Page 26 of Be With Me
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The coffee was taking its sweet time brewing her next cup; standing and staring at the coffee maker wasn’t going to make it go any faster but if she sat long enough without the caffeine, she’d be out. Debbie knew she probably didn’t need to have another cup; she probably needed to get some sleep but she was taking her licensing exam in two days and she was terrified that she was going to screw it up. There had to be a way to cram the entire physician’s reference into her brain by test time, right?
Finally, the elixir was ready for her and she added a healthy amount of creamer and a tiny bit of sugar. Okay, more than a tiny bit but she needed the extra boost. Blowing on the cup as she moved back to the couch and her books, the door to the condo opened and she screamed.
“Ahhh!” When Debbie jumped, her coffee spilled over her hand causing her to scream again. “Shit!” She ran back to the kitchen, turned on the cold water and jammed her hand under the stream.
“Debs? Are you okay?” Luny appeared in the doorway. She looked over at her fiancé and sighed. Seeing him in his uniform warmed all her parts. He was undoing the uniform top and the open jacket with the T-shirt underneath with the pants and boots. Yum, yum.
“Huh?” she replied absently, totally distracted from her hand by his appearance.
“You screamed and ran for the kitchen. Are you okay?” He motioned to the sink, drawing her attention back to her hand.
“Damn it. Yes, I’ll be fine.” She flicked off the water and grabbing a paper towel. “When you opened the door, it surprised me and I spilled some coffee over my hand.”
Luny’s eyes narrowed as he walked across the kitchen and turned off the coffee pot. “Have you been drinking coffee all day?”
“Maybe. You’re home early.” She moved over and wrapped her arms around his waist.Ummm, comfy. She dropped her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
“Actually, I’m late. There was a car accident over in the Anzio housing area. Cassidy and I were first on scene so we got stuck with the paperwork.”
“Everyone okay?” she asked, not opening her eyes.
“No critical injuries. Some bumps and bruises. Car versus truck so…” Debbie nodded her head. She’d seen enough accidents during her emergency rotation.Oh, that’s another thing she needed to review. Trauma procedures for car accidents.There was a huge section on the test about management of care and safety.
“Hey where’d you go?” Luny broken into her thoughts.
“Huh? I’m right here,” Debbie answered.
Luny pulled back from her and stared at her with a frown on his face. Debbie reached up and wiped at her chin. Had she spilled coffee on her?
“You might have been here physically but mentally?” Luny shrugged. “Let me change into some shorts and then let’s watch something mindless.”
Debbie looked at Luny then the clock. Wow, she’d been studying for ten hours. Yeah, that was enough for the day. Maybe for the test too. How much more was she going to be able to retain if she couldn’t focus her eyes? She grabbed the text books from the coffee table and dropped them on top of the box next to the couch.
Looking around the room, there were so many boxes that still needed unpacking. She shifted to push one of the boxes before it fell over. They’d both been so anxious to move but neither of them had taken the time to unpack much more than the essentials or even pick a wedding date. How the hell had they been living like this for over a month? Maybe tomorrow was a day for her to relax and organize the condo. Maybe they should talk about a wedding date.
“Okay, now what’s got you all stressed out? Debs, you are going to kill that exam. You finished in the top ten of your program and that’s not an easy feat. Please relax.” Luny came back into the room.
“Actually? I wasn’t thinking about anything having to do with medicine at all. I was thinking that we should set a wedding date and maybe, oh I don’t know, unpack some boxes,” Debbie deadpanned. It didn’t take ten seconds for Luny to realize what she had said and start to laugh.
He grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, causing her to laugh too. “I love you, Debs.”
“I love you too,” she echoed. “Now how about we pick a date?”
“You say when and I’ll be there. Mess uniform?” He guided them to sit on the couch, pulling her into his lap.
Debbie thought about that for a minute. “Would you be upset if I said no?”
“Tell me what you’re thinking then.” Luny sat there patiently, his full attention on her.
“I’m ninety-nine point nine percent sure that we will be attending many events in the future where we’ll be in formal attire?” she offered.
“Yeah, that’s a pretty good assumption.” Luny wiggled and leaned back on the couch. His right hand was rubbing up and down her thigh in a soothing motion.
“What if we just had a small ceremony at my mom’s? More toward casual then formal. Nice pants, shirt for you. Tea length dress for me. No train on the dress, no taffeta, maybe some lace.” Debbie had never really given much thought about what was her dream wedding but she just wasn’t sure that all the formality was what she wanted right now.
“Not into the princess wedding day?” Debbie looked into his face to see if he was teasing her or was serious with his question.
She nodded. “I just…” she trailed off.
“You were a daddy’s girl and he’s not here to escort you down the aisle,” Luny filled in, understanding her when she didn’t understand herself.
“Is it wrong if I don’t want to have my uncle walk me down the aisle? He’s been there for me my whole life and did all he could for me to not be left out of something after my dad died. I—” she stopped and buried her face in Luny’s shoulder as the tears came.
Debbie hadn’t even known that this was in her. She thought she’d cried all the tears over her father’s death long, long ago. Luny held her and wiped her cheeks as the tears subsided.
“So a small backyard wedding. One person standing with each of us? Nice catered meal with a two-tier cake?” she suggested.
“As you wish,” Luny replied.
