Lakeside Hospital Box Set

by Cara Malone

  With every spasm of Krys’s body, Darcy’s ached a little more. She took her arms from Krys’s hips and with one hand, she slipped a finger into the wet, throbbing warmth between Krys’s legs. She could feel Krys’s muscles tightening and releasing around her in pre-orgasmic spasms of ecstasy.

  With her other hand, Darcy quickly unbuttoned her pants and slid her hand between her thighs. She kept her mouth on Krys’s clit, rolling her tongue over and over her in tight circles, and coordinated the movement of her hands, thrusting in and out of Krys and rubbing herself to the rhythm that Krys was creating with her hips.

  It only took a couple of minutes of this before Krys was closing her thighs around Darcy’s head, her whole body shaking as she came against her eagerly working tongue. Darcy joined her a moment later, her fingers working furiously to keep up with Krys as she felt a euphoric heat beginning to radiate out from her core.

  When they were both panting and shaking with pleasure, Krys slumped against the upper cabinets with a huge smile on her face and Darcy sank back on her heels, pulling her hand out of her pants.

  Krys looked down at her and let out a very long, satisfied sigh, then Darcy said, “So that was a pretty successful third date, right?”

  “I’ve never had a better one,” Krys answered.

  Darcy got up and grabbed a couple of dish towels from a drawer, handing one to Krys to get cleaned up while she did the same. Then she wrapped Krys’s thighs around her hips all over again and kissed her deeply.

  “I hope you don’t have to go right away,” she said. “I know you have to work in the morning, but I think if you give me a minute to catch my breath, I could make this date successful all over again.”

  Krys laughed and said, “What time is it?”

  “Ah, screw the time!” Darcy said, kissing Krys again. “Time is a construct! Sleep is irrelevant!”

  “Not for an ER doctor,” Krys said, and Darcy was heartened by the fact that she looked regretful about having to say it. She found the time on the oven – it was just past midnight – and she picked up her dress from the kitchen floor. “Zip me up?”

  “Oh no,” Darcy said. “You’re not going to make me drive you home and deny me the pleasure of cuddling with you after that, are you?”

  Krys just turned around, sliding into her dress and waiting for Darcy to pull up the zipper. While Darcy zipped her up, Krys glanced through the kitchen doorway and laughed.

  “Oh, poor Harvey,” she said. Darcy followed her gaze and saw him lying on the rug, his head on top of his paws and a pathetic look of exclusion on his face. “He definitely doesn’t like me now.”

  “He’s going to have to learn to like you,” Darcy said, spinning Krys around and kissing the tip of her nose, “because I like you a lot and if I have my way, he’ll be seeing plenty more of you around here.”

  15

  Krys

  Krys lingered there with Darcy for a little while longer. She asked for a tour and Darcy took her through the small house, Harvey following on their heels. The three of them went to Darcy’s bedroom, where Darcy pulled Krys onto the bed. They made out for a few minutes and Darcy slid her hand up Krys’s dress.

  It felt good, but the time was nagging at the back of Krys’s mind and she reluctantly pulled away. She really did need to sleep for a few hours or she’d be in no condition to care for her patients in the ER, but it was so hard to end one of the best nights of her life.

  She looked to the foot of the bed, where Harvey had his chin on the corner of the mattress.

  “Do you usually let him sleep with you?”

  “Yeah,” Darcy said. “He always slept at the foot of my bed when we were both younger and he picked right up where he left off when I came home.”

  “Come here, Harvey,” Krys said, patting the mattress. She didn’t have to tell him twice – he jumped onto the bed with the effort of an older dog, then lay down on top of their feet. Darcy smiled and Krys said, “I know I can’t compete with him for your affections, and I’d rather us not become adversaries.”

  Darcy laughed and Krys snuggled into her arms, enjoying the feeling of Darcy’s body pressed against her. It was nice to let go of everything and simply be with Darcy, even if she knew the moment wouldn’t last much longer. Darcy kissed the nape of her neck and Krys looked around the room.

