4. Luke
LUKE
I ’m walking through the back of the clinic on a fucking mission.
I overslept after eating dinner with Jude; Trent stopped by for all of five minutes before Briar called and asked him to pick up ice cream since Kenny forgot it at the grocery store.
The pregnancy brain has officially hit her, and Briar is going to have to learn to remind her mom of a few things here and there.
I came home, worked on the rest of my files, then grabbed a quick shower before passing out on the couch, where I didn’t move until my alarm blared to life in my ear.
I hit the snooze button one too many times, a task that would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that I told Gallo I’d check on his patient.
Asher calling me to tell me his wife was heading to the hospital to see a friend had me flying off the couch, moving as fast as I could through the house.
I got dressed in record time, pissed as fuck that I’d be seeing patients in office so wearing scrubs wouldn’t be an option.
I’m lucky my damn shoes match at this rate.
I put Jag on speaker phone, scrubbed my teeth, ran my fingers through my hair, quickly put on a white long-sleeve button-down shirt and black slacks, slid a belt through the loops, hopped around to put my socks on, and then, last but not least, found my shoes.
I grabbed a tie to fling over my neck before walking back through the house to pick up the rest of my shit to take to the clinic with me.
I never oversleep; I’m the one who runs a tight fucking ship, minus my disaster of an office and keeping up with documenting transcripts. Other than that, I’m not late, not fucking ever, unless it involves a patient.
“Doctor Camden, can I ask you a question?” I have to make a pit stop at my office to off-load the shit in my hands when what Doctor Gallo and I like to call ‘the problem’ is running me down.
“Can this wait, Marissa? I have a patient in the gynecology wing to see to and then my own will be here.” It’s going to suck without Lennie here.
She kept this one in check; she also didn’t let her near me in instances like this.
Marissa has hinted too many times to count that she wouldn’t be opposed to us dating.
“I guess, but this is important, too.” She’s attempting to lure me into a conversation I don’t want.
“Does it relate to anything to do within the office?” I ask, setting my laptop bag on my desk before moving to the corner to grab my white coat.
“Kind of.” My back is still to her. Not a chance in hell would I ever entertain the thought of dating her.
First off, she’s an employee, an okay one at that.
Second, she’s a notorious gossip. Third, she’s been known to instigate drama between the other staff here.
Fourth, her father is on the board at the hospital.
Fifth, I’m not remotely attracted to her.
I could go on and on, but I’ve got more important things to do.
“Then it can wait.” I’m sliding my arms into the sleeves, unable to keep my back to her, since I really do need to see Shaelynn Parker. I avoided her last night while she slept. Thankfully, Ivy never called, and every doctor knows, no news is good news.
“Later, then.” She licks her lips, smiles a saccharine-sweet smile, one that turns my fucking stomach, and finally leaves.
“We’re really going to have to do something about her,” I mutter under my breath.
I move back to my desk, undo the clasp on my bag, pick up my laptop, and head out of the office.
I’ve yet to eat or have coffee. Looks like it’ll be another day of cafeteria food.
Jesus, fuck, I really need Gallo to be here more, and the sad fact is I can’t even begrudge him his time away from the clinic.
But at the rate things are going, with me doing the bulk of the load alone, I’m fading fast.
I love my job, but eating, breathing, and living it is making me detest it. I’m either going to have to talk to Gallo about bringing on another doctor, go on a long-as-fuck vacation, or stop taking new patients. It’ll more than likely end up being a combination of all three.
At least as I walk through the hallways this time, I’m not being stopped.
Most of the early morning employees come in a few minutes early to set up the rooms, work on charts, or restock the supplies.
Gallo and I have no problem with them clocking in a bit early as long as they’re being productive.
I swipe my card at the doors, then do the same thing as last night and work my way to the elevator.
A push of a button, and the doors open right away without having to wait.
It appears something is working in my favor this morning.
I go through the patient’s chart in my head one more time.
I’ll have to see if the pathology report came back, and if it hasn’t, maybe Ivy can call the lab for me to see if they’ll rush it.
I’d prefer Shaelynn Parker to have her results before leaving the hospital.
Sure, she’ll still have a follow-up with Gallo next week, when he could tell her the news.
I also know what the wait can do to a patient, keeping them up, making it harder for them to rest and recover.
The dinging of the elevator notifies me I’ve made it to the third floor. My eyes zero in the nurses’ station. Nobody’s there, which sucks for me, but I still need to read through Gallo’s patient’s chart to see what the overnight staff inputted and look for the report.
