Your Desire (12 page)

“You’re lucky, Frank. Mike Beam is on duty tonight and he’s the best trauma doctor in the county.”

“Thanks, Allison.” A tall, slender man in his mid-fifties strode into the curtained cubicle, carrying a medical chart he read as he walked.

She flashed the doctor a welcoming smile. “Hi, Mike. This is Frank Hughes. His car crashed in my front pasture and he hasn’t been able to see since then.”

“All right, Mr. Hughes, let’s take a look.”

Allison removed her hand from Frank’s then stepped back from the table.

“You’re not leaving are you?” he asked.

“I’ll stay if you want me to.”

“Yes.” The word was a command, but there was a note of relief beneath it.

Mike removed the brace then peered into Frank’s eyes. With the surety of a skilled healer, he checked Frank’s head, neck and shoulders carefully for any signs of injury or pain. The grimace she’d seen in the pasture when Frank ran his hand through his hair, marked his face again when Mike touched the back of his head and neck. Fortunately, there were no cuts or abrasions.

“I’ve looked at the X-rays and didn’t see anything broken. I’d like to do an MRI, then we’ll know more,” Mike said, noting the orders on the chart. “Right now I’ll take a chance and say the diagnosis is contusion and blindness caused by trauma. I’d bet that when you had your accident, your head went forward and snapped back against the headrest, causing swelling of the brain in the area dealing with sight. That’s back here.” He lightly touched the back of Frank’s head. “If we don’t see anything else in the MRI we’ll go with that. And I’ll ask Walt Neeley and Dick Matthews to take a look, too.”

“Who’re they?” With the doctor, Frank’s voice was once again firm, controlling, taking no prisoners.

“The staff ophthalmologist and neurologist. In these cases, once the swelling goes down, sight usually comes back.”

“How long?”

“Hard to say. Healing could take a few days or a few weeks.”

“Weeks! I can’t be away from my business…”

“Don’t get all excited. Tests first. I’ll send someone to take you down.” He started to exit then stopped, turning to Allison with a puzzled smile. “I thought you had a reunion to attend tonight? How did you end up at home so early?” He glanced at the chart. “This shows you were here before nine o’clock.”

She gave a non-committal shrug. “I was there for a little while but didn’t feel like hanging around.” Mike and his wife were good friends and knew how little she socialized. As much as she sometimes wanted to go out for fun, she usually felt more at ease sharing her free time with the kids in the county’s literacy program or volunteering at the battered women’s shelter. They had lectured her frequently about the need for relaxing and taking more time for herself.

“Ah.” There seemed to be a world behind that one word. Not even a word, more a sound. Then he quirked his brows, shrugged and gave a sigh of resignation that meant he knew he couldn’t change her. “Interesting dress.” Another world of hidden meaning.

“I like that dress,” Frank interjected with a force that surprised her. She stepped forward to rest her hand on his arm. Vibrations of power surrounded him like an aura, yet there on the table, in the cold blaze of hospital lights, he looked like a man who desperately needed a simple touch.

“Yes, well, you’re blind.” Mike winked at her as he left.

“What did he mean by that?” demanded Frank.

“Never mind.” She leaned closer to say, “The man has no taste. You should see the tie he’s wearing.”

He chuckled warmly as a nurse tore back the curtain and marched in, followed by an orderly pushing a gurney.

“Hi, Allison. What did you find in your front yard?”

“Linda, how’s it going?”

“Busy as usual for a Saturday. Okay, Mr. Hughes, take it easy and just let us do the work here.” Smoothly, they transferred him from the table. Linda draped a sheet over him, tucking in the edges. “We’re just going to the adjoining building for your MRI. It’s a simple procedure, but will take a little while. Then I’ll bring you back here.”

“Allison, aren’t you coming with me?” His face puckered into a frown even as Linda and the orderly pushed him out of the cubicle and whisked him down the corridor.

“I’ll wait here,” Allison called.

She rubbed her face, suddenly very tired. Instead of settling in the chair, she headed for the nurses’ lounge. Her wet slippers made a sad, uneven plopping sound as she crept down the hall, her tiredness making her limp more pronounced.

