A week had passed, and Brad hadn’t so much as called her. Mallory went through the motions of the day, doing her job without thinking about him. She had a lot to do—even more with filling in for him—but in those minutes between patients she had time to miss him, and in the darkness of her bedroom at night she ached for him.
Mallory cut her visit to Margaret short and headed for home. She didn’t exactly feel at her best tonight worrying that the longer Brad was gone, the more he would want to stay there. He had family, and now a mother who needed him. He’d want to be with her. Mallory couldn’t fault him for that. If she had the chance to be with her mother again wouldn’t she want to go wherever she was? Mallory was anchored in Philadelphia. Her sister lived only an hour away. She would be at the hospital for the remainder of her residency. Even if she wanted to go she was committed to staying here.
She pulled her car into the garage and closed the door. She didn’t bother with lights. She started for her bedroom, dropping her purse on the kitchen counter as she passed through it. Halfway up the stairs she heard the doorbell ring. She stopped. It was three in the morning. Who could that be?
Brad! Her heart jumped into her throat as she rushed to the door and looked through the side window. He stood there.
Yanking the door inward, she jumped into his arms. Brad’s arms closed around her and she felt safe. “I missed you,” she whispered, her voice so reverent she could be praying.
“I missed you, too.” He kissed her, pushing her into the house and closing the door.
It felt so good to be back in his arms. Mallory tugged his jacket off and heard it hit the floor as her own arms tightened around his neck and she went up on her toes. His mouth devoured hers and she reveled in the feel of him. In seconds a hot frenzy seemed to flash through them both and they rained wet kisses all over each other. Mallory tried to discard his clothes without separating from him and he tried to do the same to her. Slowly they moved toward the stairway dropping garments as they went.
At the base of the stairs Brad stopped, his hands cupping her breasts, his mouth drugging hers with a long, languid kiss that robbed her of the strength to stand. He lifted her, carrying her up to her bedroom. They crashed onto the bed like teenagers having their first sexual encounter and afraid their parents would come home and catch them.
It had been a week, a long, lonely, solitary week, during which she missed having his hands on her, having him kiss her and make love to her. Her body ached for him, burned in the most intimate places, wanting his to satisfy her, free her from the need that gripped her.
Rational thought seemed to leave her whenever she saw him. She went on instinct, following an urge that had no origin in her well-ordered world. She was in love and love commanded her actions. Love made her forget everything except the pleasure that flowed through her like a river.
Brad’s hands smoothed over her hips, traveling over sensitized skin until they reached her breasts once more. She moaned with pleasure as he touched her—inside and out, and cried out in ecstasy when he once again took her to the stars.
Afterward, Brad held her close as their ragged breathing mingled. It felt like a century since she had made love with him. She had never been so aggressive, so uninhibited. Every time they made love she lost control, but tonight some deeper element in her being had been released.
She slipped off of Brad, but remained in his arms. She never wanted to be anywhere else. And never wanted this night to end. She’d like them to stay this way forever, in each others arms, surrounded by the afterglow of a love so pure and sweet it seemed to fill the whole room.
Mallory closed her eyes and listened to the beating of Brad’s heart. “Welcome back,” she murmured.
He kissed the top of her head and pulled the covers over them. She looked up at him and he dropped a kiss on her mouth.
“What happened this week?”
Other than letting out a long breath, nothing changed about Brad. He still held her lightly in his arms. His hand rubbed across her back and down her hips, yet she knew something inside him shifted.
“We found her a rehabilitation hospital in Dallas. She was moved last Thursday. Her recovery will be slow, but the doctors believe in time she can return to a normal life.”
“Is it close to Owen’s?”
“Yes, the hospital isn’t far from his office. He’ll be able to visit her often and monitor her progress.”
“And you?”
Brad released her and shifted away. He got out of bed and pulled on his boxer shorts. His pants were somewhere on the stairs or the floor outside the bedroom.
“I’m moving back to Texas.”
Mallory was stunned. She’d thought of it. In the back of her mind probably known this was coming. He’d searched for his mother most of his life. Now that he’d found her it was natural he’d want to be close enough to see her regularly. Mallory would have wanted the same thing if it were her mother. Yet when Brad had said the words they were the last thing she expected to hear.
Her hand came up to her breast, hiding the rift in her heart she was sure he could see. They had become a couple although there was no spoken commitment between them.
“What are you thinking?” Brad asked.
Mallory sat up, holding the sheet against her. “I’m thinking you’ve already made a decision.” She didn’t bother to keep the anger out of her voice. “You made up your mind before you ever got on the plane.”
“Mallory—”
“Don’t Mallory me.” She got out of bed unmindful of the fact that she had no clothes within reach. “I can’t believe you’ve come to this decision without even talking to me about it.” She snatched up her abandoned clothes and headed for the bathroom. “Rosa told me about the woman who left you. Not your mother,” she said as she shrugged into clothes that protested her treatment of them. “The woman you wanted to marry. She decided to leave you without a word.” Mallory went to the door. She hadn’t bothered to look in the mirror. Her hair hung over her shoulders. She quickly pushed it out of the way. “Well, you’re no better.”
