“Excuse me?” she replied.
“You heard me.”
That’s all he said as Gail appeared to be shocked by her husband’s tone he had taken with her. Now, where is he, Walker?” he spat at me.
Stephen wanted to throw Henry out on his ass. I could see him balling his fists at his side, but I gestured that I had the situation under control. I first turned to Gail who was now wringing her hands in a crumpled tissue. She didn’t deserve this treatment, and I would make it clear that I wasn’t angry with her. I comfortingly put my hand on her shoulder as I yelled at her husband.
“Henry, let me be clear once and for all, I am not your son, and do not ever reference me by that term again. Secondly, you are here on the request of your grandson and grandson only. I don’t give a rat’s ass about your feelings and what you think you are entitled to. You make me sick, and if I had my wish, I would never lay eyes on you again. As for hiding my son somewhere in this hospital, that is absurd. He’s not here, but will return tomorrow morning. He’s not in immediate danger, and is under supervision while he’s away tonight. He even left a note for you. Care to hear what it says?”
I mockingly waved it out in front of him. After his behavior, I was not going to give him Jackson’s note. I opened it right in front of him, making him angrier than before.
I crumpled up the note and threw it at his feet, causing Gail to gasp at my actions. I immediately turned to her and explained.
“I’m sorry, Gail. Clearly your husband here has some explaining to do and hasn’t already told you the truth to why we are at odds.”
“Shut your mouth, Reed!” Henry screamed.
“No! You shut yours, and hear me, old man, because this is your only warning. You stay the fuck out of my way. You are only here because of Jackson. You try one thing, or say another word out of line, and I will have you removed from this hospital. And don’t think for one second that you can play my son against me. You. Will. Fail. You’ve been warned.”
“Gail, again my apologies. My mother will be here in the morning. I’m sure she will be happy to see you. Good night.”
Without another word, I left the room with Stephen following my lead. All I wanted to do was forget these last few days, but that wasn’t my reality. My boy would be back here tomorrow, and knowing what he would be facing was crushing my heart.
I was again seeking out divine intervention to help me, help my son. I sat in the dark chapel only lit with candles. I could take no more appearances from Elizabeth or my father, but that still didn’t stop me from throwing myself at her mercy.
“Please, Elizabeth, watch over our son. He’s got to be alright.”
I then lit candles, hoping for my prayers to be answered: One for Elizabeth, one for Jackson, and one for my baby boy in heaven.
As Stephen and I made our way back to the hotel, my phone buzzed with an incoming message. I expected it to be Reese asking where I was, but it was from Jackson. He was telling me that he was safe and for me not to worry. He was with Riley, and she was all he needed at the moment.
I didn’t bother responding, because I knew deep in my heart he was okay. I’m not angry anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not worried. I will always be this way when it comes to him. I know where his heart was leading him tonight. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree when it comes to how we love our women. He is knee deep, head over heels in love with Riley. They are each other’s match. It’s no wonder at all, she’s Reese’s daughter. She’s beautiful, smart, and incredibly kind. I have no doubt in my mind that she will make my son very happy.
We sure did have quite the growing family. As I thought about all I had, the anger I felt a short time ago with Henry was just gone. They can’t hurt us, ever again. Reese tells me this every single day, it’s about time I start believing it. I tiptoed back into the bedroom where Reese was still soundly sleeping. She was up so late with me and battled another round of morning sickness.
Sitting in a hospital was the last place she should be, but try making her leave. She could be just as obstinate as me, sometimes even more so when she was determined. I could try to convince myself that I would be okay if she went home to California, but that would be a lie. I needed her with me at all times, and she was the only one that was keeping me sane.
“Good morning,” her silky voice greeted me.
I let out my breath and walked over to take my angel in my arms. She looked beautiful with her hair in a tangled sexy mess, her cheeks flushed with crimson all for me. She dropped her sheet and was naked in my arms. I was only wearing sleep pants and my obvious arousal was pushing against her stomach.
“Good morning, baby. You should still be sleeping.”
“Only if you join me,” she said, a proposal I could never deny, but I would have to say no for her own good.
“You are tempting, my love, but I will exhibit self-control this morning and just hold you instead.
“Come again?”
“You heard me, love, and no sex for you this morning. Do you remember how sick you were last night? And earlier in the day? Reese, I’ve been neglectful with you, and I have to be more careful. It’s not just about you anymore. You’re carrying our child, and I can’t just take your body whenever I need release.
“Wow, what was in your morning coffee? Are you not you anymore? Because the man that I love—the father of this baby—would never hurt me, use me, and certainly not just fuck me because he needed to come. No matter what manner we make love in, it’s always making love. Don’t you know that by now? And if I couldn’t handle it, I would say no and trust you to stop. Why, Walker? This deprecating attitude is grating on my last nerve. Stop it already!”
“Reese, you misunderstand, I…”
“The hell I do. Don’t pacify me. I’m taking a shower…Alone!”
I watched her stomp off and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
What the hell just happened here? And that will be the day when she takes a shower alone, I thought to myself. I stalked into the bathroom, pulling off my pants and joining her. Her back was to me. She stepped forward under the multiple sprays of water beading down her skin. I gently grabbed her arms as I felt her shiver beneath my touch.
