Page 20 of Hello Dr. Christmas

ChapterTen

Christmas passes at home without much more drama. My brother wasn’t able to fly home to spend it with us, but between Sven, Adam, and Klaus, it feels like a rather full house, anyway. Because all the couples are paired up, Klaus and I are forced to spend a large amount of time together. But he’s suddenly shifted gears, and he’s acting all stiff and professional with me. Somehow, the more professional he acts, the more I feel tempted to tease and flirt with him.

I’m not even sure why. I definitely think it’s great that he wants to take his job seriously and properly patch up my ankle, but I don’t think that should interfere with… whatever is happening with us. Do you see why I wanted to run away? I am way too attracted to this man. I keep picking imaginary lint off his clothing, even in front of myparents.

I don’t think it’s a normal, professional thing to want to pick lint off your doctor’s clothing. But I try to behave myself keep my hormones in check.

Eve even pulls me aside at one point to comment on our chemistry. “I think the doctor has the hots for you,” she whispers.

“Did Mary not tell you?” I ask her with surprise.

“Tell me what?” Eve asks, genuinely clueless.

“I met Klaus at The Drunken Elf last night,” I whisper to her. “I didn’t know it was him. I went back to his hotel room with him last night, and we slept together.”

“You didwhat?”she shrieks loudly, causing our parents and Adam to look over with concern.

I clamp a hand over her mouth to muffle any more screams, and wait until she has calmed down before removing my hand.

“You didwhat?” she whispers again, more calmly. “With your doctor?”

“I didn’t know! I didn’t know he was my doctor yet!” I tell her. “Now he’s trying to act all professional because he doesn’t want to make me uncomfortable, but it’s making me uncomfortable that he’s acting so professional.”

“Do you want to fornicate with him again?” Eve asks, in the crazy way that only Eve could ask.

“Obviously,” I respond, checking Klaus out as discreetly as possible. “Lookat him. Holy crap, he is gorgeous.”

“He’s pretty damn cute,” Eve agrees. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Go to Sweden with him, I guess,” I say with a shrug.

“Forever?” Eve asks. And then I see the flicker of fear on her face, the same one I had when Adam returned and I realized our cat café dreams had been destroyed. She’s afraid of losing me, just like I was afraid of losing her.

“Maybe,” I say, just to get a little bit of payback. Although I’m pretty sure there is no chance of me going to Sweden forever, and I will just be there briefly for the surgery. And then back home. Alone.

Although where is home? Here, or New York?

The uncertainty of what I’m going to do with my future is driving me crazy. But I know one thing for certain. If I can ever dance again, I’m going to surround myself with people I trust, not backstabbing jealous bitches.

I am lying in bed at home, and staring at the ceiling. It’s not quite as nice a ceiling as the one in Klaus’ hotel room. I feel so uneasy about how distant we’ve been all day—although I don’t know why I expected more. I did run out on him. Since I sent him the x-rays, he’s been even more quiet, and hasn’t given me a straight answer about anything.

Frowning, I throw my legs over the side of the bed and grab my crutches. I move out of my room, and down the stairs, and don’t even bother to grab a pair of shoes before heading outside and moving through the snow toward the guest house.

When I knock on the door, Klaus answers before much time has passed.

“Clara?” he says with surprise.

“Why are you being so weird?” I ask him.

“Come in,” he says softly. “Where are your shoes?”

“I don’t need shoes,” I tell him. “I’m from Minnesota. Why were you being weird? You said you were getting attached. You said that cool thing about the rays of sunlight. Why did you get so cold all of a sudden?”

“I feel like I was coming on too strong,” he says. “You ran away from my hotel room, and you didn’t feel comfortable enough with me to show me your feet. I didn’t want to… push you into something, you know?”

“I’ll show you my feet,” I tell him, moving forward, and into the guest house. I pass him and place my crutches against the wall.

“Clara, you’re freezing,” he says gently, picking me up and carrying me up the stairs to the loft. There’s a warm fireplace there, and he places me on the couch and covers me with blankets.

“I want to show you my feet,” I tell him again. “But you’re going to be so disgusted. Have you ever seen the feet of a ballerina?”

“I’m an orthopedist, Clara. I’ve seen everything.”

“Have you seen the feet of a principal dancer?” I ask him. “It’s not pretty.”

“I don’t think so, but I want to see them,” he says, kneeling at my feet.

I nod, and he removes the blankets, and gently peels off my wet socks. I press my eyes shut tightly, knowing that this is the moment of truth. I’m probably going to scare him away forever, but at least I’ll know now.

“Wow,” he whispers, running his hands over the callouses.

“I look like Frankenstein. Or the Abominable Snowman,” I say weakly.

“You look beautiful,” he says. “This is the result of pure dedication.”

And then, to my surprise, I feel a featherlight touch against my toes. I open my eyes, and see that he has cradled my feet gently, and he is kissing them.