“Mallory, I am talking it over with you.”
“Are you?” She stepped farther into the room. “Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t already decided to go. That you haven’t already told Owen and Rosa and…and…” She groped for the names of his other brothers and sisters.
Brad looked directly at her, but said nothing. Her point was taken. She’d wanted it to be different. She’d wanted him to say the words, tell her that he hadn’t made up his mind, that he wanted to weigh his decision, look at it from all the angles, and get her input, but it wasn’t to be.
“Don’t think about me. Don’t consider the hole you will leave in the hospital, all the residents who respect your talent despite your mood swings and grumpiness. Don’t think of them and don’t think of the children in the shelter who’ve come to trust and rely on you. Think about yourself. Because in the long run that’s what it comes down to.”
“Stop it!” Brad shouted, and took a step toward her. For a moment Mallory was immobile. She stared at him, stopping his approach with a withering look. Hostility hung in the air like loose wallpaper. Then she swept past him and headed for the door. She was close to tears and she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. She stopped in the doorway and held it open. It was the last time she would see him.
Her voice was quiet when she spoke. “Good bye, Brad.”
A numbness surrounded Mallory as she went through her duties at the hospital the next day. She hadn’t had any sleep. She knew Brad would be turning in his resignation, and while she felt as if she had a knife sticking into her chest, she would still have to see him on the floor every day until he departed.
Life was not fair. Mallory repeated the cliché to herself. She knew it, had dealt with the fact often. Life threw you curve balls and lemons to make it interesting, except this wasn’t interesting, it was devastating. She’d vowed to steer clear of men, but Brad had touche
d her heart in a way no one else had. He’d gotten through to her by finding the cracks in her system and slowly slipping through them. Now he was entrenched in her life. When he left, she would be so alone.
“You must have heard the news,” Dana said when she joined Mallory in the cafeteria.
“What news?”
“Dr. Clayton resigned this morning.”
“I know.” Mallory lifted her head as if the revelation meant nothing to her. “He’s a fine doctor. Wherever he goes children will benefit from his care.”
“Mallory…!” Dana called in her I-know-there’s-more-to-this voice. “What happened in Texas? I thought you two were on the road to coupledom.”
Mallory looked at her closest friend. She knew she and Brad were the subject of gossip at the hospital, and today she didn’t care. She decided to confide in her friend. “To tell you the truth, I thought so, too.”
“I hear the reason is he’s found his mother, who’s been missing for twenty years.”
“I understand about his mother. I’d feel the same way if I were in his situation.”
“Mallory, you could go with him.”
She stared straight at Dana. “First, he hasn’t asked me, and second, I have three years of residency to finish here. I can’t go.”
“If he asked you, would you go?”
Mallory hadn’t considered that option. She didn’t think it was open. If Brad had wanted to ask her he’d have done it last night, when he had her in his arms. Instead he’d gotten out of bed and put distance between them. Brad was a loner. He liked being alone. Like his other relationships, she was only a short interlude in his life.
“I don’t think there’s much chance of that happening.”
“I didn’t ask you to lay odds, just tell me what you’d say.”
“I don’t know.” Mallory truthfully didn’t know. She had a family, too, even if it was only one sister. Texas was a long way from Philadelphia. Mallory had fought to get accepted at this hospital. It afforded her everything she wanted in her late-starting career. She admitted she was comfortable here. She knew the lay of the land, the politics and personalities of the facility. She understood the rhythm of the city and its ebb and flow. She knew nothing about Texas, nothing about a family that gathered around so closely that it could be suffocating. But she’d never been afraid of challenges or adventures.
What bothered her most, she decided, was that Brad hadn’t thought of her feelings, hadn’t worried his decision would in any way affect her. She knew he was sensitive, but he reserved most of that sensitivity for his patients.
“There is a little good news to counter Brad’s resignation.” Dana was speaking again.
“What is that?” Mallory couldn’t imagine anything eclipsing Brad’s announcement.
“One of the coma patients, Margaret Keller, woke up about three-thirty this morning. Several of the staff say they thought the ghost had visited her just before she woke.”
Tears came to Mallory’s eyes and she smiled. At three-thirty this morning she’d been in Brad’s arms. The world was being rocked for Mallory, but Margaret was returning to it. Maybe the balance had been off center and the two events evened it out.
“It’s highly unusual for a resident to request a transfer without completing the rotation,” Dr. Janis Campbell said. She was in charge of the residents and their assignments. She’d called Mallory to her office as a result of her request for reassignment.
“I understand that,” Mallory said.
“Do you want to tell me why you are requesting this?”
Mallory kept the details sketchy, but told her that it was for personal reasons that involved Dr. Clayton.
While the administrator’s expression didn’t change, Mallory knew she had heard the rumors about the two of them. She reassigned Mallory to the coma wing.
“Dr. Carter from the coma wing has requested help. Would that be satisfactory with you?”
