Thanks for all the wonderful reviews once again, you guys are the best.
Those of you who've read my previous fics will recognize bits of this out of "Waterfalls" - I said at the beginning that I might integrate some of my other stand-alones into this series, and I felt that "Waterfalls" fitted in here pretty well. And hey, there's no law against stealing my own material, right?
*****
Wonder Number Three - Beauty
*****
Shutting the door behind me, I rest my satchel in its usual place, hanging up my coat seconds later. All the way home I've been wondering why she hadn't come to find me at the end of her shift, which had ended a couple of hours before mine.
I can't shake the sense of worry that currently has a hold on me.
Walking into the kitchen, I open my mouth ready to call her name.
My intended intonation is stopped short by the presence of delicately placed fingers over my eyes. Taken aback, I lose my balance slightly. Her arms around my shoulders steady me, pulling me back slightly so she can whisper in my ear.
"Welcome home."
Home.
Her apartment - my home.
Giggling slightly, she shuffles me around and carries on leading me from behind.
"Keep them closed!"
"I am!"
Like there's any way I can open them. I can't believe it - one of our few nights off together this week and she's not even letting me use my eyes to look at her.
"Almost there. . . "
My turn to giggle.
"Abby, will you just. . . "
My voice trails off as suddenly, my vision lights up. And I can't believe my eyes.
All around the bath are little candles, each lit with their own tiny glow. The bath is filled to the brim with steaming water, a surface of bubbles is threatening to overspill onto the carpet. My gaze falls on two glasses placed on the corner of the bath, each filled with a clear substance. I manage to stutter a few words.
"Is that. . . "
"Lemonade? Yes."
Her eyes catch on mine, the twinkle in them giving away that she knows I thought it was another type of liquid - a variety of the addictive kind. Leaning in closer, again she speaks in a hushed manner.
"I'm happy with you. Things are good."
I attempt to close the remaining gap and kiss her, but she pulls away, choosing instead to sit on the edge of the bath.
"So. . ."
I'm unable to take my eyes off her.
You could light a thousand cities with the electricity that's conducting between us right now.
The little things she does - her laughs, her expressions, even the way she pulls her hair out of her eyes in the middle of a trauma - they absolutely make my day.
Standing up, she walks past me, her hips grazing my thigh in a way that makes my entire body turn on the spot just to keep her in my view.
"Where are you going?"
She doesn't answer, choosing instead to stand with her arms crossed, glancing at me amusedly.
The twinkle still hasn't left her eyes.
She turns around, and shouts out to me before disappearing to the kitchen.
"Get in the bath Carter."
So I do.
I undress myself quickly, not caring where I discard my clothes. I have to pick them up every morning from haphazard places in which they were thrown the night before, and there's no reason for tomorrow morning to be any different.
I test the water with my big toe, before pulling it out quickly. It's hot - far hotter than I usually bathe in. I consider letting some water out and using the cold tap.
But for some reason, I don't want to. I almost don't want to touch anything in the room at all - I want it to stay this way forever. But I know that can't happen, so I resign myself to creating ripples in the water and breaks in the smooth covering of bubbles as I gradually lower myself into the steaming water. I barely notice the carpet around the bath being engulfed in foamy white bubbles - the entire apartment could flood right now and I'd have trouble noticing.
I moan in pleasure as I lie back against the side of the bath, shutting my eyes slowly as I gratefully let the water surround me.
A voice comes from the side of the bath.
"Woah, that was fast. And there I was hoping to undress you a little myself."
I look to the side and grin. She's dressed in my robe, her hair tied up loosely at the back of her head.
That twinkle. It's still there.
She shuffles to the right, kneels down, and starts to run her fingers up and down the back of my neck.
"Did you have a good day? I didn't see you much - I guess that's what being Nurse Manager does to you. Too much paperwork and not enough time to help the doctors."
I try to answer her, but it comes out as a muffled response. She knows what she's doing is driving me crazy, and so she moves her hands down to my shoulders and starts to rub them.
"You're certainly helping me now"
I shift my position up a little to allow her easier access. Her massaging becomes firmer, and I feel my muscles relax in her grasp.
The bath is still over brimming, the candles are still glowing, and even though I can't see them I know her eyes are still shining.
The hairs on my neck suddenly stand on end as she exhales along my lower hairline. Feeling the tip of her nose on my shoulders, I shudder involuntary. My own breathing becomes laboured, and I know she can tell.
