Saving Forever - Part 6: A Romantic-Medical Love Story Read online

  “Really, Gamma?” Charity laughed. “We’re lucky to get two word simple sentences. I didn’t know words like cardio-myopathy until I was prepping for the M-CAT’s.”

  “If she at least hears these words at a young age, she’ll be reading JAMA by the time she’s sixteen. I spoke with Scott and he agrees.”

  “So, the two of you speak often.” Charity perked up as she ran her fingers through her hair.

  Margaret must have noticed because when Charity was excited, she sat up straight and craned her neck like a giraffe. “The two of us have a great deal in common. Our kids are married, and we have Jamie Lynn. There’s a great deal to talk about, but don’t get any ideas.”

  “I wasn’t.” Elijah had warned her not to push his mom, she would back off like a caged bear and then attack.

  “I wasn’t going to tell you but I think it’s time.” Margaret’s voice took on a serious tone.

  Charity blinked. Had she missed something? “Is everything all right? Are you sick?” Bad thoughts swirled around Charity’s head. She’d already lost one mother. Just as she was beginning to consider Elijah’s mother her mom too – it was too much. Charity slouched and waited for the news.

  “I’m not dying.” Margaret waved her hand. She craned her neck and looked behind Charity. “My gran-baby distracted?”

  “She’s off playing with her Doc McStuffins stuff. What’s going on?” She wondered if she should send Elijah a text to call his mom.

  “It’s nothing dramatic. I just thought I’d tell you before mentioning anything to Elijah.” Margaret inhaled, her face completely composed. “I met a man. It’s not a big deal at this moment.” Before Margaret could provide details about the mystery man, Jamie started crying bloody murder. “Jamie okay?”

  Charity moved to Jamie and helped her get the doll’s clothes on properly. She hurried back to the iPad. “It’s good. Her toys don’t move fast enough for her. She’s got a bit of an impatient streak.”

  Margaret chuckled. “I wonder where she gets that from.”

  “Elijah.” Charity kept her face unreadable.

  Margaret’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

  “So who’s the guy?”

  “The guy?”

  “Who you’re seeing.” Charity smiled. She was dying to tease Margaret but knew it wouldn’t be a smart idea.

  “Just a local man. He was at the cricket match the other day and we started chatting. We’re going out for tea tomorrow.” Margaret looked at her watch. “I should probably get going. I need as much beauty sleep as I can get.”

  Charity knew Margaret had enough. She wouldn’t give away any more information and since Jamie was happily playing, she was ready to say good night. “Very quick, I know you’re planning a trip to the States and I wanted to ask for your help. I’m planning a seventieth birthday bash for my dad. I hope you’ll be here for it. Planning events is something I’m good at, but I’ll need help.” She hadn’t planned an event in a couple years and now with Jamie… it seemed a bit more work to do on her own now.

  “Send me the date. I can plan my next visit after I hear from you. Is it a surprise for Scott?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “You kept your pregnancy a secret for five months, so I’m sure this can be kept under wraps. Cheers Charity. Bye my sweet Jamie.”

  Charity knew the comment was a dig for not telling her about the pregnancy sooner. “Bye Marg.”

  She hit the end button as Jamie yelled, “Bye Gamma! Love you!”

  Jamie took off like a bullet to another toy area to make a mess of. Charity went to pick up the Doc McStuffins toys. Her new job started in less than two weeks, and she had a million things to accomplish before then. Having Elijah as her teammate had never meant more. She needed him. She hoped he was up to the challenge of both of them working and managing Jamie. She had doubts, but was too afraid to admit them out loud.

  Charity sat on the couch to wipe the egg-smeared iPad a moment. Later tonight, when Jamie was in bed, she’d spend some quality time with Elijah. Valuable naked time. She grinned. She could fantasize about her sexy husband all day, but then nothing would be accomplished. She gathered her thick blonde hair in an elastic, pulled her yoga pants up and chased after Jamie Lynn.

