Chapter one
It was a dark and stormy night and Stephanie was alone in her home, a large house with the walls covered by a mustard wallpaper and all around was silence. A sound of a person thrown off the roof distracted her and with the heart full of pain she went up in the attic and found him, his skin was mulatto and his eyes echoing the color of the night, she was attracted by him like the magnet of her fridge, the pulse probed by him was so strong and she couldn't control it! She failed and she granted to him all night, their moans could be heard throughout the neighborhood, they loved each other like cats on the roofs, they felt to belong to each other but they didn't know how, they just abandoned themselves in the arms of love without hesitation or regret but with all the strength they had, it was amazing, two hearts and one soul, it was beautiful. Who was that man? Was he, the secret man, who had stolen her heart, running away from someone or something? Was he, the man that Stephanie was waiting for a long time? Or was he just an illusion? These thoughts couldn't fix her mind during the night because she was totally fixed on him but the following day they appeared in her mind like a mix of emotions, she was naked in her bed but throughout the room there was his smell, the pillow was soaked by his scent, she felt confused but happy.
Chapter two
The last night for Stephanie was fantastic, she could still feel the taste of him, she took two showers but his smell didn't go away, she couldn't forget anything of that happened cause she wouldn't forget, she was becoming crazy but the ringing of the pager reminded her of being an intern in surgery at Sloan Grey Memorial Hospital so she went to work with the secret man in the heart and n the head. The first day in the hospital was the most beautiful and tiring of her life, she put her scrub and read the name of the surgeon who had been assigned : "Jackson Avery", elegant and austere name and the specialization had a something intriguing : "Plastic Surgeon", she immediately thought to an adult and expert man that could teach her many things with the wisdom of his years but with her surprise she found herself in front of the mysterious man whose identity had been disclosed, what a shock to find the man with whom you spent the night be your own boss, she couldn't believe her eyes, she paralyzed in front of him and stammered something unintelligible and didn't understand anything of what he had ordered to her so he had to repeat it to her twice, " Oh fool ", she thought and then "I wonder if he'll remember us" and things like that… The time passed quickly and their surgery was getting closer, everywhere she turned was his big blue eyes, in the cafeteria, in the interns room, everywhere! He was her obsession, her sweet obsession and she couldn't stop thinking of him or at least to admit it. All she could hear was the beating of her heart and she was scared about that but she showed assurance for her first surgery and her best way to reveal it was a big smile, the best smile ever, he was struck by her, their trembling hands took the tools and he touched her for a moment, the most beautiful moment of her life, she could listen to his breathing under the mask, it was the same breath of the night before, the same hot hands which touched her the last night, the night of her dreams, the night of her life. The surgery spinned smoothly but she took no notice about it, her whole being was focused on him, he had blue eyes that stood out on the dark complexion, they gave him a Nordic look and she was going crazy for it, his eyes were shining stones and her lips had an irresistible flavor.
Chapter three
Back home after surgery Stephanie was exhausted and threw herself on the couch and then turned on the television, there was nothing of interest apart from some scientific program and some documentary but she didn't want to watch it at least not that night, so she continued the zapping until she found a beautiful romance on tv "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare, she knew every dialogue by heart because she loved Shakespeare and she wasn't able to do nothing more than imagine herself in the role of Juliet, she felt Juliet and Jackson was her Romeo, the obstacle to their love weren't their families but the lack of knowledge, she knew almost nothing about him except that he was a plastic surgeon at Sloan Grey Memorial Hospital and that he thrown off her roof and changed her life. She watched the entire romance sipping occasionally a glass of wine and with an incredible desire to know more about him, about his family, about his life out of the hospital, but for that night she had enough of it, her eyes were closing like the birds burrowing in the nest during a rainy night so she fell into the arms of Morpheus and slept sweet dreams, why he disappeared from her dreams? Why she didn't worried about their lack of knowledge? Perhaps because in her heart she felt she always knew him and she was proud of it, even the tragic love of Romeo and Juliet deterred her by the thought of her attraction to Jackson, a fatal attraction, an obsessed love. Up early she awoke, prepared a bitter coffee, washed herself quickly, drove to the hospital, parked, put her scrub hoping dearly to be assigned to Jackson but her hopes were disappointed, she had to watch all the time in the gallery an ordinary spleen surgery, there was no sign of Jackson, not even a mention of his name by some nurse, she checked all the corridors in search of him if there was been she would have seen him but as said he seemed disappeared, perhaps it was his day off, maybe she was finding more and more pieces of him and was tearing down the wall that divided them, the obstacle to their love.
