Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Clementine
The next morning, I scan the rows of donuts in their glass cases, behind the counter.
“Two more,” says the bored teenager, snapping a pair of metal tongs together.
“How about those... round ones with the icing and the bits of stuff on top?” I say, pointing.
She looks.
“Those are maple walnut,” she says, like I should really know that already.
“I’ll take them,” I say, because I don’t really care what they are. I’ve already got the single old-fashioned donut I’m interested in eating, and the rest are a “please like me, and sorry for sneaking in last night” offering.
“Twelve-oh-nine,” she says. I hand her a twenty, she gives me change, and then I head back to the Forest Service vehicle in the parking lot.
It’s a beautiful, sunny day, and even though smoke still hangs in the air, it doesn’t feel nearly as dire as it has the past few days.
Even better, I actually took a shower and put on clean clothes this morning, so for the first time in a couple of days I’m not wearing my dirty forest ranger uniform.
I’m wearing Jane’s clothes, actually. I might have borrowed them while she was in the shower and then left a gushing note on her table about how she’s the world’s greatest sister. She might be annoyed with me right now.
Life’s just full of possibilities. I drive to the hospital and get there at five ’til eight, fully determined to stare down some nurses until they let me see Hunter.
When you walk through a hospital with a large box of donuts, heads turn. People watch you.
Perfect, I think, hitting the fourth floor button in the elevator. Operation ‘please like me’ is already going great. Sure, Hunter has one of those charming personalities that wins people over in minutes, but I’ve got donuts.
I push through the double doors to his wing, expecting the nurses to be crowded around their station, but there’s only one woman there, and she looks up at me through half-moon reading glasses. I smile at her anyway and put the box on the counter, opening it.
“Who are you here to see?” she asks, her expression not changing.
“Hunter Casden,” I say. “And I brought donuts for all the nurses, as a thank you for working so hard...”
It seems like there should be more to say, but I can’t think of it.
She looks at me. She looks at the box.
“Where are they from?” she asks.
Come the fuck on, they’re donuts, I think.
“Aunt Mae’s,” I say, trying to keep up the forced cheer. “I’d never bring you donuts from anywhere else.”
She considers this for a moment, then stands, slowly, her hands on the desk, and peers into the open box. I swear she’s examining the donuts like she’s a jeweler and they’re cut diamonds.
“Ooh, maple nut,” she says at last. “My favorite. No one ever brings these.”
The nurse grabs one and finally cracks a smile.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” she says. “Hunter’s in his room.”
Practically on cue, I hear a burst of female laughter come from his door. The nurse and I share a look.
“I hope you’re his sister, because otherwise you’re not gonna be too popular around here,” she says. “I’ve never seen a group of women so interested in checking a patient’s vitals.”
I look down at the box.
“Well, that’s why I brought these,” I say.
“Good thinking,” she says, and takes a bite of hers.
I swallow, smile, and walk into Hunter’s room with the box of donuts.
“Hi,” I say.
Three women in scrubs and Hunter all turn toward me. They’re standing and he’s sitting up on the bed. When he sees me, he smiles, and the nurses all pause for a moment.
I hold up the box, almost like a shield.
“Donuts?” I ask.
The nurses swarm me, ooh-ing, and I lift the lid off the box. Behind them, Hunter swings his legs off the bed and stands, a little more slowly than normal.
“Guys, this is Clementine,” he says, walking toward me a little gingerly.
All three nurses stop and look at me, donuts in hand. They’re clearly not thrilled, but the one on the right, wearing floral scrubs, manages to smile first.
“We’ve been hearing all about you,” she says.
“We heard Monica kicked you out last night,” says the one wearing green scrubs.
The final one, wearing pink scrubs, laughs. She looks like she’s in her forties, smile lines around her eyes.
“Damn, I was hoping you were his sister,” she says.
Hunter skirts around them, wearing an under shirt and pajama pants, and puts a hand on my hip. Then he leans down and kisses me.
It’s a slightly longer kiss than it needs to be.
“Donut?” I ask.
