6. Just A Little Further
Chapter six
Just A Little Further
Drake
I drag a hand down my face as I finish filling out another prescription, ready to bring to the pharmacy.
Ed and Stan are right about one thing: I need to start doing something differently with my life if I want things to change.
Maybe not about my dating track record, but if this job is not something I want to do anymore, then I should probably retire or consider working in a different department.
My eyes burn with exhaustion as I rip the paper off the pad and shove it into my pocket. Maybe I should go home and get some rest. Everyone’s been telling me that all day. So why am I still here?
I just have to drop this off first.
I walk through the front lobby to get to the pharmacy when I see none other than Maria Bailey strolling back in through the doors, more tears streaming down her face.
Shit. I thought she would be better by now.
We lock eyes for a split second and she slows to a crawl. She’s recognized me and that’s left me with nowhere to go. Pretending as if I don’t know her will only hurt her feelings more, and I’m not sure what I can achieve going over there.
But going I am, my feet leading me before I can stop myself. She smears the tears from her face and watches my approach instead of going about her business.
“Hi, Miss Bailey. No luck with the front desk, I take it?”
“How did...”
“I figured out you’d go there and ask about arrangements. Unfortunately, there are rules here in the hospital for this kind of stuff that we can’t really break. For legal reasons.”
“I understand. It’s just...” She sniffs and dabs at her nose with the back of her hand. “I heard when it happened. The accident. I want to know how bad it was.”
The image of Benjamin’s face flashes into my mind, how bruised and broken he’d looked. Do I tell her or do I keep it to myself? Will telling her actually make her feel better or will I only make it worse?
My gut takes over for my brain.
“I was there. When they brought him in.”
Shock washes over her face.
“I was the one who treated him. It...” Didn’t look as bad as it really was? I had no way of knowing he’d bleed out so quickly? I have no idea how to finish this sentence.
“It was difficult but I did everything I could. I promise you that. Who... who was he to you?”
Maria feverishly chews on her lip before looking away. My first thought is that she’s his secret mistress.
“Boyfriend,” she finally blurts out after what seems like an internal struggle of some kind. “We weren’t exactly public about it.”
“Ah, I see. We don’t judge here, but we do follow the rules. Uh, once a member of his family does come by, we can see what kind of arrangements can be made with them for you to... see him.”
“I don’t... I don’t even know his family. I know he has a son. Oliver, I think his name is. But he doesn’t know about me either and I’d...” She buries her face in her hands again. I get the feeling this is too much for her to think about right now.
“I’m sorry. My hands are tied with this kind of thing. Would you like me to get you some water? Tea? Coffee? I can try and steal a large slice of chocolate cake from the cafeteria?”
That seems to break her, and she finally smiles for the first time, though fresh tears do slip free.
“It’s hard to say no to cake,” she mutters as she wipes her face with a tissue.
“I don’t know, you’ve never had this cake. I swear cardboard tastes better than this.”
“I’ll take a piece anyway. It’s not like today can get any worse, right?” She looks up at me with reddened eyes and my heart drops into the pit of my stomach.
I wish I could just take her pain away.
“One slice of chocolate cake coming right up.”
It doesn’t take me long to dart to the cafeteria and return with said piece of cake, though the top layer has slid right off and now sits on the plate, the frosting smudged and exposing the dry cake underneath.
Well, if she really wants it...
“As the lady requested.”
Despite the sad sight of the dessert, Maria takes it anyway with a smile and prepares to dive in... only I’ve forgotten to grab a fork.
“Darnit...”
“I can just eat it with my hands. It’s fine.” She swipes her finger through the icing and pops it into her mouth.
“Okay, not the best but I wouldn’t call it cardboard either.” She breaks off a piece and eats that too. She cringes slightly and smacks her lips together. “It’s so dry.”
“Like I said. If I can be frank, you’re looking a lot better. But if you really feel like you need to talk to someone, we have a therapist in the hospital for occasions like this. You won’t even get charged.”
She tilts her head to one side, likely contemplating my offer.
“Do they take walk-ins?”
“Absolutely. Here. Let’s just step inside one of these rooms for a second so I can write down the information for you.”
“I may have overstepped my boundaries earlier when I hugged you. I should have asked first.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to apologize for that. It was nice! I appreciated it. In fact...” Maria holds her arms out in invitation. “I’m ready for an encore.”
Hearing the playful tone in her voice gives me hope that she’s going to do just fine.
“Whatever makes the madam happy.” I chuckle under my breath and pull her close. I try not to let Stanley’s lecture in the back of my mind sour the moment.
This feels nice. I know that we can’t stay like this forever but I don’t want it to end. Let her end it first.
