A/N: What's this? Two updates in two days?! Crazytown! Thanks again (as always) for the reviews. Keep 'em coming and I'll do my best to stay on top of posting new chapters :)

ZPOV

It had been one hell of a day, and a long one at that. Let's recap:

My dad and I had operated on Earl.

I had caught up with a dozen Bluebellians.

I found out that George kissed Lavon's girlfriend – and that Lavon hadn't told me about it.

I also found out that Wade had presumably slept with someone since we broke up. He hadn't said it explicitly, but I could deduce from the conversation that he didn't mean just a quick beer with this Denise person.

Oh, yea, and yanno... Wade and I had almost kissed – twice.

All of this in less than 24 hours. No wonder I was exhausted before ten.

After saying goodnight to Wade, I walked into my room and fell forward onto the bed, smashing my face into the soft mattress. I missed him, and I hated that it only took a day and a half for me to feel overwhelmed by everything between him and I. I missed how he looked at me, how he could make me blush and laugh in one sentence, how what we had was completely effortless.

Even though it had been one hell of a day, there was still work to do. I wanted to check the status of the patients I had seen before I left New York, and get a jumpstart on the report the Chief of Surgery wanted when I got back. So, despite how tired I was, I ordered room service and pulled out my laptop.

I worked until a little after one in the morning, before calling it a night. Assuming Earl was feeling even better tomorrow, I'd likely have the entire day to work on his patient report as well as catch up on paperwork from the hospital.

I fell asleep that night to thoughts of Wade, and woke up to the same person on my mind. I had a love/hate relationship for how easily he could worm his way into every crevice of my subconscious.

After getting ready for the day, I grabbed a cup of coffee from the hotel that while watered down, tasted better than the sludge at the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital, Shula, Esther, and a couple other people from town were already there in the waiting room, eager to see Earl. "Everyone needs cheering up when in a place like this," Esther said. "And as long as my Jimmy can walk to work, I can drive up here every day in case Earl Kinsella needs some morale boosting."

That was just the Bluebell way. They were the very definition of community.

I headed back past the nurse's station to one of the small office spaces where the chief of staff was thankfully letting me set up camp. I got settled in, and went to speak with the nurse about Earl's status before heading to his room.

"Good morning Earl," I said, after I had knocked and entered his room. He and Wade turned their eyes from the TV to me.

"Good morning doc," Earl greeted with a smile on his face.

"How're you feeling?" I asked, grabbing his chart to see what notes the nurses had made overnight. His pulse updates weren't as strong as I would have liked to see, but I was glad to see he still seemed comfortable.

"Alright, a little tired today, but otherwise fine."

"Yea," I nodded. "That's to be expected. I was surprised you felt as chipper as you did yesterday."

"Yea well, nothing like a clear heart to get the engines revved, am I right?"

Sure... whatever that meant. All I could do was nod and glance over at Wade. He looked worn out; bags and dark circles had started to develop under his eyes.

"Do you mind if I give you a quick check up?" I asked, pulling the stethoscope from around my neck.

"Not at all. That's why you're here ain't it? That and my son."

I took a deep breath and glanced at Wade. He was shaking his head, and I got the feeling this wasn't the first time this topic had come up.

"Yea, so let's have you sit up so I can take a listen," I said, trying to brush off the comment. I pushed the remote connected to his bed and the back of it raised, causing Earl to sit up more. I listened to his heart from three different angles, then took his pulse myself. It was still a little slow, but much better than what the nurses had jotted down the night before.

"Okay, well you're doing far better than most patients I see the day after a procedure. I still want you to take it easy though. Watch some TV, eat as much jello as you can stomach, and I'll check on you a little later. Sound good?"

"Yes ma'am," he confirmed. "But how long before I can get up? This catheter isn't the most comfortable thing. I'd like to start using the facilities, if you know what I mean."

I puffed out a laugh. "Take it easy Earl. You just had a major surgery. Like I said you're doing great, but your body does in fact, need to heal. So how about we wait another day or so and go from there?"

"I guess I can agree to that."

I scribbled down in his chart the vitals that I'd taken and the numbers beeping on the machines he was connected to. Then I returned the metal file to the edge of his bed and I looked up at Wade. "Do you want to grab some coffee? I could use a second cup."

"Sure," he replied, half grinning.

We headed out and walked down to the cafeteria. "So how've you been sleeping?" I asked, getting right to it.

"Not the best. I used to think the chair was more comfortable than my car, but at least in my car I can recline all the way."

"I can see if the staff is okay with you grabbing a few hours in one of the resident bunks."

