Dare to Trust (3 page)

“No, it isn’t,” he told her. “But at least you got me off that damn board.” Jason attempted a smile.

When he saw Mia again, Jason had finished with the CAT scan, his neck had been cleared, and the collar removed. He was sitting upright, leaning against the stretcher. His nurse had helped remove the Kevlar vest, as well as undress his upper torso. Once Mia had learned from Detective Grimes how Jason had tackled the suspect, she wanted to be sure he hadn’t injured anything else.

When Mia re-entered the curtained off bay where Jason was, she momentarily found herself distracted by his bare, muscled chest. Her eyes following the dark hair that peppered his chest and trailed down his taut abdomen, disappearing into the waistband of the pants he still wore. “Feel better sitting up?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he lied. “But the room keeps spinning.”

“That’s the concussion,” Mia told him as she placed her stethoscope on his chest. Her warm fingers scraped against his skin. “Take a deep breath for me.” He did so. “Again.” He did. “Good.” She replaced the stethoscope back around her neck. “Can you lean forward for me so I can look at your back?”

“Sure.” Jason spoke before he attempted the task. When he slowly leaned forward, bile rose in his throat and dizziness struck. He shut his eyes, concentrating on his breathing. He was not going to vomit in front of her.

“Easy,” Mia told him gently. She quickly assessed his back and spine. Happy with her findings, she placed her hand on his shoulder and eased him back into the stretcher. “Do you want something for the headache or nausea?”

“No.” The throbbing in his head was worsening, and he could feel aches in his lower back. Any other time, a touch on his bare skin from this woman would have sent his mind thinking about taking her to bed. But not now. He figured he would feel ten times worse in the morning. As much as he would love for the pain to go away, Jason didn’t like feeling out of control; he already had a memory deficit and felt woozy---he didn’t need narcotics to worsen things. “Just need some sleep, I think.” He opened his eyes and looked at Mia. “This wasn’t how I envisioned our next encounter,” he joked with her. “I had a much better time planned in my mind.”

Mia laughed. “I’m sure next time will be great.” She pulled up a stool and sat. “I’m going to inject some Lidocaine to numb your laceration, okay?”

“Be gentle with that needle,” Jason retorted. He hated needles. He hated being a patient.

“Of course. No allergies, right?” He nodded, immediately regretting it as the room spun. “I promise it won’t hurt,” Mia assured him.

Mia was quiet while she sutured up his wound. Jason had wanted to banter with her, display his usual charming personality, but it was taking all of his efforts to stay awake and not throw up all over the gorgeous doctor.

“There’s going to be a scar, unfortunately,” she told him as she finished. Mia didn’t think that would affect his good looks what so ever.

“MMhhmm.” Jason had his eyes closed and was fighting sleep. He felt Mia’s soft hand touch his and he opened his eyes. Had he drifted off? “Hey.” His eyelids were heavy.

“You’re going to be drowsy for a few days.” Mia took out her pen light and assessed his pupils again. She was happy with the results. “Do you know when you last had a Tetanus shot?”

“Nope.” He had closed his eyes again and couldn’t fight the drowsiness.

“Well, we will make sure you get one before you leave, detective.” She avoided his name, not liking the unfamiliarity of the feelings for him she was experiencing. It was more than difficult to keep the interaction on a professional level; she had been more than nervous when Jason had first been brought in. Scared he was seriously injured. She stood and stared for a moment, knowing he was asleep. Mia was very glad he was going to be okay. Sore but okay.

An hour later, Jason was ready for discharge. Grimes agreed to take him home and stay with him, watching for the signs of a worsening concussion: vomiting, confusion, dizziness. If Grimes hadn’t offered, Jason would have had to be admitted to the hospital for observation. Mia had warned that Jason would feel sleepy and that Grimes should wake him every few hours to check for any symptoms. Mia had also provided her cell number and encouraged Jason or Grimes to call with any issues.