Chapter four
In all this, where was Jackson? Jackson had been called by his grandfather, the luminary Harper Avery, to attend a world surgical conference where he could meet the great minds of the medicine like the cardio surgeon Preston Xavier Burke or Colin Marlowe, he could boast of the teachings received by Mark and could talk about the diligence of the interns, some interns, above all one intern : "Stephanie Edwards" that he loved with all his heart, that name was printed in his heart and so would have been forever but as usual, his grandfather didn't give him the time to express that things and called him to do attend his speech on the history of the Avery family, a secular surgeons' family where Jackson couldn't find space, he felt crushed, he would shine for his qualities, for personal credit, so he started to drink wine and was distracted by her thought, she was so beautiful that night and during surgery, he could still feel her long hands, her fleshy big mouth, her curly wild hair, her angelic voice muttering something shyly, suddenly his cheeks flushed and a special warmth pervaded his body, who didn't know him would think for sure that he was definitely in love but his grandfather took no notice, maybe he was busy with the Avery's speech, however, it didn't matter to Jackson, Harper Avery took him back home and he was a little stunned in fact he forgot to greet, immediately he threw himself on the bed and fell asleep instantly. During the night he dreamed strangely, Stephanie was the protagonist of his dream, she wore a with T shirt and a pair of jeans, she was beautiful in her simplicity and whispered in his ear cryptic words of love, that woman was all a mystery but the thing intrigued him very much.
Chapter five
This was an important day for the Sloan Grey Memorial Hospital, everything was ready for the gala and the surgeons were in trepidation, the centenary of the foundation was the long-awaited event for weeks and all members of the hospital would be performing at dances and banquets, the flowers were fresh and there was plenty of champagne, everyone was home preparing, also Stephanie was home. She was undecided about what dress she should wear and wanted to take this opportunity to show off her nature not to surgeons, it means, but above all to him. She chose a purple dress and smoothed her hair, put the gloss and a very light make-up, a pair of sandals and a black shawl, she was ready and was beautiful, she arrived at the party and sat down at the table of the interns, his friends were talking about various topics like yesterday's surgery, the beauty of realizing their dreams, the clumsiness of the scrubs which were like pajamas, but her eyes were looking for him. Jackson was late because he wasn't able to wake up from the dream of the night before, hold over and eventually dressed the smoking with the papillon cause he hated the tie. When Jackson arrived to the party was surrounded by the surgeons and the nurses, every woman lined up to dance with him or just for one look but he was distracted by her, he stared at her for a long time, he hadn't the courage to approach her, he just remained in place to contemplate her, her beauty was disarming so he was without words and the only thing he could do was to be totally absorbed by her, he continued to watch her all the time until she took the first step, she approached him and started talking about the surgery they made together and about his incredible talent, they were both very embarrassed, they secluded because the music prevented them to hear each other, the desire of kissing was so strong that they succumbed to the temptation, a kiss leads to another, so he dressed his authority as head and before the situation could precipitate he proposed to take her home. What the words said eyes denied, the sexual tension was so high that, if a thermometer measured it, would split, for warmth Jackson took off his shirt and said to her : " What? Do you want me to put it back on? ", she replied : " Are you kidding? Don't ever put it back on!", so they had sex in the car, it was the most beautiful sex of her life, even that would never forgotten.
Chapter six
After doing that they fell asleep in the car, Stephanie was the first to wake up, she dressed in a hurry for the fear of waking him but his delicate movements didn't prevent him to wake up, they were confused and disoriented and he wanted to take her home but she preferred to be taken to hospital because a little later the work would begin, it happened so. Sloan Grey Memorial Hospital wasn't the perfect place where you could process the shocking events that happened in your life because everyone wanted to know everything so Stephanie told everything to her best friend Jo, the story wasn't just about the last night but about every single emotion lived with him, it was a great emotional outburst for her, she felt die to hide all that happened, seized the favorable opportunity without regret, she felt free. Jackson wasn't a sociable type, was used to hide the emotions, was the Gunther. They were both satisfied, the day passed off very well but they were far apart, they didn't work on the same case, the only moment they crossed each other was in cafeteria, was him to approach her, exactly , he gave her compliments and gave her an appointment for the same evening in the most famous restaurant in Seattle, she nodded and when she finished working, went at home preparing herself for their first date. Wasn't it too early? Shouldn't she know him better before the first date? She didn't think about these questions, not because she hadn't answers, she knew indeed he was his soul mate and what bound them was very intense, she seemed to know him from a life, there weren't no more obstacles to their love, the abandon was complete. When it was time she was at restaurant, beautiful as a sunbeam, she had a pair of long earrings and a floral dress, the curly hair weren't collected but got down her face, she seemed Venus, her black Venus. When Jackson saw her was amazed by her beauty and it took a while until they started the conversation, they talked of many things and found they had the same tastes on food and wine, the date was perfect, they were perfect, the spell would last forever.