“Please don’t be angry with me,” I said. “I can’t take it.”
“I’m not angry. I need time to think.”
“The hell you do. Don’t hide from me…ever!”
I turned her around to face me. Taking her face in my hands, I crushed my mouth down onto hers. She resisted at first and then opened up for me.
“We will never hide from each other again. I fucking love you, Reese, and I need you with every fiber of my being. Fight with me until your voice is hoarse, but please don’t take time to think. That scares the hell out of me, and I can’t lose you.”
“Oh, Walker, is that what you believe? That if I take a few moments to myself, I’m drumming up ways to leave you? This is what I’m talking about. This is why I referred to you as deprecating. This is your pain talking for you. I understand your concerns for my health and the well-being for our daughter, but I’m the one that is carrying her, and I know my body. I know my limits, and you truly have nothing to worry about. To say ‘I love you’ pales in comparison to how I feel right now. We need a new dictionary written just for us that will try to explain my deepest love for you. I’m all in, forever with you, Walker. Please love me.”
I tightly closed my eyes as if I were in pain. Her words were a blanket covering up all my open wounds. I easily wore my feelings on my sleeve when it came to Reese. She saw me and accepted me anyway. Her aptitude to read my thoughts was even scary at times.
“All parts of you, remember?” she said.
“All parts of us,” I answered.
I was drained. She was drained. All her fight was gone, and I was there to heal us both. I didn’t want to take her here, though. Reese needed to be in my bed. Turning the water off, not even remembering if we were finished, I led her out
to dry her body off. I took my time with the process. This simple act gave Reese so much pleasure, as I began at her feet and worked my way up one leg at a time, giving each equal attention. I gently kissed my way up to her sensitive bud as it was calling out to me to enter her with my tongue. I so did. Her immediate response to my touch was to grab my hair. Reese pulled me toward her as I delved deeper inside her, making her cry out her pleasures with my name on her tongue. Taking her in my arms and carrying her to the bed, she opened up for me. I was so crazy with intense desire for Reese, I wanted to fuck her and fuck her hard, but held back no matter how much she demanded. This would be slow and she would feel every part of me, piece by piece.
“I know what you’re doing. Stop it and go faster. I won’t shatter like a porcelain doll.”
“Shhh, let me love you baby. And remember who submits to whom.”
That was it. Just a few last flicks of my tongue and Reese was spiraling down from her orgasm. I fucking loved to hear her and watch her body move as she took all of me and reveled in the pleasure only I could give to her. Without hesitation, I plunged deep inside of her, pulling back ever so slightly and then pushed deep again. Her back was arched and matching me thrust for thrust. I gripped her hair as I exploded inside of her. It was at such a force, it immediately began to spill out of her. I wanted to go again, I was so turned on.
“Holy shit! Walker, I can’t move. You fucked me into the mattress.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. We went from zero to a hundred in seconds.
“You can’t move? I want to stay buried inside you forever.”
Now she was smiling as she leaned up to kiss me. I lifted myself off of her and padded off to the bathroom for a warm washcloth. She was raw after our past few days of hard lovemaking. She would never say it, but I wasn’t blind to it. I cleaned her up and kissed where I left my marks, while she let out her sighs and easily drifted off into a restful slumber. I climbed in and joined her.
It was barely seven. We had more than enough time to get some extra sleep. I was almost contemplating leave Reese here, while I went on ahead to the hospital, but she would want to be with me. I held my sleeping angel in my arms and thanked the universe for her. The bastard in me didn’t deserve her, but she was here and that could never be challenged to as to why. We were meant for each other, we always were.
“I love you, Reese, always and forever.” I whispered in her ear.
“I love you more.” she answered back.
Oh, my impossible girl! I thought to myself as I continued to hold her, touching every inch of her body. Every touch calmed me, the goosebumps that lined her skin were a hairline trigger for me to take her again, but I let out my breaths and appreciated the moment with her.
Today would be hard, this I knew, but Reese would get me through it. Always…
I SAT AT my desk, reveling in the quiet. The past few days had been the nosiest of my life. I still hadn’t heard from Francesca. All my calls and texts to her had gone unanswered. She said we shared a connection, so if that’s true, then she should have had the decency to call me back. I felt shameful how I had to speak with her. I was correct on calling her out on her unprofessionalism and would not waver on my decision to remove her from my service. The fact is, she’s a damn good surgical nurse, and we crossed a personal line that should have never happened.
Today would be about Jackson Reed and preparing him for his operation that would take place tomorrow morning. Last night’s commotion did not help at all with his grandfather causing a scene on my floor. This family had more drama than a Lifetime movie. Not my concern, only the welfare of my patient, and securing the future happiness for my daughter. If his surgery is a success, I’m a hero once again in her eyes. She’d been softening to me since this entire ordeal unfolded. With all that I had going on, I hoped I could at least speak with her and mend some of the broken fences that separated us.