“When I call you, it’s going to be for a date, not medical advice,” Jason told her as he left. His speech was thick with sleep. He was walking slowly, determined to prove he was okay. He had flatly refused a wheelchair and his partner knew arguing with Jason was pointless. It took all of his strength and concentration but Jason made it to Grimes’ car. The adrenaline rush had long left his sore body and he just needed to get to his bed.

“You don’t have to act so macho,” Grimes told his partner as he shook his head. “We all know how much you’re hurting. I don’t know why you didn’t let them give you something for the pain.”

“I’m fine,” Jason insisted as he slowly got into the car. He slumped his head against the head rest and closed his eyes.

“Sure buddy. Whatever.”

Jason crawled into bed as soon as he got home. Grimes hit the couch. Several times through the afternoon and night, Grimes woke him up as directed, checking for any signs of a worsening head injury.

“I’m not dying, Grimes. Give it a rest,” Jason barked at his partner the next morning after being woken up…again. His head throbbed and his neck and back were tight. He wanted to be alone and rest. “Go home to your wife. I am fine.” He closed his eyes and carefully rolled over in bed to assure the nausea stayed at bay. “You know you’re way out,” he told his partner.

              “You’re a pain in the ass, Howard.” Grimes let out an exasperated breath.

              “I know,” Jason told him. “Thanks for staying last night.”

              “Call if you need something, man.” Jason heard his front door close as he fell back asleep.

Jason rested over the next few days. He slept more than usual, and moved about his place with slow, deliberate movements to ward off the dizziness. He hadn’t filled the scripts for pain medicine and on the second day, wished he had listened to Mia and done so. There wasn’t one part of his body that didn’t hurt. By the fourth day, he was ready to be cleared to go back to duty. At the end of the week, he dropped by the emergency room looking for Mia.

“Hey,” she greeted him when she saw him walk through the ambulance bay.

“Hi.” Jason smiled widely at her as he closed the distance between them, his blue eyes sparkling; unlike they had when he had been her patient. “I wanted to stop by and thank you for taking care of me.”

She nodded. “Feeling better?” Mia couldn’t help but assess his sutured wound on his right temple. It looked fine. She had thought about him frequently the past few days, wondering if he had been okay. She had hoped he would call and had been a bit disappointed when he hadn’t. Mia was happy and relieved he had stopped in for a visit.

“Much. But I don’t remember much about the first day,” he told her. “I hope I was a compliant patient,” he said with an uncomfortable grin, trying to make light of his hospital visit. The lack of memory bothered him.

Mia laughed and he felt a tug in his gut. He loved that sound. “You were the best patient of the day,” she teased.

“I have no doubt. Does that mean I can take you to dinner? Tomorrow night?” His hand brushed against hers, causing a sharp intake of breath from Mia.

“That sounds great,” Mia told him, “but I have to go out of town for a conference. I won’t be back until the week-end.”

“Oh.” Jason frowned. “Can I call you when you get back?” He really wanted to spend some more time with her. At home, when he was recuperating, she was all he had thought of.

“Sure.” She offered him a wide smile. “I get back from Chicago on Saturday night. I’m back at work Monday morning.”

Jason had intended to take her out Sunday. A murder investigation got in the way on Sunday. Mia had shifts scheduled the rest of the week. They had difficulty being able to line up a time when they were both available; Jason never knew when he would be called out to a murder scene and Mia’s hospital schedule was more than intense. They talked on the phone almost every day. Jason couldn’t wait to spend time alone with Mia, in person.

Early Friday evening, it was not unheard of for the detectives to let off steam at the local watering hole. Most Friday’s, Jason participated. This Friday, although he was there, his mind was on other things---namely Mia and when he would see her again.

“Hey, Howard, don’t you see that pretty little blonde over there, checking you out?” Billings, a fellow detective ribbed his colleague. “Why aren’t you priming her to go home with you?” Jason had picked up an attractive woman more than once from this bar.

“Not interested,” Jason answered, checking his phone. He had hoped Mia had listened to his voicemail and had called back. She hadn’t. He took a long drink of beer and sighed.

