Love On Call

“Here—let me help.” Glenn rose and took one of the coffees. “I owe you big-time for this.”

“I’ll have to think of some suitable method of repayment,” Mari teased.

Glenn paused, her half-eaten sandwich in her hand. “You do that.”

Mari blushed and pretended to be busy with the sandwich she no longer cared if she ate. Her hunger had suddenly shifted to something far more visceral, and far more dangerous. Glenn looked so damn sexy she ached to touch her.

They sat across from one another, the coffee and sandwiches between them, and ate in silence for a few minutes. The silence felt anything but empty. Mari imagined she could feel the very air crackling between them as if at any moment sparks might burst and jump from her skin to Glenn’s.

“How did you find the night shift?” Glenn asked.

Thankfully, a safe topic. “About what I expected. Eleven o’clock seems to be the witching hour until about one. And then of course, at six it starts all over again. I kind of liked it. I felt really in charge.”

Glenn nodded. “There’s something different about nights. It’s not just the stillness that comes over the hospital, because it’s just as busy, really, but there’s always this sense of anticipation underneath the calm. That anything could come through the door at any minute, and you’re it. It’s all on you.”

“You like that, don’t you? The anticipation. The not knowing what will test you next.”

“You’d think I would’ve learned not to look for that kind of thing, wouldn’t you, but I never lost it. Even when what was coming might kill me, I had that buzz of excitement.”

Mari caught her breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to suggest you enjoyed that kind of danger.”

“It’s okay. I don’t have nightmares about it, at least not when I’m sleeping.”

“But when you’re awake?”

Glenn sighed. “Not even that so much. You don’t have to dream about what you carry around with you. It’s always just there. This itch between your shoulder blades that something’s coming, something you can’t stop, something you might not be able to fix.”

“Are you afraid?”

Glenn’s brows drew down. “No. Maybe angry.” She scoffed. “I’d just like to be able to see what I’m fighting, and that never really happens.”

“Maybe that’s why you like to spend so much time in the emergency room. Because then you know. It’s right there and you can see it.”

“You might be right. But I’m not really sure it matters.”

“No, neither am I. You’ve taken something that you shouldn’t have to live with and turned it into something positive. I’m sorry that you’ve had to do that, but I think you should be proud.”

“Thanks.” Glenn stared down at her hands clasping the cup. “It matters what you think.”

“I think you’re amazing,” Mari said softly.

“Do you have plans this morning?”

The question threw her and she didn’t have an answer, so she didn’t try to think, she just went with what felt right. “No. I’m not working again until Monday. Then I’m switching back to days. I suppose my biggest plans for the day were laundry and vacuuming my rug. It’s a pretty small rug.”

Glenn grinned. “Can’t say that was on my list of things to do.” She stood up. “You mind waiting here for a few minutes?”

“Sure. It’s a beautiful day and I’ve been inside all night.”

“You’re not tired?”

“No!” The last thing she was was tired. Just being around Glenn was exhilarating. She felt better, more alive and more eager for what the day might bring, than she had been all week. “I’m great. Take whatever time you need.”

Glenn paused beside her and touched her shoulder, as if reassuring herself Mari really would stay. “Fifteen minutes. I’ll be back.”

“I’ll wait.” Mari watched her as she ran across the field to the corner and disappeared. They weren’t very far from Glenn’s apartment, and she suspected Glenn was going home to change. She didn’t know why and it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Glenn said she was coming back. And if she said she was coming back, she would.

Twelve minutes later she appeared—Mari checked her watch when she saw Glenn striding across the green in black jeans and a snowy white T-shirt, her hair slicked back and damp. She looked even better than she had a few minutes before. She grinned and Mari knew she’d been caught looking. Not just looking—wanting. Too late to pretend otherwise.

When Glenn drew near, she held out her hand. “Come on.”

Mari didn’t even ask where they were going. She didn’t really care. She took Glenn’s hand and fell in beside her, the clasp of her fingers warm and reassuring and as natural as anything she’d ever experienced. When questions tried to surface in her mind, she resolutely put them aside. For the first time in a week, she was happy.

Chapter Twenty-three

“I suppose I should’ve asked you,” Glenn said. “Do you mind heights?”