Chapter 17

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Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapters 8&9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 (old) Chapter 15 (new) Chapter 16

Chapter 17 - Ivy

Well, that is unexpected. Is it possible Adam heard my demands? Is it possible he’s going to give me space, even though we’re essentially stuck here in this tiny apartment? I can hear him typing in the next room. I’m knitting and he’s on his laptop. Gah, this is even more intimate than if he were breathing down my neck. This feels like home. Like the old days. 

Before I can overthink this too long, the music stops because his phone starts ringing. 

“Sorry,” he says as he rushes in to answer it. “I’m obviously on call.” Because he’s the only doctor at the resort. “Fuck. Gotta go.”

Well, now I’m curious. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, no worries. You stay put. I’ll be back shortly.” He grabs his bag and is out the door before I can even respond. 

Wow. I mean, I’ve seen him in action, but I was… not my best self. Dying and all that. Ha! This, watching him rush out the door, this was sexy. The on-call doctor getting an emergency page. I squeeze my thighs together because I’m a little turned on. Gah. That’s not right! I pick up my phone and call my sister. Better than any cold shower at turning me off. 

“Where are you? Are you okay? What’s going on? Are you washed out to sea?” is how she answers my call. 

I switch to FaceTime before she has a full-blown panic attack. “I’m fine. Look, I’m safe. I’m just staying a bit longer than I planned to.”

“They’re saying this is the storm of a lifetime. Are you sure you’re safe?”

I love that my sister worries about me. She’s only eighteen months older than I am, but she has mastered the anxious Big Sister game. “I’m fine, Iris. It’s really not that bad.” I pull back the sheers on Adam’s window. Oh, it’s that bad. The palm trees are practically sideways in the wind. Thankfully, my sister cannot see what I see. 

“Where are you? Is that your room? I thought you were at a resort? That looks like a motel.” There is the judgemental socialite I know and love. 

I roll my eyes at her. “They moved me. I had already checked out when my flight got canceled.” No need to go into the details. 

“Hey, want to help me deliver a baby?” Adam asks as he bangs open the front door with the biggest, dopiest grin on his face. “Oh, sorry.” He sees I’m on the phone. 

“Who’s that?” Iris asks at the exact same moment Adam asks the same question. 

I turn slightly so they can see each other. “Iris, this is Adam. Adam, my sister Iris.” But then ice shoots through my veins. Fuck, fuck, fuck, Adam knows Iris. I turn again. “Gotta go, sis. The doctor needs my help delivering a baby.” What?! I think. 

“What?!” she asks. 

“I’ll tell you all about it later,” I say to her as I end the call. “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” I say to Adam. 

“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go bring a new life into the world, what do ya say?” He’s pushing me out the door and toward his office. 

*

“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” I say. I’m exhausted. The new mother is finally sleeping. The hours-old baby is sleeping next to her in a mocked up sidecar Adam pieced together out of a wheelchair and desk drawer. 

“Right?” He is also exhausted. I can see it on his face. 

“They’re going to be okay, right?” 

“Oh, yeah. They’re both healthy and well. And we’ll get an ambulance to come get them as soon as we can. They should get checked out in a real hospital. But they’re fine.” He looks happy. 

“Where did the dad go?” 

Just then the guy who thought he and wife were on a babymoon walks in with a tray of coffees. “Doc, hey. Ivy, hey,” he whispers. “These are for y’all.” 

I don’t even bother to look for cream or sugar before I gratefully sip. But it’s a mocha and it’s perfect. I hum softly to it. 

“Don’t people normally hum lullabies to babies?” Adam snarks quietly. 

“It’s so good. Thank you, Martin.” 

The new dad smiles. He looks even more wrung out than the rest of us. “I think we cut our vacation too close to our delivery date.” He says as he flops into a chair with a view of snoozing his wife and baby. 

Adam huffs a soft laugh. “Yeah, maybe give it another six to eight weeks’ lead time next time.” 

“Y’all don’t have to stay to watch them sleep, Doc. I got this watch,” he says like the military man he is. Oh, don’t doubt we know this little family very well after what we all just went through together. 

“Yeah, Ivy, you should head to bed,” Adam says. He and I both blush. His is hiding behind his beard, but I see it. I can feel mine start in my ears and bleed across my cheeks. 

“Are you sure?” I’d love to get an hour of rest before the day begins. Maybe two. The men nod at me. “Okay. Call me if you need anything. I’ll leave my ringer on.” I get up. I step over to the exhausted father. “Captain. It’s been a pleasure serving with you.” I don’t dare give him even a mocking salute, but I do offer him my hand to shake. 

He chuckles softly and shakes it. “Nurse Gardiner. Thank you for helping to bring my son into the world.” He’s glowing with pride and joy. 

I turn to Adam. “Dr. Lopez.” I can’t think of anything witty to say. He takes my offered hand and pulls me into a hug. 

“Thank you for your help, Ivy. Get some rest.” He kisses my hair. I feel it in my toes. 

I can’t remember how I got to the bed, but I’m under the covers and drifting off when it occurs to me. I guess we didn’t have to sleep in the same bed after all. Phew.

Minutes later, or maybe hours, I wake up in my dorm room with my girlfriend wrapped all around me. Ali’s still asleep, breathing softly into my hair. Her long limbs are intertwined with mine. It’s the best, most peaceful feeling in the world. I’ve missed this so much. Oh, shit. My eyes fly wide open. 

Obviously, I’m in Adam’s apartment and not my dorm. Adam (not Ali, gah!) has his arms and legs wrapped around me protectively. Possessively. It still feels wonderful, just not peaceful. Not even a little bit. I mean, what does this mean? Waking up in his bed, thinking it’s a bed we shared long ago? What does it mean that he’s here with me? Is he naked? I can’t even check. His legs are bare, I can feel that. The soft hair on them is warm and welcome against my shaved-daily legs. How long has he been here? What time is it? What does this mean? 

“Stop it,” he grumbles. I freeze. He tightens his grip around my middle. “Stop overthinking this.”

“You don’t know me,” I say without malice. Because, of course, he does. 

“I was too tired to wake you after Larry and the guys came to collect our little family.” His voice is gravelly. He still sounds so tired. “Everyone is safe and well. I called the hospital to check on them.” 

Our little family. That’s sweet. I relax just a little. “Glad they’re okay.” 

“Please, may I hold you just a few hours more?” 

I sigh. Not even I can tell if it’s contented or irritated. It’s possibly both. “Go back to sleep, Adam.” 

He just hums. And his breathing evens out. And I feel myself start to fall asleep in his arms. But then my brain takes over. If the ambulance was able to get here, the roads must be open. If the roads are open, is the airport open? I sent an email to my office letting them know I was stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, haha. But if everything is back to normal, I guess I have to get up and get my flight re-arranged. And I guess I’ll have to have The Talk with Adam all over again. About how I think we should just be friends. It doesn’t matter how attracted to him I am. What matters is how badly he broke my heart. 

But last night, helping Baby Martin come into the world, Adma was so capable and competent. And confident. Everything from reassuring the baby’s mother and father to actually bringing the baby into this world. Big things. And the little things. I mean, I couldn’t reach the towels in the high cabinet of his office, so I let him reach them for me. That used to be one of my favorite things, having a tall person around. 

The storm was so scary when it was just me on his couch, but then leaping into action, with a shared purpose to safely deliver that tiny baby boy. Adam made me feel safe. He made me feel like all of us were safe with him in charge. Hell, even the career Army captain put his trust in Adam last night. 

But then, my safety was always one of his top priorities.