Suddenly, something snaps, and I come back into reality. I open my eyes, lean my head back, just as she rises slightly allowing our eyes to meet.
I speak the only words that I can think of at this moment - the only words I want to say.
"Abby. . . get in."
She lowers her head a little, allowing her lips to graze across my forehead. Moving down the bridge of my nose, she kisses its tip, finally reaching my ear.
"I thought you'd never ask."
I sit up, and begin to move further towards the back of the bath, but she stops me with her hand, and pushes me forward slightly. In one swift movement, she drops the robe onto the floor, and climbs into the tub.
As she sits down, I realize why she pushed me forward. She sits down behind me, her entire body surrounding me. I can't believe it. Just when you think things can't get any better. . .
"Drink?"
I nod, extending my arm to meet the glass she hands to me. I sip cautiously, still feeling as if any sudden movement or change will shatter this night. Suddenly I hear her laughing, and I turn around to look at her questioningly.
"What?"
She answers, still giggling slightly.
"You look so thoughtful - almost worried. And here I was thinking this would relax you."
Abby, sweetheart, if only you knew.
Reaching for her other hand, I kiss it lightly, moving slowly up her arm and neck until I reach her mouth.
Again, she pulls away. I groan in protest.
She takes my glass from me and returns it to the side of the bath, leaning over me as she does so. She pauses on the return to her original position, speaking as her eyes catch mine.
"Later."
After settling against the back of the bath again, she wraps her legs around me, moving her toes up and down my calves. I allow myself to fall back on her chest, shutting my eyes once more to enjoy the moment. I feel her heartbeat on my back, strumming it's familiar rhythm that I've become so attached to.
She reaches across my shoulders to grab something, and places it in the water. I open my eyes just as she squeezes a sponge across my chest.
She's creating waterfalls.
Mini-cascades of fluid, running across my torso.
This woman.
All she has to do is touch me, and I melt. I can't believe something like running water across my body can make me feel this way.
Maybe it's the candles, or the music, or the bubbles.
Maybe it's everything put together.
Or maybe it's just her.
I gradually come out of my thoughts to realize that the waterfalls have gone, and the aroma of apple is filling the room. She's lathering up my hair, working every inch of my scalp with her fingers.
I can't keep my hands off her. I run my fingers up and down her thighs, sending little bubbles of air that were on her skin rushing to the surface of the water.
She pushes me further towards the other end of the bath, causing my head to lower closer to the water. Scooping up with her hands, she rinses the shampoo off, leaving my hair sticking up in a dishevelled manner.
I feel the depth of the water lower as she steps out of the bath. Grabbing a towel, she wraps herself in it, shivering slightly.
She holds her hands out, another towel grasped by them.
To my surprise, I don't hesitate in getting out of the bath. But I soon realize why.
After being in a bath with this woman, I'm never going to want to soak alone again.
After wrapping my towel around my waist, she leads me to the bedroom and gestures for me to sit on the bed. Using yet another towel that she must have picked up along they way, she stands between my legs rubbing my hair dry. I find my eyes closing once more, and I find I can no longer focus on anything but her rhythmical hand movements.
Admittedly, it's not the first time that's occurred.
After drying off my upper body with the same towel, her eyes meet mine.
"You Ok?"
Is she kidding?
"Hell yeah."
She seems amused by my bluntness, rolling her eyes before gesturing for me to flip over and lie down. She wastes no time in removing both my towel and hers, leaving me butt naked lying face down on our bed.
Our bed. Something else that used to belong to one person only but that she's been more than happy to share.
I begin to wonder where she's got to, until I hear her creep up behind me once more. Suddenly my ears become aware of a squirting noise, and before I can adjust my head to try and catch a glimpse of the next part of her plan, I gasp with surprise as a cool liquid makes contact with my upper back.
She kneels on the bed beside me, before crossing one of her legs over my body to the other side and lowering herself onto the rear of my abdomen. She's careful to place most of her weight on her knees, knowing how sensitive this particular area of my body is.
In yet another swift movement, she uses both of her hands to rub the liquid as smoothly as she can over my skin. It's probably baby oil, but right now I don't actually care - whatever it is, it's more than enough.
I feel her hands once again move to her personal rhythm - something I can only hope is a taster of things to come.
