“Why? Is she okay?”
He nodded. “I can’t say for certain but I suspect she is in the throes of her first-ever migraine. The only thing that doesn’t really fit is the low-grade pyrexia. But everything else makes me think it’s a migraine. And after the stress she’s been under I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m going to give her an injection then sit here and wait until her symptoms subside.”
“And will they?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I certainly hope so. This is a wait-and-see option. We need to give it a little time. An hour or so.”
“Call me if there’s any change.”
He nodded. Disappointed. He’d half expected her to wait with him. This could be crucial in determining the nature of this disease. But it obviously wasn’t to be. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
And he couldn’t really blame her.
Or maybe she was just showing faith in his competence as a doctor?
Whatever it was, he was just going to have to get over it. But his stomach was gnawing at the memory of how much he’d missed those eyes in the last few days.
His nose picked up the smell of toasted bagels. It was time to follow his stomach. This could be a long wait.
* * *
An hour later Jill was in a deep sleep. The migraine relief seemed to have worked well and Sawyer was breathing a sigh of relief. He’d checked on the boys—both Jack and Ben were stable and showing no obvious signs of improvement or deterioration. It was four a.m. That horrible point of the night when nausea abounded and sleep seemed so far away.
He looked around. One of the nurses touched his shoulder. “Go and have some coffee, Sawyer, you look like crap.”
“Thanks for that.”
She smiled at him. “Oh, you’re welcome. I’ll page you if I need you—but I doubt it.”
He headed down the darkened corridor. There was definitely a pot of coffee on the go somewhere. The smell seemed to be drifting towards him and making him follow it like the children had followed the pied piper. And he could hear some background noise.
He reached one of larger communal kitchens. The coffee pot was just on the boil. Just the way he liked it. Straight, black and hot.
He poured a cup and headed towards the noise. The kids must have left the TV on in the cinema room. It was something sappy. He slumped into one of the seats. If he just sat down for five minutes and drank this coffee, he would be fine. The caffeine would hit his system and keep him awake for the last few hours.
Five minutes.
“What are you doing here?”
He jumped. The voice cut through the darkness and he spilled hot coffee all down the front of his scrub trousers. “Hey!” He rubbed frantically at the stain, lifting the wet trousers from his groin area—some things just shouldn’t get burned.
Callie appeared at his side and peered at the spreading stain. “You klutz.” She started to snigger. That crazy middle-of-the-night kind of laugh that night shift staff got and couldn’t stop.
Sawyer sighed and set down his half-filled coffee cup. “I came down here for a coffee to help me stay awake and wondered what the noise was. What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t get back to sleep.”
“So you came down here, rather than sit up with me next to the patients?” It sounded almost accusing and he didn’t mean it to come out that way but in the middle of the night social niceties disappeared.
“I guess I didn’t want to sit next to you, Sawyer.”
Yip. It worked both ways. Night shift certainly did away with the social niceties.
He didn’t want to get into this. Not here. Not now. He glanced at the big screen. “You told me you were an action girl, not a chick-flick girl. What happened?”
Their eyes turned in unison at the screen as the hero’s eyes followed the heroine, staring at her unashamedly.
Even in the dark Callie’s cheeks looked a little flushed. Maybe it was the intimacy of the scene. Not intimate in that sense. But intimate in the fact it was the first time the audience could see how smitten the hero was with the girl of his dreams.
And he could relate.
Here, in the middle of a darkened room, in the midst of an outbreak, Sawyer could totally relate.
He could see Callie’s long eyelashes, the blue of her eyes dimmed by the light. But the flickering screen highlighted her cheekbones, showing the beautiful structure and lines of her face. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Her eyes met his. “I am an action girl. But I was too late this time. It seems the kids are action fans too—and they all have DVD players in their rooms.” Her voice was quiet, almost whispered. It made him naturally lean towards her to hear what she was saying above the background noise of the movie.
“I’m an action girl” were the words playing around in his mind.
She held up another DVD and tilted her head to the side, revealing the long line of her neck.
His hand went automatically to her waist and she didn’t flinch, didn’t move. Her arm stayed half in the air, still holding up the DVD, almost as if she was frozen.
Sawyer stepped forward, the full length of his body next to hers. He forgot about the damp coffee stain on his scrubs. This was where he should apologize. This was where he should tell her he was having trouble getting his head around all this.
This was where he should tell her about Helen. About the fight with Evan and the consequences. This was where he should clear the air.
Because if he didn’t, he’d never move on.
But he didn’t do any of those things.
He just kissed her.
His hands captured her head, winding his fingers through her hair and anchoring her in position.
But he didn’t kiss her like he had before.
This time he was gentle. This time he was slow. This time he wanted her to know that he meant it. It wasn’t just a reaction. It wasn’t just a physical thing.
This was him, Matt Sawyer, wanting to make a connection with her, Callie Turner.
So he started on her lips. Brushing his against hers then moving along her jaw and down her neck.
He was just working his way back up the other side of her neck when Callie’s hands connected with his shoulders, pushing him back firmly.
“No, Sawyer. Stop it.”
He was stunned and immediately stepped away.
Even in the dark he could see tears on her cheeks. “I can’t do this. This isn’t me. And I know you don’t mean it. I can’t do what we did a few days ago and then just walk away. You need to leave me alone.” She started walking towards the door. Away from him. “Just leave me, Sawyer. Leave me alone.”
“Callie, wait—” But his words were lost because she’d almost bolted out the door. He stared down at his hands. The hands that had just touched her. That hands that still wanted to be touching her.
He didn’t blame her. His earlier actions had been pretty much unforgiveable. But the pull towards her was real. And it wasn’t going to go away any time soon.
He sagged back down into one of the chairs. There was no point in going after her right now.
He needed the proper time and space to talk to her.
His eyes went back to the screen flickering in the darkness. They’d reached the point in the movie where the heroine was telling the hero she was marrying someone else.