"I am leaving. I can't believe you, Dr. Steinmann!"
"You've already told me that."
"Do you sleep with all of your patients? Is that how this works? Oh my God, I am so out of here." She stormed out of the room and tried to slam the door but my traveling nurse poked her head in the doorway.
"Rough night?"
"No, but it was definitely a rough morning. Got my prescriptions handy?"
"In my pocket of course. Need an aspirin? I have that too." She dug in her lab jacket for a bottle of aspirin.
"Hell no, I want a Vicodin." I stretched out my hand and she frowned and gave me a peel. "Don't look like that, I don't have surgeries for the next few days and my back is killing me."
Nurse Rosa snorted, "I guess so!"
I waved her out the door. "Okay, out. I am going back to bed. Call me if the crazy lady shows back up." I drank a ton of water before I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what the hell just happened. I could not remember every detail, but I did remember her smile, her playfulness, her...oh yes, I remembered a lot. Oh well, another angry woman in my life. What was so unusual about that?
Chapter Nine
Lilly
I left the hotel in tears. I was a big ball of emotions and I had not had time to sort them out yet. I slept with my doctor. We kissed, danced and I did not want to think about everything we did — I did. I cannot believe this happened but it did. When I got home, I would call and cancel the upcoming appointment with his secretary. I would not be seeing Dr. Steinmann anymore. Oh, Bullet! Those words came back to haunt me. I immediately called Kate as I waited outside for a taxi, just another girl in the big city, waking up somewhere where she does not belong.
The phone rang and rang. Who was I kidding? She was never going to wake up this early, just when I needed her the most. I tried again, still nothing. I was ready to throw my phone. Yep, I had been drinking tequila, it always makes me mean.
My phone rang and I answered it without looking and I was surprised to hear Bullet's voice on the other end of the line. "Lilly Brightwood! Do not hang up on me!" For some reason I froze and listened. "I don't know what is going on in your head. I am not judging you. We did nothing wrong. We were two adults, two consenting adults I might add who happened to spend the night together. Just stop and take a deep breath. I don’t know you very well, but I know something's wrong. Are you there?"
"Yes," I said calmly to Bullet's voice.
"Do you
have a way to get home? Are you still waiting on a taxi?"
"Yes, I'm still waiting on a taxi outside the hotel."
"Okay here's what I want you to do. I want you to wait for me. No arguing. I want to make sure you get home okay. I'll be down in two minutes."
Bullet hung up and there was still no taxi. I had not promised him anything so if a taxi did show up, I would take it without feeling guilty. If he did happen to come down and help me home, I would appreciate it because I felt like hell. True to his word, he walked out the door in less than two minutes. He wore a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt and tennis shoes. He looked like an ordinary guy going out for a run or to do some errands. Not much like a doctor at all.
"I'm parked over here. Can you walk okay?" He stopped to observe me but did not offer to help me. He knew at this moment, I would refuse him. It was bright outside, and looking through my tequila-tinted eyeballs hurt.
Cars flew by us but we crossed the street and climbed into Bullet's car. We slid on our seatbelts and I dug in my purse for my sunglasses. I slid them on and wanted to die. "Where to?"
"I’m on campus. My address is 244 April Springs Road but you can drop me off out front." I guessed I should remember my manners. "Thank you for the ride home."
"You are welcome. I know you are not in a mood to talk, but I have something I want to say to you."
Before I could respond to him, my phone rang in my purse. "Hello?"
"Lilly? Are you okay? Where are you?" Kate, my tardy friend had returned my call at last.
"No, I’m not okay but I have help now so thank you." I was short with her too. See, Bullet? I am an equal opportunity abuser this morning.
"Do you need me to come to your apartment? I can be there in five minutes." Kate sounded concerned and I appreciated her but I really just wanted to be alone right now. It was bad enough that I was riding home with Bullet.
"No thanks. I will call you later. Bye!" I turned to him and said, "What were you saying?"
"Well it may seem inappropriate to you, but here it goes. I just want to say thank you for last night. I have been going through some things myself. I was lonely, I saw you there and I felt as if we had hit it off. I am going to be very honest with you, in the past I have been a jerk to women. I did not care about them because I only cared about myself. I don’t feel that way about you. I wasn’t looking to use you for my pleasure. When I was with you I wanted to please you. That never happens to me. I know this is not what you want to hear right now. You have a hangover, I do too, but since you cannot remember as well as I do, I wanted to tell you what I thought and what I felt. I think you are sweet and special. I meet many beautiful women in my line of work but none as smart and beautiful as you. I should not tell you this either but here it goes. I think, no, I know that we probably could have had something special together." The whole time he talked to me, he did not look at me — he kept his eyes focused on the road. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. It sounded as if Dr. Bullet Steinmann had a thing for me. Unless of course, he was lying his pants off. Guys do that from time to time. Ethan taught me that!