Beautifully Awake(11)

I was a million miles away when Sierra dropped her fork in victory, rubbing her even more popped belly. Impressive. Polishing off a Rosa’s enchilada was no small feat.



“Yum-my. Oh gosh. Lil—I can’t believe we forgot to ask. How was your day?” Sierra turned and looked at me sheepishly.

Hmm … what was there to say? Oh just fabulous. They spoke Sanskrit and it was depressing as all hell. Everyone had brain tumors. Not to mention my new attending was hot as balls and I hadn’t stopped thinking about him touching me in unspeakable ways the entire time we’d been here. And let’s not forget, I made a complete ass out of myself in front of the team and was in dire need of a CVS pit stop. If my libido’s reaction to this man today was any indication, I needed to stock up on pantiliners. A month’s supply.

Without giving me a second to answer, Sierra finished. “So was I right about the new guy—big dick?”

Lord help me. This was going to be a very long month.





Latte questionably in hand, I stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor. Silently praying the rumble would stay quiescent, I took a sip and admired my cute fuchsia ballet flats, a welcoming back-of-the-closet surprise. I’m sure something my personal shopper insisted I buy. Luckily Sierra had a knack for the designer goods at pauper prices. There was no way in hell I could spend another day running up and down the stairs in heels.

Ten minutes early, I decided to visit my new favorite patient in room 508.

“Hi, all.”

The girls at the nurses’ station returned my wave as I headed for Kelly Peterson’s room.

“Good Morning, Mrs. Peterson, hope I’m not waking you.” I gave the slightly ajar door a little push as I stepped inside. She looked up from her iPad and smiled. “How you feeling today?”

“Hi Lili, happy you stopped by. A bit of a rough night though.” She repositioned herself in the bed and closed her iPad. “After Dr. Colton explained the surgery to me last night I’ve literally been a wreck. Two in the morning rolled around and I totally freaked. Everything is so much worse at night, right?” She reached up and ran her hand through her blonde curls.



“Really, Mrs. Peterson … you should’ve called me, the nurses know how to reach me. Please don’t hesitate, that’s why I’m here.” I approached her bed.

“No more Mrs. Peterson crap, please call me Kelly.” She half smiled. “And you don’t need to be ruining a perfectly good evening with my drama. You’re way too young, super sweet and adorable to be hanging out with me.”

I frowned and shook my head while she found herself funny. “Thank you, but so not true. Now, seriously I’m a phone call away.” If she only knew what a non-life I really had.

She tipped her head back and rested against the pillow.

“You okay?” I asked.

She curled her knees up to her chest. “I’m so scared. All I want to do is screw the surgery and go home to my babies.” I sat on the edge of her bed and squeezed her hand. “Can you believe he’s gonna drill my head open? That’s insane, right? Then he’s gonna wake me up in the middle of the whole thing to check my speech. What ... what if I don’t wake up?” Her voice cracked, but that’s not what got to me. The strength she used to hold back her pool of tears killed me. I squeezed her hand a little tighter, blinking back my own tears.

“Oh sweetie, you can’t think like that. You’re going to do so well, I know it. You’re freaked and that’s totally understandable. I’d be too, hell, who wouldn’t be? But Dr. Colton is the best of the best. I’m not just saying that. He was recruited to be Chief of the department. That doesn’t just happen. Do you know what I mean? You have to be special, really special—you have to be amazing.” Her lips curled slightly and she dragged a finger under her eyes. I handed her a tissue from her night table. “You know people fly in from all over the country, actually all over the world to have him operate on them? You’re in good hands.” She dabbed the last of her tears with the tissue. “And besides, you have to be strong for not only yourself but your hunky husband and two gorgeous children. They need you.”

Her family photo sat on her side table, so I grabbed it and smiled. Must be so nice to be loved, something I was not that familiar with. Of course my father loved me and my friends loved me, but I was missing my family photo.

She removed her legs from her chest and propped herself up on the pillows. “You’re right, I have to be strong. Tim’s at home juggling two jobs and two nutty twin three-year-olds.”