“Heya, Doctor Camden,” Lucy greets me.
“Hey, how’s everyone today?” I ask. Ivy is more than likely already off for the day considering she worked overnight and I’m late to discharge Shaelynn Parker.
I’ve got a few of my own patients to work through; most will go home today, some tomorrow, and then I’ll repeat the process again and again.
“All is good. Ivy mentioned Miss Parker did good overnight. The lab results haven’t come back even though she put in a stat order for them.
” It seems Ivy has read my mind. “Your three OB patients are up and moving, getting restless, if you know what I mean.” It’s usually the spouse of the pregnant partner who starts pacing the floors, asking when they’ll be getting out, not considering all the help they get while in the hospital.
“Perfect. I was about to look for her labs. I’ll go see her first, then round out the rest, and you can work on discharging everyone until the next round.
” I close the lid to my laptop and exchange it for the tablet I should have used last night, except Shaelynn was asleep.
I also needed to get away from her, and fast. The thoughts I had and continued to have through the night are not that of a doctor seeing his patient.
I took my fist to my cock in the shower, remembering what she looked like when she was in the room with Lennie. I’d put it out of my mind, assuming it’d been too damn long since I had a semblance of relief.
Last night, holding myself back wasn’t a fucking option.
My dick stayed rock hard. Having a damn hard time walking through the hospital to my car in a pair of paper-thin scrubs meant using my laptop as a shield.
It didn’t matter what I did, thinking about sports, the other patients I’d seen that day, or counting backwards from one hundred.
The minute I made it home, I went straight to my bedroom, slipped off my shoes, and ripped open my fly enough to take my cock in hand.
I couldn’t even make it to the damn shower, using my shoulder to prop myself up against the door frame while looking at my bed and imagining Shaelynn in it.
I didn’t even bother with lube. The amount of precum gathered at the tip was plenty, and more kept coming the harder I worked myself.
I’d envision walking through the door, seeing her naked in my bed, all that dark hair on my pillows, legs spread with her feet planted shoulder-width apart.
It was imagining her fucking her fingers, muttering my name in a whispered breath that sent me over the edge.
I made a mess of myself and the clothes, so I shucked them off and had to clean up before hopping in the shower.
It didn’t help for very long; the need still simmered at the surface.
The first time I fucked my hand only relieved the pressure a fraction of an inch.
The second time, I took my time, slowly built myself up, and my mind ran wild with other creative ways to take her.
Shae sitting on my face, my hands cupping her ass, yanking her down while her thighs were resting against my cheeks.
Then she’d spin around, hover her slick pussy above my lips while working my cock with her mouth.
The truth of the matter is, I could have gone at it again this morning, but I woke up late.
I’m also lying to myself thinking I can pull myself together without getting hard when I walk into her hospital room.
Fuck, my cock is already as hard as steel.
It’s like the damn thing can sense her out any time I’m near.
“Works for me. I’m sure another influx will hit us before the night is over. It’s baby season,” Lucy says with excitement. Between her and Ivy, I’m not sure who loves helping deliver babies more.
“That it will. Good thing I’m not on call tonight, and neither is Doctor Gallo. You’ll have the floaters.” Our hospital keeps two spare doctors on rotation. Without them, I’d be dead meat .
“Oh goodie.” She claps her hands together, rubbing them, most assuredly plotting to get her way.
“Don’t go too hard on them.” I wrap my knuckles on the counter and head to Shae’s room. She’s close to the nurses’ station, a good thing in her case, bad for mine. A few steps later, and I’m at Shae’s door, my hand is up and ready to knock, when I take a moment to compose myself.
“Oh, hi, there, Luke. What are you doing here?” Lennie asks, barreling through it.
“Are you here to check on Shae?” Lyric follows her lead.
“Hi, girls, checking on my patient. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home resting, per your husband’s demands?
” Asher is going above and beyond with his crazy antics with her so close to her due date.
It’s also their first child. He’s naturally worried, whereas Lennie took care of her sister growing up and isn’t nervous at all.
“Don’t remind me. We’re leaving now. See you Sunday.” Lennie gives me a hug, and I place a kiss on her cheek.
“We’re getting food, then I’m dropping her off with Kenny before going to the studio. Try not to worry, Doc,” Lyric teases, then we do the same, a quick hug and kiss on her cheek.
“It’s not me you have to worry about. See you guys,” I reply as I slowly open the door to Shae’s room, leaving it that way since I don’t have a nurse with me.