Okay, so I can finally say WITH CERTAINTY, that Chapter 22 is the LAST chapter. I repeat, THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE END! I have to say, this is one of my favorite stories and I hope the prequel story and sequel I plan to do will live up to this story. I have no idea when I will actually start posting the prequel and sequel, but I do know that they will not be written at the same time. It is too difficult writing stories in the same world and not getting the timeline all mixed up.

As for my other stories, I am getting around to them, eventually. Currently I am remodeling my apartment and helping my sister move her family into their first real house so that is taking a lot of my time. I should get back into a regular routine by maybe September since college starts up again and that will give me a chance to better schedule things.

Be sure to follow my Tumblr to stay up to date on what I have planned.

As always, enjoy!

-DFD

Chapter 21

Padme sighed as she fell forward, resting her head on his heaving chest. His hands rubbed gently against her hips as the final tremors of their climaxes ebb away. They stayed like that for several minutes, savoring the feel of their naked flesh pressed together. Anakin kissed to top of her head gently, his hands reluctantly helping to lift her off of his softening shaft so he could dispose of the condom in the trash bin by her vanity. When he returned to the bed he smiled and leaned over her, pressing kisses along her neck.

"You're insatiable," She laughs as she pushes him back enough to meet his eyes.

"You started it." He said as he ran his hands along the curves of her hips, "Jumping me in the on call room and doing so again when I get home; what else did you expect?"

Padme smiled and pulled his head down to hiss him. He pulls her tightly against his chest, her nipples brushing against his in the most erotic way. She moans into his mouth and she feels the beginnings of arousal start up again. As much as she would like to give into him again, she can't. It's already well past two in the morning and she finally gets to go back to work in the morning. She isn't about to show up tired just because she spent the whole night having sex. Great sex. Mind blowing sex. Intensely intimate sex…she shakes her head to clear her thoughts, "Not now," She says as she pulls away from him.

"Yes now," He argues, moving in to try and kiss her again.

"Anakin." He stops at the serious tone she says his name in; "It's my first day back tomorrow. I really don't want to be sidelined because I'm yawning during my first surgery in weeks." She explains. He sighs but he nods his head, conceding to her request. Padme smiles and kisses him softly, "I'll make it up to you tomorrow." She promises as she turns onto her side to turn out the light.

His arm slings over her waist as he scoots as close to her as he can, kissing her shoulder several times before resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes.

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Standing in front of the hospital, Padme could not hide the smile on her face. She felt like an intern again staring at the building where lives are saved everyday. And now she was finally able to be a part of that again. Anakin comes to stand next to her, his brow raised as he glances between her and the hospital, trying to figure out what has her so captivated.

"Are you just going to stand there? Or are you actually going to go in?" He asked.

Padme lowered her gaze from the building and nodded, "Yeah, I just… I'm just excited." She said, "I know they'll probably start me off easy with a couple aneurisms before they have me to craniotomies, but still."

Anakin shakes his head and passes her the coffee he got for her, "I'd love to revel in your excitement all day, but I have an ambulance to catch." He said, "Ben just texted me, said they got a heart at this small medical facility and they don't have a surgeon to do the recovery. So I need to get to the ambulance bay before he steals my surgery."

"Will you be back for lunch?" She asked.

He shrugged, "Don't know," He said, "Hospital is a couple hours out and they don't have a lot of stuff so it could take awhile."

It was her turn to raise a brow at him. "What are you trying to do?" She asked, well aware he had some ulterior motive from the overly casual tone he spoke with.

He smiled, "Am I that obvious?"

"Not particularly. But I think I know you pretty well to know when you have something up your sleeve."

He laughed and shoved his hand in his pocket, "Kid also came in with Kawasaki disease."

"And you think by having Ben handle that case he will also patch things up with Satine." She finished. It was a good plan. They would be forced to work together and overcome their differences for the sake of their patient; but it was also a stupid idea if they weren't ready to talk yet. Having been away from the affairs of the hospital, she was a little out of sync with the latest gossip; and with Anakin and Dorme as her main source of information, it was hard to tell what they exaggerated on. Though being back it was only a matter of time before she was back in the loop. "Just don't be gone too long. I don't think Ben would appreciate it if he ended up on the table because you left them together too long."

