by Katie Dowe
“Miss,” the guard called out to her as she stepped out of the elevator. “Do you need me to call you a cab?”
She closed her eyes and forced a smile. “I have my ride, thanks.”
“Good morning, miss.” He doffed his hat respectfully and she wondered painfully how many of Gavin’s women he had asked that question! She hurried out of the building and went to get her car, reversing out of the parking spot and heading out. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost five a.m. She did not have to be at the hospital until nine, but she was going home to get some much needed sleep.
*****
“Mom called the other day,” Gail said casually as she handed her brother a can of beer. They were sitting in her kitchen. He had come over to spend the Saturday afternoon with her and his niece before he went to the club.
“Yeah?” Gavin took a swig of the beer and wrinkled his nose at the lightness of it. His sister refused to get some real beer in the house! “What did she want this time?”
“She is getting a divorce and wants to come back home.”
“What a surprise!” Gavin said with a sneer. Gabby was in her play room playing doctor with her toys. She had told her mother that she wanted to be a doctor like Savannah. “When?”
“In the spring.” Gail put away her can and went to get them two slices of the pizza that she had ordered in. “She is still our mother, Gavin.”
“Unfortunately,” he said bitterly. “She is bad news, Gail. Every time she comes around it is either to drain us or to look for another husband. The house that I bought for her is still there so no problem.”
“It will be good for Gabby to get to know her,” Gail offered.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I know what she has done, Gavin, and I know she will never be mother of the year, but she is all we got.”
“We got each other and Gabby.” He dug his fingers through his hair. “I am not going to welcome her with open arms, Gail.”
“She asked about you. She said that she tells all her friends that you are her son.”
“You think that impresses me?” He got to his feet abruptly. “I will just say goodbye to Gabby. I am stopping by the club.”
Gail watched him leave and sighed in defeat. She had tried to be the go between with the two of them but so far it was not working!
*****
“I have a proposition for you,” Simon Myles said casually as he buttoned up his jacket. He had been discharged as of the afternoon and Carissa was on her way to pick him up. She and the woman had entered a kind of tentative truce.
“Dad-” Savannah began but he held his hand up.
“Hear me out please,” he said quietly as he sat on the side of the bed. “I am not going to keep asking you to come into practice with me. You will come if and when you feel the urge to leave the hospital. The doctors I work with and I have developed this program where we go into inner city communities and the projects and treat children who cannot afford the proper healthcare. It’s a fairly new project and I want you to become a part of it. You would only have to come with us three times for the week and we would work around your schedule.”
Savannah stared at him for a moment and felt torn. It was a very commendable thing to do and one she had thought about doing herself but had never gotten around to doing it. Unlike the other doctors who were interning she was not faced with crippling student loans so her salary was not touched. And besides she had a trust fund her mother had set up for her. “Why me?”
“Because you are my daughter and I happen to be able to observe you since I have been in here. People respect you and the children think the world of you. I saw you with that little girl who came in with the broken leg and you made her feel comfortable before she was wheeled into the room. You have a heart, Savannah, and this is what those children need.”
She stared down at her clasped hands for a moment and then back up at him. “I have to think about it.”
He beamed at her. “At least you have not said no.” They both looked up as Carissa came into the room.
“Ready?” She looked from one to another.
“Yes.” He got off the bed and stood there looking at his daughter who had also gotten to her feet. He wanted so much to hug her but he had a feeling that she was not there yet.
“Okay then, darling, I will be in touch.” He touched her hand lightly and made to leave.
“Make sure he takes his meds,” she said to Carissa. “Doctors make the worst patients.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” Carissa said, giving the girl a small smile. “See you around.”
*****
“I would like to think that we have reached a point where you would give me a call if I don’t give you one. Was I wrong?” His deep voice caused a shiver to run up and down her spine. She had stopped at the supermarket to pick up some stuff and then at the local Chinese restaurant to get her dinner. She was tired and just intent to turn in as soon as she finished eating. Besides she had a month of laundry that she kept putting off that needed to be done before March came in.
“Why would you think that?” She muted the television and put away the chop sticks she had been using to take up her noodles.
“The amount of times we have made love. I am also talking about the time you snuck out of my apartment without a goodbye. If I was not so confident I would think that you were not pleased,” he chided softly.
“And we both know how confident you are,” she said dryly.
“We do,” he drawled softly. “Have dinner with me tomorrow. I can make reservations at the newest Takahashi restaurant and we could come back to my place after. What do you say?”
“No.” She shivered as she realized that she had wanted to say yes. She found herself dwelling on his lovemaking and the way he made her feel. She knew of his reputation with women and she had no intention of being another notch on his belt. They had sex, amazing sex, and she was fine with that.
“Care to tell me why not?” he asked her mildly.
“No,” she said again. “I have an early shift in the morning and I have work to do. Goodbye, Gavin.” She did not hang up immediately and neither did he. “What?”
