Nursing The Doctor (19 page)

She loved his, too. Her heart was hammering. She wondered where all this was going, but a voice inside her told her just to enjoy the journey.

He used his hand to tilt her head toward him and then rested his forehead against hers for a long moment, and the simple, intimate contact was wonderfully erotic. She was half lying across him now, very aware that her breasts were touching his chest, conscious as well that she mustn’t put too much weight on his injured ribs.

She wanted him to kiss her. Her breathing quickened, and she could feel her nipples contract with anticipation.

He caressed her shoulder with his hand, letting his fingers trail across the silky fabric of her dress, touching the skin on her neck and arms, skimming the top of her breasts, and she shivered at the contact.

When would he kiss her?

His hand roved slowly over her throat. He put a forefinger on the pulse there, and when she thought she couldn’t wait an instant longer, at last he tilted her chin gently to meet his mouth.

Kissing her was sheer heaven. Her lips were soft and eager, and she tasted sweet. He could feel her trembling, and he kissed with all the pent-up longing that had been growing from the moment she entered the room.

The rational part of him knew that anything beyond a kiss was not possible at this time, in this place, but other parts of him weren’t getting the message. Impossible desire spiraled through him, and blood pounded in his ears. He ached to undo the zipper his fingers had discovered at the back of her maddening scrap of a dress. He wanted to uncover her inch by inch, discover the delicious secrets beneath her clothing with his lips and hands and eyes.

Hand, Brulotte. One usable hand remember? One workable leg.

Not enough. Not here. Not now. He needed hours, in a place where there was no possibility of interruption. But he couldn’t restrain the hand that slid down to the hem of her dress and slowly inched it up, stroking the impossible length of silk-clad leg, learning the slenderness of upper thigh, the rounded curve of hip.

She burrowed closer and made a sound of pleasure deep in her throat.

And still he went on kissing her, devouring her, using his mouth and lips and tongue and hand to convey the desire that consumed him. He slid her dress still higher, memorizing the flat hollow of her abdomen, the tantalizing hard mound that pressed against his palm with the same hunger that burned in him.

The intercom high on the wall above them crackled to life, and she started.

“Evening visiting hours are now officially over. Visitors may come again tomorrow at two.”

He tried to detain her, but Lily sat up, her eyes wide and dazed, her mouth swollen and soft.

“I have to go,” she whispered, tugging at her dress. “I have to go, Greg.”

He groaned. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I wish with all my heart we were somewhere else.”

Silently cursing the hospital and all its rules, he kissed her one last time, then smoothed her dress back down her legs in a lingering caress.

She swung her feet to the floor, smoothing her hair with both hands, not looking at him. Her face was flushed, glowing sofdy in the candlelight. She fumbled for her shoes.

“Lily.” The syllables of her name were sweet on his tongue. His voice was husky with longing. “Lily, I want to make love with you. Soon.” She still didn’t look at him, but she nodded. “I know. I want that, too.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I just can’t figure out how we’re gonna manage it in here. And what about your ribs?”

A knot in his gut unwound at her quiet words. “There are ways. Leave that to me, okay? As long as I know you’re with me on this, I’ll manage.”

She looked at him at last, her beautiful face sober and a little troubled. She didn’t speak, but she nodded agreement.

Jubilation filled him and he smiled at her. “Thank you, Lil. For trusting me.” Teasing, wanting to lighten the atmosphere, he made his voice tremulous. “You’ve made a crippled man very happy, my dear.”

She laughed and reached for a pillow, pretending to threaten him with it, and he cowered.

“You know,” he said, “I don’t even have your home phone number. I could get it from administration, but it would so much easier if you would just write it down on that pad beside the phone.”

She put the pillow down and scribbled on the pad, then picked up the disconnected telephone jack and raised her eyebrows at him.

“I meant what I said, no interruptions. I’ll plug it in right away, just in case you decide to call me on the way home.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. At the mirror over the sink, she touched up her face and shining cap of hair. Then she found her coat, slipping her arms into it quickly and buttoning it up.

She smiled at him, a breathtaking smile that caught at his heart, and she came over to him and bent, pressing a quick, hot kiss on his mouth.

“Thank you for a lovely evening, sir.”

“The pleasure was all mine, mademoiselle.” He ached to pull her down beside him and somehow, anyhow, make frantic love to her. But of course, it was impossible. “Take the daffodils home with you, Lil. They’re for you.”

“We’ll share them.” She gathered up two bouquets and moved the other two to the windowsill.

“Thanks, Greg. See you soon.” Arms, filled with the golden flowers, she moved swiftly toward the door, opened it, turned and gave him a little wave with her fingers.

And then she was gone, and he was alone with his thoughts, but only for a moment. A tap on the door signaled the arrival of the nurse.

Greg took a good look at her and his heart sank. She had to be the sister Nurse Krupps had told him about. She was built the same, massive shoulders, muscular arms, tall and wide and solid, and although she didn’t wear glasses, her features were similar to Krupps’s. And so was her sour expression. Only her hair was different, short, curly and a brassy shade of red that had to have come from an exterior source.

How the hell could there be two of them?

“I’m Vivian Krupps, Doctor. I have your medication and the order form for tomorrow’s meals.” The officious tone of her loud voice was all too familiar.

Greg checked the medications carefully before he swallowed them. “I met your sister up on ortho.”

