His Lady Godiva (Lovers and Other Strangers) (6 page)

"You don't hate me?"

"God, No, Hate you for making me feel… amazing? That was the kind of sex that makes an old lady smile thinking about it forty years later. I'm not going to let you take that back."

"Violet, I swear I have never done anything like that before. I..."

"Okay, now you are just bragging. You expect me to believe that you are some kind of sexual savant? You can just lay your hands on a woman and she comes undone?"

"You are the only one who has ever had that kind of reaction, or that I have tried to make come undone.

"And you say the sweetest things. You should have a warning label that you are addictive. You better get out of here or I am make you finish what you started. You'll come back tomorrow though? I was kidding about the sex part we can play twenty questions again. But you need to think up some naughty ones because yours were seriously boring."

He laughed outright now. He took a deep breath and stared at her. "You confuse the hell out of me, Violet."

"I'm supposed to silly man, that is how you know I am a girl. Now get, I don't want you in trouble. At least not with anyone but me."

He shook his head and kissed her lips. "I'll see you tomorrow at rounds."

The next morning, when he arrived at Violet's room with the residents her brother had just arrived. He shouldn't have been angry but he was. He didn't want to share her with anyone. She was so glad to see her brother he couldn't stay angry. He and Allyn Bellows made idle chit chat while Violet was helped to the bathroom.

"How did you get in? I had heard Logan was still closed."

"It is. The storm had already moved through New York so I flew there, got a car and drove up. Frankly, I expected her to be in much worse shape, actually, she seems to be doing great. The whole way up I kept thinking she was going to end up sedated or in restraints. I can't believe how relaxed she is. I can't thank you enough for what you have done for her. Beyond the surgery, I mean." Michael tried not to turn 10 shades of red. If this man knew the things he'd had thought about and and done with his sister he'd be beating him senseless instead of thanking him.

"The worst of the storm is over so hopefully you'll be able to take her home tomorrow." Why did that depress him so much. He could never say it out loud but being trapped in the hospital with Violet had been the closest thing to a relationship he'd allowed himself. Now she was going home and he'd only see her for follow up appointments. He'd see her drift away from him till they only had a professional relationship. That was what he had wanted last night before she had let him seduce her. Now that he had a glimpse of what life could be, he couldn't bear to see her look at him as just another doctor or worse, just some poor man in a wheelchair.

Her brother evidently had pull at the hospital, or the nurses were just thrilled to have another man around because the visiting hour rules didn't seem to apply to him. Michael never did get to see Violet alone again before she was discharged. It was maddening having her so close and not be able to touch her or wait beside her bed till she woke up and he could kiss her. He was starting to hate hospitals himself, while he finished signing her discharge paperwork.

He had made his decision and rationally he knew it was for the best. Emotionally it meant his life would be utter crap till he got her out of his system but there wasn't any other way. It wasn't as though his life didn't feel empty before her but after her, well, it seemed to be a black hole now. Nothing left to do but to tell her and get the hell out of here.

"Well, discharge paperwork is all done. I see you are packed, that's good. Hopefully they'll be around with a chair to take you downstairs in a bit. I don't know why but that always seems to be the hardest part, getting an orderly with a chair." Violet looked like she wanted to say something but kept looking at her brother and would stop. Just as well, he didn't want any heartfelt disclosures that would complicate what he had to do now.

"Violet, I think you are doing quite well in your recovery. I am going to have my office transfer your care to one of my associates, Tom Waters is very good, nice guy, I think you'll like him. He'll set you up with any physical therapy you need. You don't need to come back to the office to have the staples removed. A visiting nurse will be in touch and set up a time in the next week or two. I've enjoyed having you as a patient." He'd run out of things to say but he still couldn't look at her.

"Why?"

He heard her anger. He'd expected disappointment given that her feelings wouldn't have receded yet though he knew they would, but he hadn't thought she would be angry. When he looked at her, her eyes were almost black with anger, there was that steel he always seemed to find in her. Part of him wanted to smile. He did like that unwillingness to let disappointment back her into a corner.