He takes one and I set the box down on the bed, grabbing the last old-fashioned for myself. Hunter puts his arm around me as we lean against the sink.
“How’s he doing?” I ask the nurses.
“I’m right here,” Hunter says.
“Yeah, but you’ll just tell me you’re fine,” I tease. “I want the truth.”
“That is the truth,” he says, taking a bite of donut. “C’mon, Clem, I’m practically good as new.”
“His lungs are damaged, and it’s hard to tell how much,” says Pink Scrubs.
“I inhaled some smoke,” Hunter admits, taking another bite.
“He inhaled some very hot smoke,” Pink Scrubs says.
“They’re doing a CT scan on me today because I haven’t impressed the doctor,” he says. “They might want to keep me another night.”
Shit. I was secretly hoping I’d get to... well, not take him home to Lodgepole, but at least take him out of here.
“We just can’t get enough of him,” says Floral Scrubs.
I laugh, even though it’s not that funny.
A few minutes later, Pink Scrubs more or less herds the other two nurses out of Hunter’s room, waving to him.
The second they’re gone, he moves around in front of me, his hands on my hips.
“I thought they were never gonna leave,” he murmurs.
“Maybe I should call in sick so I can stay here and make sure none of the nurses are putting the moves on you,” I tease.
“They are definitely putting the moves on me,” he says. “It’s only eight in the morning and I’m half-expecting one of them to come in here salaciously sucking on a popsicle.”
I laugh, and I let my hands alight on his shoulders, because I’m not quite sure where he’s burned. He still smells like smoke and fire, the scent probably imprinted on his skin, and he leans down and kisses me slowly, his hips pressing mine into the sink behind me.
Desire unfurls through me like a ribbon uncoiling, and before I know it I’ve got both hands in his hair, pressing his face to mine. Hunter lifts me up onto the edge of the sink and I arch my back as he presses between my legs.
He pulls back for a moment, and I realize he’s breathing hard, harder than normal.
“You okay?” I whisper.
Hunter puts one hand on my jaw and runs his thumb along the edge of my bottom lip, smiling at me like we’ve got a secret.
“Yeah,” he says.
I know for a fact that I can’t have him right now, in his hospital room, while the staff is doing morning rounds, but holy shit do I want him.
I’m desperately relieved that he’s fine, but no matter how much we kiss or hold hands I can feel the wild, primal urge to really get close to him, to get him inside me, like that’s what will prove once and for all that he’s really here and really okay.
He’s still running his thumb along my lip, and without thinking I suck it into my mouth to the first knuckle and run my tongue along the salty pad, looking up into his deep blue eyes.
Hunter growls, his other hand grabbing my ass even harder, and he presses his hips against me, his cock a hard steel rod.
“You’re beautiful and I want to fuck you right here on this sink,” he whispers.
There’s a knock on the door, and before either of us can say anything, a woman breezes into the room, looking down at a clipboard.
“Good morning, Mr. Casden,” she says.
I spit out his thumb as she looks up at us, but there’s no way I can pretend we were doing anything but making out on the counter. For a moment, the three of us just stare at each other.
“I’ll give you a moment,” she says, her tone surprisingly professional.
“Thanks,” Hunter and I chorus.
She walks back out, and we just start laughing.
“Maybe that’ll keep the nurses off me,” Hunter says.
“That was my plan all along,” I tease.
I kiss him again quickly, then hop off the counter, adjusting Jane’s jeans. Hunter reaches into his pajama pants and rearranges his dick, making a face.
“I’ll see you tonight, Casanova,” I say, and give him one more kiss.
“I can’t help it if everybody wants me,” he says.
Then he smacks my ass as I leave.
The doctor is standing right outside the door. I nod at her quickly, pretty sure she’s laughing.
“Thanks!” I say.
“Not a problem,” she says. She’s young, maybe in her thirties, and looks Southeast Asian. “Don’t worry, it happens more than you’d think.”
“Sorry,” I say.
She laughs again, and I head to the elevators, then out of the hospital.