Page 69 of Stone Vows

“My cue to leave,” I say. “I’ll check on you later, Elizabeth.”

“Egg rolls!” she calls out after me.

I turn back around and cock my head at her in question.

“It’s Meatloaf night.” She scrunches her nose in disgust. “I’d kill for some Sal’s.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Ms. Smith?”

The nurse chuckles as she picks up the baby from the bassinet.

Elizabeth shrugs as her pinky finger finds its way to her mouth.

I leave her room with a huge damn smile on my face.

Chapter Thirty-one

Ten hours have passed, and I’m so busy I haven’t found any time to check on Elizabeth. I even got to deliver another baby today. This time, I was the one who made the incision and Dr. Redman supervised.

I’m glad Elizabeth wasn’t my first. I’m confident in my abilities and all, but still, the thought of pressing too hard with the scalpel and cutting into a perfectly formed baby is more than a little daunting.

Next week, I’ll be back in the ER. But I know I’ll miss obstetrics. What are the odds that I was in the ER when Elizabeth first came to the hospital and then I was doing my OB rotation when she got admitted a week later?

It makes me think back to one of the first conversations we had about fate and how we both seem to think all things happen for a reason. One thing’s for sure. I was meant to meet her. I was meant to be her doctor. And I was damn sure meant to fall for her.

It’s more than the obvious fact that she needs someone. She needsme. And I never knew it until just a few days ago, but I need her. And now, in some strange way . . . I need the baby, too.

After my shift, I pick up some takeout from Sal’s and head back to the hospital. When I get to Elizabeth’s room, I find her asleep.

I put the bags down and walk over to the bed to study her. Despite the fact that she must be exhausted, I see she took the time to put on makeup.For me?She’s beautiful without it, but I know the light shade of blue shadow will bring out the color of her eyes. Her pink lips look even more luscious than normal.

Her lips. I stare at them. I’ve wanted to kiss them for so long. Maybe even since I first met her. I have to hold myself back every day. I work here. It would be unprofessional. Then again, I’m not on duty now. Doctors have every right to visit their loved ones when not on shift. And they have every right to kiss them.

Don’t they?

I take in the dark, thick stripe of the roots of her hair, hoping that maybe she’ll let it grow out into her natural brown color. I can’t help myself when I reach over and take a lock of her hair between my fingers.

“Hey, you,” she says, catching me worshiping her.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. I was asleep for a few hours. The baby will probably want to eat soon. They took her to the nursery to let me rest.”

I nod to the bags of Chinese food. “Then maybe we should feed her mom first.”

She smiles, shaking her head in wonder. “It still sounds so strange, me being a mom. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it.”

“Well, you are, and you will. And you’re going to be a great mother, Elizabeth.”

I put all her favorite dishes on the tray table and move it over her bed. I’ve learned what she likes and what she doesn’t. And as we eat, I lean over and pick the slices of watercress out of her food. She smiles every time I do it.

“When do you think I’ll be released?” she asks.

“Day after tomorrow,” I tell her. “Since you delivered late in the day on Monday, we’ll keep you that extra night just to make sure you’re okay.”

“Oh, good.”

Good why? Because she gets to see me? Or because she doesn’t have to go back to . . . wherever she’s going back to. I shudder at the thought.

---