Crashed (3 page)

“Hi, Emily,” he said, walking toward her bed with his smile never fading. His name tag read Jared Hart, M.D. in bold letters, above the miniature words
Emergency Medicine Resident
. She struggled to place him, but continued coming up blank.

“Hi, Dr. Hart, is it?” she asked with a puzzled look on her face. “I’m sorry, but I’ve seen so many doctors this week, I just can’t remember everyone and keep y’all straight.”

Her stomach flipped around with unease and nerves. A chill rushed over her body as she pulled the blanket up higher, waiting for the doctor to speak again. Instead, he just stared at her with a look of confusion, just as puzzled as she’d been moments earlier.

“You don’t know me, Emily?” he questioned her, his smile finally starting to fade.

“No, I’m sorry. You look familiar to me, but I can’t place you at all. Did you take care of me in the emergency room?”

“Yes, I did take care of you that morning. But you don’t remember me? At all?” He knew she had taken a good bump to the head but once her case was transferred over to neurology, she was no longer his patient.

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t. Should I?”

Emily was starting to feel incredibly nervous by his presence in the room. Something about him and the way he was treating her wasn’t right. It wasn’t the way a doctor would talk to a patient. She started reaching for her call button, but before she could hit it, the doctor sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand, slowly leaning in to her.

Emily’s heart raced as she struggled to pull back and put more distance between herself and the doctor. Her back hit the hard hospital bed mattress. Her emotions were torn. His touch evoked a certain familiarity which helped her place him, but she was frightened. Dread rushed over her body. The memories of him she could recall were nothing but negative.

“Emily, my Emily. Please come back to me. We spent amazing years together. I want to help you remember us, remember everything.” She started pulling her hand back from him. This gorgeous doctor was begging for her to remember him, but the only thing he was actually doing was scaring her.

“Can you please leave, Dr. Hart? You’re frightening me.” Emily reached for the call button a second time, praying this man wouldn’t stop her again. He was a beautiful guy, but the desperation in him was beyond bone-chilling. She wanted nothing to do with him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, Emily. I’ll go.” Jared stood, walking toward the hospital room door. When he paused at the door, she reached for the call button one last time.

“Emily, please call me sometime,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear before exiting. She could feel her pulse start to slow, but the damage had already been done. She’d broken out into an uncomfortable sweat after spending time to prepare for Avery’s arrival. Scooting out of the bed, she turned for the bathroom once again. Closing the door, she repaired her nervously disheveled appearance.

From inside the bathroom, she could hear three small raps. “Come in,” she yelled.

“Emily?” She heard Avery question from the other side of the door.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” she spoke sweetly while re-applying her lip gloss and patting her forehead with a cool washcloth. Whoever that Doctor was, she didn’t want to see him again. Ever.

She walked out of the bathroom to be met with a feast fit for a queen. Avery had not missed anything, including a large beautiful arrangement of wild flowers in a sky blue decorative bucket. Her breath hitched as she caught sight of them. Emily walked toward the window ledge where he’d placed the flowers. Lowering her nose, she inhaled deeply. “These are gorgeous. They smell amazing. You didn’t have to, Avery,” she spoke as she turned around to meet his powerful gaze.

A thousand-watt-smile spread across his face as he took a step toward the hospital bedside table he was preparing for their dinner feast. “No, I didn’t
have
to. I wanted to do it for you, Emily.” She could feel herself melt on the inside from the southern twang in his voice. Her name sounded so beautiful coming from his lips. Those delicious looking lips. She started to blush when she realized what he’d actually said.

Avery worked quickly, placing a tablecloth over the small shaky table and unpacking the overfull Steak N’ Shake take-out bags. Splitting the food up onto two floral print paper plates, he set the giant milk shake cup besides it. “Butterfinger, though?” he said with a laugh while sticking the straw inside the cup.

“Don’t hate! It’s amazing.” She laughed. “Here.” She picked the cup up off the table and approached him, raising it to his lips. “Try a sip of it.” She held the cup as he slowly puckered his lips and lowered in for a sip of the ice cold, milky treat.

