Saving Forever - Part 4 (3 page)

“Have you checked any of her previous employers?” Charity couldn’t believe this woman could be that unstable and there be no record of it. Someone didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to do this. Somewhere, back in this poor woman’s history, something had happened.”

Gerritt sighed. “We’ve checked. She worked at a retirement home for several years and they say she left. I’ve checked with staff and there was talk that the home was going to fire her but they came to a mutual agreement. There is nothing in writing as to why because she gave notice.”

“So something happened and nobody remembers what?” Elijah snorted. “Seems a bit fishy to me.”

Charity giggled, despite the seriousness of the situation. “Fishy? Really? Like a guppy or more like a shark-size kind of fishy?”

Her father rolled his eyes.

Elijah didn’t notice her father’s reaction. “Probably more like a dolphin-size kind of fishy.”

“Dolphins aren’t fish! They’re mammals,” Charity shot back, trying not to smile.

The two of them looked at the annoyed Dr. Thompson and their serious attorney. “Sorry,” they both said at the same time and sat down.

The attorney cleared his throat. “I’ve got one of my assistants looking into her college. We’re trying to find if there were issues with professors or anything. She did her nursing in the Rochester area and changed schools twice. It’s tough. Like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Her father crumpled the paper from his sub and stood. “Find the needle. I want this over. It’s ridiculous.” He checked his watch. “I need to call the hospital.” He drilled the paper ball into the garbage as he walked by and slipped into the small cubical room attached to their assigned room, away from the media and from them.

Elijah tossed his empty wrapper in the garbage from where he sat. “I have a surgery scheduled and will need to be at the hospital in about an hour. Should I stay till then or would the judge consider it rude if I walk out during the hearing?”

The attorney tapped his pen against the table. “Can you have your pager go off? Then get up and leave? Let’s show the judge the hospital’s focus is its patients, not each doctor’s personal reputation. You’re not faking that you have to go. Just letting everyone else know – sorry, be reminded – what your job is.”

Charity understood Gerritt’s tactic. “He’s saving lives. Our lives.”

Gerritt nodded. “Exactly.”

Elijah shrugged. “One of the staff was going to page me to let me know when they were prepping the patient. I can wait.”

“Good. I’m going to head into the courtroom and check on a few things. I’ll see you inside shortly.” Gerritt left, leaving Charity and Elijah to wait for Dr. Thompson.

She finished a bit more of her lunch and then offered the rest to Elijah. “I can’t eat anymore. Do you want it?”

Elijah grinned and slid the food over to him. “You know true love is when someone will eat an already slobbered on sandwich.” He took a bite.

“I didn’t slobber on it. Gross!”

He covered his mouth and laughed. “True love.”

“What am I going to do with you?”

“Love me forever?”

Why did he have to be so stinkin’ cute and so damn sexy at the same time? “I think that can be arranged.” When did they become so corny together? Were other couples like that? She hoped so.

He enjoyed her half of the sandwich and crumpled the paper, tossing it perfectly into the bin again. “I need to fuel up. This surgery’s going to be a long one. You alright to head back to my place on your own?” A glint of something appeared in his eyes. “Or would you prefer to stay at your dad’s place?”

The door to the small room opened before Charity could reply. Her father tucked his phone in the breast pocket of his suit. “My place?” His eyebrows rose in query.

Charity kicked Elijah’s shin under the table. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Do you need a place to stay? Is your side sore?”

“No!” She softened her voice. “I’m fine. Elijah thinks he’ll be late at the hospital tonight.”

Her father straightened his tie. “I will be as well. Seem to be spending our days here and nights at the hospital. The house could probably use some human interaction. You are welcome to stay there if you want.”

A strange longing to stay there filled her. “I might. I’ll let you know later.”

“We need to be back in the courtroom.” Her father sighed. “It’s only Wednesday but it feels like a long week already.”

“Oh! I need to book a flight back to Atlanta.” Charity pulled her iPad out of her bag.

Elijah’s warm hand rested lightly on her wrist. “I was only teasing.”

She looked up at him and saw the worry in his eyes. “There’s a ribbon cutting ceremony on one of the new floors. I told Malcolm I would be there for it. It’s this weekend.” She debated asking Elijah to come but he was so busy with the hospital and this stupid court case she didn’t want him to feel he had to come.

“Are you sure you’re alright to fly?” her father asked as he headed toward the door.

“Dad. You’re the bloody doctor. Is it safe for me to fly?” She didn’t even wait to give him a chance to reply. “You know I’m fine. I have a job too. It’s been almost two months and I can’t keep putting it off.”

“It’s just over six weeks. I think two more weeks would be better.”

She glanced at Elijah for support. From the look on his face, she knew she wouldn’t get it. “My physio cleared me yesterday. He said as long as I continue doing the exercises on my own, I’ll be good to go. I’ll check back with him in three weeks for a few additional exercises but he said with my core strength being as strong as it was before the incident, it’s still there. I’m already weeks ahead of anyone else in my same situation.”

Her father shook his head. “No one else is in your same situation. Nobody else was shot and nearly killed.”

