Love On Call

Mari laughed. “Exactly. You know, the stuff you ingest when you wake up in the morning. In addition to that excellent coffee that…actually, did you have any this morning without my personal delivery?”

Glenn winced. “I’m sorry to report I had hospital coffee this morning. Not bad, but no comparison.”

“Why?” Mari frowned, sorting through her memories of the on-call schedule. “Wasn’t Adams on last night with…Baker, wasn’t it?”

“Uh, as a matter of fact, yes,” Glenn hedged. “Adams was on last night. Baker too.”

When Glenn shifted a little uneasily on the railing, an unusual action for her, Mari took note. Glenn never appeared uneasy, but Mari had an idea she knew why. “And…are we getting to the part where you were there too?”

Busted. Glenn sighed. “I might have stopped over for a quick check on the student and…then one thing or another happened.”

Mari nodded. “Friday night. It was busy?”

“Pretty steady,” Glenn said, relieved that Mari didn’t seem aggravated that she’d gone back to the hospital and wasn’t going to take her to task for it. Nice to not have to defend herself. “I was helping Baker with a knee tap on a young guy with a traumatic synovitis and one thing led to another and by the time it got quiet it was after three. Didn’t see much point in leaving then.”

“Probably not.”

Glenn didn’t add there was hardly any point, really, in her leaving the hospital much after sundown, just to go back to her apartment and read until she was tired enough to sleep. She could do that in the on-call room and frequently did.

“Did you get a run in this morning?”

Surprised that Mari seemed to know her habits so well so quickly, and even more surprised that she liked it, Glenn nodded again. “Just after sunup. Getting too damn hot to run later in the day.”

“Obviously, you have forgotten your Texas roots,” Mari said, knocking shoulders lightly. “Isn’t it hot there all the time, regardless of whether the sun is shining or not?”

Glenn grinned. For the first time in a long time, mention of her past and the home she had steadfastly put out of her mind didn’t bother her. “Your eyeballs burn even at midnight.”

“See there? This weather shouldn’t bother you at all.”

“Definitely not the desert, I’ll give you that.” Glenn looked away. She hadn’t meant to bring that up. Uncomfortable that the past simmered so near the surface all of a sudden.

“Not nearly as bad as that, I imagine,” Mari said quietly, dropping her hand onto Glenn’s knee for just an instant, an innocent gesture of comfort that exploded in the pit of Glenn’s stomach with the force of a grenade. Her spine burned all the way up to the base of her neck, but the shock was pleasure, not pain. “You’re right. This is nothing like there.”

“I know, and I’m glad.” Mari tapped a finger on Glenn’s knee. “So, blueberry or cinnamon?”

“Sorry?” Glenn murmured, entranced by the pulse of energy traveling up her leg every time Mari touched her.

“Blueberry muffin or cinnamon roll?”

“Lila’s?” Glenn dragged her gaze away from Mari’s hand, barely grazing her leg now. Why could she still feel it so strongly? She had to stop looking. If she didn’t, in another second she was going to cover Mari’s hand with hers and press Mari’s fingers harder against her thigh. Pull Mari a little closer.

“Mm-hmm.” Mari’s soft voice slipped over Glenn’s skin, fraying the threads of her sanity.

“Any chance of both?” Glenn whispered.

Mari laughed, fingertips trailing lightly over Glenn’s denim-clad thigh for just an instant. “Not with those two in there raiding the kitchen, but I’ll see what I can salvage.”

“I can wait until later to eat,” Glenn blurted. Just don’t move. Just…stay.

“I’m sure you can, but you’re not going to. Just in case, let me get you something to hold you over.” Mari smiled. “Be right back.”

“Be careful.” Glenn’s voice had a faraway ring, as if she were speaking down a long tunnel. As if she had drifted somewhere else.

Mari paused, waiting for the time slip to pass. Waiting to be sure Glenn was completely with her. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Glenn shuddered lightly, as if emerging from a half dream. “I’ll be right here.”

“Good.” Mari left Glenn still perched on the railing, enjoying taking care of her more than she’d imagined. Of course, Glenn had been looking after her pretty much since they’d met, so returning the favor was only natural. And driving the haunted mists from Glenn’s eyes gave her a bone-deep satisfaction she’d never encountered before. She pushed through the screen door, suddenly eager to get back to her.

Blake and Margie perched on stools at the big wooden center island with glasses of milk and guilty expressions.

Mari said, “Did you two leave anything besides crumbs?”

They froze like deer in headlights, each glancing at the other as if for rescue.

“Um…” Margie mumbled.

“I think there’s a couple left.” Blake glanced at the snowy white towel covering the wicker basket on the side counter anxiously. “Maybe.”