"I think it is for the best, for now, if someone else attends to your care. I am sure I will still see you at the office and I will make sure to tell Tom to CC me on any notes."

"Fine." She said as cutting as any stiletto. She moved to collect her things as the orderly brought the wheelchair in. Michael fought the urge to close his eyes. He wondered if there were a bar nearby already open because right at this moment he'd like to be blind drunk. If she had looked hurt he could have at least comforted her but she wouldn't. She pulled her walls up and disappeared behind them. He hated himself but there was no other way.

***

Violet leaned against the door frame exhausted from her physical therapy and the last month and a half. She had given up trying to not think about Michael and was going with a more meditative approach. Of course he would come up in her thoughts and when he did she simply acknowledged the thought and set it adrift. She thought about him just as much but at least she felt less guilty about it. The physical therapy was helping with some of the adhesions and pain left over from the surgery. The pain in her heart was a different story. She noticed the lights were still on in the therapy room which was odd since she had the last appointment. She was about to go when she heard someone fall to the ground and a man's voice cursing. She knew who it was and it would serve him right to leave him lying on the floor or under a piece of equipment for not calling her. She just couldn't walk away though.

She walked into the room to find Michael lying on the mat under the parallel bars. She thought back to when she had helped him across the street and how miserable he had been and steeled herself for an outburst. "Doctor, Can I help you with something?"

"oh, fucking wonderful. No, just leave me here, with any luck I'll be dead in the morning."

"So we've decided that morose rather than belligerent as the lesser of two evils. Michael let me help you for god's sake."

"Just go away, I'd sooner be stuck here than to see you look at me with pity."

"Well then it is your lucky day because I had intended to look at you like you were a goddamned ass if you want to know the truth."

"Oh, that I can deal with. Unfortunately it is the truth. Can you bring my chair over here and then I might need you to steady it while I get in."

Violet looked around for the large chair with the hydraulics. "I don't see the Dr. X chair. Is it in the other room?"

"The what?

"Dr. X, you know the comic book hero in the wheelchair, has mental telepathy and x-ray vision, all the usual super hero stuff."

Michael cocked an eyebrow at her. "Is that how you thought of me?"

"Don't be an ass Michael, oh, sorry too late! Where is the chair?

"It is the low backed one right near you, I don't always use the other one. I was doing some exercises and then I am supposed to go play basketball with a friend."

She pushed the wheelchair closer to him as he rolled to a sitting position. "I could see you were in good shape, I didn't really think about what kind of exercise program you would have to do. What were you doing with the parallel bars?"

"If I tell you you'll laugh at me."

"Michael, I have never laughed at you, well unless you were being pompous. More likely I will end up yelling at you if past experience is any indication."

He smiled, she was right of course, she had never laughed at his deficits only his lousy attitude. "Fine, I was practicing walking."

"What? You can walk?"

"No, actually I can't but I keep trying. I hope it keeps the neural pathways open. I end up falling on my face most of the time. Stupid but true, I've had plenty of doctors tell me I am wasting my time but I can't give up trying."

She covered her mouth to hide the smile, not at his foolhardiness but at his perseverance.

"So you are going to laugh at me after all."

"No, I was thinking how very much alike we are. I would do the same thing."

He had no doubt that she would too. God, it hurt to look at her he missed her so much. The past six weeks had been hell, he couldn't concentrate, didn't want to get out of bed, he'd slacked off on his exercise sessions to the point that his ol' buddy Cam was going to kick his ass up and down the court today. He knew he shouldn't but he didn't want her to just leave again.

"Violet? Would you like to go with... Forget it. Its a dumb idea and you probably have plans anyway."

