by Barbara Ebel
“You’re just saying that,” Bonnie chided back. “You wouldn’t send me if I still had medical issues.”
“So true. How about this? We’ll coincide an obstetric out-patient clinic appointment before or after Samantha’s appointment and we’ll discharge you today. It’s getting late, but Dr. Gash, your nurse, and the unit secretary can hustle for you.”
Bonnie’s face lit up like Christmas lights at Opryland and Tony stood and twirled around once with Samantha. The team advanced to the doorway.
“We wish you the best,” Annabel said.
“We’ll send you in a throat lozenge while you’re waiting,” Dr. Harvey said.
Annabel chuckled.
“What?” Dr. Harvey asked her.
Annabel shook her head in the hallway. “They love you too.”
“Speaking of love, congratulations on the new pet. You’re a brave woman to take on the added responsibility during medical school, but it sounds like you have it all figured out.”
“Yeah,” Caleb said, “a dog sounds like super companionship while studying. I wish I was organized enough to take care of a another living being besides myself. Maybe I can borrow him sometime.”
“Maybe Bob and I can rent him out while either or both of us are on vacation, away, or whatever.”
-----
Bob tucked the vet’s bill into his pocket and left their office with Oliver on a leash. The dog had been a big hit with their staff due to his affability and beautiful coat, but Bob snarled at the price of the bill as he started the car. He glanced in the rearview mirror and acknowledged to himself that he was already quite fond of the dog. Even if he had to scrimp with his monthly budget and deprive himself of an occasional fancy coffee from the hospital, he would do so. They were too expensive anyway, he thought.
He never asked his folks for money. His mother was a nurse in a physician’s office and his dad was an electrician who had cut back on his hours due to chronic back pain. They supported him emotionally and were super proud of him, but they could not help him out financially. In essence, he hoped someday he would be able to kick in some of his salary for their golden years. Maybe his dad could retire altogether.
It was different for Annabel, he thought. If she had a pinch with money, all she had to do was ask her dad. He even covered her credit card for her Uber habit, which was actually a smart idea since she lived with a parking problem for her SUV. He was glad for her fortunate circumstance and also admired her for never taking them for granted. He had loved meeting them in Nashville and hoped the opportunity would present itself again.
Each day, Bob felt his tiredness dissipating. He was beginning to look forward to getting back to the wards in a few days and finishing up internal medicine as well as spending part of tomorrow morning with Annabel. He looked again in the mirror. Oliver stared back, his paws on the top of the back seat.
“When we arrive home,” Bob said, “let’s see how smart you are.”
Bob let Oliver pee by the parking lot and hustled him into his apartment. He grabbed a few biscuits in his hand. Oliver already knew how to sit on command, but Bob wasn’t sure if he could give his paw.
After the dog sat before him, Bob said, “You are the politest sitting dog I’ve ever seen.” He extended his hand, trying the command without a biscuit. “Gimme your paw, Oliver.”
Oliver kept eye contact; his tail swooshed on the hardwood floor.
“I guess not.” Bob cupped a treat in his hand, held it out, and repeated his command. Oliver nuzzled his fist. Bob tried it again, putting a bit more space between them and picking the dog’s leg up himself.
Finally, the dog picked up his paw on his own and extended it.
“Good dog, Oliver. Way to go.” He opened his hand and Oliver took the treat politely. After a few more of the same, Bob switched to “Gimme five,” and Oliver cooperated.
“First attempt to teach you something, and you catch on like a champ. Good boy.” He gave the dog a hug, but Oliver tried to pry himself loose.
“So you’re not the hugging type. I’ll try and respect your wishes.”
He asked for another “high five” and the dog raised his right front leg exuberantly.
“Wait till Annabel sees what you can do.”
His iPhone dinged on the counter, alerting him to an incoming message from Annabel with the name of the funeral parlor.
“Why don’t we go together in my car?” he responded. “I’ll pick you up and, later on, drop you off at the hospital.”
“Sounds good,” she wrote. “I won’t need a car service. Don’t forget our companion!”
“He’s been ‘vetted,’ so I’ll fill you in. And there’s no way I will forget him!”
-----
Annabel left the hospital at the end of the day in the best spirits she’d had since starting the rotation. Even though her scut work had increased, she had managed some study time in the lounge; she found out she could also hunt down Caleb or Roosevelt if they were nearby and ask them questions.
She arrived home to her apartment by 6 p.m., scrambled together breakfast food for dinner, and started studying again. Choosing to sit at her desk, she avoided the temptation to be more comfortable and possibly fall asleep in her bed or her easy chair.
She opened up her textbook to the subject of ectopic pregnancies, which were pregnancies occurring outside of the uterus, most commonly in a fallopian tube. They had an incidence of two percent of pregnancies in the United States, she read, and a woman could die if it ruptured and caused a hemorrhage. She studied the table of risk factors.
If a woman came into the ER or a doctor’s office complaining of abdominal pain, she read, lack of menstruation or amenorrhea for four to six weeks, and irregular vaginal spotting, that would raise a high index of suspicion for an ectopic pregnancy. In particular, she must remember that for any future time she spent in the OB/GYN clinic.
