About time, p.16
About Time, page 16
Elle knocked gently with one knuckle and waited to see if June was awake. When there was no answer, she worried her bottom lip and debated. She had never invaded June’s personal space, but there was only an hour until her shift at the hospital started, and the roads were covered in ice. It would be the nice and respectful thing to do to wake her early and warn her so she wasn’t late and could drive safely.
Taking a deep breath, Elle huffed and gripped the doorknob. Turning the handle, she slowly let it open before her. June lay in the bed, one arm tossed over her face as she lay on her side, blankets wrapped around her legs and pillows everywhere. Her deep breathing told Elle she was still asleep.
Elle swallowed. She stepped into the dark room and made her way to the edge of the bed. Sitting on it, she waited to see if the movement would wake June up. When she didn’t budge, Elle reached out and slid her hand tenderly down June’s arm, noting the tattoos that littered her biceps she hadn’t shared about. One was a rosary that wrapped around her arm, which seemed odd since June was most definitely not Catholic. Elle licked her lips. The second one was something in Greek, maybe. Elle had no idea.
“June,” she whispered. “June, you have to wake up.”
June moaned and rustled slightly but remained asleep still.
Louder this time, Elle repeated herself. “June, you have to wake up.”
“Don’t want to,” June muttered.
“It’s icy out. You need the extra time.”
“It’s too early.”
“It’s well past when you normally wake up.”
“Huh?”
At that, June turned on her back, her shirt low enough on her breasts Elle was sure her imagination could fill in the rest. Swallowing hard, Elle forced her gaze up to June’s green eyes that she could barely make out in the dim light of the room.
“It’s seven.”
“Are you serious?” June’s brow furrowed.
“June. I’m home. It’s seven.”
Elle realized her hand was still on June’s arm, and try as she might, she couldn’t make herself move it. June must have caught her gaze because when their eyes locked again, June cocked her head to the side in a questioning look. “Everything okay?”
Shaking her head, Elle let out a breath. Two parts of her warred within, and she couldn’t decide which should win. “I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say it.”
Her heart rapped hard in her chest, beating faster and faster. All she wanted to do was lean down and press their mouths together. Her core tingled at the thought; her lips beckoned her to move. Elle’s gaze flicked from June’s breasts to her eyes, not sure where to look.
“Elle,” June whispered.
“I—I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“What?” June blinked slowly.
Cursing herself, Elle took a deep breath as best she could. “I don’t want to wait any longer. I—I really want to kiss you, but if you aren’t ready, I need to know.”
“Oh.”
The single word echoed in the still of the room. Elle swore she could hear a pin drop. She waited with bated breath for June to answer her. As the silence lingered, Elle’s hopes vanished one by one. She was just about to stand up and escape the room when June reached up and cupped her cheek. She turned her head so they were staring at each other.
June licked her lips, her gaze lowering to Elle’s mouth. “I don’t know if I’m ready, but I’m willing to give it a try.”
Before she knew what was happening, June pushed up from the mattress and locked their mouths together in a fiery kiss. Elle moaned, her body listing forward as she pushed June down into the soft blankets. She parted her lips and slipped her tongue out to taste, drawing in a deep breath when June’s tongue met hers.
June slid her hands up Elle’s sides and around her back, pulling her down farther into her body. Elle shifted her leg so she was mostly lying on top of her. Her teeth grazed June’s lower lip as she grinned. Heat hit her, her cheeks flushing, her body warming.
“You’re a little furnace when you sleep,” Elle whispered before pressing a quick kiss to June’s lips.
“You are freezing cold.”
“It’s freezing outside.” Elle kissed June’s jawline, then down her neck and back up. She pressed her lips delicately to June’s nose before heading back to her mouth. She was just about to slide her hand up June’s shirt when the alarm sounded loudly next to her head, and she jerked away sharply.
As she sat up, her chest heaved with her rapid breath. She stared down at June, who nonchalantly reached over to turn the alarm off, then settled into the blankets for a minute. They both knew the moment was over. June had to get ready for work, and Elle desperately needed to sleep—not that she’d be getting restful sleep any time soon with the memory of what had just happened so fresh in her mind.
“You said it was icy?” June asked.
“Yeah. Really icy. Hopefully, the plows have been out a bit more by now, and it won’t be as bad.” Elle wrapped her hands together in her lap, not daring to look at June or touch her. If she did touch her, June would most definitely be late to work. She hadn’t intended to come up here and seduce her, but she wasn’t going to lie—seducing her was forefront in her mind.
The hand on hers caught her attention, and when she looked at June’s face, she found compassion. “I wish you’d gotten home just an hour earlier.”
Elle snorted. “The folly of working nights, I suppose.”
June nodded. When she sat straight up, she pulled Elle’s face to hers with a gentle finger against the bottom of her chin. “I would like to continue this when we can find the time.”
“Yes,” Elle whispered.
With one last peck to Elle’s lips, June slid out of the bed and headed down the hallway. In order to curb her temptation, Elle left well enough alone and went downstairs to crawl into her own bed. She knew her dreams would be filled with the memory of that kiss, plus a little extra most likely. Hiding under the covers with the blackout curtains drawn, Elle begged for sleep to take her.
