He nods, and I head for labor and delivery. The epidural cart is already outside the room, so I log in to LEGENDARY and skim the patient’s chart.
A tiny flicker of warmth lights in my chest at Asher’s name in the attending spot.
Inside the room, the patient moans, but her eyes light up when I walk through the door. Well, I probably should have actually internalized it when I looked at her name because I recognize her. It’s Asher’s MA.
“Hey, Talia. You hurtin’ a little bit?”
She reaches for me. “Yes! My frickin’ savior. I’m not about to do this without an epidural.”
My kind of woman.
The nurse and I help position her while the father of the baby stands behind me. Hunched over her positioning device at the edge of the bed, Talia drops her face into the headrest.
While I open the kit and prep the meds, we chat, but she pauses every three minutes to breathe through a contraction.
I have to clean her back, so I push aside the hospital gown and freeze.
Talia’s lower back is inked with a large black tattoo.
Not uncommon.
But the tattoo...
It’s a line drawing of a naked woman sitting on a man’s face. His hands grasp giant fistfuls of her tits. She’s headless. Footless. Back arched. Fucking his face.
“What the fuck—” The words startle out of me. Shit! Did I just say that?At work?
“Something wrong?” Talia asks.
I clear my throat. “No. So sorry. This will be cold.”
Have I noticed a tattoo here before? She usually wears one-pieces to Pool Party Saturday. I woulddefinitelyremember this.
Sterile gloves donned, I scrub the tattoo with blue surgical prep and place my drape. So now they’re an alien couple doing dirty, dirty things on her back. Andof coursethe needle will have to go straight into Tattoo Woman’s clit.
How awkward. Can I actually do that? This is uncomfortable.
Should I ask about it? I want to ask. Is it my business, though? I probably shouldn’t. But here’s the real question: Will I be able to stop myself?
“Um.” I crack my neck. My voice is off. “This is an interesting tattoo.”
“You think? I got it for my grandma.”
I choke.What?“Oh?”
“Yeah. She always said,Talia, when you findsomethingyou love, you embrace it. You wear it on your skin.”
OMG.
That can’t be true—
Asher loves his MA more than he loves the ducklings on the man-made pond outside, but that wouldn’t stop him from telling me all about this tattoo if he knew about it. He’s her doctor. How could henotknow about it?
“This next part will sting.” Because what else can I say?
“Ah!” Her shoulders bunch while I inject local anesthetic, then she chuckles. “And what do I love more than having that man over there eat a little tuna sandwich?”
A laugh bursts out of me before I can register the exact degree of inappropriateness. It’s irrepressible. But come on. Tuna sandwich? Did she just say that?