She glanced out her desk window to the dull view of the house next door, so she rolled forty-five degrees to her front window. The tree she loved had buds all over the branches and the squirrel’s nest was becoming a bit more camouflaged.
From out in the kitchen, Annabel’s phone rang, so she padded out and answered.
“Hello, gorgeous,” Dustin said.
“You’re in a fine mood. You’ve never called me that. Plus, how do you know? I may be standing here with bags under my eyes, pillow hair, and chapped lips.”
“If that were the case, you’d still be gorgeous.”
“Whatever you say. I won’t stay on long because I’m buckling down to study, but how was your day?”
“Then I won’t waste your time on the phone. Why don’t you come over later and sleep here? And if you didn’t eat yet, I’ll bring in take-out.” Now wasn’t the time to share his frightful close call at the diner.
Annabel hesitated. Since she had leeway in the morning before going to the funeral service, his idea had merit. “All right. Let me study some more and I’ll be over later. I ate a hodgepodge of a dinner, so how about dessert?”
“I’ll whip us up something.”
“No you won’t.”
“You’re right. I’ll go buy something.”
“I can stop on the way.”
“No way. I’ll see you later.”
Annabel hung up. She committed herself to not being sidetracked and finished a thorough once-over of ectopic pregnancies. She packed a flattering silhouette nightgown, toiletries, and an outfit for the event in the morning. She headed out, aware that she must drive back to her place in the morning so Bob could pick her up.
The night was lighter than normal on her drive to Dustin’s. A full moon hung like it was the only act going on in the sky. She cracked her windows and enjoyed the fresh air. She changed her car channel to her iPhone and started a medical podcast. It was amazing these days to be able to learn important subject matter from a phone instead of a book and learning while on the go.
Annabel pulled behind Dustin’s vehicle i
n his car port and rapped on the front door. “Hey,” he said, opening the door and flashing a smile. His two-story house was small and she followed him to the kitchen.
Annabel put her bag on the counter while Solar bobbed his head from his nearby cage. “What have you been up to?” Annabel asked the bird. “You’re quiet tonight.”
Dustin rolled his eyes. “Just wait. He’s driving me crazy.”
She turned back to the counter and now noticed an open cardboard box with a full, delectable-looking cake. An iced orange carrot stretched across the cream cheese frosting.
“What a huge dessert, Dustin Lowe, and it looks scrumptious.” She glanced at him. He was staring at her instead of the contents of the box. “My mouth is watering. Where’d you buy this at this time of night?”
“The best and closest restaurant around here.”
He reached for plates and grabbed utensils while Annabel took it out of the box.
“I should put candles on top just to make it special.”
“Hell, it already is special. Is there an occasion going on here that I don’t know about?”
Dustin pushed down on the knife and slithered two chunks on their plates. The slices left a trail of flaky, moist crumbs on the counter.
“I had an eventful day. Sean and I were grabbing something to eat at our diner and a man came in with a firearm. He wanted to shoot the manager, missed, and grazed another employee.”
Annabel bit her lip. “Are you and the employee unharmed?”
“Employee is lucky. He only suffered a local injury to his arm. Sean and I took down the man with the gun. He’ll need more medical care, but nothing serious.”
She flinched. “But you didn’t get hurt, did you? You’re not hiding a bulky bandage under those clothes, are you?”
“I tell you what. Why don’t we eat our carrot cake and you can hunt under my clothes in a little while to find out.”
She grinned. “In their haste, I bet the paramedics forgot all about you.”
“And I need a physical.”
She playfully tapped him on his chest and carried her plate over to the table.
Dustin followed. “And what can I get you to drink?”
“Wine?”
“Really?”
“Don’t fill it to the top and only one. I’ll splurge for a week night. Because I’m with you.”
He put down her wine and sat on the side of a chair watching her sample the cake.
“This is so delicious, it’s crazy. We need to go to this restaurant.”
“I thought the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. I didn’t know that went for the opposite sex.”
“That’s because I’m not like the average woman my age who wouldn’t dare eat this chunk of calories you put on my plate, especially at bedtime.”
“No, you’re not average. Of that I’m certain.”
CHAPTER 22
Even though Dustin’s blinds were half closed, the moonlight pierced his bedroom. He purposely left the room’s lighting to the moon. The ceiling fan twirled on low, making the air stir and the border threads ripple on a crocheted afghan his mother had made him, which was draped on a chair.
Annabel only had a few seconds to admire the usual tidiness of his room, the queen bed made as if it was in a five-star hotel, and his nightstand neat as a pin. He wrapped his arms around her from the back and brushed her hair away from the right side of her neck. Kissing her there sent warmth all over her body and she closed her eyes for a moment. Still standing, she turned around and placed her hands on his strong back and felt the ripples of his musculature under her fingers. His mouth came down on hers. Their embrace tightened.
Dustin wore a V-neck nylon T-shirt and they both insistently pulled it over his head. She was in love with the shape of his chest, which was well defined with the nomenclature anatomy she studied so well from medical school. He was toned and ripped perfectly, she thought, like an active policeman should be.
