Flatline (Med Rom Series) Read online

  “Maybe.”

  Leo starts kissing my neck while I continue to stir the eggs. I giggle. His hands move from my waist to cupping my sex. I take a deep breath before turning to face him. We stare into each other’s eyes. It was a different kind of stare, it was a stare that made you think, is there more to us than sex?

  Leo moves his hand to my face, smoothing my cheek with affection of only admiration. “You know how beautiful you are?” I was left speechless. He again saying I am beautiful made me unsteady and flustered.

  He continues to look at me. His emerald eyes, now a darker shade of green, were filled with desire and something more than lust. I don’t want to say it. His eyes showing me he is feeling more and possibly wanting more. Am I able to give him more?

  I am trying my hardest not to fall and end up losing myself. I need to keep this casual. The point of our relationship was to avoid the emotional seesaw of love. Why am I starting to feel we are heading toward more?

  Completely ignoring the eggs cooking on the burner, Leo picks me up and I wrap my long legs around him. He sets my alert body on the cold, granite counter top. His hands move along my tight tank top, rubbing my clothed breasts. He leans into me, pressing his smooth lips onto mine. My tongue creeps its way into his mouth, taking our kiss to a whole new level of intimacy. No rough and rowdy but sensual and lustrous. He pulls back from interlacing his tongue with mine, moving his mouth down the dip of my neck. After each kiss, he nibbles, sending an electrical current to my nerves. Before reaching my breasts, he slowly pulls my tank top over my head, allowing my girls to be free for him. His hands start to caress my breasts leaving my body in anticipation mode. His eyes glistens while he focuses his attention on me. Leo’s hand glides down my stomach until it reaches my pajama shorts. Still gazing at me, his fingers make their way into my undies, then slipping two fingers into my sex. I moan. He starts to kiss my neck, then progresses down to my breasts. I watch as he tenderly sucks each one of my nipples, with his fingers digging in deep.

  Anticipation was brewing within me, I want him, I need him. My hands forcibly push down his boxer briefs, exposing his massive cock. He removes his fingers from my sex. “Damn, you’re wet. I should have no problem sliding right in.”

  Leo grabs the ends of my underwear and pajama shorts, slowly removing them from my body. I scoot closer to the edge of the counter top as he brings his cock near me. One last time before he enters to me, Leo looks at me. “You’re simply amazing.”

  His enters me, causing that electrical current to shoot right through me again. His cock shoves back deep in me. Our hips becoming bone on bone with each movement. Realization sets in, we are fucking on the counter top in the kitchen causing more excitement. We start to thrust harder and harder. It was as if we became two eager teenagers having sex for the first time. My climax starts to build, ready to soar. My legs grip harder around his waist. Goosebumps were starting to form on his skin. He was close too.

  His speed picks up, our stomachs slap each other, my body starts to fall apart around him. I scream, “Oh my God, Leo. I’m coming. Holy shit, I am coming.”

  Leo moans, “Paige.” His rhythm starts to slow down until he completely stops. Soft kisses caress the dip of my neck once again. It was amazing, he was amazing. We deserve a round of applause.

  Leo looks at me again. His eyes are a lighter shade of green, almost grass-like. He smiles, “God, you feel good. I wish we got rid of the condom a lot sooner.”

  “Really, Leo? You would say that right after sex?”

  “That was fucking at its finest.”

  Looking at the eggs. “I think I burned the eggs.”

  He laughs, “Probably should turn the burner off.”

  “You need to get out of me first.”

  As he was exiting me, we heard the door shut.

  Who the fuck?

  A faint female voice, shouts, “Paige honey, your mother is here.”

  What the hell?

  I push Leo away from me, grab my underwear and tank, and put them back on. Leo looking at me confused, he quickly put his boxers back on.

  My mom again. “Paige honey. Is something burning?”

  I look at Leo. “You need to go.”

  “What?”

  “I mean, my mom is here and well…”

  “You ashamed to have me here.”