Taking a moment to savor the taste, he stared into her eyes, only breaking their contact to blink. “Okay, so it is really good. I’ll give you that. But I am a chocolate kinda guy.” A soft smile crept across his face, more seductive than his previous grin.

“Thank you, Avery. For all of this,” Emily said, waving around to all he had brought with him to cheer her up. The aroma of steak burgers and French fries filled the air. She sat down across from him and dug right in. It had been days since her last decent meal and she was beyond hungry. She took an unladylike monstrous bite and savored all the flavors—the bite of the sharp cheddar cheese, kick of the grilled onions, and the refreshing cool of the ketchup. Emily closed her eyes, letting out a sensual satisfied moan as she continued to chew. “Mmmmmm. God, this is good!”

Avery couldn’t help but stare at her, slack-jawed. He could feel a slight tightening in his pants, so he shifted uncomfortably in an attempt to mask his stirring erection. It had been so long since he’d been with a woman, that simply watching Emily savor her burger was turning him on. What was this woman doing to him?

Just as he was trying to think of topics to talk about, she broke the silence.

“So, Avery, have you lived in Daytona Beach your entire life?”

“No, Ma’am. Born and raised in Georgia. I moved down here when I was about twenty. You?” he questioned as he took another bite of his burger.

“I was born and raised in Ponce Inlet. My grandpa used to be a stock car racer down here. One of the original NASCAR’s. So, my parents just never wanted to leave the area. Too many memories.” Emily smiled in between bites, taking a moment to pick up a napkin off the table and wipe the corners of her mouth.

“NASCAR, huh? Are you a race fan?” Avery questioned, before taking a sip from his dark chocolaty milkshake.

She completely missed his question while she continued to focus on his beautifully full lips once again. “Oh, yea! I go to all the races down here.” She smiled, trying to hide the embarrassment of being caught in outer space.

Their conversation continued to flow as they finished their meal. Emily found herself taking extra time with each bite, enjoying the flavors she’d been missing while cooped up in the hospital.

“So, I get to go home tomorrow.” Emily mentioned.

“That’s great, Emily! Do you have a ride home?” Avery quickly questioned, hoping she would say no.

“Unfortunately, yes. Ugh. My
lovely
brother-in-law is going to be picking me up.” The sarcasm was thick in her words. “I have to go and get a new car since mine is a complete loss.” Emily rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh, thinking about her precious Volkswagen she would never see again. One of the last daily reminders she’d had of her parents who gave her the car for her sixteenth birthday. As she continued to think about her one and only car, a melancholy feeling swept over her, threatening the good mood she’d received courtesy of Avery.

“You don’t sound so excited ‘bout that, Baby,” Avery said, pressing his lips together in a manner of discontent.

His words caused Emily to snap out of her daydream and back to planet Earth.
Did he just call me baby?

“We don’t get along that great, but there’s really no one else to help me tomorrow, so I will deal with him for a couple hours. It will be my monthly quota of Ben.” She let out a small giggle at the idea of dodging Ben for an entire month. Amelia would never let that happen, but it was wishful thinking for sure!

“Whatever you do, get something bigger than that death trap you were driving,” Avery said with a stern look on his face. “You were lucky, Emily.”

She could sense the seriously overprotective tone in his voice which caused goosebumps to start spreading all over her skin. “I’m just going to go get another VW. They are pretty safe, overall.” Emily tried to smile, but could only conjure up a smirk.

“As long as it isn’t another Beetle.” Avery teased.

“I can totally agree to that. Who buys the same car twice in a row anyway?” Emily gave him a teasing grin and a slight nudge to the shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind if I climb back up into that uncomfortable hospital bed. Sometimes when I sit up too long, my head starts to pound.” She cringed slightly as she used her pink painted fingernails to massage her temples.

“Of course not, get comfortable. Do you need any help, Emily?” Avery asked, getting up to help her climb back up into the raised hospital bed.

“No, I think I can manage.” She gave him a wink, slipped her flip-flops off, and scooted onto the bed, quickly adjusting herself so she could lay her head back slightly, helping to relieve her discomfort.

As Emily started relaxing, Avery took the time to clean up their dinner mess, asking if there was anything she wanted to save before disposing of each leftover item. The only thing she clung on to was her milkshake, mumbling something about her dead, lifeless, hands.

