I took a step back from the elevator and smiled. Huge. What was I going to do with my crazy, sweet, possessive, jealous, bossy, sexy, intense, playful, brilliant doctor? No brainer. Marry him one day and live our HEA. My cheeks hurt I was smiling so big. I backed up a little further. Heels and stairs weren’t so bad. Who needed an elevator? And since I’d taken a running hiatus, my calves and ass could benefit from a little toning.
Were his ears burning? His ringtone echoed in the silent stairwell.
“Hi, Dr. Sexy.” Good choice, right?
“Hey, baby.”
“What, you missed me already? I just left you, what twenty minutes ago?” He laughed at me. “Guess where I am, you’ll be so proud.” Four flights to go, ouch. “I’m only doing it for my ass though.”
“You’re taking the stairs, in those fucking heels. Baby, you trying to kill me?”
“What, before you take me to see our new beach house this weekend? No chance.”
“You say the word, baby, I’ll fly us up there tonight, as long as you promise to keep those fucking shoes on when we christen every damn room. Don’t tempt me. I’m a man of my word.”
I loved how aroused he sounded and that I was the reason.
“Mmm. Sounds tempting. Too bad we have these pesky jobs and all.”
“Who said anything about taking off? I’ll have us back by sunrise tomorrow. That gives you enough time to test the acoustics of half the rooms, depending how loud you scream my name, that is.”
“You’re crazy! We can’t do that!”
“Which part? Getting us back in time tomorrow, or making you come ten times? Because, yes, I can.”
Now who was aroused? “Uhh…” For some reason I couldn’t find anything witty to say, my mind was a little preoccupied playing the NC-17 trailer of Chase’s fantasy. Freaking Oscar worthy if you asked me.
“Tell you what, Blue, since you can’t function without sleep the way I can—and don’t even try and deny it, baby—let’s stick with the original plan for this weekend. Better yet, I’ll get us out of here early on Friday, if you promise me one thing?”
“Name it?”
“When I get home tonight, I want you in nothing but those heels and a crotchless thong.”
“Dr. Crazy, that’s two things.” I felt sassy.
Chase made a throaty sound, that seriously sexy noise that shot that delicious ache straight between my legs. “I love that fucking sassy mouth of yours. I’m going to…”
“CJ ... CJ!” Kate’s shrill voice cut Chase off and echoed like nails on a chalkboard through the stairwell. My stomach plummeted. She kept screaming. “Please, please don’t do this ... you need help ... where the hell are you going? CJ ... no!” Her voice was laced with pure fear.
Chase’s voice deepened with the panic I felt. “Blue, what the fuck is going on? Who’s screaming?”
I paused as the sick feeling in my stomach rose.
“Answer me, Blue.”
“I ... I don’t know. I think it’s ... Oh FUCK...”
Kate’s screaming intensified. The heavy steel door crashed against the tile.
My cell slipped from my hand. “Blue!! What the fuck is going on!” Chase’s voice sounded so distant when the glass face shattered in a million pieces. I needed a pause, a fast-forward, a stop. An extra second to process.
What the hell?
His familiar eyes were bloodshot, completely glazed over and about to pop out of his head. They were colorless and frantic. He was so close, too close. His wretched trench mouth mixed with drenching sweat churned the bile rising in my chest. The smell, his stench, was vile. Vomit mixed with body odor. I gagged. Dry heaved. I was so confused. I involuntarily strained my ears, attempting to decipher the mumbling crazed gibberish coming from his mouth.
Oh my god!
Wet noodle. Useless.
Dr. Jennings ... Carl Jennings ... Fucking CJ. It all made sense. Horrible sense.
Pearl size sweat beaded across his forehead. His skin was pale, a putrid shade of green. He looked rabid, like a sick animal. Crazed and high.
As quickly as the door slammed shut, his body slammed into mine, but with a force ten-fold that of steel. It all happened in slow motion.
I closed my eyes. Tight. I imagined stepping onto one of those amusement park rides where I strapped myself to the wall. The lights would go out, the music would start blaring and I would spin. And spin and spin. Faster and faster. No time to feel nauseous. It was too fast. My head cracked against the cold tile. Then the music stopped. Everything stopped.
Epilogue
Only the rhythmic sound of the heart monitor interrupted my silence. A sound that I now thanked fucking god for. I would sit and listen to that beautiful sound until hell froze over if I had to. I brushed the gorgeous brown locks out of her face. Her eyes were closed. I told myself she was just sleeping and would wake up for me any minute. But minutes were hours were days. Time stood still. I knew better.
I was in my nightmare, living it, wide awake.
I wanted to yell and scream. I wanted to break down and sob. But I didn’t. Instead I sat motionless, staring at her with wide eyes, scared to fucking blink. Waiting. Just fucking waiting like a helpless useless fucker. Just praying that she would open her eyes one more time.
“Colton, you need to calm down.” Even his voice pissed me off. I raked my hands through my hair. I could have ripped every fucking strand out by the root; my insides were on fire.
“What the hell is going on, Adam? You’re the fucking head of the ER. Why the fuck is she not in the goddamn CT scanner yet? It’s been fifteen minutes since I found her lying at the bottom of a fucking flight of stairs. Time is fucking brain tissue, you know that!” He needed to start giving me answers. Right fucking now.
“Chase, you’re too close to the situation. You shouldn’t be making medical decisions. Her parents are on the way; they should be here any minute. They’re her next of kin.”
“Don’t give me that next of kin bullshit, Adam. I’ll make any decision I fucking choose. She’s mine. Do you hear that? She’s the only thing I have. I won’t fucking lose her, so do me a goddamn favor and put her in the scanner.” I paced the room like a fucking caged lion, my fist aching to make contact with flesh. And not Dr. Adam Gupta’s either. Although, if he kept talking and didn’t start wheeling her fucking stretcher down the hall himself, I was adding him to the fucking list. “This is a level one trauma center with a fucking dozen multimillion dollar high speed scanners, for Christ’s sake.” Now, sixteen minutes. Fuck.
“As soon as I have all her labs back, she’ll go. Chase, listen to me, she is stable right now.” Just because she had a fucking pulse and decent blood pressure didn’t make her stable.
“Stable? She has a fucking Glascow Coma Scale of four. That is not fucking stable!” It was a step above a fucking vegetable. “Do you need a fucking brush up on emergency medicine? Anything below an eight is fucking severe, so either move her toward CT or I will. I have an OR open and waiting. If she’s got a fucking bleed, I need to get her up there now. Understand?” It wasn’t a fucking question.
Adam looked over my shoulder. “Chase, her family is here. You go talk to them. I’ll take care of her. I’ve got this.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled fire from my nose. You fucking better have her. I turned around and my chest got even heavier if that was possible.