  Chapter 3

  Elijah quietly entered the living room and viewed his beautiful wife passed out on the couch. She wore black pants and a soft pink tank top. Her round breasts slowly rose and fell with each breath. The cadence was mesmerizing. He leaned down to kiss her heart shaped lips as he cleared a wisp of blonde hair from her cheek. She smelled like the organic honeysuckle baby products they used for Jamie. Viewing his beautiful wife this way conveyed simplicity and innocence – it turned him on. He grew hard and took a mental screenshot of her pose before she stirred.

  “I can feel your breath, Elijah. I’ve been dreaming of this moment all day. Finally it’s our time.”

  He’d married the perfect woman. What other woman dreamed about her husband coming home to her and then told him in that same husky voice? He was beyond lucky.

  He knew exactly what Charity wanted – what she needed after a long day with their Peanut. He led her by the hand to the bathroom in the master suite. Glitter and glue covered Charity’s elegant hands. Her fingernails were each painted a different color, obviously Jamie’s choice. Elijah thought she had never been as sexy as she was at this moment. He grinned, he always thought that every time he saw her.

  “I’m a mess, Elijah,” Charity said as he peeled off her yoga pants to reveal simple white thong panties, which showed off her toned derriere. Taking care of Jamie these days apparently was excellent exercise. Charity was in superb shape despite the fact she rarely had time for the gym.

  “You’re a scrumptious muddle, Charity Bennet, and most importantly, you’re my mess.” Elijah pulled out her elastic band allowing her tresses to cascade past her delicate shoulders. He pulled on her hair gently, which caused her head to tilt back. Her graceful neck lay exposed for him to cover with his lips.

  Charity didn’t exactly use a light touch when she tore off Elijah’s clothes. His rippled chest was too good to reveal slowly. It was a part of his body that made her gasp as if it were the first time she saw it. His strength pushed her against the tile shower stall making Charity quiver. With one hand he flipped the shower on and ran his hand down the length of her body as he waited for the water to warm.

  She laughed when he pulled her inside it, her pink top still on and instantly soaked. He slid his hands under the shirt and cupped her firm breasts. They were perfect.

  Her leg found its way around his hip after he pulled the clingy wet top off. He didn’t need any further invitation as he entered her, her body already hot, wet and waiting for him.

  She moaned and rotated her hips as he slid in and out of her.

  “Fuck,” he mumbled as his pace quickened. He didn’t want to be finished before they’d even started. He slowed his rapid movement and told his carnal hunger stick it had to wait.

  Charity’s eyebrows rose as he pulled out. Just as she brought her head toward his, he slipped his hand between her legs. He ran his finger over against the one part of her that belonged to him alone. He grunted when she came, her body quivering as she stood pressed between the tiles and his body.

  Before her body finished shaking, he slid back inside her and found his rhythm again. Charity’s eyes popped open to stare into his, but his movements caused them to close tightly shut in further throes of passion.

  He grinned to himself as she came again. He still had it. Her hot center tightened, squeezing the breath out of him and making him erupt inside of her. He clung helpless to her shoulders a moment as waves of aching lust surrounded both of them.

  “Damn, you’re amazing Mrs. Bennet.” Elijah pulled out of Charity’s soft body. They washed quickly and stepped out.

  “Mrs. Bennet? What happened to Doctor Thompson-Bennet?” Charity jokingly snapped back.

  “When we’re
like this I forget to call you doc.” He grinned as he towel dried her back and led her to the bed, motioning her to lie face down as he reached for the cream she liked to use. He rubbed the coconut moisturizer on her body from head to toe. He lingered on the spots that mattered, such as her inner thighs and nipples. It was amazing how they could carry on conversations as he moved his hands over her naked body. “You do know I respect all of the hard work you’ve done to earn those letters behind your name,” Elijah said as he climbed in bed beside her, turning so she could spoon him, her favorite position to sleep. “I hope you know that.”

  “I do Mr. Bennet.” Charity slapped his ass. “Now let’s get some sleep. Morning is only a few hours away.”

  Elijah had a splenectomy scheduled for ten am, which was the only scheduled surgery in a light day. His new nurse, who had been with him for only a few months, was a scheduling magician. He was busy, but Sara made sure he had the occasional day with non-emergency procedures. It allowed him to catch up with necessary administrative details and spend the morning with his family. He was chief of surgery, even with Charity’s father still the head chief. More and more, he was taking over more of Dr. Scott Thompson’s surgeries and patients.

