Learning to Love
Chapter 7
"Sam! I'm so glad you're here!" I ran down the hall and hugged him.
Yeah, I was probably delusional, I'd been working a 72 hour shift and before that Mike and I had a weekend sex marathon, so I didn't get a lot of sleep.
"Bella!" Sam laughed and hugged me back.
"When do I get to meet Emily and the little ones?" I smiled as we walked down the corridor.
"She was hoping you and Mike would come over for dinner Sunday." He smiled.
"Nonsense! She's dealing with your children, moving house and adjusting to a new town, how about you come over to my place, wait… Scratch that, it's super small. How about I take you guys out to dinner." I smiled.
"I can ask, but Emily loves to cook. She comes from a large family and is second oldest, so she's always cooked." He shrugged.
"I don't want to put her out." I stated.
"It's fine… Trust me! Sunday dinner at 5:00pm, bring Mike too." He smiled as I finished showing him around the hospital.
"We're having a 'get to know' lunch tomorrow before your shift, so make sure you're here at noon, shift starts at 2. Now run home and help Emily with those 3 munchkins" I shoved him out of my office and on his way home.
The Sunday dinner went great, Mike and Sam hit it off as did Emily and I. Their children were adorable and well behaved.
We made plans to do this again soon, when Sam and I could arrange for a few hours gap at the hospital.
Everything was hectic for the next few weeks, there was a flu outbreak and Sam and I had been working round the clock. I think every child in Forks had been here twice.
I was just getting ready to leave after being here for over 48 hours with little to no sleep when Jasper came in with Sophia. "Bella, she's really sick, she can't keep anything down and she's got diarrhea and a fever." Jasper rattled off.
"It's OK, it's probably just the flu. We've had a lot of it going around." I assured him.
"Thank you Bella." He smiled.
"Don't thank me, I'm getting Sam, he's on now, I'm going home." I shrugged.
"No, please. I don't trust anyone else." Jasper grabbed my arm and the look in his eyes said it all, as did the spark that shot through me.
"Jasper, really I-I need to go." I pleaded.
"Please." He whispered and I gave in.
"I'm not doing this for you. Sophia is my patient." I sighed. "I need to make a phone call, go see the nurse and she'll take Sophia's vitals and put you in a room, I'll be there shortly.
Jasper nodded and walked out cradling Sophia in his arms.
"Mike, hey. Sorry I'll be later than expected. Yeah. I know we had dinner reservations, but I've got too many dick children to leave Sam with." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "Mike, I'm not going to argue with you. You'll just have to cancel our reservations and get yourself something, I'll be here all night, and I'm sure. I know you leave tomorrow for a week, what do you want me to say?" I was tired and beyond frustrated with him.
"Bella, this is why you hired Sam to begin with! You need a damn break from the hospital. We need us time! When you get pregnant, you're not working. I don't care what you say!" Mike all but shouted in the phone.
"Mike, I know I didn't just hear that! I'm hanging up now and you better be in a good moon when I get to your place or this is it! I'm not living like this! All we do is fight every few weeks, It's not happening." I slammed the phone down without another word.
Sophia was stable and I'd ordered IV's and a suppository for the vomiting, she was sleeping soundly in her bed and Jasper was fast asleep in the recliner next to her bed. I grabbed a blanket out of the closet and covered him up, watching the smile spread across his face as I did so. I sat and watched them both for a few minutes, thinking about 'what-ifs' and then chastising myself for doing so just because I'd had a fight with Mike. I walked into the Dr.'s lounge and saw Sam drinking a coffee.
"Hey Bella, thought you went home." He smiled.
"I was on my way out when my friend brought his baby girl in with a severe case of the flu." I shook my head.
"That sucks. How old?" he asked.
"I think about 5 or 6 months." I shrugged.
"Ah, your ex's baby." He smiled.
I rolled my eyes, knowing Mike had talked to him, that'd become pretty close during the few weeks Sam's been here and I know they talked about things like that.
"Do you know what he had the nerve to say to me tonight? That when I get pregnant I'm to quit working, no matter what I say or feel! Can you believe that shit?" I questioned.
"I know Mike wants kids right away. But that's a big commitment Bella, if you're not ready, speak up." Sam warned.
"Believe me, I have. I'm thinking 3 or 4 years from now. There's still so much to do." I shook my head.
"Emily and I waited a year and a half, neither of us wanted a baby while I was interning and working crazy ass hours." Sam smiled at the memory.
"Exactly! I'm still working crazy hours and I love it! I don't want to stop anytime soon. By the end of next year we're supposed to have one more with us or at least a nurse practitioner." I smiled.
"That'd be awesome! Then we could rotate weekends, only working 1 a month, occasionally more, I'd love an uninterrupted weekend with my wife and boys." Sam smiled.
"I'm just waiting for the Chief of Staff's OK and then I'll start looking." I told him.
"Go get some rest." Sam nodded to the bed in the tiny 'bedroom' we had at the beck of the lounge.
"I think I will." I stretched and walked to the room, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
AN:
Sorry it took so long…
I'm on NEW meds for my migraines and it's making me very sleepy!
Hopefully I'll get caught up this weekend.
Hugs to you all!
Reviews=Love