Title: In the Blood, ch 7
Author: Whytewytch4
Word count: 2,075
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: None
Characters/Pairings: Evan Lorne, OFC
Summary: Justinia has very un-professional thoughts about Evan. She and Evan get to know each other better as she treats his injuries.
**HUGE thanks to jagnikjen* for her beta assistance.
Justinia tossed and turned as sleep eluded her. Every time she closed her eyes, images attacked her mind. Evan lying hurt on the ground. Evan telling her she looked like an angel, his eyes warm and affectionate. Evan sitting bare-chested on the bed in the infirmary. She had seen men fully naked often and it had never distracted her like the sight of his bare chest had—well, rarely, she amended, staring up at the ceiling. Then, there had been his arousal. She didn't understand it, but the man had actually seemed to be attracted to her. That thought plagued her, with her imagination filling in things she knew nothing about first hand. What would his touch feel like? What did his body look like completely unclothed? What would it feel like to make love with Evan? The idea that she was beginning to think of him so intimately made her shiver with fear and yet she could not seem to stop thinking of him.
She remembered the first time she had seen a naked man. It was in med school, and she had blushed almost violently at the sight as the young student stood before them. Her anatomy teacher was a firm believer in the "hands on" approach, and so pictures in the book were not good enough when he lectured on the human body. Live models were used nearly every class, although they were not always completely naked.
Her desk was in the front of the class and the student had been aroused by so many women admiring him. Wassa matter, sweet cheeks? Never seen a naked guy before? His smile was insolent, but his words too true for comfort. Justinia had tried to get out of the class, but was told in no uncertain terms that she would make a poor doctor if she could not handle seeing naked people. She had toughed it out from there, telling herself the body was only a machine and never again had the sight of naked flesh caused her a moment's pause. Until today.
Her fingers had actually been shaking as she pulled Evan's shirt out of his pants. And when she had felt his breath on her skin… He had been sitting there in the infirmary, an injured man in her care, and all she had wanted to do was throw him down and have her way with him.
She was absolutely mortified by how often and how intimately she was thinking of him lately. Even thinking of him as Evan instead of as Major Lorne. That would simply have to stop. Her parents were already choosing a husband for her, and once her career was launched, she would return to Earth and marry the man they chose for her. There was simply no room for fantasies about Major Lorne in her life.
Evan moved restlessly on the bed. He tried to convince himself it was only the pain of his injuries that made him wakeful, but every time he closed his eyes, he felt Justinia's fingers brushing his abdomen, removing his belt. Saw Justinia's blue eyes, wide and innocent, full of confusion when he told her he'd better finish undressing himself, suddenly become heated, full of desire as she leaned forward to kiss him. His eyes flew open and, with a frustrated groan, he sat up. He reached for the water on his nightstand, tempted to dump it in his lap instead of drinking it.
"Are you all right, Major?" Dr. Michaels poked his head in the door.
"Yeah, just hard to sleep, is all. Strange bed." Evan smiled at the man.
"Are you having any pain?"
"Yeah, but nothing bad." Evan winced as his body seemed to respond to the doctor's question. Certain parts ached more than others and not because they were injured.
"Good. We don't want to give you too much medication right now. Don't want to exacerbate your injuries."
"I understand." Evan sighed. There was only one cure for his current condition and that wouldn't be happening any time soon.
"Try and get some more sleep, Major."
"I'll try, Doc." Evan lay back down and shut his eyes. Damn! Why can't Justinia work the night shift? Of course, it's probably just as well she isn't here; I'd never get any sleep…
Justinia yawned and scrubbed her face with her hands. At least the program Evan provided her PDA with allowed her to make her way to the mess hall and get a coffee. Evan. How would she face him this morning after the erotic dreams of the two of them together that had disrupted her sleep? Her mother's icy voice suddenly filled her mind: With professionalism, Justinia. She rose and pulled out the PDA, following the lighted trail to the infirmary.
She arrived to find Evan—Major Lorne, she corrected quickly—lying in the bed, eyes shut, lashes caressing the top of his cheekbones; his breathing was deep and even. It was very hard to distance herself when he was lying there, looking so peaceful. She stood staring at him until the soft voice of Dr. Michaels spoke behind her, making her jump.
"Your patient had a restless night, but he's fine otherwise. Sorry, did I startle you?"
"I…" Justinia tried to get her breath back, but then the major's voice pulled her attention back to the bed.
"I couldn't sleep with Dr. Frankenstein skulking around the infirmary."
Justinia blinked, confused by his reference to the classic bit of literature. "Dr. Frankenstein? Who's that?"
Michaels grinned. "I think he means me. He just would rather have a woman roaming these rooms at night, is all."
"Guilty." Lorne chuckled, and then began coughing, winding up with a groan of pain.
"I can take a hint. Time for me to go." Michaels waved at Lorne, who thrust his chin out in lieu of waving back.
Justinia was at Lorne's side a moment later, helping him to sit up straighter and get his breath. She reached down to the bed's controls and moved it so that he was able to sit back at a comfortable angle.
"You really should be more careful, Major."
His smile was sardonic as he pinned her with his steady gray gaze. "Yes, ma'am."