  “So, did you decorate this room or was it your dad?” Krys asked.

  There wasn’t much here – just a small bed that kept them close, a nightstand with a couple well-worn novels stacked neatly on it, and a dresser and closet that Krys was willing to bet were also meticulously organized. The bedsheets were a crisp white with a thick quilt neatly folded at the foot of the bed where Harvey lay, and the walls were papered with soft blue stripes.

  “Most of it is stuff my dad picked out when we moved in,” Darcy said. “He did his best to make it feel like home, but I wasn’t really in the mood to decorate and make the space my own back then, in the middle of my parents’ divorce. Now, it suits me just fine because I hardly spend any time in here.”

  “It’s very utilitarian,” Krys agreed. “The wallpaper has the most personality out of everything in the room.”

  “It’s leftover from the previous owners,” Darcy said with a laugh. “I’ve never been much of a nester, I guess. All I need is a place to lay my head at night. What about you? What does your apartment look like?”

  “Come on,” Krys said, groaning as she tore herself from Darcy’s grasp and then held out her hand to pull her out of the bed. “I have to get home and get at least a few hours of sleep. If you play your cards right, you can see it in person.”

  Darcy said goodbye to Harvey and left him dozing on the foot of her bed, then she drove Krys back across town to her apartment. It was nearly two in the morning by the time they arrived and Krys still wasn’t ready to end the date, so she made good on her offer and invited Darcy up to her apartment.

  “It’s nothing much,” she said as she opened the door.

  It was a simple, furnished one-bedroom apartment with white walls and not much in the way of décor. It contained everything Krys needed to survive, but she didn’t spend much time there so she never bothered to make it a place where she wanted to be.

  “It’s nice,” Darcy said. “At least it’s your own.”

  Krys wrapped her arms around Darcy’s waist and kissed her – it felt strange to be so intimate with anyone after such a long time alone, but it also felt effortless to kiss her. “Do you want to sleep with me?”

  “Umm, we already-” Darcy started to say with a grin, but Krys interrupted with a yawn.

  “No, I mean really sleep,” she said. “I have to be at the hospital in three hours but I’m not ready to let you leave. Stay with me.”

  “Okay,” Darcy said, letting Krys lead her down the small hallway to the bedroom. They fell into bed together, not even bothering to undress, and as Krys drifted off to sleep, Darcy nuzzled her nose against Krys’s neck and said, “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you want to be my girlfriend?” Darcy asked.

  Krys smiled broadly in the darkness and whispered, “Yes.”

  The next morning was a struggle.

  Krys woke Darcy up at five a.m., reluctant to finally crawl out of her embrace, and they parted ways at the lobby of Krys’s apartment building. Darcy went home and Krys went to the hospital, where she was seriously in need of some kind of caffeine delivery system that could convey it to her via an IV drip. She was suppressing yawns all morning but it was worth it for the smile that simply refused to leave her lips.

  Even though her eyelids were heavy and her body screamed for sleep, Krys was on cloud nine and she practically floated from one patient to the next all day long. She met Ivy in the hospital cafeteria for a quick lunch break and mentoring session around noon and Ivy saw Krys’s changed mood immediately.

  “You look like you haven’t slept,” she said, giving Krys an amused look. “I take it you
had fun at the wedding?”

  “Yeah,” Krys said dreamily, surprised at the tone of her own voice. She’d dated a few girls in high school and college, but none of them had ever made her feel this way – like a teenager falling in love for the first time and forgetting about everything else.

  That was a scary possibility.

  “Wow,” Ivy said, still studying the dopey expression on Krys’s face. “I can’t wait to tell Chloe - she’s going to be so excited for you two.”

  “We’re not getting married or anything,” Krys hedged. “There’s still a distinct possibility that she’ll figure out I’m a neurotic workaholic and change her mind. We just went on a couple of dates so far… and spent the night together.”

