The corners of his mouth curve up. “This is news I like… But I need to know that you won’t regret it, Abby.”
“Stop it. I know what my decision means,” I remind him.
He rests his head back on the pillow. “Come.” He invites me to sit with him on the bed. I listen and gently perch on the bed and cuddle into him.
“Everything I want is here. The animals, the clinic, Romeo, Theo, and you.” My eyes peer up to him with the corners of my mouth tugging.
He kisses my hair then flinches in pain. “Fuck, I’m going to have a monster of a headache later.” His hand touches his forehead.
“Take it easy, Lucas. Don’t move. You’re like the animal I saved this morning,” I remark.
His eyes look at me puzzled.
“Someone brought a wild animal to the clinic that they found on the road. But you know what? That animal helped trigger me in a way. Then I noticed all the reminders of my life now, and I confidently made my decision.”
Lucas rumbles a small laugh from the back of his throat. “Sounds like I need to thank this wild animal.”
“I mean, I saved a moose, that’s freaking awesome, right?”
“A moose?” He laughs.
“Yeah, a moose. Anyways, what happened exactly? All I know is you had a car accident,” I ask as I place my palm on his chest and I can feel his heartbeat. Strong and steady.
He swallows and lets his eyes gently close before opening them again. “I was driving to come find you and apologize, there was a tree down and I swerved… I hit a moose.”
My eyes look up to his and both our faces lighten.
“I saved the moose you nearly killed?” I double-check this crazy fact.
He grins. “I hit the moose that made you realize you need to stay?”
We both start to laugh. I quickly plant a kiss on his lips. But part when we hear the clearing of a throat.
Looking at the door we see Dr. Chris Miller. The man who once asked me out in front of Lucas.
“Ahh, now I see that Dr. Kade did indeed steal my patient.” Chris gives us a knowing look before looking at the chart.
“Trust me, she is in good care.” Lucas gives me those eyes and grin that tell me he has plans for me later.
Chris begins to detach Lucas from the monitor. “You know the drill, Lucas. Take it easy, try to stay up until normal bedtime just in case you have a concussion—but I don’t think you do. The stiches will dissolve in a week or two. I’m going to discharge you provided you have someone to stay with you the next few days.” He flashes his eyes at us.
I look at Lucas with an assuring look. “I’ll make sure our patient listens.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lucas
“Abby, I’m not dying. I can walk to the kitchen.” I grin as I adjust to sitting in my bed.
She places the tray of food in front of me then goes to fluff my pillows. “You need to rest, Lucas. You don’t have to be Superman today,” she warns me, and I have to laugh at how stern she is being.
“Okay, fine. If I need to play this role then heaven help me, you play the role of naughty nurse.” I flash her my suggestive grin.
She playfully slaps my arm. “I will consider the suggestion after you eat your soup.”
“You are worse than my mother.”
Abby pops up to standing and points a finger up. “Speaking of which, I need to go call her and calm her down. Your brother may have overplayed the accident and she is contemplating if she needs to move in to assist you.” She gives me a humorous look before heading off to the kitchen.
I eat the tomato soup and grilled cheese, because I need to calm the women in my life down. Romeo comes running into the room and sits on the floor near my end of the bed. His eyes and drool tell me why he came. I throw him a scrap of my grilled cheese and he happily chomps it up then runs away.
I reflect on the last few days. It was certainly eventful. I don’t care if I am going to have a migraine for days if it got us to where we need to be. On a path forward. Abby and me.
I wonder what our lives will look like in a year, two years, or ten. She made her opinion about kids clear, but I have no idea about marriage. I just want it all with her.
Abby comes back into the room and moves the tray to the side, before coming to lie against my chest with my arm encircling around her.
“Your mother should leave us alone until tomorrow when she insists on bringing croissants over,” she tells me.
“Oh joy.” There is sarcasm in my voice. “I already had my assistant cancel my patients for the next few days, and the insurance will phone me tomorrow about my car. Hopefully they get me a new car stat as I need to pick Theo up at the end of the week for the summer.”
Her hand comes to my chest. “I can get him, I mean, you should rest the next few days, or I could drive us.” she offers.
I look at her to double-check. “You don’t have to do that,” I mention as she has never gotten into the logistics of Theo visiting. She only sees him once he’s at my house.
“I don’t mind, really.” Her voice is sincere, and she sounds like she wants to.
“Okay.”
We lie there for a few minutes soaking in our embrace. Her delicate fingers gliding along the skin of my neck and face. I kiss her fingers.
“I’m really glad you’re staying… but—”
Her finger shushes me. “You really must have a head injury. I said I am positive with my choice. I am so happy here.” Her enchanted look tells me it’s true as she takes her finger away.
“I just need to check. I mean it. We could make it work.”
Now she grumbles and rolls her eyes. “Lucas, stop it!”
I have to chuckle at her frustration. “Okay, I’ll stop. But Abby, I need to know what you want. What will make Dr. Abby Call happy in the years to come?”
She goes back to lean on my chest beneath my chin. “I want what I have now.”
Now I grumble slightly. “You need to give me more than that. You’re speaking general and I want the specifics.”
She chuckles and moves to gently straddle me with the look of a woman confident with her words. Her position on my body is making my dick twitch which tells me that I really do need her as medicine to recover.
“You. I want you in the future.” Her hand comes to cup my jaw. “I don’t know what I think about kids or marriage. But I know I want you in the future, and I know that if I ever did see myself with any of those things that it would be with you.”
A gentle smile forms on my mouth after I kiss her inner palm. Those were the only words I wanted to hear. I don’t need any deeper conversations; we don’t need a roadmap. We just need us.
“Good answer. And we have time to figure out what we want, but let’s just agree that it is with each other?”
She nods in agreement before kissing my lips with a feathery kiss that is light to the touch.
“So, Doctor. Any suggestions how we keep you awake a little longer to be on the safe side?” She purses her lips at the end of the sentence. Her sly look accompanies her fingers playing with my t-shirt at my chest.
“My advice is sex is the best solution,” I tell her as I begin to move and guide her back, so she’s lying on the bed as my body comes to hover over her. “The patient should be in control for the best outcome,” I begin to let my hand slide up her stomach under her shirt.