Beautifully Awake(65)

I wondered what it was like to depend on your skill day in and day out to save a life … and to accept that some things were out of your control despite your talent and hard work. How many times had Chase had to wait and see? How many patients died despite his best effort? I doubted the boys realized the enormity of the responsibility they were training for.

Chase opened his eyes and the switch flipped back on. “So tell me. What did I miss? Suction.” Like anyone in the room was stupid enough to answer that one.

“Just Guy teasing Lili,” Sam chimed in out of nowhere. I raised my brow and gave Chase an I have no idea look. “You know the double standard, a man has a condom in his wallet for only one reason, right? We have to own it, but girls ... ever notice they’re all on the pill for bad cramps or irregular periods these days?”

What the hell, Sam. This was the save he came up with? Guy better have appreciated his intern stepping up, but I was going to kill him. Usually I handled hanging with the boys, but this needed a fast-forward.

“And this has to do with Ms. Porter, how?” Dr. Possessive was not a fan of the conversation. Neither was I.

“Not our Lili. All about the clear skin, right, girl?” Jackson rescued me. Kind of.

Clear skin. Right. I wished that was my impetus for starting birth control.

Chase glared over the short curtain. Those sexy stormy eyes yelled, Blue, I’m about to lose my fucking mind.

Crap, what if he had walked in on the real conversation.

The crazy talk came to an abrupt halt when an obnoxious beep echoed through the room, and seven sets of eyes turned toward the anesthesia cart.



“Carl. What the fuck’s your problem?” Chase growled as if he knew why the machines were beeping. He wasn’t alarmed this time, just angry. The blaring ominous tune brought back awful memories of the blood bath. “Silence the fucking alarm.”

Carl stared at the screen. Didn’t flinch. If looks killed, Wet Noodle needed CPR. Chase bordered on homicidal. In slow motion, Dr. Jennings finally reached up and hit a button, silencing the beep. “Just kinked IV tubing. Not a big deal.”

“Last time I checked, all the meds keeping my patient stable while I slice a huge tumor out of his brain are dripping through that tubing. It’s a huge fucking deal,” Chase roared then snapped over to my direction. “Blue, you ready?”

Shit, he just called me Blue. On a scale of one to ten, the tensity of the room was teetering on a twelve point five, so I doubted anyone noticed. Chase was so angry, his heavy breathing suctioned his mask to his face with each inhale. I kept his gaze, hoping to calm him. Wet Noodle was about five seconds from being tossed against a wall.

“I’m going to wake him up now. If Dr. Jennings thinks he can handle doing his fucking job.” Chase’s eyes bored into Wet Noodle before looking back at me. “Just keep him calm, Lili, but keep him talking. Just like you did in the other cases. You with me, Blue?” He softened, I loved that I did that for him.

“With you, Chase.” With you. For the first time I didn’t think twice about who was listening. I had no idea what we had or where it was going, but I needed him as much as he needed me right then.

The rest of the case went off without a hitch. The whole time the boys remained quiet and focused. I was thankful for small favors, no more talk of birth control or sexual frustrations.

Chase dismissed Jackson and Guy, while he took his time teaching Sam how to close. Or staple, or sew the patient’s head. Something crazy like that. Methodical and patient, he was an amazing teacher.

“Nice work, Dr. Petit,” Chase said sincerely. “Why don’t you go help Guy and Jackson with post-op checks. I’ve got this.”

“You’re sure?” Sam sounded shocked that his attending wanted to stay behind and transport the patient to recovery.

“Yes. Go,” Chase instructed. “Ms. Porter. Walk with me.”



My stare wandered down his sick body, imagining every hard curve. Flashes of our first night together in my hallway against the glass ran through my head.

Catching me in my seductive act, his devilishly sexy smirk appeared. “Um ... Ms. Porter, would you like to ... come?”

“Um ... of course,” I muttered, not even sure if it was comprehensible. Please, please don’t let there be a wet spot on these damn paper-thin scrubs. I needed more than a pantiliner around this man. The two older nurses in the room shot each other a knowing look, before blushing themselves. Sure—they completely ignored the boys’ shenanigans, but now they were completely tuned in. My luck.

“Shall we?” Extending his hand toward the door, Dr. Playful made his first public appearance at work. The nurses looked like they might have wet their pants too, he was just that damn sexy.