“No pressure,” Lillian tried to make it sound light-hearted, but it came out as a croak.
“Lillian,” Jade said and put a hand to her cheek. “There is no one,no one,I would rather have in that operating room for this than you. I just watched you work, what? Two hours ago?” Jade’s eyes darkened with something that felt like determination. “You are the most skilled surgeon I have ever known, and this is your specialty, this is what you do.”
Lillian nodded. Jade’s confidence fusing into her own. She could do this, she had to. Doctor Elizabeth Rourke meant so much to so many people. She was a mentor to most of this hospital for one thing or another.
“Do you want me to scrub in with you?” Jade asked, her eyes wide and supportive.
“No,” Lillian said quickly.
“No problem,” Jade said. “I’ll be up top if you need anything.”
Lillian nodded. She knew there was nothing that Jade would have been able to do in the operating room. Lillian took a deep breath and steeled herself. “Thank you,” she said to Jade, and she meant it. Jade’s words, her reassurances, they were genuine.
Lillian walked down to the OR in a daze, she could see the techs hanging the CT scans up in the room, and she could see the clot from the scrub station. She pulled in a shaky breath and tied her mask around her face. She checked the timer and bumped the sink with her forearm. The water rushed out, and Lillian focused on the task at hand. She scrubbed her hands, paying attention to the smell of the soap, the sound of the water against the metal sinks, the silky feel of the soap as it cleaned her skin. She followed all the protocols she had set for herself as a surgeon. All the ways she tricked her mind into focusing on the task at hand and eliminating all other distraction. Though this time, when Jade’s face popped into her mind, she recognized the look of determination, and warm confidence spread through her.
As the timer counted, she watched the staff setting Dr. Rourke up in the harness, this would be such a delicate surgery, and the harness seemed almost barbaric in comparison, with its metal ports and screws, but it was necessary to keep the patient perfectly still during the operation. Lillian would be working from a large machine that did the most delicate work. For the most part, she would feel almost like she was not even in the same room with Elizabeth, which was for the best, she believed. If she had to look at Elizabeth’s face while she did this delicate of a surgery, she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep her focus.
As it usually did, the sounds, the sights, the smells of the OR settled into Lillian and calm washed over her. This was home, and this was home thanks in large part to the woman on that table. Her mind cleared of all the usual chatter, and her focus lasered in on the surgery.
It lasted several hours, each second crucial. Every tiny movement that Lillian made with her machine had the potential to kill Elizabeth, her friend, her mentor. Lillian ignored the pain in her feet from standing for so long; she pushed past the exhaustion of intense focus. She worked meticulously on making sure that the aneurysm held long enough for her to drain and remove it. In the final few seconds as she pulled it away, it felt like the entire hospital held their breath. Then she was done.
Cheers erupted from all around her. She could hear the observers from the balcony cheering through the glass, and her entire body relaxed. She allowed herself a moment to breath before closing the surgery, and the rest of it went by in a blur.
There were still several complications that could arise from the surgery itself, but Dr. Elizabeth Rourke was alive, and that was a start. Once the surgery was complete, Lillian pulled off the gown and mask and discarded them, her muscles stiff and sore as she scrubbed her hands again.
Soon, Elizabeth was sleeping peacefully in recovery, and all that was left to do was wait for her to wake up. Lillian watched outside the recovery room for a long time. She wasn’t even sure how long she stood there, but she couldn’t seem to make herself leave. Finally, after prompting from the nursing staff, they convinced her to go and get some rest, with the promise that they would notify her as soon as anything changed.
As she made her way back to her office, she was greeted with handshakes and slaps on the back, but she barely heard it. Her chest was swollen with pride, but her muscles ached and she was so tired. She went into her office and dropped into her chair,making the notes from the surgery quickly on her computer. She finished up and walked into her own on-call room, complete with a lumpy mattress and clean sheets. It looked so inviting that it took all she had to take off her shoes and lab coat. She heard the door open to her office and poked her head through the door. Her cheeks warming as she took in Jade’s smiling face walking toward her.
Lillian didn’t think; she just pulled Jade into her arms and held her close. Jade seemed surprised by the response but responded in kind.
“Nice job in there, Doctor Holder,” Jade said against her cheek. She smelled of soap and scrubs.
“Thank you,” Lillian responded, but didn’t pull away. They stood like that for a few minutes before Jade finally took a step back.