  “She doesn’t know about you.” I pause, “Shit, I had no clue she was coming.”

  Trying my hardest not to look like I was just fucking my whatever you now call it in the kitchen, I take the eggs off the burner. Leo was adjusting himself and his boxers looking like he had absolutely no clue what to do.

  My mom walks into the kitchen to see both Leo and me standing, looking flabbergasted. Trying to distract her from the weirdness, I say, “Hi, mom!”

  Looking at Leo, then at me. She laughs, “Well, I know that look. You two were fucking as I was walking in.”

  “Mom!”

  “What? Been there, done that. Just didn’t get caught.”

  Leo chuckles.

  “Mom!”

  My mom reaches out her hand to Leo. “Hi! Since my daughter is too embarrassed to introduce us, I’m Persephone Dawson.”

  Leo shakes my mom’s hand. “Hello Mrs. Dawson, I’m Dr., I mean Leo Davis.”

  “A doctor? Interesting. Well, anyway, you can call me Percy. None of that Mrs. Dawson crap. My mother-in-law was Mrs. Dawson.”

  “Nice to meet you, Percy.” Leo looks at me. “Paige, I’m going to get dressed and head out. I know you would like to spend some time with your mother.”

  Relieved and grateful, I was uneasy about him being here while my mother was present. “Okay, Leo. I’m sorry about breakfast. Maybe another time?”

  He grins, “It is the thought that counts, right?”

  Rolling my eyes at him. “Yes!”

  ***

  Before Leo left my apartment he came into the kitchen, where I was remaking breakfast but this time for my mother and me. My mother was sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the paper. Looking cute as hell in his blue scrub bottoms and white undershirt, he leans into me to give me a kiss on my cheek. He says, “I will give you a buzz later in the week.”

  Looking up at him, I say, “Okay!”

  As he walks out of the kitchen, he looks at my mother. “Percy, it was nice to meet you.”

  My mom’s eyebrows raise in attention. “Back at you, doctor.” Her voice snarky.

  Leo stops and gives me a curious look. I’m completely disgusted and mortified. Why is my mother treating him like that? Is he not good enough for me? Last I checked, he fits all the credentials my father would have wanted in a man for his daughter.

  After Leo left, I look at my mother and say, “What the hell, mom?”

  Setting the newspaper down, giving me a “you should know what is up” look, she chooses not to speak.

  “Don’t look at me like that. What is your problem?”

  “Wow, Paige. Is that any way for you to talk to your mother?”

  “When have we ever been formal with each other? Explain to me why you are dismissing Leo without giving him a chance?”

  “Because he is not Jake.”

  Before I lose my shit, I stop and take a deep breath. I can’t believe my mother still thinks I need to be with Jake despite what he did to me. Oh perfect Jake, who could do no wrong in their eyes. She has no fucking clue what an ass he is and how he doesn’t deserve me. I speak, “Mom, I understand he is no Jake, but you need to move on, I have.”

  “Have you?”

  “For real, mom? How can I put this so you can understand? I literately just fucked somebody in the kitchen before you arrived.”

  “Somebody and fucking? Interesting, Paige.”

  Throwing my hands up it the air in frustration, I am beside myself. “I’m done here.”

  My mom still sitting at the table with her arms folded across her chest. “Oh honey, we are not done here. This somebody that you are fuc
king before I showed up. Who is he? Oh yeah, he is some doctor you’re screwing around with. For what?”

  “What the hell are you saying?”

  “I’m calling it as I see it. You two are just fucking, nothing more than that.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Honey, I do too. You referred to him as somebody and not by name.”

  “Whatever, mother. Why are you here?”

  “Oh, changing the subject now. I’m here to see your sister and the baby.”

  “You know the baby has a name. Or are you too busy to know that.”

  “Paige Marie, that was uncalled for.”

  “Just like you showing up announced. Does Margo know you are coming?”