  She couldn’t help adding that last detail as a broad smile spread across her face. Ivy gave her a knowing look, then flipped open her notepad and said, “Okay, are you ready to switch over to mentor mode now, or are we going to spend our entire lunch talking about how dreamy Darcy is?”

  “Mentor mode,” Krys said, taking a deep breath and pushing thoughts of Darcy out of her head for the moment. “What have you got for me this week?”

  “I wanted to talk about the doctor’s role in delivering bad news,” Ivy said. “Last week, I had a patient whose tumor turned out to be inoperable…”

  After her shift that day, Krys could feel the lack of sleep beginning to weigh her down, but she was scheduled for a clinic shift in the afternoon and she was determined to get through her responsibilities. But when she walked out of the ER, Darcy was standing on the sidewalk with a bouquet of daisies in her hand.

  “What’s this?” Krys asked with a curious smile as she walked over to meet her.

  “I’ve been thinking about you all day,” Darcy said. “I was hoping to take you out to dinner for a more traditional date.”

  “I have a clinic shift,” Krys said with a frown. She took the daisies and inhaled their sweet perfume, wishing she had the time for things like traditional dates. There were just so many people she needed to help, in the ER and the clinic.

  “I called Russell,” Darcy said. “I hope you don’t mind, but he said they’re not busy today and one of the other doctors wouldn’t mind coming in to cover your shift. If you’re up for it, I made reservations at that fancy fondue place downtown, La Fondre.”

  Krys looked at Darcy’s clothes – a chambray shirt with the cuffs rolled neatly up to her elbows and a pair of crisply ironed white chinos. She’d prepared for a date and Krys wanted to say yes, but…

  “You don’t want to skip your clinic shift, do you?” Darcy asked.

  “I’m really sorry,” Krys said. “I want to spend time with you, but I told Russell I’d work tonight and Malik’s supposed to be coming in-”

  “It’s fine,” Darcy interrupted. “Plan B was to go with you to the clinic and spend the whole night trying to get your attention in between patients. I’ll call the restaurant and cancel our reservation.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Krys asked.

  “Yes,” Darcy said. “I didn’t go to the extent of buying tear-away clothes in the event that you didn’t like my date idea, but I did put a pair of scrubs in the truck because I figured this might happen. Let’s go help some people.”

  “You’re going to get sick of me being a workaholic,” Krys warned her as Darcy took her hand and led her through the parking lot.

  “And you might get sick of me bringing you flowers every day,” Darcy said with a shrug. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop.”

  “Every day?” Krys asked with a cynical look as Darcy opened the door to her truck.

  “Yup,” Darcy said. “Come on – we’ll take my truck and then I’ll drop you off at your car later.”

  Krys climbed in and Darcy closed the door. As she watched Darcy walk around the front of the truck, Krys felt a tingly, strange sensation rising into her head. It was exciting and she couldn’t wait for more of it.

  When Darcy climbed behind the wheel, Krys set her bouquet of daisies on the dashboard and slid over to her, giving her a long, appreciative kiss.

  “What was that for?” Darcy asked with a smile.

  “You’re amazing,” Krys said. In her head, she added, I hope this lasts.

  16

  Darcy

  The week went by in a blur of physical therapy, clinic hours and little moments that Darcy managed to steal with Krys in the midst of the chaos. The next time they had a chance to be alone was about as romantic as their quarantine date – Darcy and Krys went together to the hospital to have their follow-up tuberculosis tests read to make sure they weren’t carrying the bacteria in their systems. They’d both gotten their second skin tests administered a few days prior, and now they’d be finding out the results.

  “Thanks for coming with me to do this,” Darcy said as she slid her hand into Krys’s and they got on the elevator that would take them up to the hospital lab. “I know you could have just as easily gotten your test read on a lunch break without me.”

  “And miss the chance for another wacky adventure with you?” Krys asked. “Never.”

  “Mary had her follow-up test read a couple days ago,” Darcy said. “I talked to her about it at my last clinic shift. She’s negative.”