“Yup. And Valerie told me all about you, too.” There was a world of innuendo in the remark.

“All good things, of course.” He couldn’t resist teasing a little just to see what happened. It was like playing tag with a bull, but it was a challenge he couldn’t resist.

Vivian snorted. “Not likely. According to her, you were a tyrant.”

“Well, Nurse Krupps, I’ve changed. Turned over a new leaf. Nothing but sweetness and light from here on in, trust me.”

“Not in this lifetime.” She gazed around the room with obvious disapproval. “I hope you didn’t drink much of that wine, Doctor. It doesn’t mix with your medications, but of course I shouldn’t have to tell you that, should I? You’re the doctor here, I’m just a lowly nurse.” She sniffed and added, “Candles? And I saw the flowers your friend left with. My stars, a table cloth? I don’t think anyone’s ever gone to so much trouble to bring a meal in here. Mostly patients order in Oriental food or pizza, but of course you’d want something fancier than that.”

“I happen to love pizza. It’s one of my favorite foods,” he replied. “I just wanted tonight to be very special.”

“Looks like it. And did you enjoy yourself?”

“Yeah. Very much.” The evening had gone even better than he’d dared to hope. In fact, it was one of the best evenings he could remember having in a long time.

Ever?

“I’d rather have taken her out to dinner and gone dancing afterward, but this was really nice.”

“Your lady friend is very pretty. I understand she’s a nurse down in the ER. One of the other nurses knows her. Lily Sullivan, isn’t that her name?”

“Yeah. We’ve worked together for quite a while. Lily’s an excellent nurse. And you’re right, she’s beautiful.”

So beautiful she took his breath away, but it wasn’t just her looks that attracted him. “She’s also extremely intelligent,” he added. “And an excellent nurse.”

But he’d dated plenty of intelligent nurses in his time. So why did this particular woman affect him so profoundly? Was it only because he was injured and helpless in so many ways right now? Or was it the danger of Hep C that hung over both their heads like a black cloud, uniting them? Or could it be that having some of her blood in his veins created a powerful physical bond?

Maybe it was all of these things, and maybe it was none.

“So, is this a real romance or just another of your passing fancies, Doctor?”

The glare he gave her should have stopped her cold, but of course the Krupps sisters were immune to intimidation.

She sniffed again when he didn’t reply. “Your reputation as a ladies’ man is old news around this hospital, Dr. Brulotte. I just hate to see another excellent nurse get her heart broken, is all.”

Ladies’ man? It was a term he’d heard his grandmother use, and it wasn’t complimentary. He could have said any number of scathing things. Instead, in a quietly sincere tone, he told her the truth. “I have no intention of breaking
Lily’s heart.”

“I’m glad to hear it but I’m afraid I’m skeptical. What makes this lovely nurse any different from the others you’ve romanced, Doctor?”

It was a good question, if not a fair one. Greg frowned, wondering why he felt obliged to answer Krupps at all.

“I’m not sure myself what the difference is, but its there,” he finally said slowly. “I guess it has to do with the way I feel about her.”

“And how do you feel about her?”

He was losing his patience. Krupps was way out-of-bounds here, prying into his personal affairs. Still, he answered. “I care about her.” With vehemence, he added, “I care a lot, and I don’t want her hurt not by me or anyone else.”

“You figure you’re in love with her, Doctor?”

Krupps was unbelievable. “That’s between her and me, and I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you before I told her, now would I?”

“I should hope not. So, what are you planning to do for your next date?”

She was like the pink rabbit with batteries that never stopped, he thought despairingly. “I don’t know yet.” He thought it over and shook his head. “There’s not much I can do. There’s no privacy around this bloody place.”

“There isn’t meant to be. This isn’t exactly an exclusive hotel, Doctor.”

“No, it sure as hell isn’t.”

“You’re tired. Let’s get these sheets straightened out and take away some of those pillows so you can sleep, shall we? Is that lipstick on the pillow?”

Was she ever going to shut up and let him get some rest?

She pushed and pulled and pounded the pillows with all the expertise her sister had shown, but Greg wasn’t really conscious of her efforts to make him comfortable. A disturbing thought had slid into his brain and he wasn’t able to dislodge it.

Maybe Krupps’s question was dead-on. Maybe he’d just gone and done the one thing he’d thought would never happen to him, he brooded as Krupps rearranged him and his bedding.

Maybe he had fallen in love.

He was still pondering the idea the following day. He called Lily at eleven in the morning, telling her again how much he’d enjoyed their date and asking if she wanted to drop by that evening and maybe have a game of poker and a pizza.

She agreed. She’d come at six, she promised, and Greg hung up feeling both exultant and frustrated. He wanted to see her, but he also had an overwhelming desire to do more than that. The urge to make love to Lily was overpowering, and even though she’d told him openly that she, too, wanted that loving, it was next to impossible here.

Even if his door had a lock, there were people in the corridor, patients in nearby rooms, the constant danger of interruption, not to mention his physical problems.

Nevertheless, he had to find a safe place for them to be together, and it wasn’t going to be easy. As the day dragged by, he came up with ideas, but for one reason or another, none was feasible. He did the exercises the physio had given him, so preoccupied he was hardly aware of the pain they caused in his body. With her assistance, he took his first faltering steps, learning to use crutches.