Forbidden Imprint [Book 5] ✔️

16 • Life Goes On

EMBRY'S POV

I woke up the next morning and stretched slightly in bed, careful not to wake Amy up who was sleeping beside me. I turned on my side to stare at her for a moment, before reaching over to brush back a strand of hair that was blocking her face from my view.

I loved this woman. I loved seeing her beautiful, clear face. I loved her unique scent of gardenias and medical soap. The gardenias were from a body soap she used. The medical soap came from the job. Amy was a doctor like me.

It had taken me awhile to realize I was attracted to her. I hadn't really paid attention to woman after the Hawaii disaster. I still remembered how startled I'd felt when I realized I could see women again. I made the discovery on the Hawaiian flight home. The female flight attendant had asked me a question and when I went to answer her, I'd noticed she was clear to me. I'd looked around the cabin and saw that all women were no longer out of focus. Instead of the knowledge making me happy though, it had depressed me further. It'd been another sign that my bond to my imprint had well and truly been destroyed.

And aside from seeing women again, females were no longer odorous to me if I felt attracted to them. Not that I had gone out of my way to figure that fact out. For the four years I was in medical school, I never even gave a woman a second glance. I had thrown myself into my studies and that was all I focused on. Amy was the first woman I'd even slept with after Hawaii.

It was while I was in medical school that I met Dr. Pete Logan. Pete was the one who introduced me to Amy. Pete was a professor as well as an internationally known doctor. He became a mentor to me the way Carlisle was. By the time I'd graduated from medical school, I had become close to him.

Pete Logan was the one who suggested I study my first year in Africa. First year residents never were given the opportunity to study abroad. It was quite frankly unheard of. But Dr. Logan, along with several other worldly-renown doctors were running an American sponsored hospital there. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and because it was American run, it met the medical board's requirement that I do my first year internship within an American program.

So I went off to Africa to study with the best of the best...the cream of the crop when it came to doctors, and the first doctor I met was Dr. Amy Jamison. She was already a certified doctor, seven years older than me and building a reputation as one of the world's best cardiologist. I didn't think I'd ever forget the first time I saw her. It wasn't love or attraction that I'd felt for her. It was more irritation and borderline loathing.

Amy had her long brown hair pulled back in a severe bun, her face serious as she took me in with a raised eyebrow. She hadn't understood what I was doing there and had questioned Pete's sanity for allowing a first year resident to practice with the rest of them. He'd convinced her that I was a brilliant student and someone who deserved a spot on their team. I worked especially hard when I first arrived at the hospital to prove to her that I was worthy. The first five months I kept up a pace that mere humans would have never been able to do.

It was while I was assisting her with surgery one day that things clicked for us. I was really there to observe as she performed open-heart surgery. The man started to bleed heavily and I'd had to help stem the flow of blood. Our eyes met and something in our relationship changed in that moment. Nothing like what happens when someone imprints. It was softer...more subtle than that. I saw respect form in her eyes from the way I kept my cool, and I saw her for the first time as a woman instead of just a colleague. And it happened while I was standing there with my hand inside a guy's chest.

We went for a drink later that night and ended up in bed together. It didn't change our relationship professionally. She was still as demanding at work as ever, and I was still overly eager to prove myself, but privately our sex life continued. And over the course of the next six months, I fell in love with her. Not the kind of love that you would die for...the kind that consumed your every breath and thought...not like what I had experienced before, but it was a gentler, safer kind of love. When I decided to continue my residency in the States so that I could focus on becoming an ER doctor, Amy decided to go back with me. I'd been ecstatic.