As I entered my hotel room, the word still rang in my head. Sweetheart. Did that mean we were a couple now? Was this just a way to keep him in my good graces for the rest of the time I was here at the resort? I was so confused. I had only brought three dresses on this vacation. One was my bridesmaid dress, and I couldn't wear that. I had a slutty red dress that I could use to really impress him, or... I picked up my favorite dress in the world. It looked like it was out of the 1950s, like it could be in some Marilyn Monroe film. It was light pink with warm brown dots all over it. It had a pretty belt that went around the waist, and it flared out at the bottom. I put it on, the fabric soft and light, perfect for a tropical evening. I carefully did my makeup, going with a light, natural look. I didn't bother doing anything special with my hair, instead just tying the long dark locks up in a simple ponytail. We were going to be out on a boat, and I had seen enough TV to know there wou
"Kaylee, you have a new patient in Room Four and the man in Room Five is puking again." Allie, one of the ER unit assistants, sidled up to me, handing me the freshly made chart for the patient in Room 4. "I have Mr. Smith in Room Three ready for his EKG, and we are just waiting on Dr. Gregory to come consult. By the way, how was your sister's wedding?" "It was great. I think Iowa needs an ocean," I said with a grin. Allie giggled in agreement as I flipped open the battered blue plastic binder and started scanning through the patient's history. Thomas Birch. Male, age sixteen, fell skateboarding. Complains of 8/10 pain in wrist. No known allergies or other pertinent medical history. It was looking like a fairly routine-but-busy day. At least the busy day would keep my mind off a certain someone. "We'll probably need X-rays," I said after reading the file. "Will you find out what the wait time is down in Radiology? And go ahead and let Marta know that Mr. Birch can have the standard p
My feet hurt so much I was tempted to crawl through the parking lot to get to my car. It was almost 8:00, but the ER had been so packed I hadn't been able to escape any earlier. My boss was not going to be pleased with all the overtime. Maybe she'll stop pestering me to take extra shifts, I thought. Nah, not gonna happen in this lifetime. The phones had been ringing off the hook, but the desk secretary promised none of the calls had been for me. I had been able to stave off disappointment until I got to my locker and saw I had no messages on my phone. So much for Owen's call. As I stepped out of the main ER doors, the frosty night air stung my face. It smelled like it might snow later. I adjusted my scarf to keep the draft out of my coat and began the long walk to my car. I was just hoping it would start with the bitter cold and a semi-dead battery. Note to self, I really needed to get that fixed. Just as I reached the curb, my phone began to buzz. A grin cracked my face as I didn'
Six A.M. came far too early the next day. I groaned and rolled out of bed, the wood floor creaking and cold under my feet. I heard the automatic coffee pot sputter, and I trudged into the kitchen, wishing I could just go back to my dreams with Owen. The flowers were still in the plastic on my kitchen table. At least I had put them in water before collapsing into bed, so they were still beautiful and vibrant. I lowered the cellophane wrapping and took a deep breath. The soft floral notes didn't remind me of the ocean anymore. They reminded me of someone with blonde hair and deep blue eyes. I smiled, enjoying the memory. I wondered what Owen was doing right then. I snapped myself out of my thoughts, quickly drinking my coffee so that I could get in the shower. I had another twelve-hour shift in front of me, and no matter how much I would rather spend my morning daydreaming, I had work to do. *** The ER was busy for the first half of the morning. Patients trickled in at a steady rate
I rolled over in bed, listening to the hum of the heater. It was too cold to want to wake up. I smiled as I pulled the covers back up over my head. Since it was my day off, I didn't have to get up at all! Winter was giving its last parting shots at spring, and these would be the last few cold days before warmer weather hung around for good. I snuggled deeper into my blankets, replaying my last phone conversation with Owen. *** "Are you free Friday?" Owen's voice crackled a little over the long distance connection. I knew he couldn't see me through the phone, but I nodded anyway. "It's my day off. Why? You want to do something?" I hoped I didn't sound too eager. "I was thinking I would take you out on a real date. Not just Chinese food in the back of a limo." I could hear the smile in his voice as he remembered exactly what we did in the back of that limo. "I don't know, I kind of liked Chinese food in the back of the limo." I stopped myself as I started twirling my hair between m
"There you go, honey, all done." I turned my head from side to side in the mirror, barely recognizing myself. Marissa wolf-whistled and Allie clapped. The hairdresser had piled my hair up on my head in such a way that it looked as though cascades of dark curls would fall endlessly down my back. I didn't even know how she made it look like my hair was that full and thick, but it was beautiful. My makeup was perfect, and it all accented the little black dress Owen had left at the spa for me to wear. Marissa had drooled as she looked at the designer label and threatened to steal it when I wasn't looking. I felt like Cinderella. "If you're Cinderella, what does that make us? The ugly stepsisters?" Allie asked, sipping on a cup of tea. I hadn't realized I had said anything out loud. "Yeah, and we don't even get to go the ball tonight!" Marissa added with a laugh. I blushed slightly, flustered. "Oh, hey, speaking of which, here comes Prince Charming now," Allie announced, looking out
Three weeks later, after three more amazing dates, I was pretty sure I was in love. Owen Parker had successfully stolen my heart. We hadn't said anything yet, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. I looked forward to his phone calls, texts, and emails more than I looked forward to my days off. We both wished we could have more time together, but with our crazy schedules and workloads, we were lucky to manage that many. I knew he had worked magic in order to make it out to Iowa as many times as he had. He took me to the symphony with a stop to a seafood restaurant for our first date, and the second was for ice cream and a movie, in which he rented the entire theater. The third date had been my favorite so far after the botanical gardens; he arranged a special backstage tour of the Des Moines Zoo. Watching him feed the penguins had kept me laughing for hours. Every one of the dates ended back in the penthouse suite, the two of us tangled up in the sheets. It wasn't all happy though.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I could do this. Owen squeezed my hand reassuringly, and I gave him a nervous smile. The plane moved forward and my hand clamped down on his. I could do this. When Emma had told me that her wedding would be in the Caribbean, I almost didn't go. But she was my sister, so I had dutifully started working on overcoming my fear of flying. I bought books, listened to 'get over your fear' programs on tape, I even met with a hypnotherapist. In the end, the only thing that had gotten me through that flight was a bottle of whiskey. The plane began to speed up, the small private jet starting its sprint down the runway. I could feel the plane star to vibrate, the hum of the engines drowning out all other noise. I wanted to scream for it to stop, but I was determined to do this. I held Owen's hand in a death grip. I was pretty sure when we got off the plane that he was going to need X-rays and a cast. That was, of course, if he even managed to have a han