But when she doesn’t, I start getting a little confused as to where this is going.
“You... you smell so nice,” she whispers against my shoulder. She shifts so that I feel her inhale against the skin of my neck.
Something stirs in the base of my spine and shoots down the backs of my knees.
“Just like him...”
I feel a circle of warmth on my neck and hear the telltale sound of a kiss against my skin.
Everything within me goes rigid as I try to make sense of what’s happening right now.
My gut is telling me one thing, while my brain refuses to believe it.
The tingling sensation down my spine is telling me differently.
Maria steps away, but not very far, our faces mere inches from each other. Her warm breath washes over my chin and I can’t help but glance at her lips. So close.
Stan and Ed’s words echo in my head.
She’s the first to take the initiative, and who am I to disagree with her?
Her kiss is soft at first, a testing of the waters, but the longer it remains, the more passionate it becomes.
Her need for someone solid nearby, to feel as if she can hold onto them so that she won’t slip and fall...
I can feel that desperation in her kiss. She wants to lose herself in this.
“This isn’t... I don’t usually...” Her fingers pry at the buttons of my shirt, slipping each one out before working on the next. The heat in this room is starting to become unbearable anyway...
“We don’t judge here,” I say before I have time to think about it, watching as her fingers continue to dance down the middle of my chest. I honestly don’t know how far she’s going to go.
Her warm hands tuck themselves in the waistband of my trousers when she’s done, leaving me in the white tank top I wear under my shirt. The tips of her fingers tickle at my lower back, just above my butt. Her hooded eyes are dark and rife with yearning. Or at least trying to lose herself in it.
Isn’t this exactly what I’ve been wanting all day?
I cup her face and press a tender kiss to her mouth, my own hands venturing to the waistline of her dress and inching the hem up higher and higher with each new tug of the fabric.
A small gasp against my mouth stokes my pride and I continue further until I feel the warmth of her thigh beneath my fingers.
Up and up they trail until they graze the thin fabric of her underwear, practically daring me to yank them free and help myself to the treasure just beneath.
Not here. Not now. That would...!
All thoughts leave my head when she steals my head start, her left hand circling my waistband until it's flush against my stomach, her touch teasing at my treasure trail, slowly creeping its way lower to my prize waiting for her.
Goddammit.
I pick her up easily and spin around to place her on the table tucked in the corner of the room, her thighs already naturally spreading for my entry. A pastel yellow peeks out from beneath her summer dress and I press the flat of my palm against her mound.
It wouldn’t take much, would it?
She drags me closer and starts undoing the buckle of my belt, her lips finding mine once more in a feverish kiss that bruises my lips. I wince against the pain but make no attempt to stop her. If she needs this to lose herself, to forget about the pain that’s consuming her, then so be it.
“We don’t have to...” I offer a way out. A chance to walk away from this despite the primal urges radiating down my legs. She rejects my offer when she slides herself forward to the edge of the table and wraps her legs around my waist.
“I don’t want to think right now,” she exhales under her breath. Her eyes roam downward and my breath hitches when she lightly grinds herself against my erection. Her heat bathes my member through the fabric, ready and yearning for my entry.
The door behind me clicks open and I hear the entry of heavy footsteps.
Shit.
“This isn’t what it—” I half-expect Ed or Stan to be standing there, gawking at the very scene they warned me not to undertake. Instead, I discover the stranger’s face of a janitor, his stick vac in hand, and headphones on his head.
We all freeze for a second, staring at each other in confusion as to what to do next. He soon mutters a stuttering “sorry” before closing the door.
“I should really get back to work,” I blurt out as I start doing up my pants. The ache beneath hates the sudden confinement but I’m not about to continue this here, not after that interruption. A reminder that I’m not in my own home where I can do whatever I want.
“Sorry. Sorry. Enjoy your cake.”
I dart out of there and close the door behind me without another word from either of us. I can’t bear to look back at her and see whatever expression she’s wearing. That will only make the situation worse.
My nerves carry me all the way to the pharmacy—my earlier task suddenly remembered—and I drag the folded paper out of my pocket.
“15 mg of Codeine?” The pharmacist looks from the paper to my face and back again. “You didn’t say for how long.”
“Sorry about that. Four days’ worth.”
“You also forgot the patient’s name?” Her brow quirks higher and higher with each question.
I snatch the paper from her hands.
“Let me redo this then. Be back in a few minutes.”
I didn’t expect it to be this difficult, but to be fair, I was pretty distracted. As I head back to my office, I can’t help but smile to myself. I can’t be blamed for this one; she initiated it. It’s possible I may have a chance with her.