Page 28 of Operation Annulment (Silent Phoenix MC)

She continues, “I know that you’re scared. It’s written all over your face, but when it’s real, it’s incredible. It makes what we had with Jackson and Benjamin seem ridiculous. You know what I’m talking about. Now, we can sit here and keep crying, or my maid of honor can help me plan this wedding.”

I run my thumbs under both eyes. “Is this your way of asking me?”

She smiles and pulls me into another hug. “I can’t do it without you, sister. Little Ricky is just hopeless at this kind of stuff. And, let’s be real. There’s no way he could pull off the dress.”

I glance over at the clock—two in the morning.

Halloween is officially over, and after the day’s events, I want nothing more than to crawl into bed. My head drops onto my chest, and I doze off before immediately jerking awake again. I’ve been doing this for hours, but I refuse to fall asleep until I see him.

Right on cue, the garage door rises, and I hastily rub the sleep from my eyes before standing up. The door opens softly, and I can hear the slight jingle of his keys as he hangs them up.

“Hey,” I whisper as he rounds the corner and jumps back into the wall.

“Jesus, Kate!”

I wrap my arms around him and lay my head on his chest, his heart pounding steadily against my cheek. “Sorry… sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He brings his arms around behind me. “I thought you’d be asleep. Why are you sitting up in the dark?”

“I wanted to thank you for what you did for Dakota today. I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened had you not taken her to the hospital when you did.” My eyes fill with tears just thinking about it.

He releases me to turn on a light, and I can see that he’s dead on his feet. He stumbles over to collapse on the couch. “Anyone would have done it, babe.”

I shake my head. “No, Nate. They wouldn’t—especially not for someone who’d said half of what she did. I just want to thank you for stepping up like that. It meant a lot to me,” My voice cracks with emotion, “I was so scared for her.”

He pats the empty spot on the couch, and I curl up next to him.

“I checked on her before she was discharged, and all the tests came back normal. She’s going to be okay, Katy girl.

You don’t owe me anything—you could have gotten some sleep instead of camping out in the dark.

” He kisses my forehead lightly while massaging the back of my neck.

“I bought some Halloween candy, but it wasn’t near enough for all the kids in the neighborhood.

I tried turning off the porch light, but that didn’t fool anyone.

So, I dug through the pantry—you’re going to need more energy bars, by the way.

When I ran out of those, I just turned off all the lights and pretended not to be home. ”

He starts chuckling. “That’s got to be the cutest damn thing I’ve heard all day. I hate that I missed seeing you, moving around the house in stealth mode. Come on, babe. Let’s go lay down. We’ve both had a long day. I just want to lay in bed and hold you.”

We slip into bed, completely drained, and I trace my fingers lightly across his ink. His voice startles me. “You asked me a few weeks ago about my tattoos. I know that I never gave you a straight answer.”

I continue moving my fingers over his chest, silently urging him to keep talking.

He clears his throat. “I didn’t consider getting a tattoo until I got married.

She pushed me to get one—was constantly bringing it up in conversation—and one day, I broke down.

I thought I’d get one, and that’d be the end of it.

It wasn’t, though. You know people who have marriage problems and decide that a baby will fix everything?

Well, it was like that. I got the tattoos to keep her happy.

I tried to turn myself into what she wanted, convinced it would solve our problems. When we divorced, I spent every free minute covering up anything she chose.

Strangely, the feel of the needle on my skin was cathartic. ”

Nate’s voice is like the perfect cup of coffee in bed on a rainy day when you know you have nowhere to be. The rich timbre of his voice vibrates against my head as I lay on his chest .

I never knew that a voice could be deep yet soothing at the same time.

I pick my head up until our faces are mere inches apart. “That explains why you’re a doctor.”

He smiles. “Okay, counselor. I’ll bite. Why am I a doctor?”

I move my hands to rest under my chin. “You probably feel like there’s nothing you can’t fix—most doctors have a god complex to some degree. For example, do you ever approach a case and think you might be unable to save that person?”

His eyes look thoughtful as he mulls over my words. “I guess I don’t even consider it. I assume my training has prepared me to deal with anything I encounter.”

“Well, that’s part of what makes you a good doctor.

You refuse to fail. If I were to guess, though, I’d say that trauma was not what you envisioned for yourself when you started med school.

You’ve mentioned that the drama conditioned you until you began to crave it, and I think that also holds true for your profession.

As chaotic as your career is, it still gave you more control than your marriage. ”

“I always knew I wanted to help people in some capacity, but being in the emergency department was a high for me—well, it still is. There’s no time to worry about anything other than what’s coming through the door. That’s probably why I don’t mind working on-call shifts.”

He trails off, and I ask the question that’s been on my mind since day one. “What exactly—I mean, I know she cheated, but why did you get divorced?”

“Pass,” he groans. “It’s late—or early, at this point.”

I nod and lay my head back down on his chest. His hands lazily move up and down my spine, and I feel a shift. It’s no longer a game of twenty questions—I want to know what makes him tick. I like hearing his thoughts on things—it can be as minor as the orange juice he prefers.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say that I was falling in love with him. It’s still too soon, but maybe someday.