  With his easy days Sara scheduled, an emergency usually came up but she had told him he didn’t need to come in early. She promised to hand off any she could that came in before nine am.

  “Having you wake up with the Peanut one day a week is heaven.” Charity rolled over and nuzzled beneath his angular jaw. The tropical lotion made them both smell like a pina colada. “Remind me to tell you some big news about your mother.”

  “Is it about Haunch Bradenton?” Elijah tried running his fingers through her hair but it had dried into a tangled nest.

  “You knew she met a man and didn’t tell me?” Charity sat straight up, nearly knocking herself back down when she collided with his chin.

  “We can talk about it in a bit,” Elijah said as he extracted himself from bed. He pointed to her tummy. “I need to feed the beast before it wakes up.” He winked at her. “I’ll toss Jamie in the trolley and run up to the bakery for sticky buns. Why don’t you sleep in and come down when you smell the coffee?”

  “Sounds a lot like bribery,” she said but snuggled back down into the covers. “You’re still in trouble for not telling me about Haunch. What kind of name is Haunch? Already I don’t like him.” Charity yawned and turned over.

  She was probably back asleep when Elijah left the room grinning.

  Chapter 4

  Charity entered the hospital to meet Elijah before they went to pick his mother up from the airport. It felt odd being at the place where she had spent so much time. In a sense, she had abandoned the hospital. Did I let down my father once again? Did the door to being a physician close forever? The questions were like a battering ram against her skull. She returned to her residency shortly after Jamie was born, but hated leaving the baby in the hospital nursery so she could work. She wanted to be a mother a hundred percent of the time and that meant she couldn’t be an effective physician. Elijah had supported her decision and encouraged her to spend the time with Jamie.

  “Hey Max. Is Elijah out of surgery yet? He’s supposed to meet me here.”

  Charity may as well have been invisible as Sara and a number of nurses swarmed around Jamie.

  “She’s gorgeous.”

  “She looks just like Dr. Bennet!” Charity knew she wasn’t the Dr. Bennet they were referring to.

  “Look at her teeth.”

  “She has blonde hair. Not like Dr. Bennet’s. I wonder where she gets that.”

  What do they think, I have a dye job? Charity loved when people cooed over Jamie, she just couldn’t stand when her husband’s staff ignored her. She was being silly. She knew it, but it didn’t stop the sarcastic inner conversation going on in her head.

  “I bet she’ll be a doctor like her father.”

  Yes, because her mother isn’t a doctor.

  “Do you think she’ll have a Kiwi accent?”

  Charity couldn’t take it anymore. “Sara, is it o.k. if I leave Jamie in your capable hands for a few minutes?” Sara was sweet. Charity liked her.

  Sara nodded and gave her an empathetic smile. “He should be getting out of surgery, if he’s not already.”

  Charity nodded and walked out into the hallway to find chaos ensuing all around. She spotted Mandy, who had a panicked look on her face.

  An announcement carried on the intercom system, “Paging Dr. Kentner, Dr. Lourdes, Dr. Kaminski, report to the emergency burn unit stat. Code Blue. Dr. Mass, Paging Dr. Mass.”

  Charity was familiar with the code system and Dr. Mass was called when mass casualties were anticipated. Mandy came rushing towards Charity.

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here Charity, but you have to be my shadow. There was a chemical explosion at the electronics manufacturing plant – hydrofluoric acid. We’re short staffed already and we can’t handle the emergency. Follow me and avoid eye contact with the other doctors, except your husband and your dad. They might recognize you and you look scared as hell.”

  Adrenaline started coursing through Charity’s body. She had no idea where Elijah was. He probably whisked a patient into emergency surgery. She was sure Sara would take good care of Jamie. Charity knew where the scrubs were kept and quickly suited up and placed her visitor’s badge under her shirt. She took off her rings and headed for the sink. It had been months since she scrubbed up, and yet it seemed like only yesterday. Charity turned on the valve and squirted the pink solution of chlorhexidine gluconate into the palms of her hands. She vigorously scrubbed her nail beds and washed her arms up to her elbows. She flicked off the water with her bicep.

