Smiling as he checked her blood pressure a second time, he said, “I hear that all the time.” When he finished, he pulled off the cuff. “I assure you I’m older than I look.”
“That’s a relief, not that I have anything against kids. I like them just fine. Just wouldn’t want to have to rely on one to save my life.”
“You’d be surprised how adept children can be. Just the other day, we picked up a mother who’d given birth at home. Her six-year old daughter delivered the baby.” “No kidding?”
The rest of the way to the hospital she rode in silence, ruminating the irony of having been stung by a bee and having to spend her first official date with Jason in the hospital emergency room.
When they arrived at the hospital, the paramedics wheeled her inside, rattled off all the pertinent information and then gave her a smile and a “good luck” before leaving her in the care of the hospital staff. A nurse, who looked no older than the paramedic had, double-checked her blood pressure, pulse, and temperature—like she couldn’t trust the paramedic to have gotten it right—and then gave her a gown to change into and left, saying, “The doctor will be with you shortly.” Jason arrived soon after. He didn’t have flowers this time but he did give her a great smile. “You look better. What did they do?”
“Gave me a shot of something. You mean to tell me you didn’t like my new look? I was thinking of paying a plastic surgeon a visit and making it permanent. I’ve heard they can implant rolled-up pigskin into your lips to give them that just-been-stung-by-a-bee look. What do you think?”
He stood just inside the curtain that partitioned off her area from the next one. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I prefer the natural look.”
“To each his own.” She shrugged then added, “How about this get-up?” She smoothed the lovely—gag!—blue hospital gown over her chest. “Isn’t it sexy?”
He nodded, waggled his eyebrows suggestively and purred, “Incredibly.”
Oh! That reaction did some great things for her heart rate. Did he have a thing for playing doctor? If only!
“Really?” she asked, her imagination running wild and delving into territory she probably shouldn’t have let it. In her mind’s eye she could see herself lying on the bed, a crisp white sheet the only thing between her body and his fingertips… Um hum. He could give her a thorough workup anytime. The heat returned to her cheeks.
He chuckled. “No, I’m teasing. I swear. Don’t look so worried. I just didn’t want you to feel bad.”
“Oh believe me, I wasn’t worried but I was beginning to wonder. By the way, you can come closer. I swear I’m not contagious.”
He took two steps closer but still stood outside of her reach. “Sorry, I get a little nervous in hospitals. I always feel like I’m in the way.”
“In the way of what? There’s no one in here but you and me. I doubt a doctor will show up for at least a couple of hours.” “That long?”
“Yeah. Why? Do you need to cancel some reservations? By the way, I’m really sorry for wrecking everything tonight.” “It’s not your fault. I was the one who brought you bug-ridden flowers. I almost killed you.”
“How silly. Flower homicide. Just think. There might have been a scandal and you could have been pegged the Infamous Flower Murderer.”
He chuckled, the low rumbly sound rippling through her body in waves of arousal, and looked at his wristwatch. “I need to make a call.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
“I don’t think you can do that in here. You should probably go outside.” “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
No sooner was he gone than Doogie Houser, MD entered. Man, either she was getting old (no way!), or hospitals and medical facilities were hiring kids still in high school. “Hello,” Dr. Houser said, offering his hand and a friendly smile. “I’m Dr. Herner. What brings you to the emergency room today?”
Feeling a little smart, since he was holding her chart in his hand and therefore knew darn well why she was there, she said, “Well, I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I got stung by a bee and almost died from anaphylactic shock.” If there was one thing that irritated her, it was when someone asked an obvious question when they knew the answer.
His smile wasn’t so bright anymore. “I see.” He flipped the top sheet of her chart and read something then lowered it again. “How are you feeling now, madam?”
“It’s Miss Starke. Much better, thanks. Can I leave?”
“No, not yet. Your symptoms could return. We’ll need to keep an eye on you for a while. And we’ll give you some medicine to help keep the symptoms under control.” “More medicine?”
“Yes.” He pulled a couple of rubber gloves from the dispenser on the wall and put them on. “Can you show me where stung She pointed at her head. “Here.”
He parted her hair and looked. “Mmmm. The stinger’s still imbedded in your skin. We’ll need to remove it.” “Yikes.”
He walked around to a small cabinet against the wall and pulled out a tongue depressor.
“What’re you going to do with that? You going in through my throat? Shouldn’t you give me something to knock me out first?”
