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“Absolutely. We want to make sure your body has everything it needs to rebuild and become as strong as it can be. The instructions are easy to follow.”
Diet. Instructions. She hadn’t figured on that.
Chapter 10
Alex walked alongside David, guiding him down the busy corridor with a lift of his chin or a pointed finger toward their destination. He definitely wanted to keep what he intended to say away from prying ears.
Once inside the doctor’s lounge, Alex did a quick visual to ensure they were alone before closing the door.
They were about the same height and weight, Alex calculated. He’d take him standing up.
Alex clasped his hands in front of him. “You seem to have a problem, Mr. Livingston. You want to tell me what it is?”
David clenched his jaw and took a step toward Alex who almost laughed at the veiled challenge.
“My only interest is Kelly’s well-being. I want her to get the best care possible. And since I’m footing the bill, I want to be informed of every iota of her treatment.”
“I see.” Alex lowered his gaze for an instant before moving toward David. “You brought her here because of the level of treatment I can provide, the reputation of this hospital and the results of our patients. The reason why all of that works, Dave, is because we have the complete confidence of the patient. This is impossible to accomplish if we have someone hovering around and second-guessing everything we do.” He walked around David, forcing him to turn. “Now if you have a problem with that then as much as it pains me to say this, I suggest you take Ms. Maxwell to another facility.”
Alex glared at him, weighed his options. They were limited.
“I expect to be updated weekly.”
“That’s fair enough. I’m sure Kelly will be able to keep you up to speed.” He paused. “You’re aware that by law, I’m not required to tell you anything. So if Kelly agrees in writing—then we will keep you in the loop—to a point. However, the final decisions have to be hers. She’s my patient, not you and not the Gold Medal club.”
David took a gulp of pride. It burned on the way down. Hutchinson was the best in the country. He didn’t have to like Hutchinson for him to do a good job. If they left and went back to Atlanta, the press wouldn’t leave her alone. And he had too much going on for the press to be all over them like gnats.
“Fine. Whatever it takes for Kelly to be well.”
Alex folded his arms. “How long have you been her coach?”
“A little more than ten years.” A faint smile played around the deep corners of his mouth. “Spotted her in her freshman year of high school. Was able to wrangle an athletic scholarship, got her out of that dump of a school and into a private high school.”
“Commendable. What did you get out of it?”
The pleasant smile disappeared. “What makes you think I was out to get anything?”
“Altruism isn’t a popular human trait. Everyone does what they do for a reason—to get something out of it, even if it’s no more than to feel good.”
“Is that your excuse—for the white coat and the arrogance?”
Alex laughed from deep in his gut and lounged against the door frame. “Yeah. Pretty much. There’s nothing like a man in uniform with a little power to wow the ladies.”
“A doctor with an inflated sense of humor and ego. Just what we need more of.”
“The world would be a better place. But, enough about me, back to you. That’s a pretty long time to be in someone’s life. You must be close—like family.”
“Very.”
It was a challenge that Alex felt like taking. “Maybe it’s more—”
The knock on the door cut him off in midsentence. He stepped back from the door and opened it.
Ruby wrinkled her nose and sniffed. “Is that testosterone I smell in here?” she asked in a stage whisper.
“Not funny.”
“Your patient is ready.” She tiptoed and spoke to David over Alex’s right shoulder. “It will be at least an hour, maybe more, Mr. Livingston. If you want to go and come back…” She let her sentence drift off.
“Thanks, but I think I’ll wait.”
Alex turned to him. “Feel free to hang out in here. It’s much more comfortable than the waiting room. Anyone asks, just tell them you got the okay from me.” He grinned.
The last thing David wanted to be was in debt for a favor, even one as minor as this. He waved off Alex’s offer. “Thanks, but I’ll wait up front with everyone else. It’s not a problem.”
Alex shrugged. “See you in a few, then.” He walked out with Ruby at his side.
David stared at their backs before heading out. His eyes tightened. His jaw locked. Hutchinson was going to be a problem. The sooner Kelly got well and out of there the better.
Chapter 11
Kelly jumped when the door opened. Instinctively she pulled the hospital gown tighter around her body, a body that was rubber-band tight, stretched to the limit and had just snapped.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Maxwell,” Alex apologized.
“Where’s David?”
She sounded childlike asking for a parent or guardian—or lover. Alex crossed the room to where she was perched atop the exam table. Just how close were they? Better question: why did it matter?
“He’s in the waiting room, waiting.”
Kelly shifted. “I’d prefer if he was here with me.” She looked straight at Alex then Ruby.
Alex hesitated for a moment before saying the first thing that came to his mind, which he was prone to do. For example he really wanted to ask her what the hell she was so frightened of and if she’d ever slept with David Livingston. Both questions were inappropriate, so he kept them to himself. And was proud of his effort.
“There’s really nothing to worry about. I’m relatively harmless.” He gave her his best “I’m really charming” smile.
Ruby chuckled lightly to shoo the tension aside. “Generally family and friends are more of a problem than the patients. I’ve had folks faint or run out of the room to relieve themselves of breakfast or lunch.”
Kelly’s raven eyes widened with alarm. “I thought you said it wasn’t that bad.”
“It isn’t. It just looks that way,” Alex said, sitting on the stool in front of the examination table.
Ruby handed him Kelly’s chart. He put it on his lap and focused on Kelly, whose expression vacillated between fear and defiance. Something didn’t sit right with him.
“Ms. Maxwell, one thing I want to assure you of, my only job is to get people well—as well as they can be. But in order to do that I need them to believe in me and in themselves. I told your bodyguard—uh, David—as much.” He gently lifted her leg. “When did they put this on?” he asked referring to the space boot.