  “And we will be, too,” Krys said, giving Darcy a quick kiss while they were alone in the elevator. “Don’t worry – you don’t have any symptoms.”

  They went to the lab and Krys convinced the lab technician to let them both go together to hear their test results. Darcy knew it was against protocol, but it seemed that being one of Lakeside’s rock star doctors had its perks, and for that Darcy was grateful. Their TB exposure scare was hitting her harder than she expected and even though she tried not to appear shaken, she was pretty sure her anxiety was written all over her face.

  They sat down side by side in one of the oversized chairs where the phlebotomists took patients’ blood and Krys laced her fingers into Darcy’s. The technician examined each of their arms, looking at the site where the skin test had been performed.

  He looked at Krys first, putting on rubber gloves and running his finger over the small, hard bump that had formed on her forearm where the fluid was injected. Then he measured the spot with a pair of calipers and noted the measurement in her chart.

  “Negative,” he said. “You’re TB-free.”

  “Great,” Krys said. She put her arm around Darcy and smiled reassuringly. “Your turn.”

  Yeah, she knows I’m scared shitless.

  The technician changed his gloves and repeated the examination on Darcy. She felt the energy in the room change as soon as she turned over her arm.

  Where Krys’s test site had swollen to about the size of a sesame seed, Darcy’s was more like a pencil eraser. Darcy’s heart twisted in her chest as she watched the technician frown at it. He measured it, then said, “I better get my supervisor.”

  “What does that mean?” Darcy asked, her eyes going wide.

  “It means he’s low on the totem pole, that’s all,” Krys said, her voice switching over to the reassuring, professional doctor one that Darcy had heard so many times at the clinic. Suddenly, it wasn’t so reassuring – was she looking at Darcy like a patient? A sick one?

  “Why’s mine so much bigger than yours?” Darcy asked.

  “It’s not that big,” Krys said. “It’s ambiguous if anything.”

  A doctor in a long white coat came into the room next and that didn’t make Darcy feel any calmer. He sat down on a stool across from her and remeasured the spot, then he said the same thing Krys had – it was ambiguous.

  “Tuberculosis skin tests are not an exact science,” he explained. “The acceptable size of the spot depends on a lot of variables, such as how direct the exposure was. For your situation, I’d say the size of your injection site is borderline, but based on your risk factors, I’d rather not take any chances.

  “What happens next?” Darcy asked, her eyes still wide as Krys rubbed her back
and tried to keep her calm.

  “We’re going to need to do a chest x-ray to determine whether you have an active form of the disease,” the doctor said. “And I’m going to start you on a course of prophylactic antibiotics just to be safe. If the x-ray comes back clear, you’ll still need to finish the antibiotics.”

  “And if it doesn’t?” Darcy asked.

  “You’ll take a three-week course of anti-TB drugs, and then we’ll retest,” the doctor said. He tried to make it sound simple and trivial, but Darcy remembered how bad the little boy had looked when she first saw him. She was terrified.

  “Can Darcy still work in the clinic?” Krys asked.

  The doctor furrowed his brow and asked, “What kind of clinic?”

  “The Evanston Free Clinic,” Darcy said. “I’m a volunteer medical assistant.”

  He frowned again, then shook his head. “No, I think it will be safest if you take a couple of weeks off. When you’re finished with your antibiotics, you can resume work.”

  Darcy nodded, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Krys was looking at her like a patient instead of like a woman she cared about on a personal level. That scared her even more than the threat of tuberculosis and she could feel a few bricks being mortared back into place in Krys’s emotional walls.

  Don’t let her push me away over this.

  The doctor directed them down the hall to the imaging department so Darcy could get her chest x-ray and Krys held her hand until Darcy had to go into the imaging room by herself. She floated through the process, her heart pounding in her ears the whole time, and when she came back into the waiting room, Krys gave her a sympathetic smile.

  One that she’d given patients in the clinic dozens of times in Darcy’s presence.