“Since when are you not interested in some easy tail?” Billings asked with surprise. “Are you sick?”

Grimes smiled, rapping his partner on the shoulder. “He’s got it bad for a certain doctor he met a few weeks ago.” Jason’s head snapped up, his attention no longer on his phone. He shot Grimes a warning glance to drop the conversation. He hated that his partner was right.

“Howard’s got a girlfriend?” Billings exclaimed, smirking at him. “Is she that good in bed, Howard?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Jason snarled as he popped up from the chair and simultaneously grabbed the front of Billing’s shirt. “I suggest you change the subject.”

Raising his hands in the air in a show of surrender, Billings grinned at the other guys seated at the table. “You win. I’m dropping it.” He sat back down at the bar. “She must be something to take you off the market, Howard.”

It was a few weeks before they connected for a real ‘date’, and it had felt like an eternity to Jason. Mia was in his thoughts constantly; the kiss they had shared haunted him. It was a cool spring day and Jason had told her to dress casual. Mia had no idea what to expect but she put on jeans, a light weight sweater and pulled her hair back. She finished off with a gauze scarf lightly draped around her neck. When she answered her door, Jason quickly scanned her body, loving the way the denim molded to her curves. He was done for. It took all his self-control not to push Mia back into her apartment and ravage her. He had wondered countless times how he would her lips would taste, how she would feel in his arms, how it would feel to be inside her.

Jason also wore jeans, cut perfectly to the contours of his body. The dark polo shirt accented the outlines of his chest and abdominal muscles which Mia could picture, remembering the exam in the emergency room. Heat rushed through her as she remembered how her hands had palpated and examined his hard body.

“Ready to go?” Jason asked with urgency in his voice, taking her hand to leave the apartment. If they didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t be able to control what happened.

“Sure.” Her sexy smile that she offered him further fueled the X-rated fantasy of her in his head. Jason felt himself getting hard---not the way he wanted to start off the date with her. He forced his mind to think about his current open cases at work for a few moments to divert the blood from his groin back to his head.

              “Where are we headed?” she asked as he helped usher her into his car.

              “Hungry?” he answered her with a question.

              “Yes, I am.” Mia was not one of the women who hid their appetite from a man. “I see you’re feeling better.” She smiled at him. “I’m glad.”

              “Me too.” Jason parked in a parking garage. As they walked, Jason’s hand brushed against Mia’s and he laced his fingers with her. Jason knew he could easily get used to touching her. She enjoyed the comfortable feel of his big hand around hers.

Mia soon found that they were headed towards Boston Common. They came upon a spot where a picnic basket had been arranged on a blanket. Jason smiled. “I was trying for something a little different. I hope you like picnics.” Usually, he didn’t try at all for women.

              “This is great!” Mia loved the surprise. She couldn’t recall the last time someone had done something so fun and original for her. The past few years had been a blur of studying, testing and honing her medical craft. Kate was always encouraging Mia to go out and enjoy life but Mia rarely did. She had left little room over the past few years for enjoyment.  They sat on the blanket and Jason reached into the basket, arranging a display of cheese, crackers in front of Mia, then handed her a glass of white wine.

              “To us,” he said and raised his glass. She gave him a wide smile that drove him crazy.

              They sat for a few hours, eating, enjoying the wine and talking. He found himself enjoying listening to her voice, her laugh, watching her facial expressions. She was a fascinating, beautiful woman and the first one that he actually had more than a sexual interest in.

As the time wore on, Jason edged closer to her, finding reasons to touch her. The simple act of brushing away a loose strand of hair from her cheek sent shocks through his system. And the smoldering looks she kept casting his way…

              “So, you didn’t grow up in Boston?” he asked, after she had mentioned a childhood in southwest Florida.

              “Nope. I moved here for medical school at Boston University. I graduated two years ago and was lucky enough to get a spot in the emergency medicine residency at BMC. I’ve got two years left.” Mia smiled. “I can’t imagine it all being over with.”