She lay in bed as he sat at her side, talking for what seemed like hours. Discussing everything from pets to their favorite songs. They bonded over their love for country music, especially Luke Bryan. “I would shake it for Luke Bryan any day of the week,” Emily joked.

Avery didn’t miss a beat. He shot his comeback out quickly. “How about for me? Or is this only an exclusive offer for Luke Bryan?” They both burst out laughing.

The more Emily thought about his words, the more she imagined intimate moments with this gorgeous man who was doting on her in her moment of need. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to shake if for Avery Martin?

“Tell ya what, Avery. When I’m feeling a little better, I just
might
shake it for you one day.” Emily started laughing, while Avery sat with his jaw hanging, never taking his emerald eyes off of her.

“You can’t say something like that to me, Emily. Don’t get my hopes up.” He laughed, clenching his chest with both hands, mimicking a heart attack.

“Oh my! Do I need to call a doctor?” Emily teased, pulling one of her pillows off the bed and tossing it in Avery’s direction.

He caught the pillow mid-air, reaching to chuck it back at Emily, but stopping before he let it fly through the air. “I will get you back for that, Miss Taylor. Mark my words.”

If there was anything Avery and Emily learned that evening, it was the fact they got along well. Conversation flowed easily, they could make each other laugh, and there was an abundant amount of sexual tension. They couldn’t help but tease and laugh with each other. No matter what one would say, the other would find a way to twist it into a way to flirt. Their attraction was crystal clear.

The door started to open as Emily’s night nurse appeared in the doorway. She had joked each night, calling her Nurse Cratchit, because no matter how polite you were to her, she was downright miserable. The round figured older woman never smiled, her grey eyes were sad with loneliness, and she moved slowly like the years had not been kind to her body. Her messy grey hair was tied back into a bun on the back of her head; unruly split ends surrounded her face.

“You know Firefighter Martin, visiting hours were over two hours ago, right?” the nurse virtually growled out at him.

“I know, Nurse. I was hoping to stay until after you were finished. Then I promise I will leave. Scout’s honor.” He held up his arm and stood up straight. Emily tried desperately not to burst out laughing.

She didn’t acknowledge Avery at all, continuing her nightly routine of taking Emily’s vital signs, checking her vision, and administering her plethora of medications. The entire time Emily stared at Avery instead of making eye contact with the wicked nurse.

“They’ll go over your discharge instructions with you in the morning, Miss Taylor,” the Nurse said as she headed to the door. “And you, Martin, I expect to see you walk out of this door momentarily, or so help me young man…”

Their faces both flushed red from holding back their laughter as she waddled out of the room with her portable computer cart. When they were sure she was no longer in ear shot, they let their contained laughter go, booming through the petite hospital room.

“I better leave before Cratchit comes back and eats me for a midnight snack. Yikes!” Avery joked as he stood from his bedside spot, awkwardly alternating feet and rubbing his sweaty palms down his pant legs.

“That sucks. I was actually having a great time.” Emily admitted without care. Showing she was vulnerable toward men had always been one of her biggest flaws. There clearly was something between her and Avery neither of them could deny.

“Well, Miss Taylor, I would love to see you again if you are up for it.” Avery nervously ran his fingers through his hair, looking everywhere in the room but at Emily.

After a long pause of considering what to say, Emily spoke, “I would really like that.”

With relief running through him, Avery smiled and took a step closer to the hospital bed where she lay. Reaching out his hand, he took hers gently, pulling her up off her pillow before swooping in for a polite hug. As he started pulling away, Emily turned her face, planting a single soft kiss on his cheek.

Neither of them could ignore the surge of passion their simple exchange had brought. Desire pooled deep in Emily while she slowly pulled away to meet Avery’s gaze. They both froze, helpless in the eyes of the other, wondering what would come next.

Just inches away from Emily’s lips, Avery leaned in. “Goodnight, Emily.” He stood and headed right for the door, leaving her paralyzed in her place. She let out a deep sigh and fell backward against her mound of pillows, throwing her hands over her eyes.

God that man,
was all she could think.