Once I feel satisfied with the images, I send them off to the on-call doctor for review. I then return to the bed, unlock the wheels, and maneuver our way back through the hospital corridor. Upon reaching Clay’s hospital room, I position the bed back into place and lock it but instead of heading off to catch up with McKenna and our next patient, I grab a seat from beside the bed, drag it up closer to him and settle in with a sigh.
“So, what happened tonight?”
He smiles at me—a gentle, appreciative smile that's neither condescending nor dismissive, as it has often been in the past. It's a smile that seems to acknowledge us as equals, both adults, and even hints at a touch of friendliness.
I saida touch.
I’d hoped that my newly developed curves and the scrubs that I’m wearing might help shed the young image he’s always had of me and convey that I’ve grown up and am now handling a job that, while is still an internship, is a step toward adulthood and independence.
“Your dad wouldn’t be happy if he knew,” he grins and punctuates his statement with a wink.
And there goes any credibility I thought I was gaining with him.
I roll my eyes, “I can keep a secret from my dad.”
His eyes turn more serious, “I reckon you can. Well, you’d only be the third person who knows about this, and I think whatever drugs the nurse gave me are stronger than she thought on my empty stomach so, what the hell.”
He slaps his thick, bare thighs and leans forward as though he’s about to whisper. I lean in, eager to hear whatever he’s been keeping from his family and has caused him to visit the hospital tonight.
As his face draws nearer, I can smell the sweet hint of cinnamon on his breath and the lingering aroma of sweat on his skin. I think I’d like to bottle up that scent and spray it all over myself when I get home tonight. Maybe roll around in his hospital bed after he’s discharged before the sheets are stripped.
“Boo,” he says popping the B on his lips and then sitting back with a wide grin.
“You’re the worst,” I grumble, standing up and shaking my head. Any hopes I had that Clay no longer sees me as a child have been effectively dashed.
He chuckles as he reclines back on the bed, draping one of his muscular arms over his eyes and closing them with a relaxed, almost contented expression on his handsome face.
“Maggie, it’s been a long day for me. I’m going to try to catch some rest before the doc tells me what the damage is. Have agood rest of your shift. Thanks for the glamour shots.”
I sigh and push my chair back but pause before leaving. “Do you have someone who can look after you when you’re discharged tonight? Considering the pain medication that you’ve received and the bruises already forming on your ribs, it wouldn’t be wise for you to spend the night alone, especially if there’s any chance you’ve had a head injury as well.”
I wince at how much my words sound motherly. I hope I don’t come across as intrusive or desperate, digging for information about whether Clay is currently living with someone.
He shrugs, his strong bicep still covering his eyes, “I’ll be alright. I’m a big boy.”
My eyes drift downward to his muscular thighs and then in between his legs where only a thin bit of stretchy, short material covers his cock that I can tell is very, big.
Yes, I can see you’re a very big boy, Clay Cameron.
I stifle the frustrated huff I want to release at his dismissive attitude as I march off to the nursing station to locate his nurse.
“I’m all done with your patient Clay Cameron,” I deadpan, meaning that in more than one way.
I’d told myself years ago to destroy the attraction I felt towards him, but I can’t help that my stupid, teenage crush has reared its ugly head again, making me feel like a childish fool.
The nurse giggles as she looks up at me, “I’d like him to be all done with me,” she licks her lips like she’s thinking about how he might taste.
I would know, because I’m thinking the same thing.
“There aren’t many young men in town who are single, respectful and sinfully handsome like that,” she continues.
Misplaced jealousy surges inside of me at the pretty nurse who is closer in age to Clay’s thirty-five than my twenty. I smile sweetly and swallow my pride before heading off to find Mckenna.
Maybe it was a mistake to care so much about wanting Clay to see me differently. To actually takenoticeofme.
I’d briefly had his attention as a young girl, in the context of his nieces and nephews and my sweet disposition when I babysat them during the summers and weekends. An occasional ruffle of my hair, a joke to make me laugh on the days I felt the worse, however, I’dneverhad it as a woman. I wanted him to take notice that I wasn’t all sweetness and innocence anymore.
I shake my head as I round another corner. There is really no point in wanting something I can never have and pining after someone who wouldneverwant me is frankly, pathetic.
