Page 50 of Stone Vows

I try not to laugh. “I’m a doctor, Elizabeth. I’ve pretty much seen it all, you know.”

She nods. “I know that. I’m just not sure I want you seeing me. Notthatway. Uh, not that I think we’ll . . . Ugh!” She throws an arm over her head to cover her embarrassment. “Forget I said anything. I’ll just stop talking now.”

I realize we’re in an unusual situation. Most obstetric patients have periodic vaginal exams. But due to her condition, those are contraindicated. The most I’ve ever seen of her is her belly, and maybe a flash of under-boob when I was adjusting her monitor.

I close my magazine and put my hand on top of hers. “It’s okay, Elizabeth. I know what you mean. And just so you know, by the time the doctors get into the operating room, you will have been prepped and draped and pretty much the only thing we’ll see is your abdomen.”

She sighs in relief. “Oh, okay.”

Her hand rests under mine, and I realize we’re dangerously close to holding hands. She senses it too, sharing a look with me like the other day. We both stare at each other wondering who will be the first to pull away.

I hear a noise behind us. We simultaneously pull our hands apart as we turn around to see Charlie standing in the doorway. She has a huge, knowing smile on her face, and I say a silent prayer of thanks that it wasn’t someone else who caught us sharing a moment. Someone like Abby. Or Gina. Or, God forbid, Dr. Redman.

I’ve got to be more careful. I can’t have this—whatever this is—ruining my career or getting in the way of Elizabeth’s care.

“Hi, Charlie,” Elizabeth says, embarrassed that we were caught.

“Hey, guys.” Charlie walks across the room, putting a bag of food in front of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiles, thanking Charlie for the meal as she tears into the bag, pulling out a greasy fast food burger. She bites into it as if she’s never tasted food before. I have a hard time pulling my eyes away. I’ve never before wanted to be a piece of meat like I do right now. The noises she’s making. The look on her face.Damn.

“As your doctor, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the amount of cholesterol you are ingesting.”

She rolls her eyes at me and pats her belly. “Baby had a craving,” she says around a mouthful of food.

“Oh, it’s the baby’s fault,” I say, sarcastically.

“Totally,” she replies.

Charlie laughs. “Don’t even think of arguing with a pregnant woman, Kyle.”

I hold up my hands. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Are you going to watch the game with us?” Charlie asks.

“Game?”

“The Nighthawks game. I’m here to watch it with Elizabeth.”

“No, I have to get back to work. Dr. Redman has been assigning me more cases lately.”

“Too bad,” Charlie says, turning to Elizabeth. “Guess we’ll just have to drool over Caden Kessler ourselves.”

Elizabeth scrunches her nose in disgust. I guess she doesn’t think I should be drooling over him, either.

“What, you too?” I ask Charlie. “What is it about that guy that makes chicks go wild?”

“Other than the fact that he’s a hot young baseball star?” Charlie asks.

I gather my magazines to leave when I hear pagers going off all over the OB floor. Mine goes off, too. I check it to see it’s an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ page. My adrenaline starts pumping.

“What is it?” Elizabeth asks, looking concerned as people run past her doorway.

“I’m not sure. Everyone’s being paged to the ER. The last time this happened, it was a school shooting.”

Her hand comes up to cover her mouth. “Oh, my God. I hope everything is okay.”

“I might not be able to check on you later,” I say, hooking my pager back onto my pants. “It all depends.”

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