Chapter Seventeen
Luke
We never made it out of her apartment. The food I had prepped for our dinner was luckily wrapped up in the fridge, as instead of going to mine, we stayed in her bed, surrounded by clothes she hadn’t wanted to pack, naked and with pizza. Honestly, it was one of the best dates I have ever had. I could spend every minute with this woman doing the most mundane things and enjoy myself.
It made more sense, seeing as she had to leave for the airport early this morning. I really didn’t want her to go, but I’d have never said that. She would have been safe with me. God, I would move her in with me tomorrow if she'd let me. But I need to take baby steps.
Last night was a huge step in the right direction. She's opening up more and more, and I'm peeling away the layers each time I see her. I hope that being away for God knows how long won'taffect what we've managed so far. Well, whatI’vemanaged. There is a lot of overtime going spare at the hospital, so I’ll have to book some extra shifts to make the time pass by a little quicker. And maybe even throw in a visit to my parents without running off this time.
I’m dying to know what she's been through. Maybe it’s the doctor in me, needing to know the reasons behind how she works, but I like her. She has me captivated. I hang on to her every word, every quirk, even the noises she makes when I give her pleasure, which I did a lot last night.
I did offer to take her to the airport, even though it’s a two-hour drive to Manchester, but her brother had already arranged for a car to collect her and her friends, so that stole another two hours of my time with her. Fuck me, even the thought of sitting in the car with her sounds like fun to me.
The fact that I'm about to walk into work right now puts me in a better mood, and that is something that has never happened before. I just can’t imagine sitting at home, stuck in my own thoughts all day. It would be torture. I need Dom to sort me out with some of his feminine advice because I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.
The moment I step inside the hospital, I'm greeted by people in every direction. Although I complain about working so much, I do love it. Especially the people I work with. The peoplein here are like a family. That, or we're trauma-bonded after everything we've seen.
“Smyth,” a deep voice calls from behind me.
Turning, I can see my superior, Mr Lowe, walking towards me. I have had many amazing mentors in my career, but Lowe is not one of them. Yeah, sure, he’s a great doctor, just a bit of a dick. His teaching methods are to throw you in at the deep end, watch you drown, then embarrass you over it later.
“Lowe,” I say in greeting, tipping my head at him.
“What time do you call this?” He shakes his head, checking his watch.
“I’d call it thirty minutes before I start my shift,” I say, raising my brow.
Not today, Satan, not today.
“Back in my day, doctors would start at hand-over. Not willy nilly in the middle of the day,” he grouches, clearly trying to shame me.
“You might want to take that up with HR, I’m afraid,” I say, trying to back away from this annoying as fuck conversation.
“There is a trauma incoming in five, unless you want to wait until you’re paid to help people in need,” he leers.
“Nope, I’ll be ready. Thanks for letting me know,” I grit out and force a smile.
Kill with kindness. That’s the only way to get to men like him. They only win if you letthem, and I will do anything to not give this man the pleasure of humiliating me.
Turning, I rush to the staff room to ditch my coat and change into my clean scrubs. In my haste, I didn't even make it into a private area to change. I’m completely shirtless, tightening my pants, when the door opens. One of the younger nurses walks inside. She stands there shell-shocked, her mouth agape and eyes wide.
“Penny, isn’t it?” I ask with a sheepish smile, quickly throwing my top on. “I’m so sorry, there's a trauma in less than two minutes.”
Her mouth opens and closes like she is trying to find the words. Shit, I might end up with a warning for being indecent. I can't be that bad to look at. Can I? I’m just pushing my head through my shirt and walking towards the other door, my back to her, when she finally calls out to me.
“Luke, I mean, Doctor Smyth?” She stammers. “I’m sorry for being awkward. You just took me by surprise, is all.”
“All my fault, no worries. See you, Penny,” I say, with a smile and head back down to the ward, where the noise of emergency meets my ears.
Well, that wasn’t strange at all.
“I don’t know how the fuck we did it. But, we fucking did it,” Dom says as we finally step out of the building.
It’s fairly warm for an autumn evening in England, but completely dark out. It's like sunlight doesn’t exist when you work a day shift in the hospital.
“Tell me about it. That was one of the worst days I think we've ever had in there,” I groan.
“You say that after every trauma call,” he rolls his eyes.