Chapter Seventeen
Elle had puttered around the house while she waited for June to get off her shift, but once the clock on the oven told her it was after six, she couldn’t hold off any longer. June was late for whatever reason, but after that morning, she wanted to see her, wanted to talk to her.
She slid into her car, drove to the hospital two hours before her shift, and parked. Taking a deep breath, she bolstered herself. This could very well be a disastrous decision, but she had meant what she’d said that morning. She didn’t want to wait any longer. It was about time they were able to explore their feelings for each other, at least if they both wanted to.
She stepped out of her warm vehicle, dashed inside, and shook off the snow from her jacket and her hair that had fallen in the short walk from the car. Looking up, she scanned the room, hoping against hope June was there. She swallowed and made her way to her office to dump her things. She didn’t want to alert the nurses she was there early for fear of getting pulled in on a case, so she slithered around the ER on the hunt for Chaplain Smart-Mouth.
After she’d gone through the whole ER looking, she came up empty. Elle turned on her heel and headed to the chaplain’s offices. They were also empty; June’s door was shut, and there was no answer when she knocked. A fear hit her that June had driven home while she’d driven to the hospital, and they had just missed each other.
Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Elle reached for it and smiled when she saw June’s name along with the text.
Sorry, got held up. I’ll be home probably after you leave.
Biting her lip, Elle looked up and toward the elevators. June could be anywhere in the hospital, but she was definitely there. It was a quick debate on what to do, but Elle headed for the concierge at information and had June paged to her office. If she had time to send a text, surely whatever emergency that kept her from being on time was done and over with.
Elle leaned against the wall, planting one foot against it as she relaxed and waited. It took a few minutes, but the elevator dinged, and when Elle looked up, June exited. A smile bloomed on her face as she caught sight of Elle waiting for her.
“Are you the one who paged?”
Elle nodded. “Thought it would be the easiest way to find you.”
“You’re not supposed to be here yet. Did you come early?”
“Came to find you.”
A blush reached June’s cheeks as she grinned. Elle was pleased she was able to make June react in such a way. Reaching out, Elle grabbed June’s hand and squeezed. “I thought we could get some coffee before you left and before I started.”
June nodded. “Sounds good. I could use some juice before I start in on my records.”
Elle scrunched her nose. “If someone had told me how much charting came with being a doctor, I may have chosen another career path.”
“Really?”
“No.” Elle chuckled. “I love it too much. Come on.” Dragging June with her, they bypassed the cafeteria coffee and went straight for the coffee Elle knew Jerica made in the break room since they both knew which of the two they’d prefer to be drinking.
They sat at a small table in the break room across from each other and each sipped gleefully from their paper cups. “God, she deserves an award for this stuff.”
“We could make her one,” June suggested. “Give it to her as a Christmas gift. It’d be golden.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Elle smiled.
Jerica popped into the room, stopping short when she saw the two of them sitting together. Elle caught her eye and grinned. Jerica nodded in their direction before refilling her cup. Elle wanted to slide her hand across the table and touch June, but she hesitated with the new company in the room.
“You hear we’re supposed to get a wild storm in the next few weeks?” Jerica commented to the quiet room.
Elle and June shared a look with raised eyebrows. “I hadn’t heard that,” Elle finally answered. “Guess we’ll have to plan for some extra emergencies.”
“And maybe crashing the night here,” Jerica added.
“That much snow?” June responded.
“And ice. It’s the ice that gets us every time, not the snow.”
“Wonderful,” June said with sarcasm. “I’ll make sure to have my duffel packed with a few extra sets of clothes then.”
“Hey, when does Kev come back?”
June shifted and closed her eyes. “He extended his leave, so I’ll be covering quite a few more of his on-call shifts.”
“Keeps you busy, I bet.”
“Yes, especially around holidays. Lots more here and lots less part-time chaplains who want to work. Since I’m single”—she stared directly into Elle’s eyes—“I don’t have anything to lose out on by working the holidays. I’d rather work if someone else wants time off.”
Elle swallowed hard, sure Jerica did not miss the look they had shared. The tension in the room rose, and Elle wanted even more than before to reach out and touch June’s hand. Ever since they’d met, she struggled with not touching her. She let out a slow breath, took another sip of her coffee, and stared at June over the rim of the cup, making sure her look was just as heated.
“Yeah…” Jerica broke the silence. “I’m just going to leave you two to do whatever this is because…I don’t really want to be in here anymore.”
She left, and Elle and June were plunged into silence. “June—”
The door was pushed open again, forcing Elle to look up when June stopped looking at her.
“Vasquez, good, you’re here.”
Elle groaned inwardly. This was what she had been worried about coming down here, but the call of decent coffee was too strong a pull to avoid. She turned and faced Doctor Mitchell full-on with a grimace on her face. She could tell from his tone exactly where the conversation was going. Something serious was happening, and he wanted her in on it. Her time with June would be cut short, and they would have to push their conversation off even more.