He was in his chair now. She had never seen him dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. She wanted to peel his damp shirt off and lick the center of his chest. She took a deep breath to clear the image from her head. "I don't have any plans for this evening. What did you have in mind?" She tried to sound casual so she didn't sound desperate. Damn, she didn't want to want him as much as she did. Pathetic was how she thought of herself. She could tell him about her new project at the foundation at least keep him talking till she figured out how to ask him out without sounding like a stalker.

"I've started researching groups that make wheelchairs out of discarded bicycles in different third world countries after seeing what you did with your other chair. The need is staggering and particular to each different area because almost nothing is paved. The designs are more along the lines of all terrain vehicles than anything you'd have here. It has all been kind of fascinating. Tell me about the design of this chair?"

He looked at her like she was turning green and growing horns before his eyes. "Um, it's just a regular sport model, low profile, it is designed to be self propelled not pushed. The center of gravity is lower so it doesn't tip when you get into tight turns." and he spun in a pirouette. "Would you like to come to my basketball game? You'd have a chance to see what I mean close up." He was staring at his knees, preparing himself for her to say no.

"I'd love to! We should take your transportation though and you can just drop me off back here after. When do we need to leave?"

He looked up in shock. He wasn't going to get his hopes up. It probably was just part of a research project to her but he could at least pretend for a little while. He felt like a teenaged boy asking the prettiest girl in school to watch him play ball but he didn't care. She had said yes and she at least looked happy to go.

"Oh, I'll need to call Allyn to let him know I'm going to miss dinner. Can we get something to eat afterwards?"

"Sure, though it won't be anything gourmet. The guys are mostly wings and beer types." He laughed at her grimace, he wasn't a fan either. "I have heard the burgers are good at the place we usually go to." They wandered down to the parking garage in silence. Michael wished he wasn't parked in the handicapped spot which was dumb because it wasn't like she didn't know he was in a wheelchair. When they got to his car she started laughing. Now he felt like an idiot.

"I'm sorry," she said smiling "I know it isn't a Masserati but do you have comic books in there?" She said pointing to his small red Italian sports car.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sorry, you've never heard the joke about how to find the Orthopod's car in the hospital lot?"

"It's the Masserati with the comic books?"

"Exactly! Sorry, you ortho guys have a nasty reputation for being unconscionably rich and not all that bright. Present company excepted of course."

"So you don't think I'm rich?" now he started laughing. "You know what a red convertible means, don't you?

"In Boston it probably means you are from out of town but when driven by a man of a certain age it means you've already had your mid-life crisis. Generally, the little red convertible is cheaper than the buxom blonde in the long run."

"Oh, I thought you were going to make a crack about my sexual prowess?"

"Doctor, I know all I need to know about your sexual prowess." Then she looked him up and down with eyes so filled with desire he felt like he had been punched in the gut. He blew his breath out in a whistle. She didn't drop her gaze but instead licked her lips. He was held spellbound till she looked away and started laughing. His hands shook when he unlocked the doors.

"I should know better than to ask. Do you need help?"

"No, I do this all the time, thank you for asking though."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow, you can be nice! Who knew?"

"Brat!"

"Right back at you!" Then they sat there for a minute grinning at each other. He quickly leaned forward and kissed her. The surprised look on her face was perfect, her gasp was even better. He turned to focus on getting his chair collapsed and stowed then they were on their way. She fished a silk scarf out of her bag and tied it around her hair. She looked like Summer in Europe instead of early Spring in Boston. He was happy beyond reason to have her beside him, humming along to an aria. He had the urge to find some lover's lane and park. He felt young and almost laughed out loud at the thought of taking her to the basketball game. Yes, exactly like a high school boy with the prettiest girl in school.

Half an hour later Michael pulled into the gym parking lot and they ambled into the biggest gym Violet had ever seen. She had gone to school in France where they just didn't have these kinds of facilities. She was surprised that there weren't many students but then it was Friday night, they were probably all out drinking and "hooking up." The thought made her giggle, would she get to "hook up" with Michael tonight? His kiss had surprised the hell out of her, so much for getting over him.