Page 24 of Tempting Tessa

“So, what would you like to do this afternoon, beautiful?” I ask her, pulling her in for a tender kiss before I open her door so she can climb into my truck. She is so damnbeautiful, she takes my breath away.

“I don’t really care, I just want to spend the day with you!”

“I think I can accommodate that,” I tell her as I wink at her, closing her door.

“Want to head over to my house? We can relax and watch a movie together or just hang out before I take you out on the town tonight.”

“That sounds like heaven.”

Once we get to my house and pick a movie out, we settle down and I pull her so she is lying in front of me so I can wrap my arms around her. We watch the first bit of the movie and then start talking about anything and everything.

“Will you tell me about your accident and recovery?” she asks me as she turns to face me. I can tell she isn’t sure if I’m comfortable talking about it, and I’m usually not. But with her, it just feels right. I want to know everything about her, so I feel like she should know everything about me. The past 6 years are a large part of who I am today and she needs to know what I have overcome to get to this point.

“Yes, I don’t talk about it much, but I will tell you anything,” I tell her while looking down into her eyes. “I was in the middle of my second deployment to Iraq. I was out on patrol riding in a Humvee when we rolled over an IED on my side. I was in the back, which is why I wasn’t killed. My friend in front of me didn’t make it. I was stabilized at the hospital and then shipped to the military hospital in Germany for more treatment. At that point, I had not lost my lower leg and they were doing all they could to save it.” I stop talking for a few minutes, remembering what it was like to be in that hospital fighting for my life in many ways.

“I stayed at the hospital in Germany for around 10 days. I had multiple surgeries while I was there. Some were on my leg, one was to remove my kidney that was completely damaged by the shrapnel, and they attempted to repair my other one. Once I was stable, they transferred me back stateside to Walter Reed. I was there for over a year. Not long after I arrived, the decision was made that we had to amputate the lower portion of my leg. I started PT within days of my surgery and then went through the processes of being fitted for a prosthetic. While dealing with all of that I also was dealing with PTSD, horrible flashbacks and nightmares. I spent a great amount of time getting therapy to help me overcome and work through all those issues. For the most part, I’ve overcome them. I occasionally will have a nightmare or flashback but they are not common anymore. They usually come back around the anniversary of the date of my accident.”

“During this time, the doctors determined that the one kidney I had left wasn’t working properly and was damaged more than they had hoped. I ended up on dialysis and the transplant list. About a year after my accident, so just over 5 years ago, a match was found and I went through a successful transplant surgery.”

“Did you ever meet your donor or their family?” she asks me.

“No, I was asked by the social workers if I wanted their contact information but I was still dealing with lots of PT on my leg and I was still not in the best mindset dealing with my PTSD. Come to think of it, I think I might actually have the donors’ information in the sealed file they gave me in case I ever changed my mind. Until you just asked I hadn’t even thought of it again.”

“Did you meet the recipients that received Matt’s organs?” I ask her as I brush her hair out of her face.

“All but one. When we agreed for his information to be released we were told that they could arrange for us to meet the recipients if they agreed. I thought it might help some with closure. Seeing the people whose lives he saved was very therapeutic. I got to listen to his heart beating again and cried like crazy.”

We sit in silence holding each other, both just soaking in everything when she asks me, “Do you think you would ever try and find the family of your donor?”

“I guess it hadn’t crossed my mind since they brought it up to me in the hospital and I declined. Like I said, I just remembered they even gave me their information and I don’t even know if I still have that or not. I’m sure I could always call the hospital and it would be in my chart.” We fall back into a comfortable silence and continue watching the movie that we had both been ignoring. I keep thinking about what she has asked me and wonder if it’s something I should look in to.

“Do you think I should pursue looking for the information and then contact the family? Wouldn’t it kind of bring up old wounds for them 5 years later?”

“Everyone is going to handle it differently. I know if the hospital contacted me and the one recipient that I never met wanted to meet us now, I would agree to it. I think about them quite often, wondering if they made a full recovery or not. I’m not sure how much of that is the nurse in me or me just hoping that they were able to go on and live a successful life after his was cut short so early. All I know is that the person was in their mid-20’s and was male. The hospital wasn’t allowed to release any other information to us about him.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I looked to see if I still have the paperwork. I’ll look for it later, right now I just want to hold you in my arms…” I maneuver her so that she’s back to facing me so that I can lean down and kiss her. “And kiss you…” I say between kissing her lips and then trailing kisses along her jaw up to her ear, snagging it between my teeth. This pulls a moan and giggles from her.

“Stop tickling my neck!” she shrieks and starts laughing and trying to squirm out of my arms.

“Nope,” I say as I purposefully rub my face along her neck, knowing my facial hair is driving her insane. I also know it turns her on and a turned-on Tessa is just what I want right now.

We continue driving each other crazy with our lazy make-out session. I can’t tell you how perfect this feels just enjoying having her in my arms, no rush to get her or my clothes off. We are just enjoying each other. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when I can get her out of her clothes and I will later. For now, I just want to enjoy this time we have alone together.

Before we know it, the afternoon has slipped away from us and it’s time to get ready for our date. Tessa had brought a bag with her with a change of clothes in case we ended up here instead of her house, so we grab that and head into my room to get changed and ready. I never realized until this moment how sexy it can be to watch her do simple things like get ready. I could watch her forever.

We take off for the restaurant that I have reservations at. We arrive and are seated quickly. The entry area is full and it appears the wait for a table is long, so I’m glad I made reservations.

“I’ve heard such great things about this place! I’ve never been here, so I am excited to try their food,” she tells me.

“I figured you would love it here and it comes highly recommended. Do any of the appetizers sound appealing to you?”

“Mmm… everything sounds so good. I don’t know how I’m going to choose.” She smiles at me over the top of her menu.

“I agree. Everything sounds really good. How does the lobster fondue sound for an appetizer?”

“I was thinking about the same one.” She lays her menu down and reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together.

Just then our waiter comes to take our drink and appetizer order. I order a beer and Tessa orders a daiquiri. Our waiter says it will just be a few minutes for the appetizer and drinks and he will be back to take our order for our main course. Our food is amazing just like we figured it would be and our conversation just flows like normal. After dessert, she’s curious what we are doing after dinner.

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