"Nah," he said waving it off. "But thanks."

We picked up a couple cups of caffeine and argued over who was paying. He finally conceded when I wore him down with nonstop "pleasepleaseplease's".

"So are you sticking around here for the day?" He asked as we sat down at a free table.

I nodded. "Probably. I have a lot of reading and paperwork to get through for patients I saw in New York before I left. Plus my chief wants a report on Earl's procedure this week, so I've got that to work on." I paused, taking a sip of my coffee. "What about you? You might want to consider heading back to Bluebell to get some rest. It's been a long few days."

He shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not sure. I feel kinda bad leaving my dad here."

I laughed a little. "There's more than a few people in the waiting room just wishing you'd go for a bit so they can check in on Earl. If you're worried about him being lonely, you shouldn't be. And if you're worried about something happening, you definitely shouldn't be. My dad is the best of the best," I stressed, reaching for his hand across the table and giving it a squeeze. I should have been prepared for the way just the innocent touch would speed up my heart rate, but it surprised me every time."I'm only staying for a couple days as a precaution and as Earl's former GP."

He looked down at our hands and his expression turned into knowing smirk. "Then let's get out of here for a couple hours. I promise I'll have you back in plenty of time for you to do your homework. I think we could both use some time away from this place and have a little fun in the fresh air."

I considered saying no. After all, I was here for work, to make sure his dad was okay. But he was, wasn't he? He wasn't going to eat his weight in deep fried Twinkies, or go on a bender at the closest bar. And Wade was right, my "homework" would be waiting for me when I got back. Without asking a single question about where we were going or what we were doing, I blindly answered: "Okay."

WPOV

I was kinda surprised when she agreed – especially with no follow up questions about where we'd be going or a more exact time of what time we'd be back. But I was going with it, because I needed to get out of this hospital; away from my dad for a couple hours, away from townspeople that had had one eyebrow raised at me since Zoe arrived. And to be honest, I just needed time to breathe.

Zoe went to let the hospital folks know she was going out for a bit, and I waited for her by the car. It was too damn hot out for being eleven o'clock in the morning. This had been one hell of a summer and we weren't even into the fall heat wave season yet.

"Ladies and gents, stay cool out there!" The radio announcer shouted too cheerfully over the speakers as Zoe and I barreled down the highway. We just needed some shade and water. "It's 84 alright, but with over 90% humidity it's feeling over 90 – so make sure to drink your water, don't leave pets or kids in cars unattended, and stay indoors if possible!" The PSA continued.

"Ugh. I know 84 degrees this is more like 104," Zoe said, letting her hand flap in the wind, outside the window. Summer was rough for cars like mine with a busted a/c.

"I thought you didn't mind a little heatwave, doc?" I smirked, thinking back to last fall when she had almost caved to the feisty side of her that came out during the heatwave. I was trying to play it off like the sun wasn't killing me, but truth was I'd pay twenty bucks for a kiddie pool of ice water.

I could feel her eyes rolling without even looking at her. "Nothing happened that night," she contested.

"Because the rain rolled in and the temperature dropped."

"No, because I came to my senses."

I laughed, unable to stop myself. "Then you what, went insane for half a year?" I turned to look at her. She was laughing, but so quietly that I could barely hear her. "Yea, I definitely lost my head." Her words would have been like daggers coming from any other girl; but the way she was smiling at me made it clear this wasn't some dig from an ex-girlfriend. She was teasing me just like she'd teased me thousands of times.

After about fifteen minutes on the highway I pulled off to a smaller country road, following it for awhile and hoping I hadn't taken the wrong exit. Sure enough, after about ten minutes of jostling around in the car and hearing Zoe go from an unsure, "are we lost" to a more definitive, "we're lost, turn around Wade," we finally at the creek. It was huge for what I would have considered a creek, but it was owned by the state so who was I to argue?

"Where are we?"

"Chickasaw Creek," I told her, pulling up to a small open area between a bushel of trees and putting the car in park.

"You say that like I should know it."

"Well you should." We both got out of the car and I wave my arm out in front of me. "Because it's awesome." I turned looking at her. "Normally it's a lot busier, but school's back in session so it's pretty dead during the week."

"Is the water warm?"

"Zoe, it's hotter than hades out. If there aren't any icebergs floating around, it's warm enough for this weather." And if this had been four months ago, I would have just thrown her over my shoulder and tossed her in the creek myself – but things had changed. I followed her closer to the shoreline, still under the huge trees that draped over my car, giving us a small reprieve from the heat.

"Do you want to test it out?" I asked looking from the water to her.