I was going over some of my notes when a timid knock at my door interrupted me. To my surprise, it was Francesca. She looked exhausted with nearly swollen red eyes. No doubt I was to blame for her condition. I sat behind my desk not really sure what to do, but simply gestured to her to have a seat. She closed the door behind her and just stared at me.
“I’ve been calling you,” was all I could say to break the obvious tension between us.
“I know, Samuel. I listened to all your voicemails and read your text messages over and over again until I had no more tears to release. Why Samuel? How did we get here?”
She sat looking defeated and broken. As much as I felt bad for my harshness with her yesterday, I couldn’t sit here and give her false hope just because I called her out of concern. She ran from my office and hospital without even signing out. I couldn’t lead her to believe that my natural concern for her well-being was nothing more than friendship. I knew how that sounded coming from someone who slept with her, but to me it was just sex. I never knew it was more for her.
“Francesca, I’m relieved to see that you are okay, but you and I are not a ‘we.’ I am sorry that you believed otherwise.”
“That’s just it, Samuel, I did believe it, because I allowed myself to. I thought you wanted me as much as I wanted you, and I was wrong. I have loved you from a distance for years now, and with your wife leaving you, I thought it was finally my turn. I must have been crazy to believe that you would want to start something with me after all those years married to her. I messed up, what do you want me to say?”
“Nothing. You don’t have to say anything. You were not alone in this, I was right there with you. It was not my intention to lead you on and give you hope for something more between us.”
“I guess it’s really over?”
“I’m sorry, Fran, but we never really began.”
“Okay then, thanks for that. Um…here’s your case files and my resignation. I’ve already turned in my formal letter to HR.”
“What? You’re leaving? Just because I took you off my service doesn’t mean you have to leave Johns Hopkins. Why are you doing this?”
“You know why? Because I love you, and I know you don’t love me. How the hell can I remain working here and come to terms with that? You made it perfectly clear to me yesterday how you felt. If I even had the slightest doubt, well you certainly summed it up for me today. Don’t worry about me, Dr. Briggs, I know I am a kick-ass nurse and will do fine anywhere I get a job. I trust you will give me a recommendation for my future employer.”
“I will.”
“Good. That will help. And Samuel…I truly hope one day you will be able to open your heart again to someone who is deserving of you. My girlfriends would probably smack me upside my head right now if they heard me being compassionate toward you, but they don’t know you like I do. You’re not ready, I get it, but I can’t wait around forever until you are. I deserve more too. Hopefully letting you go won’t be as hard as it was for you with your ex-wife. She clearly is happy and moved on. Good luck doing the same.”
And with that, she turned and left my office. I whispered…“Goodbye Francesca.”
You ever have one of those moments that completely blindsides you? Francesca just accomplished that.
“Wow! That woman has some fierce fire coursing through her veins. Your loss, Briggs.”
“Ah, Satan incarnate, good morning to you. Now my full circle of hell has been complete, and it’s not even eight o’clock,” I said to Dr. McGovern as he made his intrusive way into my office. Of course, my friend and colleague always had a unique way of putting his perspective on my problems.
“What is it?” I asked him. “And why are you making yourself comfortable in my chair? I don’t need this right now, especially from you.”
“Relax, Briggs, I just came to check-in with you before my day got started with my meetings. All jokes aside, I’m sorry about your girl.”
“She wasn’t my girl. She was nothing more than a distraction and now, my former lead surgical nurse. I fucked up and hurt he
r. She just quit.”
“This is not going to be a sexual harassment suit, is it? Let me know, so I can get the lawyers on it.”
“Gee thanks for your concern, but no worries there. She quit on her own. As for a personal relationship? It never existed.”
“Good. Keep it that way. That girl is a pot stirrer, and one you do not need right now, or ever for that matter. Keep your head in the game and concentrate on tomorrow.”
“That’s all I think about, Christopher”
“Good. Keep it that way. I’ll see you later.”
I didn’t have time to respond back to him. He exited my office as quickly as he entered. After Francesca’s outburst yesterday, I would have thought she would have put up a bigger fight with me today. I’m not sure what it was, but something was off with her. Did I dodge a bullet? Or did I let my second chance at happiness slip through my fingers? What the hell am I doing? I can’t sit here and ponder what might have been with her. I have my work and that’s what I need to focus on.
She was right about one thing. Yes, my ex-wife is happy and clearly moved on with Reed, but that doesn’t mean I am. I’ve accepted the fact that my marriage is over and I will never get my old life back, but to try to have that all over again with someone new is just unrealistic for me. Who knows when I will find “the one” to share my life with? I thought I already had with Reese.
I need a serious do-over already!
“ARE YOU READY?” I asked my beautiful girl as she continued to stare down at her ring. She was completely blissed out after the incredible night we shared. Here we are, engaged and ready to begin the next chapter in our story. She said yes to become my wife. A promise between the two of us to become a reality someday in the future.
We agreed to take it one day at a time and not worry about things that were not changeable. I had no doubt about my surgery tomorrow. My trust was with my doctors, God, and my angel above, who will protect me. I believed that undeniable fact with my whole heart. I just wanted to put this behind me and move forward with Riley.
Our Forever Promise Page 27