“Are you okay?” I rush out.
“Yeah, why?”
“Someone with a Chicago area code called and my first thought was that something bad happened to you.”
“That’s kind of sweet. I’m fine, I promise. I just got up and am straightening up my apartment before we leave. I’m so excited!”
“Me too. This will be the longest time we’ve spent together.”
“I hope you still like me at the end of the week,” she jokes.
“It would take a lot for me to stop liking you, babe. And even more for me to stop loving you.”
“Okay, you just earned major points with that one.”
“I’ll be sure to cash those in at some point this week.”
“I’ll be disappointed if you don’t. I’m assuming you’re at work, right? You said you had a missed call.”
“Yeah. I’ve been here all night.”
“Oh,” she says, sounding a little disappointed. “Are you too tired to drive?”
“Nah, I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t believe you,” she says back right away. “Take a nap. I’d rather miss our flights than have you fall asleep behind the wheel. If you died, Archer, it would kill me.”
“Stop thinking about it,” I tell her, knowing she’ll start crying. This new emotional side annoys her, but I find it charming. “I have time for a short nap, and I’ll grab some espresso on the way.”
“Naps make me feel more tired sometimes.”
“The trick is not letting yourself get to REM sleep. You have to wake up before then.”
“Right. I think I’ve heard that before. Go home and rest. Call me when you leave, please?”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I tuck my shirt into my pants, put on my belt and grab my lab coat, needing to do rounds on my patients before I can leave. I have at least twenty minutes of paperwork too, which is my least favorite about being a doctor.
A sense of relief comes over me when I step out of the hospital. I haven’t been away for more than two days at a time in too fucking long. I speed home, take a quick shower, and crash in bed. The pressure to sleep keeps me from falling asleep, and when my alarm goes off to get up, I’m finally feeling tired. I set it again for another fifteen minutes and close my eyes.
Those fifteen minutes go by fast. Yawning my way out the door, I get back in my Jeep and head out. I get coffee on the road and talk to Quinn for the first hour. I make a pit stop for more coffee at the halfway point and walk around a bit to try and keep myself alert and awake. It’s cloudy, and the farther north I go, the more it looks like a bad storm is about to rain down on us.
Quinn calls again about forty-five minutes later to make sure I hadn’t fallen asleep at the wheel and says it’s raining in the city with a storm forecasted to come in right around the time we’re supposed to take off.
Traffic slows thanks to the rain, and I get to Quinn’s with only minutes to spare before we have to leave for the airport. But when she answers her door in just a silk robe, I assume our plane has been delayed.
I don’t waste time asking questions. I roll my suitcase to the side, close the door, and pick her up and kiss her.
“Good morning, Dr. Jones,” she says, throwing her arms around me. “How was the drive?”
“You were on the phone with me most of the time,” I say with a smile, kissing her again. I shift my gaze down, first noticing her bare breasts and hard nipples. “Emma has grown.”
Quinn nods. “I feel it. And she’s been kicking up a storm. It still feels squirmy and not kicky.”
“Kicky?”
“It’s a word. I think. I told her you were coming.”
“That’s not an appropriate thing to tell a baby.” I raise my eyebrows and Quinn laughs. “How much time do we have?”
“Two hours. But the flight will probably get pushed back even more.” She wrinkles her nose. “Though I’d much rather have the flight delayed ahead of time than to get there and sit on the runway for hours.”
“Me too.” I slide my hands down Quinn’s ass. “How do you want to spend our time?”
Her full lips curve into a smile. “Remember the first time you kissed me?”
“I will always remember that.”
“And what came after?”
“I believe you did. At least two times.”
She nuzzles her lips against my neck. “I want to do that again.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“Archer,” Quinn whispers, breath warm on my skin. I passed out after we had sex and have no idea what time it is. The sky is still dark and cloudy, and rain hits the tall windows in her bedroom. If the promise of paradise wasn’t on the horizon, I’d be tempted to stay here all day.
This is as close to perfect as anything.
“Is it time to get up?”
“Yeah. The storm passed, and I think the rain will let up enough for us to take off.”
“One more minute?”
“Sure.” She presses her lips to my neck and lays back down, running her nails up and down my arm. It takes more than one minute to pull myself out of bed. We get dressed and I help Quinn remake her bed. She says bye to her cats and feeds them a can of food before we do a quick double-check that we have everything and head out.
Quinn is beaming as we get into the elevator.
“Excited?” I ask, taking her carry-on bag from her. It’s surprisingly heavy.
“What gave that away? Are you?”
“Yes. And right now, I’m excited to sleep on the plane.”
“That’s so sad, Arch,” she says with a laugh. “I can’t sleep on planes. I’m totally jealous that you’ll pass out.”
“I’ve learned to sleep anywhere simply for survival. After you work so many thirty-hour shifts, you sleep when you can wherever you can.”
She pats her stomach. “My little energy sucker might help me fall asleep this time around though. It’s been a while since I was on a plane for more than four hours.”
The elevator stops two floors down, and an older couple gets in.
“Hello, Ms. Dawson,” the man says.
“Hi, Mr. Keller. And Mrs. Keller. How are you?”
“We’re good, thank you. Getting ready to brave the rain,” the wife says, bringing her hand up to her hair. “Are you going on vacation?”
“We are,” Quinn replies, tipping her head up at me. “Hawaii.”
“Oh, you’ll love it!” Mrs. Keller coos. “Our daughter went before her baby was due too. That whole babymoon thing wasn’t around when we had our kids.” She darts her gaze to me. “I didn’t realize you two moved in together.”
“We haven’t yet,” Quinn admits almost shyly. “This is my boyfriend, Archer. Arch, this is Mr. And Mrs. Keller from two floors down.”
Mr. Keller shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you. That’s a fine young woman you’ve got there.”
I put my free hand on the small of Quinn’s back. “She sure is.”
“Have a fun trip.” The elevator slows as it gets to the main level. “Nice meeting you, Archer,” Mrs. Keller tells me. “Hopefully we’ll run into you again.”
“I’m sure you will. I’m hoping to get a job in the city.”
“He’s a doctor,” Quinn tells them. “A surgeon, actually.”
“Wow, how nice.”
The doors open, and the Kellers step aside, letting us out first. Quinn already requested an Uber to take up to the airport, and one should be here any minute now.
“I wasn’t going to bring up the whole doctor thing,” I tease. “But you couldn’t resist, could you?”
“It’s almost like your sense of identity will fade away and you’ll forget who you are if you don’t constantly remind people of your MD status.”
I laugh and push my suitcase against the wall as we wait. “Now, don’t panic, but I didn’t pack my lab coat or scrubs.”
She dramatically gasps, bringing her hand to her
mouth. “Now I might forget who you are.” She slides her suitcase over by mine and looks outside for our ride. She checks the status of our fight, and when I look at my own phone for an update on the weather, I see I have four emails.