  No one recognized her as she continued to follow Mandy through the mayhem.

  “Dr. Cantor, you need to get this woman’s wounds irrigated, start her on a saline drip and throw in some morphine while you’re at it,” Dr. Kentner snapped and Mandy jumped into action. All the physicians present were capable, but she knew the orders were miscalculated.

  “Mandy, I suspect this patient’s experiencing systemic toxicity. She’s going to arrest if we waste time treating her burns. They can wait or get someone’s help so you can treat everything at once and for Pete’s sake find out her name!”

  Charity couldn’t touch the patient because of the burns. That didn’t mean she couldn’t help the poor girl.

  She was afraid to even give her name. She touched the patient’s toe, which seemed to be the only unaffected area of her body. “I’m Dr. Thompson-Bennet.” She looked at a defibrillator, which was made by the Zoll Corporation and wondered if she should have made up a name. Dr. Zoll sounded decent. Next time. “Give me your name.”

  The woman lay close to losing consciousness. “I can’t feel my hands. Do I still have my hands?”

  “What’s your name, sweetie?” Charity moved closer to hear the woman’s hoarse voice.

  “I want to be able to change my daughter’s diaper. I don’t want my two year old to have a freak for a mother.”

  “Your hands are intact. What’s your name?”

  “Janey.” The woman coughed.

  “Janey, you’re at Scott Thompson Hospital. You’ve an excellent team of doctors taking care of you. I want you to focus on your little girl. She needs you, Janey. What’s her name?”

  “Lacey. She means everything to me. You have very calming eyes. Thank you.” Poor Janey screamed out as someone touched a spot where her skin had been burned.

  Charity could do little for Janey except look into her soft brown eyes when she opened them. Charity waited as Mandy and the others did their job.

  She spotted Dr. Fulton rush into the room. He knew who she was and would most certainly kick her out, and tattletale on her. She ducked her head and leaned toward Mandy. “Fulton’s here.”

  “Get out, quick!” Mandy continued working on irrigating poor Janey’s skin.

  “Oke-Dokey.” Char
ity snuck out and ripped off her scrubs. She tossed them in a nearby bin. Having just risked losing her medical license and breaking several laws, she hurried back to Elijah’s office and her daughter. She had no idea how this was going to go down.

  She smiled when she found Sara playing on her hands and knees with Jamie. “I see Jamie’s throng of admirers have dispersed. Is Elijah caught up in the mess caused by the chemical leak?”

  “Temporarily. He got pulled away, not exactly sure how long. Many of the injuries involve the dermis. There is a patient with systemic injuries and he’s stabilizing her. Hopefully he’ll be done after that.”

  “I hope Janey’s okay.” Charity shut her mouth quickly, regretting her words. Sara was a by the books kind of person. She would frown on Charity working on any patients.

  “Who’s Janey?” Sara asked.

  Charity ignored the question as she scooped up Jamie. Elijah walked in and saved her from any further discussion. “Elijah!” she said over enthusiastically.

  He wore blue hospital scrubs that made his eyes even brighter than usual. He always looked hot, just hotter in his doctor gear. “I think I’ve just been transported from Hell into heaven.” He picked up Jamie and pulled Charity close to drop a quick kiss on her lips. “You heard we had a chemical explosion or leak, whatever they call it? A lot of people were exposed to some nasty shit.”

  “Earmuffs,” Charity reminded him. They used the word to caution each other when they swore. Jamie had the incredible ability to pick up words she shouldn’t be saying. A few weeks ago she was calling everything and everything ‘ash-hole’. Earmuffs was the word they decided to use to correct themselves. They’d seen it on a movie and it seemed perfect.

  “Whoops. Sorry!” Elijah nuzzled Jamie before setting her down with his flashlight pen. “I had to stabilize a woman who was closest to the leak. Not only was her entire torso and her upper limbs exposed but she ended up with heart complications. She was barely conscious when I got her and she kept mumbling for Doctor Bennet. I told her over and over again that I was Doctor Bennet. She said Thomas Bennet had treated her.” He raised an eyebrow, waiting for Charity to say something.