He looked at her, silently questioning whether she was really stupid enough to think he’d really have to do that or not. She grinned just to reassure him. Clearly not appreciating her attempts—as lame as they may be—at breaking the ice, he shook his head and parted her hair again, searching for the stinger. “This won’t require surgery, I promise.” “Good. I…uh, ate a little snack a couple of hours ago. I’ve heard it’s dangerous to go under general after eating.” “By any chance did you have a few drinks with that meal?” he asked as he worked on her head, scraping her scalp with the wooden stick.
“Not unless you count diet cola as a drink. I’m perfectly sober, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Just wanted to make sure. We need to know if you have any substances in your bloodstream before we prescribe medications.” He thought she was stoned! Just because she’d cracked a few stupid jokes? “Sure you do.”
He stepped back, dropped the stick in the trash and removed the gloves. “All right. The nurse will be in to give you that medication. Do you have any questions?” “Yeah, just one. When do I get to leave?” “In an hour or two. We want to make sure you won’t have another attack. Your reaction was severe. You wouldn’t want to leave and have another one.”
“True.” She turned her head when she heard Jason’s voice outside the curtain. He was evidently speaking to a nurse. “Can I go in?” he asked. Within a heartbeat he was standing beside the doctor. Dr. Herner introduced himself and asked, “Are you Mr. Starke?”
“No, there is no Mr. Starke, at least none that I know of. I’m Jason Foxx, the guy responsible. Brought her a bouquet of flowers infested with bees. How’s she going to be?”
“She’ll be fine. We’re ordering some blood tests and medication to prevent the symptoms from returning. She’s a little bit anxious to leave so I hope you’ll be able to convince her to sit tight for a while.” “I’m starving,” she interjected.
“I haven’t been able to convince her of anything but I can try,” Jason answered the doctor, ignoring her comment. “That’s all I ask.”
“Can I eat?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t be so cruel as to let her starve.
The doctor turned his attention back to Jane. “It’s probably not a good idea for you to eat yet. We’ll let you know as soon as you can. Okay?”
“Why did I know you’d say that?” When she nodded, he smiled, pulled the curtain aside and stepped through. “The nurse will be in shortly to give you that medication and draw some blood,” he said just before turning away. “What’s the blood for?” she called out, hoping to catch him before he disappeared for the next six hours. Blood tests meant a longer wait. The hospital lab was notoriously slow. “I had an allergic reaction. What more do you need to know?” Glancing over his shoulder, he answered, “Just trying to be thorough, Miss Starke.” And then he closed the curtain.
She looked at Jason and shook her head. “We’ll be lucky to get out of here by morning. I think they’re running a drug test on me to make sure I’m not stoned. Can you believe it?” “They are not.”
“Then what else could it be? Who heard of a blood test for an allergic reaction?”
“Maybe they want to make sure it was the bee sting that caused your attack and not something else.”
She sighed, wishing she was a million places besides stuck in a hospital. In Jason’s bed was at the top of her list, even though she knew that even if she wasn’t in the hospital, that was one place she couldn’t visit, at least not with a good conscience. “This stinks.” Those two words summed up a whole lot more than the present situation.
He walked closer, and she curled her legs up to let him sit on the foot of the bed. He rested a hand on her knee. It felt warm, even through the cool sheet covering her legs. Her heart stuttered a few irregular beats in her chest when he gave her leg a subtle squeeze. “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.”
Giddy, even though it was an innocent touch, certainly not very erotic, she held in a shudder of delight and expectation. Was it time to play doctor? “Do you know something that I don’t?” His crooked grin gave her the answer she wanted. “Maybe.” Fighting another shudder of pleasure, she asked, “What?” He lifted his hand, and she nearly screamed with bitter disappointment. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it? But I want to know You’ll know soon enough.” He stretched his arms overhead, the motion setting all those scrumptious muscles on his arms, shoulders and chest rippling and flexing under his snug T-shirt. He had to know what that was doing to her.
She swallowed a groan. This just plain wasn’t fair. Not only was their evening ruined, but she was trapped in a six by eight cubicle with a man who could practically elicit an orgasm with a smile and a how-do-you-do. Damn you, Monica. Why couldn’t your zillionaire jewelry broker be ninety years old and ugly? Why did he have to be so good-looking, and kind, and generous, and sexy, and…tempting. Jason Foxx was nothing but six- foot-something of extreme temptation. And she couldn’t do a darn thing but charm him with her wit.
It was like having fasted for a month and then sitting down to a mountain of your favorite ice cream and not being able to eat it
Couldn’t I have just one little taste?