Leaning across my back she reaches my ear, enveloping me with her body, encasing me in her arms.
"Almost every day you tell me I'm beautiful, and I've never once said it back to you. But you are. You're gorgeous."
How someone can make you want to laugh and cry at the same time I'll never know. She's done it countless times before, and right now she's just done it again.
As much as I love feeling her surround me, I shuffle about in an attempt to move. She seems perplexed for a minute or two as she shifts off me, looking at me with concern.
Her apprehension is soon relived though, as I position myself sitting up against the pillows on the headboard of the bed. My eagerness for contact with her again surfaces, as I reach out to her with both my arms.
Once more she takes her place around me, sitting in my lap with her thighs either side of mine. We're both grinning at each other like idiots. . . but I wouldn't swap this moment for the world.
She starts kissing my neck, moving from my collar bone up to my ear, and back down again.
"I came to find you before I left - you were in trauma two working on that MVA drunk driver. I didn't want to disturb you. . . I know how hard that patient must have been to treat given how much damage he caused. . ."
Her voice trails off in an almost wistful manner, as she pulls back to make contact with my own eyes.
"I guess I wanted to do something special for you. To help you unwind, and forget about any traumas, patients or charts."
Her face turns serious.
"Sometimes I think we take our work home with us too often. There's a line between work and home, a line between business and pleasure. . . a line between Dr John Carter, Nurse Abby Lockhart. . . and me and you as we are now. John and Abby. No lives to save, no drugs to prescribe - just me. . ."
She presses her nose up against mine, softly speaking the end of her words.
". . . and you."
I smile at this. She's right - we do cross the lines for more often than we should. In many ways it's crossing lines that lead us here in the first place, but now that we're here I especially cherish the moments spent away from County. As me, and her. John and Abby.
Moments like these.
Her grin reappears, as she wraps her arms around my neck, touching her nose to mine. Her voice this time is a lot more husky than before, sending shivers down my spine.
"Did it work? Are you relaxed?"
I consider this, knowing full well that there's only one truthful answer.
"Nothing in the world would have worked better."
Only now does she let me kiss her.
It's going to be a long night.
John and Abby. Me and her.
The only two people in my world right now.
Lighting millions of cities, never mind thousands.
I can't wait.
Those of you who've read my previous fics will recognize bits of this out of "Waterfalls" - I said at the beginning that I might integrate some of my other stand-alones into this series, and I felt that "Waterfalls" fitted in here pretty well. And hey, there's no law against stealing my own material, right?
*****
Wonder Number Three - Beauty
*****
Shutting the door behind me, I rest my satchel in its usual place, hanging up my coat seconds later. All the way home I've been wondering why she hadn't come to find me at the end of her shift, which had ended a couple of hours before mine.
I can't shake the sense of worry that currently has a hold on me.
Walking into the kitchen, I open my mouth ready to call her name.
My intended intonation is stopped short by the presence of delicately placed fingers over my eyes. Taken aback, I lose my balance slightly. Her arms around my shoulders steady me, pulling me back slightly so she can whisper in my ear.
"Welcome home."
Home.
Her apartment - my home.
Giggling slightly, she shuffles me around and carries on leading me from behind.
"Keep them closed!"
"I am!"
Like there's any way I can open them. I can't believe it - one of our few nights off together this week and she's not even letting me use my eyes to look at her.
"Almost there. . . "
My turn to giggle.
"Abby, will you just. . . "
My voice trails off as suddenly, my vision lights up. And I can't believe my eyes.
All around the bath are little candles, each lit with their own tiny glow. The bath is filled to the brim with steaming water, a surface of bubbles is threatening to overspill onto the carpet. My gaze falls on two glasses placed on the corner of the bath, each filled with a clear substance. I manage to stutter a few words.
"Is that. . . "
"Lemonade? Yes."
Her eyes catch on mine, the twinkle in them giving away that she knows I thought it was another type of liquid - a variety of the addictive kind. Leaning in closer, again she speaks in a hushed manner.
"I'm happy with you. Things are good."
I attempt to close the remaining gap and kiss her, but she pulls away, choosing instead to sit on the edge of the bath.
"So. . ."
I'm unable to take my eyes off her.
You could light a thousand cities with the electricity that's conducting between us right now.
The little things she does - her laughs, her expressions, even the way she pulls her hair out of her eyes in the middle of a trauma - they absolutely make my day.