He is kissing my feet.

Tears begin to stream down my cheeks. Can this really be happening? Could someone really care about me so much that he could look past my disfigured body parts?

“You’re so strong, Clara,” he says, studying the bones and skin. “I’ve never seen such powerful feet. And each callous, each bruise… you earned it through being fierce and unstoppable. I saw what that girl did to you, and I know you’re not going to let her hold you back. I find you so resilient and inspiring.”

“Klaus,” I whisper, wiping away my tears. “Why are you saying these things?”

“Your feet are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he says softly, still showering them with kisses. Then he moves to my injured foot, and gently begins removing the bandages. “May I?” he asks.

I nod.

“I’ll be honest,” he says, after studying the swollen foot. “I saw your x-rays, and I think that maybe there’s a 20% chance that I could help you dance again at the level you did before. If everything goes really, really perfectly. I work with a lot of modern therapies, like stem cell injections that will allow your tendons to heal themselves. But obviously, we will have to operate here, and here. I would normally remove the bunions, but I know that dancers need to keep their bunions until they retire, for the strength it provides the feet.”

“Twenty percent?” I whisper, still sniffling. “That’s the best number I’ve ever heard so far. If there’s a twenty percent chance, I’ll take it. Do whatever you can to make me better.”

“I will,” he responds. “I promise. But what will you do in the 80% chance that I can only make you partially better? Will you hate me? Will you blame me for ending your career?”

“No,” I whisper, reaching for him. I grasp his collar, and pull him close to me so that I can kiss his lips. “But I have another question, Klaus. Do you think there’s even a 1% that you might… want to be with me? Like more than just… physically?”

Klaus laughs softly. For a moment, my heart aches, and I think he’s going to refuse and say there’s no chance in hell. But then his blue eyes shine down on me, and I know his answer.

“Clara, I know that things moved fast, and it seemed like a casual hookup to you. Especially since we didn’t use our names, and whatever. But this was never just physical for me. I wouldn’t have been able to have sex with you if I didn’t… feel something special for you. There’s a reason that you’re the only woman I’ve had any desire to touch in all these years since I lost my wife.”

“Do you think you’re ready to try… to be with someone again?” I ask him. “Is it too soon for you?”

“I wasn’t ready before I met you,” he responds honestly. “But now, I just… I don’t know. The idea of getting on that plane to Europe without you in the morning makes me sick. Is that crazy? I don’t know how I’m ever going to try to be with any woman other than you, ever again. Please don’t make me have to try. I’m so tired of strangers. I just want to know you, and have you.”

He interlaces his fingers with mine, and I feel breathless and overwhelmed. “Klaus,” I say touching his face. “You’re a miracle. I want you to know that. Whether you can fix my foot or not, you’re my Christmas miracle.”

“Just do me one favor, Clara, please?” he begs. He is literally on one knee, begging.

“Anything,” I respond.

“Don’t die on me,” he says earnestly.

“Oh, Klaus,” I say with a tiny laugh, feeling the tears start again. I wrap my arms around him, and hold him close. “I am kind of bulletproof. Don’t worry about that.”

“I can tell from your feet. I think you could literally shoot those things with bullets, and they would just bounce off.”

“Woman of steel,” I say with a smile. “But seriously. I was in the darkest place I’ve been in years, and you gave me hope. I don’t know how miserable I would have been this Christmas if I hadn’t found you. There was nowhere I really wanted to be, nothing I really wanted to do. And now… all I know is that I want to be wherever you are. Whether that’s Sweden, The North Pole, or the moon—I’m getting on that damn plane with you tomorrow.”

“Okay, good,” he says, kissing me and holding me against his chest. “That’s really, really good. And I’ll put you on my operating table, and cut you open, and make you brand new.”

“Deal,” I say with a smile. And then I pause. “Hey, Klaus? Did you know that your cousin has sex on airplanes?”

“No, I did not know this,” he responds. “Men don’t talk about such things as much as women do.”

“I mean, no pressure or anything,” I say lightly. “No expectations. Just mentioning it, just because. It’s an interesting point, worth considering.”

Klaus laughs softly, lowering me to the couch and unbuttoning my Christmas pajamas. “Well, unlike Sven, I’m a medical doctor who must uphold a certain standard of behavior, or risk losing my license. However, I think I can satisfy you so much on this couch tonight that you will be unable to walk properly on that plane tomorrow.”

“Oh my,” I say with a giggle. “He talks a big game. I would like to accept that challenge, but must remind you that my foot is busted, so I will be unable to walk properly on the plane no matter what you do.”

“Exactly,” he says, lowering his face to my neck, and grazing the skin with his stubble. He rains kisses up to my ear, and whispers softly. “I’m going to satisfy you so much that you won’t be able to walk properly for weeks.”

This causes me to laugh as he pulls my pajamas off and begins to make love to me.

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