“About a week ago. And he’s not my bodyguard.”
Alex glanced into her face but didn’t comment.
He ran his hands up and down her leg yet even with the cast and the boot a tingling thrill erupted in the base of her stomach and spiraled down her legs. Her inner thighs trembled. It wasn’t lost on Alex.
He gazed up at her. His eyes said “trust me.” Her nostrils flared and she jutted her chin forward.
“I believe in myself,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
“And before this is all over, you’ll believe in me, too.”
Slowly he stood and lowered her leg, never breaking contact with her eyes. He stepped closer and put his arm around her waist to help her down and his fingers inadvertently slipped between the open folds in the back of the gown.
Her skin ignited beneath the tips of his fingers and she drew in a sharp breath.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she stammered.
It was only an instant that he held her, but to Kelly it was a sensual dance, that one moment that girls dream of.
Alex eased her to her feet. He cleared his throat along with his head. “Um, as soon as I get the report back from your MRI and blood work we can start on your rehab program.”
Kelly nodded, uncertain of her voice.
“’Scuse me,” Ruby interrupted. She shot Alex a “what the devil are you doing” look. “I’m going to schedule Ms. Maxwell to return on Wednesday. The labs and the MRI will be back by then.”
Alex’s lids flickered as if slowly awakening from a daydream. “Sure.” He reached for Kelly’s crutches then slowly released his hold on her waist once she was steady on her feet.
“Thanks.”
He stepped back. “Okay, so we’ll see you on Wednesday. Ruby will get you into X-ray and then over to the waiting room.”
Ruby held the door open while Kelly moved toward it.
Kelly glanced over her shoulder at Alex before leaving.
Ruby rolled her eyes at him and shut the door behind them.
Alex sat on the edge of the exam table flipping through Kelly’s chart. But he wasn’t seeing the words in front of him. Instead he was remembering the feel of her bare skin beneath his fingers. Accident or Freudian slip, he didn’t know. But whatever it was he couldn’t let it happen again. He’d made that mistake once before with Leigh and had no intention of a repeat performance.
Leigh Wells had nearly cost him his career. She’d come to him after surviving a horrific car accident. Her right leg was broken in three places and she’d had to learn to walk all over again. He spent every day with her for three months. And during that time he’d given into his greatest weakness—the female body.
Leigh was gorgeous, a model with a body to fall at her feet for. Lust and temptation outweighed his good judgment when he started making house calls well after business hours. Leigh welcomed him with open arms and open other things as well. He used all of his skills, every technique available to him to return Leigh back to the woman she once was. But nothing he did would eliminate the lifelong pain she would endure or the permanent limp. Her career was over and so was their relationship. The day he told her there was nothing else he could do was a day he’d never forget.
They were in bed together having just made love. It was near midnight in the middle of the summer. So hot you could barely breathe. The air conditioning was at its highest but they were soaking wet and sated. Alex peeled himself off the wet sheets to get a cigarette from the dresser on the other side of the room. He found his pack of Newports and lit up. He turned to offer one to Leigh and was stopped cold by the erotic vision in front of him.
Leigh was stretched out on the bed, completely naked—the sheet tossed to the floor. The stream of light from the moon cast a halo of sorts around her body making her look like a dream. Her knees were bent. Her thighs spread wide. Her hands stroked herself.
“I’m not quite finished,” she said in a voice that drifted through the dimness and licked his warm flesh.
Alex grinned. Leigh was insatiable and he loved to oblige her craving.
“I would come and get you but walking is difficult to say the least, especially after a session with you.”
Alex crushed out his cigarette and joined her on the bed. He caressed her right breast.
“It’s been six months, Hutch.” She stroked his thigh, moving higher until she held his hardening penis in her hand. She caressed it the way she knew he liked, flicking her finger across the head and relished the sound of his quick intake of breath. “I can’t stand this anymore,” she murmured in a husky whisper and for an instant Alex wasn’t sure if she meant waiting for session two or something else. “I want to be the woman I was,” she was saying, pulling him back to reality. “I want to be able to walk like normal.”
“Leigh…” This was the moment he’d been dreading. “I…”
She sat up, dropping the contents in her hand as if stung. “What is it?”
“There’s nothing else that can be done.”
She laughed but it sounded ill. “Nothing to be done! What the fuck are you talking about?”
“We’ve done everything we could.”
“You’re telling me that I’m going to go through the rest of my life as a gimp in a brace, popping pain pills?” Her voice escalated in incredulity with every word. Her amber eyes flashed with anger and disbelief.
“I’ve done all I can, Leigh. You know that.”
“You promised me I would be fine, that I would walk again!”
“Leigh…” He reached for her and she smacked his hand away.
“Don’t fuckin’ touch me! You promised me I would walk again.”
Her chest heaved in and out and even in the dimness of the room he could see the sparkle of tears hanging on her cheeks.
“You are a strong, beautiful woman. You will get through this.”
“What am I supposed to do with the rest of my life, Hutch? Tell me that. Tell me, you bastard!” She picked up a pillow from behind her and threw it at him. “Modeling, that’s me. It’s what I do. When was the last time you saw a model strut down a runway with a leg brace and crutches?”
She wept openly, screaming out her fury at the injustice of it all and the rage she felt toward Alex.
“You promised me,” she said from deep in her throat. She swiped at her face with the back of her hand. “And you lied.”
“Leigh…”
“Get out! Get out!”
He snatched up his pants and boxers from the floor where he’d tossed them earlier and gabbed his T-shirt from the back of the chair.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you as soon as I knew,” he said as he got dressed. “But I still had hope. I thought I could fix everything.”
She looked up at him through eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to ever see you again. Ever.”
“Are you sure this is what you want, Leigh?”