Dustin scrambled to help Annabel pull out her tucked-in ruddy top from her cargo pants. When it was freed, they both yanked it off. They kissed again in a frenzy and moved a few steps closer to the bed. Annabel flexed a knee and pulled off one shoe, but Dustin broke from the deep kissing, grabbed off each of his shoes, and tumbled them to the side.
On the way up from leaning over, he pushed his head into her abdomen, put both hands on her, and tackled her to his bed. She laughed while he unsnapped the top of his pants, unzipped his fly, and yanked off his pants in one fell swoop.
Still on the carpet, Dustin could barely control himself as he grew harder by the moment watching her slither out of her own pants and underwear. He shoved them off the edge and planted his knees on the bed, joining her. She wiggled under him to the pillows near the headboard and giggled because he still needed to remove his Jockey underwear.
He grinned at her, ripped them off, and met her face-to-face. The fan cycled with a peaceful hum as Annabel wrapped her legs around him and the two of them joined and thrusted in a frenzy.
-----
“That was crazy,” Annabel said later. “Is your middle name Casanova?” She pulled the creamy white sheet over her hip as she lay on her side facing him.
Dustin slid the hem up over her shoulder. “Dustin Casanova Lowe. That has a ring to it, but no. There is nothing like dangerous police work, like today, to make me totally appreciate the finer things in life.” He traced the side of her face with a long index finger.
“What made you become a cop? It’s not like you’re following in your father’s footsteps.”
“Honestly, it wasn’t only because I like to help people. I yearned to look cool in a uniform. I’m a stickler for precision, so I thought the training would be right up my alley, and I thought I’d enjoy firearms training and the physical skills needed for the job. A combination of things drew me to police work.”
“I bet your mom was worried.”
“She still is. And my dad never knew what I went into because he died while I was in college.”
“What did he die from?”
“A ruptured brain aneurysm. He was alone for the weekend and my mom didn’t find him until Sunday night when she’d gotten home from a trip. If he’d gotten to a hospital, maybe someone like your dad could have saved him.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been difficult.”
“I often think he caused it himself. He chain smoked like nobody’s business. They told me his arteries thinned because of it. That’s why you becoming a doctor and preaching to people about not smoking is important.”
“No one in my family smokes. I’m fortunate. And I hate the stuff.”
“I’ve been exposed to enough second-hand smoke growing up that I’m lucky my lungs are as black and white and disease free as they are on chest X-ray. I will brainwash my own kids that if they puff once, Dad will arrest them.”
“A tough love kind of dad.”
“I think of parents as being their son or daughter’s guardian angels.”
“Nicely put. So how many kids are you going to have?”
Dustin held his tongue as he almost answered, “As many as we’ll make together.”
“Come on,” she prompted. “You can tell me. I won’t tell some future-wife-to-be of yours that you intend to keep her pregnant all the time.” She put her fingernail in his impish, alluring dimple and circled it around.
Dustin swallowed hard, not liking to hear her words. “At least two, I suppose. How about you?”
“While in training, I can’t think that far out.” She glanced up at the swirling fan blades. “As a matter of fact, this rotation is scaring me to death. I never guessed the possibilities … how pregnancies can end up like time bombs. There’s preeclampsia and post-partum hemorrhages to worry about. There is danger delivering vaginally after a C-section and possible ectopic pregnancies to worry about. There is fetal distress and kids born with rare diseases, malformations, and …” She looked at Dustin, who wore a puzzled expression.
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“Oh, sorry. I’m talking shop. Anyway, there is more to worry about than simply the number of kids a person wants.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Do you mind if I jump in your shower, put on my nightgown, and fall off to sleep with you?”
“Make it fast.”
“Thanks for the best carrot cake I’ve ever eaten,” Annabel said when she came back.
“Is that all?”
“It was almost as spectacular as the sex, but not quite.”
He smiled and gave her one more kiss before their eyes closed.
-----
“I’m using your bathroom to throw on some makeup,” Annabel said as the daylight broke into the bedroom.
“Be my guest,” Dustin said as he rolled over to watch her sit up. He pulled her back down. “But only if you can get away from me.” He lightly pinched her arm and then let go. “I’d better get up too. I’m regular early shift today.”
“I’ll be out of your way, but fortunately, my schedule has a little leeway this morning.” She stepped into the bathroom and fumbled through her bag for her clothes. Her items were wrinkle-free and draped her body like a charm. When she made it downstairs, Dustin was in a T-shirt and his underwear pouring them both coffee.
“You look nice,” he said.
“Thank you. I’m going to a funeral parlor this morning. Not good; it was a patient of ours.”
“I guess you meant what you said last night about the complications of child birth.”
“Exactly. But at least I’m going to see Oliver. Bob is bringing him in his car.”
“I thought he was not with you on OB/GYN.”
“He’s a dog. Of course not.” She kept a straight face, although she was messing with him.
“I mean Bob.”
She broadly smiled and took the mug he extended to her. Dustin shook his head while Annabel looked up at Solar. “The cat’s got your tongue this morning.”
“What’s your problem?” Solar chirped.
“Oh, please don’t start him,” Dustin said. “He’s imitating me more, ever since I brought an Alexa into the kitchen.”