  “No, not yet. I was hoping you will call her to tell her I’m here.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “Paige! I put a pause on my trip to fly out to see your sister and you, the least you can do is call your sister and tell her that I’m here.”

  Shaking my head, I have had enough of my mother. She shows up without telling either one of us she is coming. Granted, I should know better, this is very typical of my mother.

  Before I could say anything, my mother comments, “I know you are upset with me. I’m sorry for not calling. I just want you to know, I love you so very much and I think you deserve more than just someone to screw around with. You deserve what your father and I had. I just want the best for you. I’m sorry.”

  And just like that, with tears forming in my eyes, my mother pulls me back in. I smile at my mother. “I love you too, mom.”

  “Come here and give me a hug. I have really missed you.”

  I walk from inside the kitchen and toward my mother at the kitchen table. She stands up with open arms, we hug.

  My mother making her wonderful appearance unannounced did not sit well with my sister at all. Margo was beyond livid with her. I know it is hard for Margo dealing with an absent mother/grandmother. Margo wants her daughter to have more than one grandmother. She wants her daughter to grow up saying, “Wow, that is my grandmother,” instead of “Where is grandmother?” We never know where my mother is going next. She comes in like a thunderstorm, high winds of emotion, shaking and rattling feelings of emptiness, and then ending with a downpour of tears.

  The storm only lasted a few days. We had dinner with Margo that night, visited my father’s gravestone Sunday after church, and Monday, she flew off to New York for a book signing. I hate it when she leaves. The reality of her departure is all too familiar. This is her pattern. Maybe, one day, my mom will come to the realization that her family needs her and she needs us. Is she truly happy living life like this? Granted, she has been living her life as an explorer for six years. By now, she has to have seen everything she wanted to see. One of these days, she will come home to her family.

  Who am I kidding?

  Chapter 13

  This has been the week from hell. Literally. Just call me the angel of death. It is only Wednesday and I have had three patients pass. On top of that, I have two more patients on Comfort Cares aka ready to pass. Yes, death is not a rare occurrence in the trauma ICU unit but does it mean I like it? No! Seeing the devastated families, day in and day out, can be quite daunting.

  My phone buzzes in my lab jacket. I grab it out to notice a new text message. A smile appears on my face, it was Leo.

  Vibration buzzes against my hip. I reach into my lab jacket and pull out my phone. One new text message.

  Leo: Hey! What are you doing tonight?

  Paige:Dinner with my sister.

  Leo:That is too bad.

  Paige:Sorry.

  Leo:Dinner tomorrow night at my place?

  Paige:Just dinner?

  Leo:You know it will be more than just dinner.

  Paige:Okay. No work?

  Leo:Working days.

  Paige:And you haven’t harassed me yet?

  Leo:Busy.

  Paige:Well okay. See you tomorrow.

  I put my phone back into my pocket and went back to charting.

  Tomorrow night should be interesting. He says dinner but really does he mean sex on the table? The boy has no problem experimenting with new places to have me. It is like he thrives on taking me wherever his and my heart pleases. And I enjoy every minute of it. This is what I enjoy about Leo, he is up for whatever. But there is one thing about Leo that is starting to bug me. It isn’t an annoyance, per se, but more of a concern. He is slowly making his way into my heart. That same heart that does not want anybody to jump start it back to life. No freaking clue how I am going to handle this.

  ***

  Dinner last night with my sister was a disaster. Margo was moody, Kinley was crying and Bryan was completely dazed. Margo was still upset with our mother showing up and not telling her. Then she was mad at me for housing our mother when she should’ve gotten a hotel. Then Margo went on rant about my love life. She lectured me on how what I am doing with Leo is not good for my health. “No self-respecting woman would subject herself to being someone’s toy. It isn’t right that he can have you whenever he pleases. Paige, do you not value yourself more than sex?”