“You should get some sleep,” Jade said. “You could go home for a while if you want. I think you’ve done enough over the last couple of days to warrant some time off.”
“I’m not sure I could if I wanted to,” Lillian said with a slight smirk.
“Well, what do you propose then?” Jade asked, her cheeks heating.
Lillian turned toward the door and closed it, clicking the lock into place. Jade’s face broke into a grin as Lillian turned back toward her. She took Jade’s face into her hand and pulled her close, pressing her lips softly against Jade’s. It began slow and soft, but turned deep and passionate, hands and lips exploring each other, heat twisting them into one being. Lillian let her mind leave her as she savored Jade’s touch. Nothing mattered beyond this moment.
Jade pulled Lillian’s dress over her head and ran her hands across Lillian’s belly and around her back pulling her close to kiss her again. Heat seared everywhere that Jade touched, herfingertips so gentle and soft that it left her wanting more. Lillian pulled Jade’s top up above her head and tossed it to the side, pulling her close so that their skin connected. She fell back onto the bed and Jade collapsed on top of her. She pushed Jades trousers down her hips and Jade kicked them into the floor before reaching behind Lillian and unhooking her bra. Lillian pulled the straps from her shoulders as Jade hooked her fingers in Lillian’s panties and pulled them from her legs.
She straddled across Lillian’s waist, and Lillian gasped as she looked at Jade’s vibrant skin. She struggled to run her fingers across every inch of the gorgeous woman as Jade slipped her bra from her shoulders. She leaned down and kissed Lillian deeply, running her tongue along Lillian’s teeth. She moved down Lillian’s neck, as Lillian cupped Jade’s breasts in each hand, pinching lightly at her peaked nipples.
Jade continued moving downward, kissing Lillian across her collarbones and taking her breasts in her hands. She kissed and sucked each nipple lightly, and Lillian arched her back in pleasure. Jade kissed a trail down the center of Lillian’s stomach, sending waves of heat and pleasure through her. She took each of Lillian’s knees in her hands and spread them open, positioning herself in between them. She looked down at Lillian’s hot, wet center, and her eyes grew hungry.
Lillian rolled her head back onto the pillow and closed her eyes as Jade kissed the inside of one thigh, and then the other. Heat burned through her; she had never wanted something,someone, so badly in her life. She rolled her hips to meet Jade’s exploring lips, but Jade kept her kisses soft, her touches feather light.
She ran her tongue up Lillian’s core, and Lillian cried out as the pleasure took her over. Jade slipped a finger inside of her, pumping slowly in and out, and Lillian wanted to scream to the rafters. She slipped a second finger inside and ran her thumbin small circles across Lillian’s clit, her hands already soaked in Lillian’s need. She kissed Lillian’s stomach, her fingers pumping faster, harder, and Lillian moaned against clenched teeth.
Jade finally dipped her head, her tongue making lazy circles around Lillian’s clit as her fingers stroked faster and faster, heat and desire coiling in Lillian until she felt like she couldn’t breathe. With each thrust of her hand, Lillian thought she would come undone, but Jade expertly kept her on the edge, on that point of pleasure just before it all came crashing, until Lillian’s walls clamped around her hand. A couple of thrusts with Jade’s fingers and Lillian fell apart around her. Wave after wave crashing through her. Heat, desire, need, all pulsed through her as she came again and again with Jade’s expert touch. Lillian cried out to the ceiling, and when the waves slowly began to subside, she flipped Jade onto her back.
Jade laughed wildly as Lillian pushed Jade’s legs open. Heat still pulsed through Lillian as she looked down at Jade’s naked form; she could see how wet and swollen with desire she was. Without a second thought, Lillian buried her face in Jade’s core, licking and sucking at her juices with abandon. She slipped a finger inside, and she could tell by how tightly Jade clamped around her that she was almost at her peak already. She pushed two more fingers inside her, curling them against Jade’s walls, and Jade moaned in pleasure. Lillian licked at her clit as she pumped her fingers, fighting to keep her rhythm slow and methodical so that she could draw out Jade the way she had Lillian, but it was too late.
Jade thrust her hips forward and Lillian plunged her fingers deep inside, sucking on her clit at the same time. Jade’s walls clamped down almost painfully as she cried out in ecstasy. Lillian kept pumping as Jade cried out again and again, only slowing once the waves began to subside.