He shrugged, "That won't happen." He argued, "If we can survive my anger issues and a building falling on you, them getting over Ben's inability to detect flirtation and Satine's anger should be a piece of cake." He said with a proud smile on his face.

She raised a brow at him, "We had to go to therapy to get to this point." She reminded him, "And our situation is completely different. I noticed when you were flirting, he didn't. And I'd say Satine was fairly obvious when she invited him over to watch Netflix."

"True," He admitted, "But this at least gets thing started." He said with a smile. His pager beeps and he doesn't even look to read it, knowing he has to hurry to get to the ambulance bay before Ben. Leaning over he kisses her cheek lightly, "Got to run, "He said, "I'll let you know when I'm on my way back." He promised as he started to back away before turning and walking quickly into the hospital.

Padme shakes her head as she watches him leave. Taking a sip of her coffee, she takes a deep breath to calm her excited nerves and makes her way into the hospital as if she never left. Making her way to the attendings lounge, she retrieves her scrubs and changes quickly so she can get started.

It was so much better being the one in the white coat than the one having to wear the gown. The coat is a sign of authority, of intelligence; and for a doctor to don a patient's gown it takes that away if only for a short time. Padme had been waiting for this day for weeks. She hated the waiting, hated having to limit what she did until she was told she could do more. And as much as she trusts the other doctors in the hospital, she really hated having to listen to them. She is also a doctor and she certainly knows more about her own body than they do. Doctors really do make the worst patients.

In the main lobby, Padme reaches over and grabs one of the tablets and starts to look through the patients she is working with today. Not surprisingly, Farr gave her a couple aneurisms and mostly post-ops with one assisting role on a craniotomy. The first patient she is going to see is a teenage boy who recently had a tumor removed near the optic nerve. She needs to remove the bandages and determine if there was any damage to the nerve.

"Ah!" She yelps, almost dropping the tablet when someone pinched her sides. She hears Dorme's laughter before she sees the woman clutching her sides from laughing so hard. "Dorme," Padme scolds, "That wasn't funny."

She scoffs, "Can you really blame me?" She asked, "I haven't been able to sneak up on you like that since freshman year!" Dorme links her arm through hers and they start to walk towards the post-ops, "I have so much to tell you," She started, "I mean, I would have asked your boyfriend to tell you, but I doubt he wants to hear about my sex life."

Padme stops walking, "Wait, what?" She asks, "Who? When? How?" Her mind is flooded with questions and she can't possibly ask them fast enough.

Dorme raised a hand to calm her, "I'll tell, after you explain that little… stunt in the on call room." She said with a devilish smile.

"Oh God."

"Yeah, there was a lot of that." Dorme said.

If there was a way to sink into the floor, Padme prayed it would happen just about now. If Dorme knew, it meant the entire hospital knew. She can feel her cheeks reddening from sheer embarrassment. "It-it wasn't-" Padme tried to find the words to explain why she did it, particularly because there wasn't any reason, at least not a good, logical reason.

"What? Good?" Dorme tried to fill in, "From what I heard, it was really good."

Padme shook her head, "No, that's not it. It was good."

"Really good."

"I just- I can't… it just happened." Padme said with a sigh.

Dorme nodded her head, "I figured," She said, "You're not really the one for spontaneity though, at least not like that. I'm proud of you." She said, wrapping her arm around her shoulder and started walking again, "Now tell me everything."

"Everything?"

She nodded, "Is it as good as you remember? Does he still do that thing with his tongue? How surprised was he?" The list went on and Padme realized she had made a terrible mistake by telling her these things to begin with. "How big is he really?" She asked, "Because you're like really small and he's what, 6'2"? And don't guys always add an inch?"

Padme rested her face in her hand. This was going to be a long day.