  Numerous times, I tried explaining to her that this is what I wanted, no strings attached sex. She wasn’t buying it at all. I just don’t understand why if a woman just wants to be in a sexual relationship, she is considered to have low self-esteem. And every time I hear, Paige, you deserve so much more than this or Paige, we want you to have what we have, I want to inject a needle into my carotid artery and hope to bleed out. I just wish they would let me live my own life and pray I am happy. Unfortunately, they all know me way too well.

  The next day at work is quite the eventful day. Numerous Code Blues resulting in death or stat intubations. The grim reaper is making an appearance in the bleak hallways of the third floor at University Hospital. Death was in the air and it was quite exhausting for all involved.

  The only thing keeping me from losing my mind was the thought of seeing Leo tonight. Yeah, yeah, I am actually beyond thrilled to see him. I am really curious to see what he has up his sleeve for dinner. Me or actual food?

  ***

  Here’s to another busy day and not leaving until well past 7 p.m. Thank goodness I received a text from Leo stating the Emergency Department is just as insane and he is leaving late too. This gives me plenty of time to rush home, freshen myself up from smelling like hospital and hoping to maybe look somewhat not business but relaxed. Who am I kidding? I earned the title of human slayer with the majority of my patients dying. It is kind of a cause in effect. Consult nutrition, they die the next day. Them dying really has nothing to do with their nutrition. I recall Del joking to the attendee not to consult nutrition with any of the new patients, unless they wanted them to have a death sentence. It was freaking fantastic. It is Thursday and I have had eight patients pass away on me. This is an all-time record for me. It sucks having weeks like this. The only positive thing about this situation is that I didn’t know them too well. It makes the loss not as hard. All their chances of survival were quite slim.

  Sometimes when the patients have been in the unit for more than a week, you tend to build a rapport with the family or even the patient. Conversations became more than just nutrition. It was more like how are things going today? What did the doctor say? I know the answer to these questions but the families like it when you take time to get to know the patient and the family.

  A few weeks ago, one of my patients I had the pleasure of getting to know was a Vietnam War survivor. When I say survivor, he was on the battle fields of destruction. He was quite amusing. This war hero had quadruple bypass heart surgery and he would joke that the surgery was nothing compared to the Battle of Khe Sanh. When asked what he meant by that, he replied, “When you are under constant artillery bombardment for months on end, eight hours is nothing.” I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about, so I googled it. Then I had a clear understanding of what he meant. Bloodshed, loss of
brothers, and the uncertainty if you were going to see another day.

  He was unique. Normally, we don’t get heart patients in our unit but this time we did. He spent eight days in our unit, four of those days he spent on the ventilator due to complications. But once he was extubated, the unit became a better place because of him. I looked forward to the times I got to sit down and chat with him. We would talk nutrition for roughly ten minutes, usually him telling me the hospital food is horrible and the supplements I made him drink tasted like chalk and metallic. But he would drink them for me because he knew it was important for his healing process.

  I remember, one day, walking into his hospital room filled with red, white and blue carnations and an American flag hanging below the television. Danny was wearing his dark blue Vietnam Vet hat. His room always brought on the sensation of being proud to be an American. When I strolled into his room, he looked up at me and said, “Paige!” Then he looked directly at his wife. “Helen, look, my favorite dietarian is here.” He never called me by my title which was fine. It was comical. He thought it was hilarious to combine a word I hate, “dietary” with dietitian. Hence, where dietarian came from. I don’t know what is worse, being called a nutritionist or dietarian. I cringe at both. But with Danny, I didn’t care so much. He was harmless.

  Every day I visited with him, he would tell me stories. They were mostly about his children, his grandchildren and his friends. But this one story just stuck with me. I remember him talking about his R and R in Sydney. He said, “Paige, I need a place to relax outside of this stinkin’ hospital room. Nurses are always bugging me and checking on me. Then these stupid machines beeping when I am sleeping. I need another R and R.”

  “R and R?”

  “Sweetie, rest and relaxation, a vacation away from stress.”