Page 52 of Baby for Dr. Damaged

“Yes, yes!” Her voice cracks, broken with emotion. She slides off the bed and onto the floor, throwing her arms around my neck. “Yes, Jackson, yes!”

And then she’s kissing me, a hard and eager crash of the mouth. It’s tongue and tooth and lips, and everything in between. It’s like my world snaps back into place, all of the raw emotional wounds that I’ve been carrying for years finally healed.

Knowing that I’m going to have Amanda in my life for a long, long time… It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in ages. I try to make it clear in the way that I’m kissing her, how excited I am, how much she means to me.

Each swipe of my tongue is meant to be another promise: I will love you forever.

We get so wrapped up in the joy of the moment, and in each other, that neither of us notices the door open.

Kurt clears his throat. “Am I interrupting something?”

Embarrassment flushes through me. I’m expecting Amanda to act the same way, but instead, she shoves her hand toward Kurt revealing the ring. “I’m getting married!”

Kurt looks between us, stunned, and then bursts out laughing. “Well, shit. Guess Iaminterrupting something. You know, Jackson, most people go for somewhere a little more upscale.”

“Trust me,” I say, standing up. “I tried.”

Before Kurt turns to leave, he gives us genuine congratulations and reaches out for a handshake that I return.

Then I help Amanda to her feet as well, more than a little disappointed that we’re not able to spend more time with each other. I had wanted this to be something special so badly.

But at least I’ve asked—at least she said yes.

Even stepping back into the bright halls of the hospital seems easier. The exhaustion presses down on me a little bit less and the whole time that I’m out here, all I can do is think about Amanda, and how absolutely lucky I am that things have finally started to fall into place.

Chapter twenty-four

Amanda

Allnightlong,itfeels like I’m floating on cloud nine. Every time the light catches on my engagement ring, a new smile blooms on my face. I’m practically gliding through Mercy General and even the patient that throws up on my scrubs can’t bring me down.

I have to change into a spare pair. I’m hoping that I’ll run into Cara on the way to get them or the way back out but no luck. I’m going to have to shoot her a text later. Or maybe I’ll wait until I see her in person next time.

I can’t decide what’s going to be better – shooting her a text with a picture of my hand in it or shoving my hand in her face the next time that we see each other.

One of my patients, a woman that has been in the hospital for almost four days, says, “You look so lovely today. It’s that smile of yours.”

I laugh. “Lovely? I wouldn’t go that far.” I tug at the front of my spare scrubs. The bright green and flower-covered fabric doesn’t exactly screambeautiful bride-to-be. “Unless you’re really into flowers.”

“You’re having a good day,” says the woman. Her name is Marsha Jones. She’s recovering from a pretty serious injury that got infected. Her outlook is good but maintaining a watch on her at this stage is still important. “I can tell. It’s practically coming off you in waves.”

“I’m that obvious?” I take care of getting her medication, and a little paper cup of water for her to take the pills with.

Her fingers tremble just a little bit when she takes them from me. Marsha takes all three pills, finishes the water, and hands me the cup back to throw out. “It’s absolutely obvious. Whatever’s happened to you, I hope that the good mood rubs off on me.”

We chat for a little bit, but I have to go on and check the next patient in my rounds. It’s hard to focus on my work. My mind keeps drifting back to how surprised I am that Jackson asked me to marry him.

I know that he loves me, but I wasn’t certain if marriage was something that Jackson would want to consider after he lost Erica. The thought of marrying him… Well, it’s perfect. It’s all I can think about for the whole shift.

The moment that we meet up after work, outside by his car, I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. His arms wrap around my waist, pulling us together. “You look amazing.”

“I look awful,” I giggle, against his lips. “But I appreciate the effort.”

One last lingering kiss, and then I slide into the passenger seat. Jackson gets in behind the wheel but can’t stop staring at me. And I can’t stop staring at my hand.

Trying not to look like the ring is the only thing on my mind, I grasp for a conversation topic. “You know, we haven’t discussed names yet.”

“Names?”

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