“What’s going on?” Elle asked, worrying her lower lip.
“Attempted murder and attempted suicide.”
Elle breathed out. “Same case?”
“Yes.”
“How far out?”
“Four minutes. Apparently, she’s not too bad. Twenty-nine, and the bullets just hit her arm and leg. He—he’s questionable. Thirty-four, bullet in the head.”
“I’ll take him, since it’ll likely last longer.”
Mitchell nodded sharply and backed out of the room before coming back in shortly. He looked directly at June and lifted his chin. “You on call?”
“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “Call the pager. I need tonight since it’ll be me almost all next week.”
“Joy,” Elle muttered.
“Got it,” Mitchell responded before leaving again.
This time Elle did reach across the table and grab June’s hand. “See? This is why I don’t come to work early.”
“And why I try not to stay late, at least outside of my office.”
Sighing, Elle shoved away from the table and headed for the door. She sent a longing look over her shoulder and closed her eyes briefly. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
Without another word, she exited the break room and entered the fray. Nurses and CNAs were moving quickly as they set up two rooms for the incoming ambulances. Elle went to the desk to get the full information on her patient. She skimmed what had been written down, biting her lip the whole time. Looking up, she saw June slip from the ER silently and head away from the chaos and into the calm. Slightly jealous, Elle focused on what she could do in the here and the now.
This man needed her full attention if he was going to survive. With any gunshot wound to the head, they took it very seriously. Lights flashing out of the bay doors caught her attention, and she turned to see her patient coming in with a bag over his mouth and blood absolutely everywhere.
“Here we go,” she whispered as she took hold of the stretcher and headed for the newly set up room.
★
June pulled into the house three hours after her shift had officially ended. She’d gotten stuck in the ICU with a cancer patient who was all by herself without any family. She waited with her until her son could arrive and take over because the fear in this woman’s voice compelled her to stay there. She’d seen fear before, but this was something else.
After spending only thirty minutes with Elle before she got pulled away, June had gone back to her office to finish out her paperwork and then head home. Elle had left the outside lights on, and June blessedly thanked her forethought as the dark sky didn’t make it easy to see.
She parked in the garage and got out of the car, glad the heat was still on inside. When she stepped into the kitchen, she found the note that told her dinner was all ready for her on a plate in the fridge whenever she got to it. Smiling, June set the note down and dropped her satchel onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
Her mind was spinning and had been spinning since that morning, since Elle had blessedly pressed up against her. Her chest warmed, and her lips tingled at the thought. It had been one of the most pleasant ways she had been woken up in the last decade. June brushed her fingers over her lips, grabbed her dinner, and popped it in the microwave.
They hadn’t had time to talk, though, and that worried her. No time to define boundaries, figure out what the other was thinking, no time to clear the air about what they really wanted, either of them, from the other. Sighing, she waited for the food to heat up. They’d just pressed together like two teenagers who had snuck out at night after being grounded for weeks on end.
Laughing at the thought, June took her dinner and ate slowly. Meeting up for coffee at the hospital hadn’t been any better. They should have known they wouldn’t be able to get away with talking about a relationship there. One or both of them would be called away, not to mention they knew far too many people there to keep anything private.
After eating, June showered and slipped under the covers in her bed. Sleep would not come easily, she knew that much. She closed her eyes and turned on her side, waiting patiently for weariness to consume her. Her phone buzzing drew her attention. She must have fallen asleep because her eyes were trying their damnedest to remain glued shut, and her mouth was like cotton when she reached for the device.
The caller ID indicated it was the hospital. Letting out a grunt, June answered and shoved the phone to her ear. “This is Chaplain Melville.”
“Hey, this is Savannah, I’m one of the on-call-only chaplains. I…I need some extra help, and your name was suggested.”
June licked her lips. “What’s going on?”
“There was an attempted murder and suicide tonight that came in.”
“Yeah, I was there right when they were arriving. What’s going on?”
June could hear the hesitation in Savannah’s pause. “I—I can handle the family, but the woman was related to one of the nurses. She was doing okay, but now…now she’s not.”
“Who is it?” June’s brow furrowed as she sat up and shoved a hand through her hair. Glancing around her room, she tried to locate a set of clean clothes she could throw on and head back to work.
“Jerica Alvarez.”
“How is she related to the patient?” June tried tugging on a pair of slacks with one hand while she talked on the phone with the other. Giving up, she cradled the phone with her shoulder and jerked her pants up.
“They’re sisters.”
“Oh God.”
Savannah hummed. “Like I said. I can handle the family. They’re all over the place, and there’s about eight of them in here running from room to room between the sister and the husband, but Jerica, I think, needs some one-on-one time.”
“I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“Thank you.” Savannah sounded relieved.
June finished getting dressed, grabbing her dickie and white collar last. She put them in place and then headed for her car. It was freezing when she slipped behind the wheel. Exhaustion seeped through every bone she had, but she knew she had to go in. She’d only met Savannah once, but the woman was young and new to chaplaincy. However, whenever there was a request for an assist, she made sure to show up, no matter how tired she was.