Elijah folded his arms across his chest. “And then had to sit through a court case trying to ruin everything around her.”

Charity inhaled and let out a slow breath. “You two need to stop blaming yourselves. What happened to me is not your fault.” She pointed at the door. “That woman out there is responsible. She’s the one trying to ruin all of us. Don’t let her make you feel guilty, or bad, or even mad. Don’t let her win.”

They all stood, chests heaving and quietly staring at each other.

“It’s exactly what she’s trying to do. Don’t fall for it.” As much as she had the right to hate the woman, Charity only felt pity. She couldn’t help it. She had everything Laura wanted. She needed professional help. However, Laura was extremely smart and could manipulate any situation to her advantage. She’d managed to fool a lawyer and judge into thinking something was off at the hospital. Who knew what else the woman was capable of?

The door opened and their attorney appeared on the other side. “You ready?”

“Yes.” Dr. Thompson moved to follow him.

Elijah reached for Charity’s hand. “I love you,” he whispered before they headed back out into the sea of flashbulbs and reporters again.

Chapter 3

The hearing wrapped up Thursday afternoon and the judge made a final comment before dismissing for tomorrow’s verdict, “I do not believe this case will need to go to trial. I feel I have enough information from both parties to decide a fair and proper outcome.”

Thursday night, Elijah and Charity barely slept. They lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling and talking.

The hospital’s attorney was confident everything would be dismissed. Her father had suggested the day before that if the judge allowed the hearing to go to trial, the hospital might be better off settling to avoid more bad publicity. Their attorney refused saying they had done nothing wrong. It was natural for nurses, patients and other employees to talk. If a good-looking doctor happened to be on staff and they chose to talk about him, it might be considered sexual harassment against them. Elijah had every right to take them, along with Laura, to court then.

Elijah joked about that with Charity. “The odd patient has made a comment to me while pretty drugged up but I never heard staff make comments about me.”

“I have.”

“What?” Elijah sat up on the bed, his head tilted slightly and his eyebrows raised. His movie star pose as Charity referred to it in her head now.

She smiled. “It was one of the first times I was at the hospital last year. I think it was Laura making some comment about your tattoo and your body to another nurse. They were fawning over you.” She let out a breathy laugh and raised her voice, “Ohhh that Doctor Bennet. He’s soooo dreamy. Movie star material… and those hands. He could perform surgery on me anytime.”

“Did they seriously say that?”

Charity tossed a pillow at him. “Not quite. I might have exaggerated it a smidgen.” She squeezed her thumb and pointed finger a tiny bit apart. “Just a bit.”

Elijah raised the pillow she’d thrown.

She quickly held her hands up in mock defense. “Okay, a lot. They did go on and on because I remember thinking you were a playboy.”

“I wasn’t. Really. I just hadn’t met the right one yet.”

“You’re lucky you did.” She leaned over, pretending to kiss him but quickly grabbed the pillow instead. She tucked it under her head and laid back down.

“Sneaky.” His face sobered. “Do you think I might have inadvertently sexually harassed them?” He scratched the top of his head. “I don’t think so. The lawyer doesn’t but then… maybe I did.”

Charity sat back up and criss-crossing her legs, looked Elijah in the eyes. She reached for his hands. “No you did not. You are an amazing doctor, with unbelievably good bedside manner skills and co-worker skills. You treat everyone fairly. A friendly, good-looking male doctor who is single, is going to be branded as a flirt. That’s society’s fault. I’m guilty of it. I overheard two people talking and assumed you were a player. Then I got to know you and realized how wrong I had been to label you. The judge will see it too and realize neither you nor the hospital are guilty of anything.”

“What if they don’t?” he whispered. He sighed and dropped back down on the bed, pulling her with him so he could wrap his arms around her. “I can’t wait for this thing to be over.”

“It will be tomorrow.”

“I hope so.”

Charity rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him. “Then we can start focusing on something positive.”

“Like a party tomorrow night to celebrate our win?”

She pretended to bite him in the neck but instead began sensually rubbing her lips against his skin. In a hot breath, she whispered, “I’m flying to Atlanta tomorrow night. Sorry.” She let her tongue tease his ear. “I was thinking a wedding would be something fun to plan.”

He rolled onto his side and pressed the full length of his body against her. “I forgot about that.” He grinned wickedly. “You still up for marrying me? I apparently come with a lot of baggage.”

“I think I can handle it. You have to work with my father.” Her eyes closed when Elijah captured her nipple with his mouth. She blinked and tried to focus on the conversation. “When do you want to… to get married? F-Fall? Win-Wint-ter?” She stuttered when he caressed her breast before moving to the other one.

When he lifted his head up, Charity felt a moment of disappointment. The air cooled against the wetness of her breasts. She wanted his warm mouth and hands back on them.

“I don’t want to wait. I mean, I don’t care. Whenever you want to do it, I’m available. We could do it tomorrow at the courthouse after the verdict’s in for all I care.”

