presence in Dr. Kline’s mind blocking her from truly hearing him. She could sense his intentions, like hearing a person’s tone of voice through a wall without being able to decipher the actual words and was certain that he meant well. But she couldn’t hear him. That had only happened one time before since her ability manifested over ten years ago. Ethan.
“Alexa, did you hear me?”
She had been so focused on listening in on his thoughts she had missed whatever he had been saying to her aloud the last few minutes.
Thinking quickly she replied. “No, I apologize, I’m just so tired I can hardly focus.”
She thought she noticed a flash of recognition in Dr. Kline’s eyes just then, but it was gone before she could be sure it had ever been there at all. No one knew about her ability, but in that moment she felt like the good doctor knew she was searching his
mind. Of course that was impossible.
Ok, Alexa. You really are tired. Get a grip.
“I understand, Alexa. If we are lucky, Chloe will go down and get a good night of sleep tonight once her belly is full. Then you can catch up on your sleep as well. The lab results should be ready by tomorrow afternoon so I would like to see you both back here then to discuss the findings. Can you come in at three?”
“Oh, yeah, of course, we’ll be here.”
“Excellent, I will let the receptionist know. Here is my card with my personal cell phone and pager numbers. Please contact me if there are any problems before then.”
As she took the card and slipped it into the diaper bag he continued. “Alexa, please understand that you can contact me at any time, day or night, no matter how small or trivial you believe your concern to be. I am at your complete disposal until we get Chloe on the right track.”
He placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Taking advantage of the physical connection, Alexa attempted to peer into his thoughts one last time, but again heard nothing. She could feel that his intentions were sincere and she trusted him to help her, though she didn’t understand why his thoughts eluded her telepathy. Why did he remind her so much of the man she had been trying so hard to forget?
“I can’t thank you enough for your help. You’ve already made such a difference, though I admit I haven’t the slightest clue how you did it. Care to share your secret?” Alexa raised her eyebrows and smiled inquisitively.
Dr. Kline chuckled. “Let us just say I have had many years in practice to hone my bedside manner. I cannot take all the credit, most likely Chloe was so exhausted she would have fallen asleep for anyone.”
Alexa sensed he was holding something back, but decided to let it go as he escorted her back to the main reception area. They confirmed her three o’clock appointment for the next day and she and Chloe were on their way.
Choices of Fate (Fate Series) Page 3