Chapter 30 #2
I head to the call rooms to look for Ethan, and I’m relieved to find him there, passed out and snoring. His wallet and keys are on the bedside table, and after a minute’s hesitation, I take the key to his Tesla off the ring and slip it into my pocket. He has no business driving tonight.
I leave Ethan and go back to the lounge to change out of my scrubs. It’s eleven o’clock; probably too late to go back to Melissa’s, but I decide to text anyway.
Me: Too late to come back?
The reply comes in less than a minute.
Melissa: Not too late. I’m still up.
Me: Twenty minutes.
And twenty minutes later I’m at her door and Melissa’s there, wearing a clingy blue T-shirt and plaid flannel shorts. Looking like everything I ever wanted.
“Bad night?” she asks softly.
“Yeah.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.” I pull Melissa into my arms and breathe in the smell of her hair, then lead her up to her bedroom. She flips the button to lock the door, then flicks on the lamp beside the bed.
“I’m on call for the rest of the night,” I explain, setting my phone on the nightstand. “The resident’s good, but if someone needs surgery, I’ll have to go back.”
“We shouldn’t waste time, then,” Melissa says. Her fingers go to the button of my jeans. It’s like she knows how much I need this.
My jeans hit the floor, followed quickly by Melissa’s shirt and bra. And then she’s in my arms, and we fall onto the bed together. My mouth finds hers, wet and hot, and my hand drifts down to cup her ass. I pull her into me, and she grinds against my erection.
I could come, just from this. I’m starting to worry I’m not going to last, when she pulls away to strip off her shorts and panties.
“Take off your boxers and lie on your back,” she whispers, reaching over to grab a condom from the nightstand.
“Yes, ma’am.” She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I get rid of the boxers, and she rolls on the condom.
Then she straddles me, and she’s so beautiful that I hardly know where to look.
At her eyes, gleaming like sapphires in the soft yellow lamplight?
Or the glossy darkness of her hair, spilling loose over her shoulders?
Her breasts are luscious, plush and proud, and they look even bigger from this angle.
She takes hold of my erection, rubbing me against her entrance and then guiding me home. Inch by glorious inch.
My mind empties of everything else. I’m no longer exhausted. No longer a surgeon who’s going to have to tell the chief of surgery that his friend has an alcohol problem.
Right now, I’m just a man making love to the woman he loves.
Although to be fair, Melissa’s doing most of the work. She’s riding me hard now, hot and slick and tight, and I can tell she’s close. I reach down and find her clit with my thumb, and a few seconds later, she goes off like a rocket. Her orgasm ripples through her, and it sets me off too.
After I take care of the condom, I hold her for a while, enjoying the softness of her skin against mine.
“I should probably go,” I finally tell her. “If I get called in to work, you’d have to get up to lock your door.”
“Should get you a key,” she mumbles, already half asleep.
“Okay.” I wouldn’t say no to that. “But tonight—”
“Stay.” She snuggles in closer. “Jus’ wake me up if you have to go.”
Fortunately, my phone stays quiet until six A.M., when it buzzes with the alarm I set to get me out of the house before the kids wake up. I swipe it off quickly—Melissa’s still asleep—and fumble for my clothes using the light of the phone screen.
As I’m pulling on yesterday’s boxers, the bedside lamp flicks on. I turn to see Melissa watching me from the bed, her eyes heavy with sleep and desire.
“If you look at me like that, I’ll never leave,” I mutter. “And your kids will be up soon.”
“I guess,” she agrees, with a disappointed sigh that almost tempts me back into bed. I throw my clothes on quickly, and Melissa puts on a robe to walk me to the door.
Her eyes search my face as she hugs me goodbye. I’m sure I look like hell; I’m exhausted, and I’m dreading having to confront Ethan today. I’ll have to report what happened last night—there’s no way around it—but I intend to talk to him about it first. I owe him that, at least.
“Don’t work too hard,” Melissa murmurs.
“Never,” I quip.
“Want to come back tonight?” she asks. “You never got dessert yesterday.”
“I thought I did,” I reply, thinking of the way she looked on top of me.
She blushes. “I meant the apple crisp. There’s still lots left. You could come for dinner again.”
“Okay.” It’ll give me something to look forward to during a crappy day at work. “I’ll text you.”
I stop at my condo to shower and change before heading back to the hospital. Ethan’s not in the call room, and I’m thankful I took his car key. At least I don’t have to worry he tried to drive home last night.
On my way to the surgical ward, I send him a text saying we need to talk.
He doesn’t reply immediately, but as soon as I get to the ward, I see him come out of a patient’s room.
He’s not alone; his resident, Dr. Ashley Lau, trails after him, along with a perky young woman who’s probably a med student.
“Luke,” Ethan says with a smile. His eyes are still a little red, but I’d guess he’s sober now. “Thanks so much for helping me out last night. I was just telling Ashley, I’m pretty sure I got the stomach bug she had a few days ago. It was brutal, wasn’t it, Ashley?”
Ashley nods. “Yeah, really rough.”