With a cup of coffee that tasted and smelled like it’d been boiled twice, she sank onto the cushioned loveseat and lifted her feet to the rickety coffee table. The events of the night had been truly remarkable, starting with the horrid reunion and ending with the discovery of a fantastic man practically in her front yard.

Frank was obviously somebody. His clothing wasn’t inexpensive and his fingernails were manicured, not the norm for the men she usually encountered. He had the confidence of a sophisticated man who knew he held power. Unlike anyone she’d ever been attracted to, there was certainly an allure about him that pulled her, called her. She’d wanted him to kiss her when they stood at the fence. If he hadn’t been injured and in need of her professionalism, she might have kissed him.

No, probably not.

She’d wanted to, though.

Closing her eyes, she let her mind drift. Suddenly, she wasn’t wearing her noisy, ugly dress. She wore a gown light as air and silky soft, and she was naked beneath. Even without a mirror for confirmation, she knew she was beautiful, with no scars or limp. She floated across the floor, as the man in the store had. In her dream she frowned slightly, trying to remember the man, but her frown faded when she saw Frank.

In a blink, like events happen in dreams, they were naked. His cock was breathtaking in size, hard and erect.

“For you,” he whispered. “Only for you.”

“Yes, please.” She lay back and spread her legs. His lips seared a path of kisses up the inside of her leg. His tongue bathed her clit, while fingers probed her inner depths.

Then his tongue swirled around her nipple and she felt the initial tap of his cock against her nether lips. A slight nudge is all it took, she was so wet. Already she smelled the powerful scent of their combined arousal.

“Allison, I can’t wait any longer.” With a hard push, he drove into her. The stroke robbed her of breath, but she wrapped him with her legs and arms and rose to meet him—

“He wants you, you know.”

The voice came from far off, but it wasn’t in her dream. This was real.

“Allison?”

She jerked upright, narrowly preventing the spill of tepid coffee in her lap. “What? Who?”

“The impatient patient. He demanded someone find you, and here I am, finding you.” Pushing the door further open, Linda leaned her shoulder against the jamb while Allison put her feet on the floor and rubbed her eyes in an effort to wake up.

Linda looked at her with some amusement. “He’s quite a hunk and seems to have developed an attachment to you. Got a bear of a personality when you’re not around, and is a pussy cat when you are. Are you sure you just met this guy?”

Allison laughed. “Just tonight. You could say we met by accident.” Studying her friend she added, “Don’t you want to say something about my dress? This lovely gown was the hit of my reunion.” She tossed her Styrofoam cup in the trash can and walked back toward the ER with Linda.

“That’s right, your reunion
was
tonight. I hate those things, myself. My tenth is coming up next year.” Linda stopped and shot Allison a calculated look. “Tell me the truth, do I look like I’ve gained weight in the past few years?”

Truthfully, she did appear to have put on about fifteen pounds or so. “Not an ounce,” Allison said firmly.

Linda nodded, satisfaction spreading across her face. “Thanks, you’re a pal. And in the same vein of honesty, I think your dress is beautiful.”

Smiling, Allison left Linda at the nurses’ station and made her way along the wall of curtained off areas.

* * * *

“Where is the damn doctor?” Frank’s truculent tone was understandable but wearying just the same, after an hour of waiting for test results.

A fair portion of that time he’d spent talking via cell phone to someone named David. That’s all she’d heard of the conversations, except Frank’s tone, which was commanding. He was definitely a man used to giving orders.

Evidently David could also give a few. When she’d checked at the desk to ask what else needed to be done in the way of paperwork for admission, the clerk had told her everything was being handled. Not only had the tedious forms been taken care of and insurance approved, the X-ray and MRI results were being sent to Frank’s doctor’s computer in
Washington
so he could consult on treatment.

“The doctor will be here as soon as he knows something.” Allison gave him her best grim nurse’s look before remembering he couldn’t see her expression. Instead she patted his hand as though he were a child. “Stop being a baby. Everything that can be done is being done.”

Three different doctors had examined him in the time they’d been at the hospital, coming in, saying as little as possible then leaving with a “Hmm.” She knew it was the lack of information that grated on Frank’s nerves more than anything else.

