Then he remembered that this might be more than just giving his back time to heal. Abby might need a bit more time to come to terms with what was happening between them. And damn it, he was going to give that time to her! It might kill him, but he was going to do it.
Chapter 6
Abby smiled as she walked into the hospital three days later. Zeke was…amazing! She’d never met a man that was as sweet and wonderful as Zeke. With all of his big, delicious muscles, Abby was discovering that he really was a big pussy cat. He loved to bake and, every time he picked her up, he’d hand her something that he’d baked the night before or, in the case of the bread he’d brought her last night, that he’d just taken out of the oven before coming to pick her up.
That loaf of bread hadn’t been spared and she ran a hand down over her stomach. The bread last night had been…oh my! He’d added turmeric to the dough. So, it was a yellow loaf of warm, crusty bread that smelled divine! She’d smothered it in butter, closing her eyes as she savored the flavor of the bread. When she’d opened her eyes, there had been an odd expression on his handsome features. But he’d said nothing. Instead, he’d taken her hand and led her out of her apartment, not even giving her time to put the bread away.
So far, he’d taken her to the firing range where she’d completely lost the competition that she’d secretly had going with him. She was an Army Captain, so she’d gone through all of the normal basic training that every soldier had to go through. But she’d prided herself on her sharpshooting skills. Unfortunately, her skills had deteriorated with lack of use over the years. Whereas Zeke could really shoot! He was amazing! When their target papers were taken down, there had been one large hole in his paper. One hole! At first, she’d looked at the paper and wondered where all of his bullets had gone, assuming that he’d missed. But no! Zeke hadn’t missed. The guy had zeroed in on the same place and hit the same mark with every shot. Meanwhile, her bullets had been in a good grouping, but they were fanned out across the target.
Another night, they’d gone for a long walk down by the river and he’d bought her dinner with ice cream afterwards. It had been a sweet, romantic night and she’d sighed with happiness when he’d walked her to her door. But then he’d kissed her and all of that sweetness had been obliterated by sensuality and desire. Abby hadn’t been smiling when she’d stepped into her apartment that night. In fact, she’d been frustrated, her body tingling with awareness and anticipation.
So, tonight was the night. She’d changed his bandage on his back every night and the wound had healed beautifully. In fact, she’d even considered taking the stitches out last night. His back had healed amazingly fast. But she wasn’t surprised. The man ate healthy foods, knew how to relax through baking, and exercised like a demon. He was in top physical shape. Bodies healed well when they were healthy to begin with.
“You’re doing it again.”
Abby blinked, looking up to find Cathy smirking at her from the other side of the nurse’s station.
“Doing what?”
The lively nurse leaned forward, glanced to the right and left, then whispered, “You’re thinking about him!”
Abby laughed, but felt her cheeks heat up. “Is it that obvious?”
Cathy shrugged. “Only because I know you. To someone else, you probably just look like you’re losing your mind.” She shrugged. “Only crazy people go around smiling like that all the time.” She shook her head. “And the sighs! Good grief, woman! Stop sighing!”
Abby laughed as she walked away, heading off to examine the next patient.
Several minutes later, Abby smiled, finished writing her notes in the patient’s chart, and moved on to her next patient of the morning. But the whole day, she thought about Zeke and what would happen tonight. Several times, she shivered in anticipation and had to laugh at her silliness. Sex was fine. It was good and fine and…just fine. She loved snuggling afterwards, but would it be different with Zeke?
A little after three o’clock that afternoon, just after she’d changed scrubs because a patient had thrown up all over her, she trudged grimly through the emergency room when she received a text message. Thinking it was related to one of her patients, she hurriedly checked the message.
“Have to postpone tonight. Will get back in touch as soon as I can. Z.”
That’s it. Nothing else? Where was he going? Why did he have to cancel? Was it some sort of family emergency? That must be it, she decided as she slid her phone back into her pocket. Grabbing the chart for a new patient, she read through the information, but a part of her mind wondered about Zeke’s message. It had been cryptic, but that was Zeke. He wasn’t a flowery message kind of guy.
Still, the message seemed…strange. What did it mean? Was he okay?
With a sigh, she knew that she’d just have to wait until she could call him after work. So she sighed and focused on her patients.
Chapter 7
Three days! She hadn’t heard from Zeke in three days! What in the world was going on? He hadn’t responded to her texts. He hadn’t answered her phone calls. Was this thing between them over before it had really begun?
The thought was so depressing that she pretended she hadn’t thought it. Fighting back the tears, she focused on the stitches she was sewing on a man who had cut himself in a bar fight. With a glass bottle, no less, so the edges were ragged and…and what kind of an idiot gets into a bar fight at ten o’clock in the morning?! Fighting back her anxious frustration, because she knew it was for Zeke, not her patient, she finished off the stitches. “Okay, you’re all set,” she announced.
“Thanks, Doc,” the guy said, starting to slide off of the gurney.
“Hold up,” she cautioned, writing out a prescription. And that action almost sent her to tears. Because the whole situation seemed like a repeat of what she’d done with Zeke just over a week ago. Taking a deep breath, she finished the prescription and handed it over. “Here. You’re going to need to apply this ointment to the wound twice a day and…” she paused, blinking back the tears, “…and change the bandage daily.”
“Uh…thanks.” The man took the prescription, looking at her warily. “You okay?”
Abby nodded. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
At that moment, two military police officers stepped into the exam area. “Are you finished with him, Doctor Fisher?” one of them asked.
Abby nodded at the MPs, knowing that they were there to take the guy into custody. A soldier wasn’t allowed to get into a bar fight. Not even at ten o’clock in the morning. It simply wasn’t allowed. Oh, bar fights happened all the time. But if the military police got involved, then the soldier faced serious consequences.
Taking a deep breath, she scribbled on his chart, then slid it over to the nurse who would file it.
The rest of the afternoon was just as tedious and all she wanted to do was to head home and soak in a hot bubble bath so that she could wallow with a big glass of wine. She wanted to put her headphones on and listen to music while she sipped the wine and thought about nothing at all.
Adding insult to her predicament, it was Friday night and, because she’d been hoping to go out and do something with Zeke tonight, or even better, stay in with Zeke tonight, she hadn’t made plans with her friends. So she had nothing on the agenda for her night, or even her weekend.