Bedside Manner

Chapter 14

A few months have passed, and I'm settling in here. Life is decent. I won't complain ... doesn't do any good anyway. There are reasons to complain, though, primarily that I'm doing my one Saturday a month at the office and seeing mostly new patients. Another reason to complain is that I haven't spent as much time with Bella as I'd like. Our schedules haven't meshed; she alternates working some weekends at the library, so I'm left to wander San Francisco alone. Do I do that? Hell no. I stay home most of the time. I'm not wallowing, though. Maybe just a little.

Emmett has strong-armed me into a gym membership. Apparently, he's been doing his cardio with me at work, but then doing MMA-type stuff at a nearby gym afterward. We've started boxing—something I haven't done since I was about sixteen. I was a bratty little shit, talking back and causing trouble. My Memaw said I needed an outlet for all my energy, so she told my folks to enroll me in boxing classes or start saving up for bail money.

Memaw is never wrong.

I boxed for five years. Junior Golden Gloves Champion in three weight classes. After a while, I became more interested in the cut man than training. I discovered my love of medicine in the boxing ring.

So here I am…

Heidi Fisher, reminds me of the 'Long Island Lolita'. Buttafuco! I laugh to myself—what? It's a funny name—and dribble coffee down my front. Get it together, Cullen. Stop being a weirdo.

While dabbing at my shirt with a tissue, I check Mrs. Fisher's file. She has fertility concerns, and her physicians have no definitive answer, so she's seeking a second opinion. Me. Looking closer at the records her primary care physicians have sent over, she's young and healthy. There's no real cause for concern. Maybe the problem is her husband. Men never want to believe it's us. As long as it gets up, there's no problem. I'd probably act the same way if I were in that situation.

Standing outside the door, I notice Tanya watching me. What's her problem? I shake off the weird vibes and tap on the door, thinking about how to coach Mrs. Fisher in convincing her husband to come in for a sperm count. Two female voices invite me into the examining room. I step in with a little trepidation because sometimes the patient's moral support ends up being a know-it-all which can quickly become counterproductive. I hope Mrs. Fisher's friend doesn't become a pain in the ass.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

I barely notice the woman on the exam table because my personal heaven and hell is sitting in a chair beside her. Fucking gorgeous pain in my ass. Creamy legs are crossed teasing me with a peek at her thighs. My mouth waters. I follow the flesh higher, up her arms and to her neck. God, I want to bury my face there.

I stammer out a greeting, and they giggle a response in unison like they've rehearsed this. Get your head in the game, Cullen. Taking a deep breath, I try and calm down. "Miss Swan, it's nice to see you again." Does my voice squeak? She makes me feel like a pubescent boy when she walks past me.

Bella tosses some off-color comment filled with innuendo at Mrs. Fisher, but I know that comment was meant for me. "Friends shouldn't know each other so intimately" my ass. I end up dropping all my shit at that, and Bella and I both squat down to retrieve my clipboard. I'm all thumbs around her. I'd like to put my thumb in her, get all down in the warmth between her breasts, between her lips, between her legs.

Shit.

My hands can't help themselves, and I touch her—just the small of her back, but I touch her all the same. My sneaky digits have a mind of their own and skim the flesh just under her sweater, and she shivers. My God she's delectable. I fight the urge to run my hand up her spine to rest at the base of her neck. My hand would fit so perfectly there in a possessive yet tender hold.

Bella needs to get out of this room before I lose my medical license.

Heidi's exam is over quickly. It's all routine stuff anyway, and then she's sent to the lab while I go see another patient. I speak to Bella briefly ... awkwardly ... on the way to collect the chart for my next patient—my last patient of the day. The heart monitor in the room is on the fritz, so step out to get another one. Passing the lab, I see Bella on the floor with her head in Emmett's lap.

"What the hell happened?" I ask no one in particular as I race to Bella's side. "Bella, honey?" I kneel beside her and check her vitals. Her BP is a little slow but returning to normal. Emmett gently cradles her head, brushing her hair away from her face while I clutch her wrist to monitor her pulse. Heidi sits in the chair in front of us and looks on with worry. I grab an ice pack and hand it to Emmett, who holds it against Bella's rapidly swelling temple.

Bella's eyes flutter open, and she looks up. "Emmett, I'm up for a night out."

Huh?

He grins down at her, flashing those annoying-ass dimples. "Bells, maybe we should take a rain check. You're starting to look the Elephant Man ... can't have you cramping my style."

"What?" She shifts to sit up, but sways and lies back down.

"Just stay down, honey," I tell her.

"Yeah, Bells. You dropped like Sonny Liston and my needles were Muhammad Ali."

Bella groaned and began to blush. Well, her BP was back to normal. She rolled toward me, and I helped her sit up.

"Easy there," I warn.

She winces and puts her hand on the ice pack on her head. "I hit my head?"

"Apparently so." I pull her hand away. "Doesn't look too bad—more like you grazed your head on the chair on the way down. You might have a little scratch, some bruising."

Heidi nods and sighs with relief while I pick Bella up off the floor and sit her in a chair. "So, tacos are out after this. You need to go home and rest," Heidi says with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

I kiss Bella's uninjured temple. "I've got one more patient, and then I'll take you home. Okay?" Bella nods and I give Emmett the stink eye. How could he let this happen? "Emmett. Watch her, and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Thankfully, my patient is a perfectly healthy woman who is about twenty weeks pregnant. No tests, no ultrasound; just a fundal measurement and a quick interview. I could kiss her for being so compliant.

Bella must have taken notes because she is compliant as well, clinging to me as we walk to my car. I love the feel of her against my side. She sighs as she squeezes me tighter. "I missed you," she mumbles against my chest while we hold each other in the elevator.

"I missed you, too."

She looks up at me with eyes that seem to ask a question my body wants to answer. I lick my lips and dip my head to answer. Her breathing picks up. My breathing picks up.

The elevator opens, shattering the moment.

We drive in silence to her apartment. Thankfully, her father isn't around; otherwise I'd have to explain how his only daughter was injured on my watch. Bella can barely keep her eyes open in the rickety elevator ride up to her apartment, so I carry her. Maybe she hit her head harder than I thought. This feels so natural, like this is how things are meant to be between us. When I unlock the door and step across the threshold, I can't even describe the feeling except that Bella's just like home.

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This train just keeps on chugging along. Maybe these two will actually get somewhere. *shrugs* I don't know (yes I do) … y'all will have to wait for Gee's chapter tomorrow.

Thanks for all the love; it is really and truly humbling.