While the doctors checked him over, she’d examined him herself, with as little notice as possible. He was as handsome as any man she’d ever seen, but in a rugged way, contrary to the citified, expensive clothes he wore. There was a bump at the top of his nose indicating at least one break. Long luxurious lashes swept down and up each time he blinked, hiding then revealing beautiful hazel eyes. He was tall and very fit, muscled without an ounce of fat. Brown hair, nicely trimmed, sparkled with good health and care. In the bright glare of ER lights, his face didn’t look nearly so sharply angled as she’d thought earlier, but the stubble from a day’s growth of beard made him look dark and rough.

“Tell you what. Why don’t I go and get you some ice? You shouldn’t have anything to eat, but a little ice will be all right.”

“Ice?” He said it as though he couldn’t believe anyone in their right mind would suggest such a thing, but in the end he agreed.

Ten minutes later, she approached his cubicle with a cup filled with shaved ice. Weariness dragged at her with every step, and she could hardly wait until Frank was admitted so she could go home.

“Here comes Allison now. We’ll ask her.” His voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the ER. She slipped through the opening to see Frank sitting on the edge of the table. Walter Neeley, the ophthalmologist, stood in front of him. Mike stood apart, his arms crossed over the metal cover of the hospital chart held tightly against his chest. His face was serious but a look of mischievous glee colored his eyes as he observed the verbal sparring between the two men. Beside him stood Richard Matthews, head of neurology, who nodded a greeting to her.

“Ask Allison what?” She knew she’d have to referee something, based on the bull-headed expressions of both doctor and patient. Frank and Walt had already turned toward the opening in the curtains when she slipped in.
This damn noisy dress
.

“I want to hold Mr. Hughes overnight. He refuses. Says he’ll be all right at your house.” Walt Neeley arched a brow at her. “As he’s
your
friend, perhaps you can convince him that it’s in his own best interests to be admitted for the night.”

Unconsciously, she moved to stand beside Frank, touching his hand to let him know she was there. His head followed her every movement. “Actually he’s not my fr…”

“Tell him there’s no need for me to remain here overnight, Allison. If he’d give me something for this damn headache, I’d be fine. Well, if I could see, that is.” He practically growled out the last.

“They can’t give you anything that will make you sleep.”

“But it hurts like hell.”

“I know, but buck up,” she stage-whispered.

He snorted and turned away.

“Actually, Frank,” she stated in her most persuasive tone, “it
is
in your best interest to stay here. If anything should happen, the staff and equipment you need will be here.”

“No.”

Damn it! She couldn’t take him home. Besides the obvious medical risks, there was the unsettled feeling she experienced around him. It was unreasonable, but there, nonetheless. Why wouldn’t the obstinate man allow them to admit him so she could go home alone to her safe and ordered life.

“Mr. Hughes.”

Frank turned his head, his recalcitrant expression carved in stone.

“You don’t seem to realize the seriousness of your condition. You have a contusion, and as Nurse Hayes suggested, that’s bad enough. But if the swelling of your brain worsens during the night, you’ll need care she can’t give you at home.”

Frank seemed to consider this. “Dr. Matthews, is it?” He asked but continued without waiting for confirmation. “I think I do understand the seriousness of my condition. If you and the staff here haven’t explained it thoroughly enough, my own doctor, after examining the test results you sent, has told me plainly that I’m a jackass if I leave here tonight. However, he’s well aware of my nature and knows I’m a man used to taking judicious risks. I trust Ms. Hayes. She’s a well-trained nurse, is she not?”

“This has nothing to do with Allison’s capabilities,” spit out Walt Neeley. “This has to do with your welfare and the liability of the hospital if you leave and something happens.”

She sighed, knowing the men could butt heads all night without resolution. “What about the blindness?”

Walt spoke. “As far as we can tell, the problem is trauma-induced and will resolve itself when the swelling goes down. Tonight he’ll have to be checked every two hours.”

“Allison will do that.” Frank didn’t give the slightest intimation that she might say no.

She looked at him,
really
looked at him. He acted the tyrant, totally commanding, used to having every whim fulfilled and order followed without question. But there was an odd hesitance under it all. She’d noticed the characteristic earlier, too, when they were making their way out of the pasture. Discomfort, almost fear.