Page 24 of Protecting Silver
“Well, what does it say?”
“It says,The line of command is done. It’s between you and me now. Leave the others out of it. Call when you’re ready.”
The entire operating room became silent, and Patch would swear even the machines stopped making noise. He frowned, then turned to look over his shoulder at the nurse who held his phone.
“Who did the text come from?”
Patch scowled when he saw the nurses eyes crinkle and realized she was grinning ear to ear behind her mask. “It says, and I quote,The most beautiful woman in the world.”
Patch stared at her in shock, and demanded she read the message again. This time, his own eyes crinkled behind his mask. “Send back a text saying I’ll call when I’m not wrist deep inside a body cavity.” It wouldn’t be until later that he realized the nurse sent the text word for word, and didn’t use any diplomacy. Patch felt a sudden burst of euphoria, and looked around the operating room, and realized everyone was staring at him.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like I may have a date in my near future. What do you say we save this guy’s spleen, and end this operation on a high note?” A cheer went up, and though it took a couple more hours, Patch was able to save the spleen, and when he went to tell the family members the good news, for the first time in a long time he enjoyed getting hugs from a patient’s loved ones.
Before Patch could send a text back to Silver, stating he’d received her first one, he was called back to the emergency room. It would turn out to be at least another three weeks before they could hook up. Oh, they sent text messages, but to actually go out on that first date would take some time, because of their busy schedules.
Chapter 13
Silver ranher hand down her sides, and turned her body this way and that as she looked at herself in the mirror. Since having her jaw wired shut, it had forced her to be on a liquid diet for weeks, and the results were amazing. She’d had a nice shape before, but the diet had caused her to lose at least twenty pounds. Now she looked great. What she really liked was the puffiness in her face and neck had disappeared, as well as the curvier hips. Fitting in her size twelves again felt wonderful. She had put on her favorite little black dress for her date with Douglas ‘Patch’ Atwal. He was due to pick her up at any minute, and she didn’t want to give him an excuse to wait, but then again, she didn’t want to open the door the second he knocked. That would seem like she was too anxious.
With one last critical look in the mirror at her makeup, then her entire body, she gave a nod of satisfaction to herself, then picked up her clutch from her bed, and headed toward the front of her apartment. As soon as she left the bedroom, there was a knock on the door, and the butterflies that had been held at bay for the last two hours suddenly started flapping their wings in her stomach. She had to hold a hand over it, then take several deep breaths as she tried to calm her nerves. Once she opened her door, there would be no going back. Silver looked through the peephole in her door to see if it really was Patch standing there. When she saw him, she couldn’t contain her grin as she unlocked the door and opened it for him.
“Come in,” Silver said as she stepped back to allow Patch to enter. As soon as she closed the door behind her, they turned to each other and smiled.
“You look good,” they said at the same time.
“So do you,” Patch said as he nodded, and took her in from head to toe. He took two steps closer and lifted his hands toward her face. “I see your jaw isn’t wired, may I?” He raised a brow, and Silver took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she took his hands gently in hers.
“About that. I’m not trying to come off as a bitch, but since my assault, I’ve decided to become a new woman. I guess you could say I’m going to be Silver two point oh.”
Patch frowned at her, but nodded his head, not bothering to release her hands. “Okay.”
“Okay, I have two options for you. Option A, if you take these strong, long, sexy fingers and place them on my jaw and cheek to feel if I’ve healed, then that’s it. You will be my doctor and I will treat you as one. And tonight,” she said as she looked him directly in the eye. “Will be over. You’ll be my doctor. Oh, I’ll associate with you at any fundraisers, or if you happen to be at our mutual friends homes, but we will never date. I don’t date my doctors.” Silver bit her lip and watched the emotions going across Patch’s face.
“Is there another option?”
“Option B.” Silver laughed. “This option is that you trust me to listen to my doctors and followtheirinstructions. This option also comes with the fact that we will go out tonight, and get to know each other over dinner, then if we decide we like each other, we’ll do it again, and again, and again. Eventually we’ll end up in bed together, but this option also comes with an exclusivity clause. When I’m with a man, I don’t share, neither do I play with anyone who does.”
She again studied Patch’s expression, and bit her bottom lip as she waited for him to reply.
“Let me get this straight, if I choose option A, then the evening is done before it even begins?”
“Correct.”
“If I go with option B, I’ll be able to see you, date you, and we’ll eventually end up in bed together, but neither one of us can date anyone else during this time.”
“Correct.”
Patch’s entire face lit up with his grin. “Then, I choose option B.” He raised he brows up and down several times. “I really like the sex part, and you don’t have to worry about me stepping out on you. I don’t play that way. Never have, and never will. But...” he paused as his fingers tightened on hers. “May I ask you a slight medical question?”
Silver frowned at him, and cocked her head to the side. “How do you ask aslightmedical question?”
Patch grinned, then chuckled at himself. “For dinner, I didn’t make reservations, but I know of two places we can get into without them. My slight medical question is are you still on soft foods? The restaurants I’m thinking of are either the local steakhouse, or Italian.”
“Italian all the way, baby.” Silver laughed. “Not that I don’t like a good steak now and then, but I love Italian. The sauce, the meat, the cheese, all blended together. “Oomph!” Silver gasped when Patch suddenly took her face in both his hands, and kissed her. At first, Silver was too shocked to respond for a few seconds, then she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, when Patch lowered his hands to settle them on her hips. It was several minutes before they broke apart.
“Wow, I like this option better than the first one.”
Silver laughed as she untangled her arms from him, and took a step back. “Yeah, but I didn’t think it would go this fast so soon.”
