Page 72 of Paging Doctor Grump

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BROOKES

The flowers growing just outside the windows of the hospital’s break room match the horrifying yellow walls. I glance over at the petition the doctors have started, asking for a repaint. I doubt it’s going to go far, but walking in here and seeing the petition is enough to brighten the end of a hard day.

Mark drops down at one of the tables, reaching for the box of donuts. “You know, I think this job is trying to kill me some days.”

I laugh and pour myself a large cup of coffee before joining him. “That’s because it probably is.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He closes his eyes and takes a large bite of the donut. “I love my job, but at times it’s a lot to process. How’s the rural ambulance thing going?”

“Think I found the perfect building to operate out of.” I take a long sip of the coffee. “Which is going to take time to get set up. The money I got from my father is more than enough to get started, but I’m going to have to start looking for donors as well.”

“I’ll donate some time to training people, if you need another volunteer.” He sits up and opens his eyes, taking another bite of the donut.

“Thanks. I have a meeting with Patrick later this afternoon to talk about logistics once the building is up and running. We have to get a solid plan in place before I start approaching the donors.”

“Well, anything you need, let me know.”

Jessie grins as she walks into the break room. She gives me a quick wink and my cock swells slightly. Though we’ve been keeping our relationship out of the hospital, when we get home at night we’re all over each other.

Even though it’s been months, I still can’t get enough of her or the fact that she’s mine.

She grabs herself a granola bar and perches on the edge of the table beside me. “Talking about the ambulance service again?”

“Yeah.” My hand drifts over her knee in a quick touch. “How’s your day going?”

“Tiring. I have two more patients that I need to see before my shift ends, but one of them likes to talk a lot. She’s a sweet old lady, but she’s lonely.”

Mark nods and finishes the last bite of his donut. “How’s the fellowship application going? Isn’t that due soon?”

She smiles and shrugs a shoulder. “It is, but I’ve decided to apply for the one here.”

Both of his eyebrows rise as he looks between the two of us. “I thought you were set on that fellowship. Isn’t that why you’ve been spending the last several months stomping through the woods?”

I grin and sip my coffee. When Jessie first told me that she wanted to stay here, I couldn’t hide my excitement. It led into hours of conversation regarding whether or not she was giving up her dream for me.

If it came down to it, I would have followed her anywhere. If she said that she still wanted to pursue the fellowship, I would have put in my notice and started looking for a job wherever we would have gone.

Now that she’s in my life, I’m not going to spend another moment without her.

There is nothing like coming home after a long day and getting to cuddle on the couch with the woman you love.

I never thought I would be the guy who couldn’t wait to go home to someone every evening.

Then Jessie walked back into my life.

She dangles her legs, swinging her feet. “I thought about what I really wanted out of life. Especially after working at the wilderness center for the last few months. It brought a lot of things into perspective for me.”

Mark gives her a wry smile as he gets up and stretches. “Life has a funny way of doing that for you. I have to get back and do my rounds. Don’t the two of you go doing anything I wouldn’t do in here.”

Jessie’s cheeks turn a dark shade of red as she rolls her eyes. Though Mark may not know exactly what we did in the on-call room, I’m sure he’s guessed at it.

As soon as he’s gone, Jessie slides down into his vacant seat and finishes her granola bar. She steals my coffee, taking a long sip and moaning softly.

“This is a good cup of coffee. You’ve ruined other cups of coffee.” She grins and takes another sip. “One of these days, you’re going to have to teach me how to make a coffee this good.”

Chuckling, I lean back in my chair. “And if I do that, then you have one less reason to keep me around.”

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