Page 7 of Beneath Her Hands
“I know,” Doctor Mars said and gave Rosalind’s shoulder a squeeze. Rosalind sagged against the sink once Dr. Mars left—it was going to take every ounce of energy she had left just to get home. She trudged up to her office and gathered her few belongings and headed out the door.
She made the short drive home in the dark and tried to quietly enter her family home. It was late and she was certain her parents would be sleeping, but she was mistaken. Her mother practically met her at the door, the worried look on her face telling her that something was wrong.
“Did something happen?” Rosalind asked without preamble.
“No, not especially,” her mother answered. “I just… he just… He doesn’t even know who I am.” Her eyes filled with tears, and Rosalind felt her heart break. “I don’t know what to do, he won’t even let me in our room.”
“Have you called Doctor Simpson?” Rosalind asked. She was so tired.
“Yes, he came by and gave him a sedative, the nurse is with him now,” her mother said.
“Maybe things with be better in the morning,” Rosalind said.
“I hope so, Rosie, I really do.”
4
Jane
Jane arrived at the hospital well over an hour before her shift began and made a beeline for Leslie’s room. She learned that Leslie had woken up from the anesthesia sometime early in the morning, but was sleeping again, which was good news. Still, she checked all the vital signs, all the monitors. Everything looked good, considering the situation. She couldn’t help but worry though; there were still a thousand things that could go wrong. She just had to hope that Leslie was strong enough to recover on her own.
She reached down and took Leslie’s hand and squeezed it gently, a familiar gesture. She’d known Leslie a long time, and up until about six months ago, they had lived together. Leslie was all Jane had wanted in a partner, but it just wasn’t enough. They had parted amicably, and tried to remain friends, but as these things go, they had quickly drifted apart. While they still saw each other occasionally at the hospital, she hadn’t really spoken to her in months. Watching Rosalind operate on her yesterday had been confusing, to say the least. Jane still lovedLeslie, and probably always would, but their futures just never quite synced up with one another. Jane wanted to travel, and Leslie wanted to work—it was what she loved and what she was good at. Jane couldn’t handle the stress of her job, though—the daily fear of this very thing happening. It had led to tension, fighting, and eventually, the end of their relationship. Despite how much she still cared for Leslie, she couldn’t bring herself to regret what happened between them. Though it did make it difficult to leave the room.
Rosalind had been amazing. Watching her work was like watching someone creating art. The fluidity of her movements, the control, the focus. There was no other way she could think to describe it. She was brilliant, plain and simple. And beautiful. Jane was forced to admit that she was attracted to her, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. She had come so close to closing that distance after their fight in the OR. Just inches of space and she could have pressed her lips to Rosalind’s, and the crazy thing was that she wasn’t sure Rosalind would have pulled away. As a matter of fact, she was almost certain that she wouldn’t have.
Jane gritted her teeth and left Leslie sleeping, heading back into the OR. Perhaps she did have to admit that she was attracted to Rosalind, but she dreaded how she was going to be this morning. If her arrogance yesterday was any indication, she would be impossible after saving Leslie’s life. Jane had forced herself to walk away before the surgery was over, but she heard the applause even from her office. Rosalind was most definitely going to be impossible, and with all Jane’s conflicting feelings about the whole situation, it would probably be best to avoid her completely.
She went back to her office and turned on the computer. She still had several reports to write from the day before and charts to catch up on. Yesterday was one of the busiest days thishospital had seen in a very long time. She tried to bury herself in the paperwork, but thoughts of Rosalind kept bubbling to the surface. Tired of fighting, she finally just allowed the thoughts to break through, her mind taking her back to their almost kiss. Jane imagined what would have happened if she’d closed that distance, and heat flooded through her. Sucking in a deep breath, she glanced up at the ceiling, resting her head on the back of her chair. She could almost feel the heat of Rosalind’s lips on hers, her hands reaching beneath the scrubs to touch her soft skin, her fingers—rough from being freshly scrubbed—against her stomach, her chest, her nipples. She sucked in a breath, the heat pooling deep in her stomach. Her clothes suddenly felt too tight, to warm. She unbuttoned the top of her blouse, and her fingers trailed across her own collarbones, she imagined they were Rosalind’s. Her fingers dipped down into her cleavage, and she felt heat pooling between her legs, the pressure, the desire.
A knock sounded on her door, ripping her from her fantasy. She quickly sat up, trying to force herself back. “Come in,” she called and started stacking papers on her desk. Her world tilted when Rosalind poked her head around the door. Jane’s cheeks flushed and she stood up just a bit too quickly. “Hi, um, good morning, did you… Do you need something?” Jane felt herself cringe inwardly.
“No, I just wanted to check in. From what I understand, yesterday was a pretty rough day for everyone,” Rosalind said, almost as though she couldn’t see how flustered Jane was.
“I take it that’s not normal for you,” Jane said and lifted her chin. The arrogance of this woman was insane.
“I’ve only been here a day, I don’t have normal yet,” Rosalind said, lowering her brows.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve been through worse,” Jane said and turned back to her computer.
“Okay, I’m not sure what just happened, but I’m going to go,” Rosalind answered and started to pull back from the door.
“Wait a minute,” Jane said and waved at Rosalind to come inside. “We need to talk.”
Rosalind furrowed her brow but stepped inside the door and closed it behind her.
“I know everyone thinks you’re some sort of hero for saving Leslie, and trust me, I am just as grateful to you for that as anyone,” Jane started.
“But…” Rosalind said with a lift of her eyebrow.
“But, you need to remember that this is not a war-zone, we take our time here, we aren’t just doing patch jobs,” Jane continued.
“Yeah, I think you covered that yesterday,” Rosalind said, and her nostrils flared.
“I just want to reiterate that,” Jane said, hoping her expression wasn’t revealing everything that she was actually feeling.
“I got it.” Rosalind’s voice was barely more than a growl.
“That’s it,” Jane said and turned back to the computer. What the hell was she thinking? Jane wondered if she could possibly have made a bigger ass of herself than she felt right then.