"What? No. I don't have a swim suit."

"So?" I shrugged. "You've got shorts and a tank top on. Some people would consider that swimwear."

"These are Alice and Olivia shorts," she argued as if I'd know what that meant.

"Okay so tell Alice and Olivia that if these shorts get ruined you'll buy them a new pair. Why do you share shorts with two people anyway?"

She rolled her eyes again, but laughed and I loved that her smiled lingered even though I had no idea what was funny.

She sat down on the grass about ten feet from where the water was hitting land. I joined, laying on my back beside her. I turned, watching her profile and feeling a mix of pain from being such an idiot and letting her go, and relief that she was next me. Even if nothing happened, her just being closer made me feel better about everything that was going on.

She kicked off her heels and leaned back on her arms. We just sat there quiet for a bit. I didn't need chit chat, all I needed was right there: Zoe and a nice day (in the shade).

"I forget that I had started getting used to the quiet," she said quietly, smiling as if she was remember a long forgotten memory. "Forgot that I had started to like it."

"Yea," I agreed.

"It's weird, being back," she continued, looking over her shoulder at me.

"How's it weird?"

"I dunno. Sometimes it feels like it's been forever since I lived here, but other times it feels like I've only been gone a weekend."

"I guess when you live in two places that are total opposites, it can feel like that. Didn't it feel like that when you went home for Thanksgiving last year?"

"Yea," she answered after pausing for a second. "But it was different." I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. She turned to look back at the water, and after a few minutes the humidity started getting to me, even under the bit of shade we had. So I sat up and yanked off my t-shirt. "Here you can use it as a pillow if you want to lay down," I said as I loosely folded it behind her.

She turned, looking at me, confused. "What are you doing?"

"Well," I said, standing up and undoing my jeans. "It's hot. It's humid. And that water is too tempting."

"You're going in?" She asked just as I dropped down to my boxers.

"Yep! You're welcome to join doc. I bet the creek is going to feel amaaaazing," I emphasize before taking off for the water.

I heard her laughing behind me as I ran in til I was waist deep and then dove under. I broke the water's surface and spun around trying to figure out where I was in relation to where I'd gotten in at. That was when I saw Zoe shimmying out of her tiny shorts, and jogging to the water's edge. She was a little more timid than I had been, but she didn't know the creek as well as I did. She copied diving under when she got deep enough and managed to make her way over to me quicker than I thought she would.

"Got lonely over there?" I laughed as she wiped water from her face.

"I figured why should you be the only one at a comfortable temperature," she replied.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Is your body an ice cube?"

"Well... I mean -"

I laughed, nodding. "Uh huh. It's perfect right? You can say it. 'Wade you are right'."

She scoffed, pushing off onto her back and splashing me with her flutter kick. "I don't have heat exhaustion and therefore am not delusional!" She laughed. She got one good splash in before I took off after her.

We spent the next couple of hours laughing and playing in the water; me swimming after her then dunking her, and her trying to push me under the water. This was another thing I'd missed about her. How she had become great at just letting go when we were alone. She could be serious Dr. Hart that was worried that she'd missed a microscopic detail on a patient's case, but eventually, even if it took days, she'd have a moment and let loose. Sometimes it was agreeing to play strip darts at my place, or getting drunk with me then jumping on the coffee table and jamming out to whatever song was playing on guitar hero. On a couple of particularly rough days where patients didn't get better like she thought, or God forbid, got worse, she had grabbed my car keys and asked if we could just go for a ride. Not her, alone in Lavon's car – but us. And I went, even when I had work, or other shit going on. Because I knew if she was at that point, whatever I had going on didn't matter. She was it, the person that came above all else.

After awhile, I finally let her dunk me. She held me down for only a few seconds before letting me up for air. I pushed up, not realizing how close we were – only inches apart. My heart was beating out of my chest from the proximity and from holding my breath. I could feel the air buzzing between us, just like I had the night before. And even though I could tell her chest was rising and falling quicker than normal, I still wasn't sure if she wanted me to kiss her. Sure we'd had a moment at the hospital, but that was then and I couldn't be sure if she would have thought it was a mistake if we had kissed. Plus last night we could have, but for whatever reason we didn't. And I still couldn't figure out if it was me that hesitated, or her. What I did know was the last thing I wanted to do was complicate things or assume anything. I'd learned my lesson with pushing her to leave Bluebell.

A few seconds turned into what felt like a minute or more but we stayed frozen. God I wanted to kiss her. She shivered and it seemed to snap us out of the silent staring contest we'd been having.