“You said goodbye, I was waiting for you to hang up or we could stay on the phone and I could tell you that putting your nipples inside my mouth makes me as hard as a rock. I am trying to figure out whether it is that or tasting your mound? What do you think, darling?” he asked her huskily.
Savannah had to rest back against the cushions in her sofa as her heart raced and her skin got clammy. “I have to go.”
“Don’t hang up,” he told her hoarsely. “I have my dick in my hand and I am thinking how well it rests inside your softness. I am just now sliding the skin back and remembering how it feels to sink myself deep inside you. Tell me you feel it too? Tell me that you can feel my mouth going over your skin and tasting you.”
“Stop it!” Her voice was ragged and her body was shaking. It was too much! He was too much.
“Why should I?” he breathed in her ear. “Do you know how hard I am right now, Savannah? It is going to take me several icy cold showers to get off this high I am on. Unless you want me to come over and we use the usual method?”
Savannah took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing her body to stop the uncontrollable shaking. “I am hanging up now,” and this time she did!
Gavin put away his painful erection inside his loose sweat pants and went straight to the liquor cabinet. He poured himself a generous amount of scotch and skipped the rocks, putting it to his head and drinking it down in one gulp while ignoring the fire in his gut. He hesitated before pouring another glass. He felt as if he was crawling out of his skin with need for her. He wanted to ditch everything and storm over to her apartment and demand that she let him in. “What the hell!” he muttered as he poured some more and walked with it to his bedroom. He had caused it on himself. He had riled her up and had ended up riling up himself unti
l he was so painful that he had trouble walking! He tossed back the liquor and stripping off his clothes he went into the oversized shower install and turned the spray to cold flinching as it hit his skin and caused goose bumps to rise. He endured it for several more minutes before he turned it off and reached for a towel. Doctor Savannah Myles had gotten under his skin in the worst possible way!
Chapter 7
“Pharmaceutical giant Gavin Parker seen here on a night on the town with socialite Amy Fostmore. Rumors has it that the two have resumed their on and off again relationship within the last two weeks as they were also spotted at the premiere of Mark Sullivan’s soundtrack for the movie: ‘Love in Color.’ Sources close to the couple state that they have gotten very close over the two weeks. Is there a wedding in the making?”
Savannah stared at the glossy life size photo of them and felt the unfamiliar twist inside her heart. It had been exactly two weeks since she had hung up on him and he had not called her back. He had moved on rapidly by going to the next target, she thought bitterly. Amy Fostmore was a stunning brunette with large green eyes and porcelain skin shown to advantage in the Romano’s original sparkling sapphire she was wearing. Gavin had on a black tux and looked every inch the successful man he was. Savannah put the paper aside and was determine to get him out of her mind. It had been a fling which had ran its course and that was that! Time to move on.
*****
“It’s freezing out there!” Savannah gasped as she pulled her gloves off the minute she came into the hospital lobby.
“I am afraid you do not have time to thaw out. You have two returning cancer patients,” Pamela told her soberly.
Savannah felt her heart lurched as she took her device. “Jenny’s cancer is back.” She looked up at Pamela and felt the sorrow climbing over her. It was too soon after Tommy. “I thought we got all of the tumor out.”
“Apparently not, honey. The parents are with her waiting in room six.”
Savannah nodded and made her way swiftly towards the room. Calvin waved to her and she waved back distractedly.
“Diana, Raymond.” She smiled at the parents before going to the side of the bed to greet the little girl. “Hi, Jenny.”
“Hi, Dr. Savannah.” Jenny’s pale face lit up as she took her hand. “I am sick again.”
“And we are going to try and make you better.” She looked over at the nurse. “We are going to need a CT scan done immediately.”
“Am I going to die?” the little girl asked woefully.
“Not if we can help it. Why don’t you allow this very nice nurse to get you ready to go on up while I speak to your parents?”
The little girl nodded.
“Tell us straight, Doctor Myles,” Diana Faulkner said as she gripped her husband’s arm.
“I will know more after the scan has been done. How has she been doing?”
“Fine. Until she started complaining of headaches and dizziness,” Raymond Faulkner told her grimly. “I thought it was behind us.”
“I told you that there was a chance of it growing back. It has been two years now and I was hoping that it had gone completely,” Savannah said gravely.
“We don’t want to lose our little girl.” Diana’s voice was anguished. “We had such hope and had stopped worrying when it seems as if she was going to be fine.”
“We are not letting go of that hope yet,” Savannah told her.
*****
“I am so proud of you!” Greta Parker-Miller-Thetford said as she looked around the sumptuous space that was her son’s office. She had arrived home two days ago and Gail had been helping her to get settled. She had also gone back to Parker and had dropped the other names. Greta was a tall, willowy brunette with a striking presence and a beguiling character that tend to pull the opposite sex in. She had passed on her hair to her two children and her eyes to her son.
“Thanks,” Gavin said briefly as he went to get her something to drink. He came back and handed her the glass of flavored water and took a seat next to her. “How much?”