Ashley’s the resident who was supposed to be on call with me on Monday, but called in sick. For a minute, I wonder if Ethan really did have the flu last night.
“You feeling better?” I ask him.
“Yeah, much. It was one of those twelve hour things.”
No. I’ve heard of the twenty-four hour flu, but not the twelve hour one. There’s no way this was a virus. It’s a pretty good act, but he’s trying too hard.
“We just saw last night’s patient,” Ethan continues. “He’s doing really well. You did good work.”
“Thanks.” I rack my brain for a way to get rid of Ashley and the perky med student. “Ethan, can I get your opinion on a case?”
“Yeah, sure, Luke.” He gestures to Ashley and the med student. “Let’s go to the nursing desk, guys.”
“Privately,” I add quickly. “It’s a VIP patient. We can go to my office.”
“Sure.” Ethan’s clearly irritated, but he must realize I’m not going to back down. “I’ll be back soon, Ashley.”
“Thanks again for covering last night,” he says, as we walk down the hall toward our offices.
“No problem.”
“I’d be happy to return the favor, cover a night for you.”
“Thanks.” That won’t be happening anytime soon, but there’s no point confronting him in the hallway.
When we finally reach my office, I lock the door behind us. There’s only one chair, so we both stay standing.
“You need help, Ethan,” I say simply.
His brow furrows in feigned confusion. “I had the flu, Luke. You know, fever, puking, dehydration? It happens to all of us.”
I pull his car key out of my pocket and watch his eyes widen. He clearly hadn’t realized it was missing.
“You were drunk, Ethan.” I hand him his key. “You have a problem with alcohol, and you need to take a leave of absence—”
“Luke, I had the flu,” he says defensively.
“And Kevin couldn’t hold the camera straight, which made the nausea worse.
But I would have been fine, and Nick shouldn’t have called you.
He was just pissy because he didn’t think we should operate in the first place.
He wanted to ask radiology to put in a drain. ”
I meet his eyes. “Nick was right, Ethan. A drain would have been safer.”
“Fuck you, Luke,” he says angrily.
“Ethan. Can you look me in the eye and tell me you weren’t drinking yesterday?”
“Okay, you’re right,” he admits, like a negotiator who’s willing to concede a minor point. “I’ve been drinking too much. I met with my lawyer yesterday about the lawsuit, and it threw me. But last night was a wake-up call, and it won’t happen again.”
I wish I could believe it. “Ethan, you need professional help. Rehab, and something like AA—”
“I’m not an alcoholic, Luke!” he exclaims in disgust.
I take a deep breath. “Ethan, everyone in the OR last night knew there was a problem. Drew’s going to hear about it—”
“You gonna tell him, Luke?” He takes a step toward me, bringing his face within inches of mine. “You gonna report me?”
“Drew’s going to hear about it,” I repeat, trying to keep my voice even. “And it’ll look better if he hears it from you. I can come with you, if you want.”
“Oh, sure,” he says sarcastically. “You can come with me, and while we’re there, you can confess that you’re fucking a patient’s mom.”
It comes out of nowhere, and it hits me like a punch to the gut. “What did you say?”
“We can talk to Drew together,” Ethan says.
“I’ll tell him about last night, and you can tell him all about your little affair with your patient’s mother.
You told me about her, remember? I think you even said you were gonna stay away, so you wouldn’t risk your medical license, but I guess you couldn’t resist, huh? ”
“Ethan—”
“I saw you two having brunch on the weekend,” he continues. “Looking pretty loved up. You’re fucking her, right?”
A heavy silence falls, and I take a deep breath to try to keep hold of my temper.
“What, you gonna hit me now?” Ethan taunts, and I realize my right hand is balled in a fist. “We can talk to Drew about that, too. We’ll get you some professional help for anger management.”
With a superhuman effort, I relax my hand. Step back from Ethan and move behind my desk, putting a physical barrier between us.
“You’re fucking her, right?” he asks again.
“I’m in love with her, Ethan!” The words explode out of me. “And I’m not treating her kid anymore, so it’s not an ethical violation.”
“Well, that’s great,” Ethan says sarcastically. “You can tell Drew all about it. He’s going to hear about it anyway, and it’ll look better if he hears it from you first. He’s probably obligated to report you to the Medical Board, but with a body like that, maybe she’s worth losing your license.”
My right hand twitches again, and I’m glad my desk is between us. I try to remind myself that this isn’t really Ethan; this is the addiction talking. I remember the way he came to the rescue when Melissa’s daughter had anaphylaxis.
“Get out,” I say through gritted teeth.
He unlocks my office door and leaves without another word.
I collapse into my chair, wondering what the hell I’m going to do. There was no mistaking his threat; if I go to Drew with what happened last night, Ethan will report my relationship with Melissa.
And the truth is, I don’t know what the Medical Board would think about it. They’d probably want to interview Melissa about the relationship, and I’d hate for her to have to go through that.
But I don’t see the alternative.
I pick up my phone and text Drew Malone.