"Let me see what's going on down here." Justinia moved down and rolled the sheets up from the bottom, exposing Lorne's swollen ankle. "What did you do?" She glared over at him accusingly.
"What do you mean?" Lorne peered down, still having difficulty seeing over the bulk of the rolled-up linens.
"This ankle is even more swollen than it was when I left here last night."
"Well, it's not like I was doing jumping jacks." His tone was snappish and Justinia flushed. She had annoyed him again. That was good; it would keep him at arm's length. She tried to ignore the roiling of her stomach and the sadness that washed over her at the idea of pushing him away. Shuddering briefly, Justinia took out the scanner and ran it over his ankle one more time.
"No. No fracture. Just a severe sprain. All right, time for another bandage. We'll ice it first. Where's the pillow I gave you last night to rest your foot on?"
Lorne glanced down at the floor by the other side of his bed. "Um, I kinda kicked it off."
Justinia scowled at him as she bent to retrieve the pillow, fluffing it up before gently lifting his leg and placing his foot back on the pillow.
"I'll be right back with the ice."
"Sure thing, Doc."
When she came back, Evan's eyes were closed once more, his hands resting on his stomach. They were strong, capable hands, and Justinia swallowed, forcing away all thoughts of how those hands felt on her, of how they would feel on more intimate parts of her body than just her arms. As lightly as she could, she placed the ice on Lorne's swollen ankle. He cracked one eye open to look at her.
"I'll be back in about twenty minutes and put on your bandage. We have to get the swelling down first."
"Can you visit with me while we wait?"
What was it about his voice that made her insides melt? "I…I really can't. I have rounds first."
"Rounds?" Lorne looked around at the nearly empty infirmary. "Look, Doc, I don't mean to downgrade your work, but there are more medical personnel here at the moment than there are patients. If you don't want to stay, just say so."
Justinia thought of all the times he had gone out of his way to be nice to her. It was definitely safer to stay away from him, but he had more than earned twenty minutes of her time. "I guess it can wait." She sat on the chair near his bed, perched on the edge, ill at ease. "What did you want to talk about?"
"How about you?"
"Me? Why me?" She hated talking about herself, hated the vulnerable feeling that came with it.
"Why not you? Are you in the Witness Protection Program or something?" His eyes sparkled and Justinia was once more uncomfortably aware of how nervous he made her.
"No. What a silly question. You know who I am."
"No. I know what it says on your file. I know you have no sense of direction. But I don't know you." Justinia shivered as his steady gaze held her once more. She felt like a deer in the headlights, seeing her destruction coming at her, yet unable to move. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, how about, where were you born?"
"I was born at Pease. Lived there for the first five years of my life."
"Did you like New Hampshire?"
"Yes." The fact was that when she allowed herself to think of such things, Justinia still considered the Portsmouth area to be her home. She swallowed, looking down at her interlaced fingers. Lorne made her so uncomfortable. She looked up into his eyes—eyes that seemed to burn right into her soul. She decided to turn things around a bit before he found out just how boring she was. "Where were you born?"
He smiled. "San Francisco."
"Did you like it there?" She still felt awkward and so she echoed his question to her.
"Yeah, I did. Miss it still, if the truth be told. My whole family's there. Mind, it's been nice, seeing all kinds of new places with the Air Force. I was even sent to England and Germany for a time before joining the Space Command."
Justinia nodded. "We spent some time in Europe, too. My father was stationed at Lakenheath and Ramstein."
"Did it ever bother your parents, moving so much?"
Lorne's question confused Justinia. "I don't think so. They never spoke of it—it was just the job. They did what was required."
"My parents loved living in the same town they grew up in." Evan smiled, his face lighting up and his gaze seeming to turn inward. "They loved giving my sister and me that stability. They all live there still." He glanced at her. "You have any siblings?"
"No. Mother and Father had me. They had done their duty by reproducing. They didn't want any more children." How many times had she heard that as a child? Maybe half a dozen times? That had been their answer every time she had asked for a younger sibling. After a few times of asking, her parents had demanded she stop and so she had, but the craving for a sibling had never gone away.
"Damn, Doc, that's harsh. My parents wanted a whole pack of kids, but they just weren't able to. My sister and I are it."
"What's your sister's name?" Justinia felt an unaccountable longing to know more about Lorne's sister since she had been denied one herself.
"Katherine—well, Katy. I call her Rin; there was a girl at school once that I hated named Kate, so I couldn't call my big sister by the same name."
Justinia smiled for a brief second. "My mother's name is Katherine, too. People always tried to call her Kate or Katy, but she would let them know that was completely unacceptable. My parents don't like pet names."
"It sounds like it was a very strict house."
"Structure creates balance, my parents always say."
"Mine say that life is found in the chaos."
Justinia realized that she and Lorne had been talking for some time. She had duties to attend to, including re-wrapping his ankle. She stood abruptly, calling for a nurse. She removed the ice and wrapped the bandage around his ankle while the nurse held his leg up. She turned to leave, but Lorne's voice caused her to turn back briefly.
"Better get used to the chaos, Doc. You find it a lot in the Pegasus Galaxy."
A/N: Thanks for your patience on this update. I've been down and out with bronchitus, but I seem to be on the mend now. :)