Chapter seven
The day after their first date she never imagined that there would be another one, it was a big surprise! everything happened during the work, this time they were working on the same case and he not only told her that she would be a great plastic surgeon but also that he would go out with her after work and take her to a special place: the Avery's summer residence on the sea, Jackson had never take any woman there, maybe the only woman who had been there was his mum Catherine but no one would ever have known this thing and as long as he could he hid her too. The work was finally finished so they went to the Avery's villa, it prevailed over sea like a mighty rock, all around it was heaven, flocks of seagulls flying over the red sky and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks was the background to that magical atmosphere, Jackson exceeded himself with that proposal, that was the most obvious sign that he was the man of her life. While they're walking on the beach and their footprints were washing away by the sea a painter saw them and wanted capture them, their love was an attraction to everyone on the beach. The result of the painting was impressive, there was everything in that canvas, the eyes of Jackson mixed with the sea and the sky, their hands intertwined were the symbol of the union, joy shone through their faces, the painter didn't want money and gave him the portrait, he was glad to have found the true love after a long time in those unknown faces. They spent the rest of the day at sea between dips and kisses and when the sun went down they made a bonfire at the beach and ate some fishes, in the end the moon turned their passion. It had to be some special occasion because the sky was filled with fireworks, the real fireworks were them who crackled burning of passion.
Chapter eight
A storm was coming in Seattle, the sky was dark and all the TVs were talking about that natural disaster which in a short time would destroy the city. The surgeons were busy to prepare cloths, beds and anything else to to accommodate all the most serious cases arrived from the Seattle Pres and the other hospitals not prepared to accommodate them. All around there was panic and disorder, immediately there was a black out and the lights of emergency were switched, paramedics transported the injured by stretcher to the operating room, there was much work to do that night. Jackson didn't have time to make sure that Stephanie was okay because there were many burn victims and his work was required. Stephanie was in peds and there were two neonatal emergencies that night so she also didn't have the time to make sure that her man was at the shelter from the storm but in her heart there was something wrong with him, she felt the feeling that he was at risk and she wasn't mistaken. Jackson went into a bus to save a little girl, the bus caught fire and he reported surface fractures, he was hospitalized for observation and she immediately went to him, her heart was in pieces by the fear of losing him, she wasn't in control of her emotions and just knew what happened to him she cried desperately, then she calmed down and went to see him, seeing him safely lifted her from fear, she was worried so much to him, she was clearly in love, Jackson was more than a simple lover, he was the other half of her heart, her completion, her reason for living.
Chapter nine
The storm wasn't as disastrous as it was feared, Jackson recovered quickly and in Stephanie there weren't signs of the fear that changed her face during the last night, the calm after the storm was something brilliant, the peace of mind penetrated in all of nature, the smell of wet soil was pleasant, there was a few birds chirping to crown the situation. The hospital was reborn from the ashes, everything seemed perfect but, you know, that perfection doesn't exist, in fact there was something strange in Jackson, he was frightened by the reaction of Stephanie and began to avoid her, when she was in the corridors, he passed over her, he tried in every way to not work with her, he preferred even to work with the most inefficient intern, in short, there was something wrong and she felt it. She wanted to talk to him but she didn't have his phone number, in the hospital wasn't possible to talk, so she was able to find out where he lived and waited for him outside the home, she was determined to meet him. Jackson saw her and decided to face her, they quarreled so much that their screams were heard all over the neighborhood, Stephanie couldn't contain herself, she was the most spontaneous of the two, she was a fury, she went away crying and with a broken heart. The tears dropping on her face gave her a harrowing look, her beauty was marred by the pain, the pain came from the words of the Jackson which pierced her like a sharp sword. Had she got it all wrong? Or was it just a bad moment?
Chapter ten
Stephanie was home but she couldn't stand up, the disappointment was too strong, she felt that her heart was failing, the beats were always faster as the train's rides, the tears running down her face would fill an ocean, she felt very bad. Stephanie's disease wasn't one of those studied in medicine, for which there's a drug, a remedy, she was sick inside, the inner pain could be healed only by him, could a woman depend insomuch on a man? She knew the answer but she was ashamed so much, Jackson had been a failure, he was such a child, if she thought the reasons of the quarrel, she realized that they were trivial and so why it happened? Why she couldn't control herself? Jackson was the man she loved so much but hated with equal force, on the other hand, hate is an excess of love, she remembered the words of Catullus : "Odi et amo, quare id faciam fortasse requiris, nescio sed fieri sentio et excrucior". The conclusion was that she loved him more than herself, of what love that makes you feel bad but you couldn't live without, she should have to talk to Jackson and she was decided to do that!