[][][][]

The post-ops were all finished by the time she was hungry for lunch. Having sated Dorme of her unusual obsession with her sex life, Dorme had finally told her about hers, which wasn't much more than a casual hook up with her ex boyfriend and not nearly as interesting as hers. Padme had been tricked. And she felt stupid for falling into the trap. As she walked towards the cafeteria she glanced at her watch. Anakin had gotten back a couple hours ago and he should be done with the transplant by now, hopefully he was already getting lunch so she could avoid more of Dorme's questions.

Through all the commotion of doctors and nurses getting their own meals, Padme could just barely make out Anakin sitting at their usual table with a burger in his hands. Grabbing a tray she proceeded to get her own lunch before making her way to join him. She smiled as she approached and saw him get a glob of ketchup on the side of his mouth. He didn't even seem to notice. Sitting down she reached across and ran her thumb over the corner of his mouth to remove the embarrassingly large spot before sucking the ketchup off her thumb. She laughed when she saw the wide-eyed look he gave her.

He swore under his breath and shook his head, "That… should not have been that hot." He said, bringing a napkin up to wipe his face.

"You have a dirty mind, Ani." She said, "I barely even did anything."

It was his turn to laugh, "Honestly, you don't have to do much to make me want you." He said, his hand finding hers on the table, his finger drawing patterns on her palm, "I'm free for the next hour. What do you say we find an on call room and…" He didn't finish the question- didn't have to when it was obvious what he wanted.

Padme shook her head, "That was a one time deal. And after what I had to endure with Dorme; I'd rather not go through that again."

The smile on his face dropped, "What did she say?" He asked, "Is she bothering you?"

"Well… she knows about the on call room." She started, "And she had some rather… personal questions she wouldn't leave me alone about."

Anakin leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, "What kind of questions?"

Padme stared at him and she could tell instantly from the slight smirk on his face he is teasing her. She shook her head, "You're so mean."

He laughed lightly and leaned forward to take her hand in his once more, "Dorme should know better than to stick her nose in our privacy." He said, "Next thing she'll ask is if she can watch our sex tape."

Her eyes went wide and she almost choked on her drink, "We don't have-"

"Of course not." He assured her. The smirk on his face widened, "But we could if you wanted."

Padme's eyes narrowed as she reached across the table and punched him in the shoulder, "Asshole."

He merely laughed and said, "I love you."

[][][][]

Padme sat at the kitchen island with her computer sitting in front of her as she Skyped with her sister. She was currently taking a much deserved summer vacation with the girls to visit Darred's parents at their mountain retreat. Even in the summer the mountains were capped with snow and it worked wonders to wear the girls out.

"So…" Sola said as she sat in front of the fireplace, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, "You and Anakin are good I take it."

She nodded, "Yeah. We're good. Things are working out brilliantly." She watched Sola nod her head and take a sip of her tea, "What's the real reason you wanted to talk?" Padme asked, well aware there was something on her mind. Sola was not someone who liked to Skype. She has never been particularly good with technology and the only way they were able to make this call was because Ryoo explained to her mother how to set it up.

Sola shrugged, "Can't a girl just Skype her little sister from time to time?"

"Yes, but you don't do it without a reason."

She sighed, and spin the spoon in her tea, "Are you happy?" She asked, "With Anakin. Are you happy with Anakin?"

Padme's eyes narrowed, "Of course I'm happy." She said, almost offended her sister would imply otherwise, "How could you possibly-"

"Padme," Sola said, stopping her for the moment, "I'm not trying to be mean or anything. I just… I want to know you're happy. And if you are…" Sola sighed as she pulled the blanket tighter across her shoulders, "If you are, I was wondering if the two of you would like to join us for dinner when we get back next week." She said. The invite startled Padme. She knew Sola was still skeptical about Anakin, given their history, so for her to actually invite him into her home was a big step. "I know you haven't told mom and dad yet. So I figured if things are really going well, maybe I should give him a chance. That way when you do talk to them, I'll have a reason to be on your side."

Padme smiled, "Of course we'll come." She said, "Thank you. This means more to me than you think."

Sola nodded, "You'd do the same for me."