Page 13 of Motivating Mira
“Shame,” she said with a shrug and a sigh. “I was willing to ask my friend for the info on that BDSM place. I was even willing to go along.” Her eyes slid to Jesse’s, a flirty smile on her lips.
“Christ.” Jesse looked down at his crotch. “I was going to take the stiff in seven, instead I’ve grown one.”
“We’re not interested in any clubs, Liza. Not dance clubs, sports clubs or BDSM clubs,” I said, irritated. But she didn’t buy it. She just glanced across the hall. My gut dropped as soon asher eyes landed on Mira, and she pressed her lips to hold back a secretive smile.
“You sure? According to her mother, she’s a hot mess. I bet she could use a Dom.”
My eyes followed Liza and my jaw shifted. “As unprofessional as the giant purple dildo is, Liza, it’s gallows humor and I can take a joke. But do you think talking about a patient’s daughter like that is appropriate?” I crossed my arms looking down at her with a frown.
She twisted her mouth, guilt shadowing her face. “No. You’re right. I apologize.”
“Good. Now, curtain twelve can be discharged.” I nodded in the direction. “I wrote his scripts twenty minutes ago.”
“Yes, Doctor,” she answered and went to do as I asked. Jesse watched, his eyes serious.
“If you didn’t want them to believe you were a Dom, maybe you shouldn’t have used your Dom voice and been such a hard ass. She was only having fun.”
“For fuck’s sake, Jesse.” I ran my hands over my face.
“Sorry, bruh… I got carried away.”
“Yeah, well…. Just go do your job and go home to your daughter.”
When Jesse left, and Liza was too busy to notice me, my eyes wandered back to Mira. This time the blonde was staring at the monitor hooked up to her mother, looking as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. And I suppose it was—at least the weight ofherworld.
“Dr. Lake, MVA just arrived,” Carrie, another nurse, said heading swiftly toward the ambulance bay.
“Too many motor vehicle accidents lately. Right behind you.”
When my shift ended eight hours later and I was just finishing up some charting, Mira came to the desk.
The first time I’d seen her a few months ago, her mom had been in distress so there hadn’t been time to acknowledge our previous relationship, but I’d been sure we’d catch up later. When later came, though, and I’d tried to ask her how she’d been, she stopped me.
“I’m not the same person as I was back then and I’d rather not relive that time in my life.”
I’d nodded, and since I didn’t have a choice, we became strangers.
Now I’d grown accustomed to acting like we’d never spent two spectacular weeks together, and that I hadn’t developed serious feelings for her.
“Everything okay?” I asked, instantly concerned at the faraway expression she wore on her pale face. There were faint bruise-like shadows under her big brown eyes, and her cheekbones had become more defined since I’d last seen her. Even still, she was beautiful.
“Oh. Yeah.” She glanced behind her pointing at the empty bed. “Mom’s okay. Thank you for getting her admitted. They just brought her upstairs.” She swayed as she turned back to me, not really focusing on my face. Both worried me, so I stood and walked around the desk to guide her to one of the random chairs in the hallway.
“Sit,” I ordered, and she obeyed without so much as a second thought. “You look like you’re about to collapse,” I said, more to myself in assessment than to her. “What can I do for you, honey?” I almost winced at the familiarity of my endearment,but she actually did, and the hurt in that wince was like a GSW to the chest. It only took one blink though, and it was gone.
“Oh, I don’t need anything,” she replied sounding falsely aloof. “I’m heading out to grab some coffee while Mom gets settled in her room, and I thought I’d ask if you guys wanted anything.” She looked around. “Where is Liza?”
I glanced at my watch, frowning. “Gone home,” I said. “Mira, you’ve already been here for twelve hours. I’m about to go myself. Your mom’s admitted, in a room, on a fully staffed floor, she’s good for the night. You should go home.”
Her eyes found mine and I saw a flicker of challenge.
“It’s almost midnight,” I said, a little thrown by her defiant look. Her eyes widened.
“Oh?” Her brow furrowed. “Twelve?” She yawned then, trying to cover it with her arm.
“We don’t enforce visiting hours in the ER but they will upstairs if they need to.” Mira’s eyes snapped to mine at the word enforce and this time it wasn’t defiance I saw.
“I see you so often, I’m starting to think you work here, Mir.” I wanted to know more about her. Was she still painting?