Mallory smiled. “I plan to go into neurology working with coma patients,” she volunteered. “That would be perfect.”
Mallory’s heart was a little lighter when she left the office. She didn’t have to see Brad every day until he left, and after he was gone, she wouldn’t have to look across the floor and remember that he’d often stood there, glancing at her, caring for children who put their faith in him.
The drawback to the new assignment was the quiet nature of her duties. The work was demanding, but not in the same way. There wasn’t the constant activity of seeing patients, talking to them, giving orders to nurses. Here, she had time to think, time to remember and dwell upon Brad’s upcoming absence.
One night as she left the hospital and approached her car Brad stepped out of the shadows. “You’re avoiding me.”
Fear caused her stomach to drop before she realized he wasn’t a drug-crazed assailant there to do her harm.
“Brad, you scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to speak to you and you always seem to be busy or not around.”
“It is a hospital. We’re open twenty-four hours a day.” She tried for lightness, but failed miserably.
Mallory pressed the button on her key ring and opened the door of her car.
“Can we go somewhere and talk?”
“Talk about what? Haven’t you already said what you needed to say?”
“I want you to understand.”
“Oh, Brad, I do understand.” Mallory felt compassion for him. “I’m glad you found your mother. It was a fruitful search and you should be glad it ended this way. I lost both of my parents and I fully understand your need to be with yours. Do what you have to do.”
She got into her car and started the engine. Brad kept the door open, preventing her from driving away.
“Mallory, I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. In your place I’d make the same decision. When are you leaving?” She didn’t know why she asked. Closure maybe. A date after which she could be sure she didn’t have to avoid him.
“Thanksgiving. I won’t be returning after the holiday.”
“That’s appropriate,” she whispered. “You have something extra special to be thankful for this year. And your family will be thrilled that you’re back home. Good night, Brad.”
She wrenched the door closed and drove off. Tears blurred her vision and she wiped them away.
The wind was fierce, as it was late in the year for ballooning, but Mallory went up anyway. She needed space, freedom, control over the things that were happening in her life. The wind batted at the balloon and she had to use all her energy to control it. Keith had been there to help her blow it up and then pack it up again. The day hadn’t been that satisfying. Mallory thought of Brad being in the air with her. The last time she’d been out had been with him. Despite the need to work with the wind to keep the balloon on course, she still had time to remember that lovely day.
It seemed he’d invaded every part of her life. Mallory had even looked for the cabin he’d pointed out when they were ballooning together. She’d found it and wondered if he was there, but discarded the thought and concentrated on repacking the balloon.
She stayed and had lunch with Keith. Substituting sparkling cider for champagne, they laughed and enjoyed the early afternoon. Mallory waved as Keith pulled out of the parking lot. She followed, but her cell phone went off before she’d turned onto the main road.
“Hello,” she said, seeing a number on the display panel that she didn’t recognize.
“Mallory, it’s Brad. I saw your balloon. I need your help.”
She heard a groan as if someone was in pain. “Brad, are you hurt?”
“No,” he said. “I’m at my cabin. Can you find it?”
“I think so.”
“Good. Bring your medical bag.”
Mallory instinctively knew something was wrong. She put the phone down and started for the cabin. She had only aerial directions to get to it, but there was only one road in and out that she had
seen. She found it and turned left, heading back in the direction she had come. The river appeared on her left and she followed it until she came to a clearing. She immediately recognized Brad’s car. A van sat next to it.
Grabbing her bag from the back seat of the truck, she rushed to the door. A woman she didn’t know opened it. “Dr. Russell?” the stranger asked, her voice slightly breathless.
Mallory nodded.
“Come on in.”
“Where’s Brad?” Mallory inquired. She was sure he was hurt. Why else would he ask her to bring her medical bag.
“He’s in here.”
She followed the woman to a small room set up as a makeshift medical facility. It had little equipment. The examination table was an old kitchen table covered with a bedsheet, a piece of plastic and then a strip of polished white shelf paper. Brad stood near the wall, his hands raised as if he’d scrubbed for surgery. On the table was a little boy. A man stood over him, holding a bloody cloth against his leg.
Mallory’s eyes shot from one to the other. “Him,” Brad said succinctly.
She went to the table, immediately examining the boy.
“What happened?” she asked, quickly determining that his injuries were more than she could handle. He needed to get to a hospital.
“There was an accident,” the woman said. “A fire on our boat. He tried to put it out and there was an explosion.”
“We need a hospital.” She glanced at Brad, and she saw that his hands had been burned. Second degree, she thought. He must be in excruciating pain.
“We’ve called for a medevac. It won’t get here in time. He’s bleeding too bad. You’re going to have to help me stop it and keep him alive until they get here.”
Indecision gripped Mallory, but she gazed into Brad’s eyes. “I’ll try,” she said.
She glanced at the man and woman. “Are you the boys’ parents? I’ll need your consent to try to save his life.”
“You have it,” they said in unison.
“One other thing. I’m a resident doctor at Philadelphia General. I haven’t finished my studies yet.”
Love on Call Page 17