She laughed, despite the yearning of desire flowing through her veins and distracting her. “Tomorrow? Might be a bit tight squeezing it in between court, my flight and you having to be back at the hospital by lunch.”

Elijah returned to his fascination with her breasts. His hand began to wander down her side and tease her hip. “What do you want? Something big? Extravagant?”

She shook her head, not sure if he noticed. “Nothing big. I liked the hall where my dad’s party was but, now after this hearing and everything, I’m not sure I want any reminder of that she-devil on our wedding day.”

Elijah rolled her onto her back and began a blazing trail of hot kisses as his tongue teased its way down her stomach. He stopped suddenly and came up so his hands were on either side of her shoulders. He grinned and stared down at her.

“What?” Her hips rotated and pushed against his. She could feel his erection against the thin cotton of her underwear.

“I just had an idea.” He shrugged slightly, his hips meeting hers with the same pressure. “How do you feel about Rapt Bach Estates?” He couldn’t quite look her in the eye. He shrugged again. “Dumb idea. Sorry.”

Charity rose up on one elbow and used her free hand to gently touch his chin so Elijah would look at her. “In New Zealand?”

He tried to put on his doctor’s face so Charity couldn’t read his thoughts. She could see it meant more to him than he wanted to admit. “Thought it might be neat to get married down there. Plus after this fiasco, I think we could all use a little holiday, your father included.”

Rapt Bach Estates would be anyone’s dream wedding. “Think Julie and Simon would come?”

Elijah kissed her hard on the mouth. “Definitely! We could do it at the house, or in the yard—”

“Or on the beach.”

“Even better!”

She rubbed her nose against his, loving his sudden boyish excitement. The past couple of months seemed to have only had worry and stress in them. “Think your mom would want to help throw a little ceremony together?”

“I’m sure she would! I’ll just have to tell her we’re engaged first.”

“Elijah! Seriously?”

He straddled her and began planting kisses in her hair, on her forehead, cheeks, nose, lips, everywhere. “She knows,” he mumbled between touching her skin with his lips, “I told her before I left last time that you were the girl I was going to marry.”

“Pardon?”

She could feel him smile against her neck before he replied, “It just took you a little longer to realize it.”

Elijah surprised her all the time with his little tweaks of love. He hit her with comments she never saw coming. His mother was definitely less surprising. “I don’t think your mother’s too into me.”

“She actually likes you, believe it or not. She just wasn’t impressed with me when I took you to Dad’s funeral without telling her. She doesn’t like to be caught off guard. She’s one for organization and schedules. She’ll love to help set up something at the house.”

“It won’t be massive like your father’s funeral will it?”

“Nope. Just you and me.”

“And five hundred of your mother’s closest friends?”

He stared deeply into her eyes. Charity couldn’t pull away from the beautiful ones staring back at her. “How about: you, me, your dad, my mom, Simon and Julie, Albert and Mia?”

“I can handle that.” She didn’t need anything big. It sounded… perfect. She didn’t want to think about the hearing tomorrow but it inevitably snuck in. “What’s our plan then? Wait till after tomorrow to decide the next step?”

He shook his head. “No. That damn thing isn’t going to change anything. No matter what happens tomorrow, let’s pick a date and stick to it.” He reached for his phone and opened up the calendar. “While you’re in Atlanta this weekend, I’ll check with your dad, my mom and with Simon and Julie to see what works.”

“How about three weeks from Saturday?” she said jokingly.

Elijah scrolled down the calendar. “That might work for me. Three or four weeks is more than enough time to clear any surgeries or reschedule them. We could leave on Wednesday and go for ten days if you want. Would you need to tell Atlanta or just play hooky?” He showed her the calendar. “What do you think, May thirty-first or June sixth?”

“Either.” She laughed again. This was crazy. “Whatever works for everyone else.” She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “I’m going to have to find a wedding dress.”

“I’ll have to find a tux.”

“What kind would you get?”

He gave his head a single shake. “I’m not saying. Tradition is the bride can’t see the groom’s outfit till he’s walking down the aisle.”

She playfully elbowed him. “That’s the bride tradition silly. I don’t believe our wedding’s going to be very traditional.”

He chuckled. “Everyone’s going to think I knocked you up.”

“My father will just love that.”

“He probably would. That man needs some grandchildren to remind him he’s getting older. He’s like a machine.”

Charity nodded, her mind racing on thoughts of planning a wedding in about three weeks. “Let’s make up our own wedding vows. Nothing big or dramatic.”

“Just sweet and simple?”

“Yeah. I like that.”

“Me, too.” He tossed his phone on the nightstand and gathered her in his arms. This time his kiss held no teasing. He opened his mouth and his tongue slipped between her lips. A moment later he pulled away from her suddenly. “Hey, does this mean I don’t have to plan a honeymoon? We’ll just stay at the house? Kick my mom out for a week? Send her and your father to the mainland so they won’t hear our cries of passion?”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck so she could pull him close against her again. “Wedding and honeymoon in New Zealand? Heck yeah, I’m totally game! Now stop blabbering and show me some of your honeymoon skills.”