Standing up, she walks past me, her hips grazing my thigh in a way that makes my entire body turn on the spot just to keep her in my view.
"Where are you going?"
She doesn't answer, choosing instead to stand with her arms crossed, glancing at me amusedly.
The twinkle still hasn't left her eyes.
She turns around, and shouts out to me before disappearing to the kitchen.
"Get in the bath Carter."
So I do.
I undress myself quickly, not caring where I discard my clothes. I have to pick them up every morning from haphazard places in which they were thrown the night before, and there's no reason for tomorrow morning to be any different.
I test the water with my big toe, before pulling it out quickly. It's hot - far hotter than I usually bathe in. I consider letting some water out and using the cold tap.
But for some reason, I don't want to. I almost don't want to touch anything in the room at all - I want it to stay this way forever. But I know that can't happen, so I resign myself to creating ripples in the water and breaks in the smooth covering of bubbles as I gradually lower myself into the steaming water. I barely notice the carpet around the bath being engulfed in foamy white bubbles - the entire apartment could flood right now and I'd have trouble noticing.
I moan in pleasure as I lie back against the side of the bath, shutting my eyes slowly as I gratefully let the water surround me.
A voice comes from the side of the bath.
"Woah, that was fast. And there I was hoping to undress you a little myself."
I look to the side and grin. She's dressed in my robe, her hair tied up loosely at the back of her head.
That twinkle. It's still there.
She shuffles to the right, kneels down, and starts to run her fingers up and down the back of my neck.
"Did you have a good day? I didn't see you much - I guess that's what being Nurse Manager does to you. Too much paperwork and not enough time to help the doctors."
I try to answer her, but it comes out as a muffled response. She knows what she's doing is driving me crazy, and so she moves her hands down to my shoulders and starts to rub them.
"You're certainly helping me now"
I shift my position up a little to allow her easier access. Her massaging becomes firmer, and I feel my muscles relax in her grasp.
The bath is still over brimming, the candles are still glowing, and even though I can't see them I know her eyes are still shining.
The hairs on my neck suddenly stand on end as she exhales along my lower hairline. Feeling the tip of her nose on my shoulders, I shudder involuntary. My own breathing becomes laboured, and I know she can tell.
Suddenly, something snaps, and I come back into reality. I open my eyes, lean my head back, just as she rises slightly allowing our eyes to meet.
I speak the only words that I can think of at this moment - the only words I want to say.
"Abby. . . get in."
She lowers her head a little, allowing her lips to graze across my forehead. Moving down the bridge of my nose, she kisses its tip, finally reaching my ear.
"I thought you'd never ask."
I sit up, and begin to move further towards the back of the bath, but she stops me with her hand, and pushes me forward slightly. In one swift movement, she drops the robe onto the floor, and climbs into the tub.
As she sits down, I realize why she pushed me forward. She sits down behind me, her entire body surrounding me. I can't believe it. Just when you think things can't get any better. . .
"Drink?"
I nod, extending my arm to meet the glass she hands to me. I sip cautiously, still feeling as if any sudden movement or change will shatter this night. Suddenly I hear her laughing, and I turn around to look at her questioningly.
"What?"
She answers, still giggling slightly.
"You look so thoughtful - almost worried. And here I was thinking this would relax you."
Abby, sweetheart, if only you knew.
Reaching for her other hand, I kiss it lightly, moving slowly up her arm and neck until I reach her mouth.
Again, she pulls away. I groan in protest.
She takes my glass from me and returns it to the side of the bath, leaning over me as she does so. She pauses on the return to her original position, speaking as her eyes catch mine.
"Later."
After settling against the back of the bath again, she wraps her legs around me, moving her toes up and down my calves. I allow myself to fall back on her chest, shutting my eyes once more to enjoy the moment. I feel her heartbeat on my back, strumming it's familiar rhythm that I've become so attached to.
She reaches across my shoulders to grab something, and places it in the water. I open my eyes just as she squeezes a sponge across my chest.
She's creating waterfalls.
Mini-cascades of fluid, running across my torso.
This woman.
All she has to do is touch me, and I melt. I can't believe something like running water across my body can make me feel this way.
Maybe it's the candles, or the music, or the bubbles.
Maybe it's everything put together.
Or maybe it's just her.
I gradually come out of my thoughts to realize that the waterfalls have gone, and the aroma of apple is filling the room. She's lathering up my hair, working every inch of my scalp with her fingers.
