"Shh. I don't want people to hear you," Sage gasped as she looked around, grateful everyone else was just as exhausted as she was and wasn't bothering to listen.
"I just call it how I see it," Mo said before walking away.
"Well . . . quit calling it." Sage realized her comeback wasn't very good as soon as the words came out.
She gave up. Because right then, nothing sounded better than a long, hot shower. Somehow she made it to the locker room and gathered up her things, and then limped to the closest shower. Closing her eyes to push away the thoughts of the night, she threw her filthy scrubs into the hamper and stepped into the small shower bay.
The hot water was heaven on her sore muscles. Eyes closed and soaking in the water massage, she felt rather than saw his presence. A slow smile formed on her face as she felt his hard body press against hers.
"You did amazing, Sage," Spence said as his hands traveled up her stomach and cupped her breasts.
"I can't do this right now, Spence. I'm exhausted and there was so much trauma, more trauma than I ever expected to see here," she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Turning her around, Spence looked into her eyes, a gentle smile on his lips. "You are strong and capable and you saved lives tonight, Sage. Don't let the ones you weren't able to save take away the joy of the lives you gave back to terrified family members."
"But what about all of those people who didn't even get a chance to say good-bye?" she said, resting her head on his chest as the first tears fell.
"I don't know why or how some live and some don't. All I know is that we do our very best every single time. You are spectacular and there is so much ahead for you," he promised as his fingers massaged the back of her head.
"I am so glad I'm here with you, that I chose this hospital, that I get to learn from someone so great in the field."
"I'm glad you're here, too. Let me help you wash up, then I'm going to take you home, put you to bed with a hot cup of tea, and then sweep you off your feet tomorrow," he said, lifting her chin and giving her a light kiss.
"I think that's exactly what I need," she said, utterly drained, not even having the energy to lift her arms up around his neck.
Spence gently washed her body, then for once, helped her put clothing on before wrapping an arm around her and walking with her to his truck. She didn't get her cup of tea, because she fell asleep against his side within two minutes of leaving the hospital.
Waking up the next morning, Sage gasped to see it was almost noon. She had slept for a solid ten hours without waking once. That's when she noticed her phone was ringing.
"Hello." The sound of her groggy voice would certainly scare away a telemarketer if that was who had dared to wake her.
"Good morning, beautiful. You have exactly thirty minutes to dress and open your front door for me," Spence said, his voice pure sunshine.
"Thirty minutes will barely make me presentable," she warned.
"Baby, all you need is three minutes, just enough time to slip on shoes and a coat, because you wake up beautiful."
"Flattery will certainly get you whatever you want, Dr. Whitman," she said, feeling like giggling.
"Ah, then I must do it more often. You now have twenty-eight minutes," he warned.
"Then I better hang up."
Without waiting for a good-bye, Sage hung up the phone and rushed to her bathroom, where she showered and dressed in a flat ten minutes. She brushed on some mascara and lip gloss, threw her hair up into a ponytail, and bounced down the stairs. She made a cup of coffee, which she downed right before the doorbell rang.
Swinging the door open, Sage didn't even have a chance to speak before Spence lifted her in his arms, kissed her breathless, then carried her from the apartment and down the stairs and set her in his truck before running around to his side and climbing in.
"That's what I call a good morning," Sage said with a laugh.
"I told you I would be picking you up today. I hope you got enough rest," he replied, grabbing her hand and placing it on his thigh as he began driving.
"I slept like a rock. I feel more rested than I have in a while, and I desperately needed it after the week I've had."
"Being a resident is hard, but once you make it through, you will be so glad you did it."
"I am exhausted all the time, but I wouldn't trade it. I'm doing exactly what I love," she said.
"Being a doctor has to be in your blood. Some have it and some don't. You, Dr. Banks, certainly have it." She turned and kissed his cheek, overflowing with happiness.
"Where are you taking me this morning? Are we jetting off to another city? More jazz and sex?" Sage asked. For someone who liked order so much, she sure was a different person when with Spence, easily going with the flow.
"I'm kidnapping you. Isn't that obvious? And kidnap victims are never told where they're going."
"The weather is supposed to get worse today, Spence. We don't want to get caught out in it, and the ER will probably be busy because the roads are sure to get icy." The dark clouds were threatening to dump a lot of new snow onto the area.
"You worry too much," he said as they headed out of town. "Just let go and relax. Today will be fun."
"I can have fun, you know."
"Prove it, Sage. Tell me one reckless thing you have done in your life."
"Well, there was the time . . ." She had nothing. She dredged her memories desperately in hope of finding something-anything she'd done that didn't have a purpose.
"See, Sage? I'm right. As always."
"You're not always right, Spence," she snapped, her smile suddenly evaporating as she scooted over, no longer in the mood to snuggle. "And I demand to know where we're going."
So what if she liked to have her life organized? It wasn't a crime to be responsible. As a doctor, Spence should be a whole heck of a lot more worried about what he chose to do. He had a reputation to maintain. People had an expectation of the way doctors should act, and why shouldn't they? Wild and crazy guys weren't very reassuring.
"I'm ensuring that you keep a promise," he said, taking another turn and going up an old and winding logging road.
Big, fat snowflakes starting splatting against the windshield, and Sage watched while the road began to get a fresh layer of white atop its base of older snow.
"We should really turn around before we're stuck up here," she said. "Anyway, what promise?"
"We aren't leaving until we've reached our objective. As for the promise-you said you'd make sure I got the perfect Christmas tree. And that was weeks ago."
"We didn't need to come all the way up here for a tree. There are beautiful ones already cut and trimmed and ready to buy," she said as he pulled up to an old hunter's cabin and parked his truck.
"Yes, but those trees aren't fresh. They could easily die before Christmas, and become dry and dangerous. And you call yourself responsible! You don't want the lights to spark a fire and burn down my house, do you?"
"That's why you have to look at the base of the tree and make sure it's still moist. You just cut the last couple inches off the trunk so it can soak up water."
"There's nothing like cutting your own tree," he told her as he stepped from the truck and walked around to her side.
"This is foolish. It's freezing out here and we're going to get stranded in a snowstorm." Sage refused to budge.
"Then we get stranded. The cabin's stocked for emergencies." Spence reached in and easily removed her from the truck, letting her body slide down his as he held her against him. "If we get too cold, I have ideas on how to warm us back up."
"What cabin?"
"This is my brother's hunting cabin. We come up here often." She looked at the snow-covered cabin, impressed. Then Spence leaned down and kissed her, making her forget all about the snow, the cabin, and her little fit, and heating her up while also leaving her trembling-not a bit from the cold.
"Fine, let's get your tree. I still say it's terrible to cut down a live one when there are so many that will go to waste. As a doctor, you should have more of a healthy respect for life." She gave him half a wink after her last remark.
"But the cutting down is the best part, Sage. And we try to make it all up to Mother Nature. For every Christmas tree we cut down, in the spring we get saplings we've been growing at home and plant two more here to replace the old one. It's been a Whitman tradition from our first Christmas together."