"Race you to our stuff?" She asked, taking off before I could respond. I laughed, following behind her and watching as she reached the edge of the water then jogged the short distance from the shoreline to where our stuff was, pumping her fists like she was Rocky Balboa.

"You cheated," I teased as I collapsed beside her on the grass. "You had a head start."

"It was to make up for my height handicap," she defended. She rang out her tank top and a small bucket of water splashed onto the ground. I reached back and handed her my dry t-shirt. "Here put this on."

She looked at the shirt and shook her head. "No thanks. You need it."

"Nah. I'm okay."

"Wade, you don't need to be shirtless all the time," she laughed. "I'll be okay."

"Well miss prude, I have a spare shirt in the trunk, so just put this damn thing on."

"You sure?" She pressed, looking back down at it.

"Positive."

"Okay... thanks," she finally agreed, taking it and getting up.

"Where are you going?"

"To change behind the car."

I laughed. "I've seen you in less."

"Yea, but that was different," she said walking around to the passenger side door and turning her back to me. Despite her comment, I watched like a creeper. I saw her slide her tank top off and unhitch her bra. I couldn't tear my eyes off her, even though all I was seeing was G-rated, at most PG.

I fell onto my back again when I saw her turn and head back to the car.

"You were watching," she said. It wasn't a question.

"I didn't see anything. Plus how did you know? Do you have eyes on the back of your head?"

She shrugged, twisting her neck to look at me. "I guess I can still feel when your eyes are on me."

God I wanted to kiss her again. To tell her that I'd do anything to get her back. But I still wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if I should kiss her, or say anything beyond continuing my apologies. I didn't trust myself to stop if I did kiss her, or go into another self-destructive spiral if she told me there was nothing I could do to fix us.

She turned back around and reached for her shorts, digging her phone from one of her pockets.

"Any word from the hospital?"

"Nope, and I have full bars so it's not a signal issue."

"Maybe we should head back anyway. Earl probably wants to eat something other than hospital food."

"Fine but no pork, red meat, or anything fried."

"You just ruled out 90% of the take out options in this town under twenty bucks a plate," I said, getting up and reaching for my jeans.

"Twenty bucks is worth him not getting worse, isn't it?" She countered, standing up and pulling on her shorts.

"Good point."

We headed back towards the hospital, arguing over a radio station. We settled on one just as I pulled up to her hotel. "Do you want to come in and shower?" She offered as I stopped in front of the entrance.

"Do I smell that bad?" I laughed.

She laughed and nodded. "Kinda. Plus who knows what is in that river."

"Creek," I corrected.

"Whatever," she replied. "So?"

"You don't mind?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have offered."

True. I turned left, pulling into a parking lot a few spaces from the sliding doors. I followed her inside and held the door open for her after she'd unlocked it.

"Do you want to go first?"

She shook her head. "No, go for it. I should check my email."

I nodded and turned right, heading for the bathroom. I showered quickly, trying to not think about her joining me. The last thing I needed was to have a boner when I walked out. My clothes, especially my jeans were still pretty soaked through when I was done, so I headed out with the towel tightly wrapped around my waist, hoping the doc would let me dry out my clothes for a few minutes.

"It's all yours," I said as I walked into the room. She looked up from her phone and bit her bottom lip.

"Sorry," I added. "My clothes are still really wet. Do you mind if I let them dry on your a/c unit for a bit?"

"N-No, go ahead."

I grinned at how flustered she looked and watched her scramble to get her clothes together. At least I had some affect on her.

She walked into the bathroom and I sat on the edge of the bed, turning the TV on. Halfway through a show I hadn't kept up on, I got up and checked on my clothes. They were close enough to dry, and I figured she'd want me out of there sooner rather than later, so I threw them on. She walked back into the room, in one of her little dresses that looked painted on it clung to her so well.

"What are you watching?"

"Swamp people. It's almost over."

"Why did I even ask?" She laughed, rolling her eyes.

She moved closer to me and turned so she was facing away from me. "Would you mind?" she asked, holding her hair up. There was about four inches of zipper that needed to be dragged up. I sucked in a breath, thinking about how easy it would be to slide it down.

"Sure," I said, inching the zipper up her back. I could smell the coconut from her shampoo and remembered when she told me that the sense of smell was one of the most influential senses involved in memory recall. The smell of her shampoo triggered memories of how the cushions on my couch and the sheets on my bed used to smell like coconut, like her. I forced myself to step back, to not get caught up in what we used to have. "All set," I told her.

"Thanks," she smiled after turning around. "Are you ready to head back?"

"Yep," I said, reaching for my back pocket to make sure I had my keys and wallet. "After you."