“Darling, I am insulted,” his mother said mildly as she leaned back against the plush chair and crossed legs clad in designer mauve pants. “You have been pretty generous to me over the years and Melvin Thetford has his faults but his settlement has been quite generous. I don’t need money. I just need to make amends.”
“Giving you money would be so much easier.” He got to his feet abruptly and went behind his desk.
“I know I have not exactly been a mother to you and your sister, but that is why I am here now. I want to be.”
“Isn’t it a little too late for that now?” he asked her coolly as he leaned back against the chair.
“It’s never too late.” She put away the glass on the table next to her. “I was so unhappy after your father died, darling. I did not handle the grief in the best way and I did something very foolish.”
“Like marrying the first man who offered his condolence,” Gavin said sardonically.
“Well yes.” Greta laughed a little breathlessly, reminding him that she was an extremely beautiful woman who could pretty much get any man she wanted. “Donald was there and he was kind and thoughtful and I took advantage of that.”
“You married him exactly six months after Dad died.”
“And I regretted it. I did not love him and we both knew he was the rebound from my dead husband. I allowed a very decent man to suffer and I will never forgive myself for that,” she said softly.
“And Thetford?” Gavin asked with raised brows.
Greta linked her slender hands and looked at her son. He was so handsome and unapproachable that she had no idea how she was going to reach him!
“I was lonely, darling, and he was there, plain and simple. I have read the society pages and seen how many women attach themselves to you. I have a feeling you know a thing or two about loneliness.”
“I am not married, Mother,” he pointed out.
“From what I read in the papers it seems you are very near,” Greta pointed out.
“Don’t believe everything you read,” he told her abruptly.
“She seems like a lovely woman. I would like to meet her.”
“No.” He got to his feet abruptly. “Now I have a meeting in ten minutes that I need to prepare for.”
“Will you come over for dinner on Saturday?” she asked hopefully as she got to her feet.
“I don’t know.”
He walked with her to the door and she turned to him. “I really want to be forgiven, darling,” she said softly as she touched his face briefly.
He nodded and they stared at each other for a moment before she turned and left.
He closed the door and went to his desk swiftly to dial Savannah’s number and listened as it went straight to voicemail. He had been calling her for the past few days and she was not returning his calls. Maybe he need to move on!
*****
“Hey! You look like someone killed your cat,” Calvin said as he slid into the seat opposite to hers. It was almost three p.m. and she could not wait to get home and go straight to bed. It had been that kind of day. And her dad had been hounding her for an answer.
“I don’t like cats,” she told him mildly as she sipped her coffee. She had eaten half a sandwich earlier and was fueling up on coffee to and finishes her rounds.
“Your dog then. What happened?”
“Two children with cancer, one of them was thought to be in remission.”
“That sucks.”
She smiled at the way he put it. “The cancer is back and is spreading fast.” She sighed as she wrapped her fingers around the foam cup. “We can operate but it would not make any sense. I am now going to have to tell a little girl and her parents that the hope we gave them the last time has been used up. I am tired.”
“You had no way of knowing.”
“And that does not make it any better.”
“What about chemo?”
“The parents refused it the first
time and I am not sure they will not do so this time. She is dying, Calvin, no doubt about that.”
“Christ!” he exclaimed. “Pretty rough especially for someone so young.”
“Tell me about it,” she said disconsolately.
“How about coming by at Benny’s later after your shift and drinking your problems away? I am buying,” he said hopefully.
“Not in the mood.” She looked at her watch and got to her feet. “I have to go.”
*****
“She is such a sweet and beautiful little girl. The fact that you and her father are going through a divorce does not seem to be affecting her disposition,” Greta commented as she watched her granddaughter played with her dolls. She had come by for dinner when she realized that her son would not be coming by. He had called and told her he had a previous engagement.
“She is getting adjusted to us not being together.” Gail gave her mother the glass of wine and settled back in the sofa next to her pulling her feet beneath her as she looked at her daughter. “She resented me at first but then with the help of her Uncle Gavin she started to warm up to me.”
“Your brother hates me,” Greta said casually as she sipped the fruity wine wishing it had more punch to it.
“Mother, you know that’s not true.” Gail protested as she looked at the woman. She had resented her once too when she had married so fast after her father had died but she had gotten over it.
“I invited him to dinner to try and mend fences and he turned me down. I have no idea how to reach him, darling,” Greta said plaintively.
“You are going to have to give him time, Mother,” Gail told her gently.
“You forgave me.” Her slate grey eyes met those of her daughter’s.
“I am a mother and I know what it is to make mistakes as a parent. Gavin is feeling resentment because he believes you deserted him.”
“Do you believe that?”
Gail looked away for a moment and smiled as she watched her daughter combing the red hair of her favorite doll. “I did.” She looked at her mother. “Now I am more tolerant especially since I have become a single parent myself. I believe that you did what you thought was best for you at the time.”