I can't keep my hands off her. I run my fingers up and down her thighs, sending little bubbles of air that were on her skin rushing to the surface of the water.
She pushes me further towards the other end of the bath, causing my head to lower closer to the water. Scooping up with her hands, she rinses the shampoo off, leaving my hair sticking up in a dishevelled manner.
I feel the depth of the water lower as she steps out of the bath. Grabbing a towel, she wraps herself in it, shivering slightly.
She holds her hands out, another towel grasped by them.
To my surprise, I don't hesitate in getting out of the bath. But I soon realize why.
After being in a bath with this woman, I'm never going to want to soak alone again.
After wrapping my towel around my waist, she leads me to the bedroom and gestures for me to sit on the bed. Using yet another towel that she must have picked up along they way, she stands between my legs rubbing my hair dry. I find my eyes closing once more, and I find I can no longer focus on anything but her rhythmical hand movements.
Admittedly, it's not the first time that's occurred.
After drying off my upper body with the same towel, her eyes meet mine.
"You Ok?"
Is she kidding?
"Hell yeah."
She seems amused by my bluntness, rolling her eyes before gesturing for me to flip over and lie down. She wastes no time in removing both my towel and hers, leaving me butt naked lying face down on our bed.
Our bed. Something else that used to belong to one person only but that she's been more than happy to share.
I begin to wonder where she's got to, until I hear her creep up behind me once more. Suddenly my ears become aware of a squirting noise, and before I can adjust my head to try and catch a glimpse of the next part of her plan, I gasp with surprise as a cool liquid makes contact with my upper back.
She kneels on the bed beside me, before crossing one of her legs over my body to the other side and lowering herself onto the rear of my abdomen. She's careful to place most of her weight on her knees, knowing how sensitive this particular area of my body is.
In yet another swift movement, she uses both of her hands to rub the liquid as smoothly as she can over my skin. It's probably baby oil, but right now I don't actually care - whatever it is, it's more than enough.
I feel her hands once again move to her personal rhythm - something I can only hope is a taster of things to come.
Leaning across my back she reaches my ear, enveloping me with her body, encasing me in her arms.
"Almost every day you tell me I'm beautiful, and I've never once said it back to you. But you are. You're gorgeous."
How someone can make you want to laugh and cry at the same time I'll never know. She's done it countless times before, and right now she's just done it again.
As much as I love feeling her surround me, I shuffle about in an attempt to move. She seems perplexed for a minute or two as she shifts off me, looking at me with concern.
Her apprehension is soon relived though, as I position myself sitting up against the pillows on the headboard of the bed. My eagerness for contact with her again surfaces, as I reach out to her with both my arms.
Once more she takes her place around me, sitting in my lap with her thighs either side of mine. We're both grinning at each other like idiots. . . but I wouldn't swap this moment for the world.
She starts kissing my neck, moving from my collar bone up to my ear, and back down again.
"I came to find you before I left - you were in trauma two working on that MVA drunk driver. I didn't want to disturb you. . . I know how hard that patient must have been to treat given how much damage he caused. . ."
Her voice trails off in an almost wistful manner, as she pulls back to make contact with my own eyes.
"I guess I wanted to do something special for you. To help you unwind, and forget about any traumas, patients or charts."
Her face turns serious.
"Sometimes I think we take our work home with us too often. There's a line between work and home, a line between business and pleasure. . . a line between Dr John Carter, Nurse Abby Lockhart. . . and me and you as we are now. John and Abby. No lives to save, no drugs to prescribe - just me. . ."
She presses her nose up against mine, softly speaking the end of her words.
". . . and you."
I smile at this. She's right - we do cross the lines for more often than we should. In many ways it's crossing lines that lead us here in the first place, but now that we're here I especially cherish the moments spent away from County. As me, and her. John and Abby.
Moments like these.
Her grin reappears, as she wraps her arms around my neck, touching her nose to mine. Her voice this time is a lot more husky than before, sending shivers down my spine.
"Did it work? Are you relaxed?"
I consider this, knowing full well that there's only one truthful answer.
"Nothing in the world would have worked better."
Only now does she let me kiss her.
It's going to be a long night.
John and Abby. Me and her.
The only two people in my world right now.
Lighting millions of cities, never mind thousands.
I can't wait.