Two weeks later

Elizabeth finished the cast on the four-year-old patient’s arm. “Keep it dry,” she advised the mother. “Don’t let him get stick anything down there to scratch his arm and keep it clean.”

“Thanks, Dr. Webber,” the young mother said. She smiled and lifted her son into her arms and left the cubicle.

Elizabeth filing the chart when she felt eyes watching her. She turned and smiled when she saw Jason Morgan near the entrance. He’d come back after all.

“Well, hello, Mr. Morgan,” she greeted. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t expect to see you back.”

“I wasn’t going to come but Emily kept after me,” Jason admitted. “And, it’s Jason.”

“Okay then. Come with me and we’ll take a look at your hand,” Elizabeth told him. She led him to an empty examining room and held out her hand. “Sit down and let me see your hand.”

Feeling stupid, Jason did as she said, sitting on the bed and placing his hand in hers. He’d taken the tape off almost a week ago, irritated by it.

She felt the two broken fingers and frowned. She leaned closer to peer at them. “How long did you leave the tape on?” She glanced up at him and inhaled sharply when she realized how close their faces were. She could see her reflection in his sky blue eyes.

“A week,” Jason confessed. “I got irritated. It kept getting caught on things when I was fixing cars.”

She smirked. “You were fixing cars with broken fingers?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even. He hadn’t pulled back and neither had she. She could feel his hot breath against her skin, sending tingles throughout her body.

“I…is that bad?” Jason asked, concentrating on her eyes, instead of the way her body was hanging over his, the way she was kind of standing in between his legs. If she wanted to, he could just reach out and pull her even closer–

“Well, it’s not smart,” Elizabeth replied, amused. Her voice was soft, almost breathless. “You…you, ah, should have left the tape on the full two weeks.”

“So, they’re still broken?” Jason asked.

“I’d need an x-ray to be sure,” Elizabeth murmured, telling herself to look down at his hand instead of focusing his almost unreal blue eyes. “But more than likely.”

“So, I have to come back?” Jason asked, unconsciously leaning closer to her. She licked her lips, sending his eyes to her mouth, making him think of really inappropriate things she could be doing with that tongue.

“Yeah…and I’ll have to tape your hand again,” Elizabeth replied, neglecting to mention it was usually a nurse’s job to do. “And this time, don’t fix any cars,” she tried to joke.

“But it’s my job,” Jason replied, meeting her eyes again.

“I’m sure you’re very good at it,” Elizabeth murmured.

“I’m good at a lot of things,” he said, nearly bragging.

Her eyebrows lifted. “Oh, really?” she asked, making it sound like a dare. He never was one to back down when he was challenged. He smirked and closed the miniscule distance between them, pressing her lips against hers firmly.

Her lips were as soft as the rest of her skin, smooth and pliant. She sighed a little, opening her mouth to him. He nipped at her bottom lip and used his tongue to soothe it.

Her hand smoothed up his t-shirt clad chest, resting on his shoulder. She let go of his hand and threaded her fingers through the short hairs at his nape.

She could have gone on kissing him forever and not have complained, except the door flew open.

“Dr. Webber, trauma coming in fifteen!”

She pulled away quickly, her cheeks flaming as she took in the smirking nurse. “Thanks, Mollie. I’ll be right out.”

Mollie nodded and pulled the door shut. Elizabeth looked back at Jason who looked just a little too satisfied for his own good.

“I have to go,” she told him, unable to keep from smiling. She hesitated. “I’ll get someone in here to tape that hand.”

Jason frowned. “Why don’t I just wait for you?” he asked, pointedly.

She flushed and shrugged. “I guess. But you might get kicked out of the room soon…”

“I’ll wait in the lobby.”

“What about your garage?” Elizabeth reminded him.

“I’m not supposed to work on cars, remember?” Jason said.

“I guess in that case, you can just wait here,” Elizabeth replied. She smiled and left the room.

It was nearly an hour later when she returned. He’d spent that time thinking about her, wondering what had made him kiss her and why he was determined to see her again, to see where it was going.

When she came back, her eyes were dulled, her movements were listless. He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

She cleared her throat and reached for a roll of gauze. “We lost two patients,” she told him softly as she began to unwrap it. “A two-year-old and an ten-year-old. Their father was drinking and drove off a bridge.”

“Jesus,” he swore. He stopped her movements and cupped her face in his hands. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, biting her lip. “Yeah…I just…it never gets any easier. Whether it’s a child or an elderly patient…it still hurts when you can’t save them.” Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. “I wonder sometimes if I’m cut out to be a doctor.”

“You are,” Jason assured her. “You just have a lot of compassion. That’s not a bad thing.”

“I guess.” She closed her eyes.

“When do you get off work?” he asked.

“Around eleven,” she answered softly. “Why?”

“I’ll pick you up,” Jason told her. Her eyes opened and she frowned at him. “We’ll go out for a late dinner.”

She managed a watery smile. “I’d like that,” she replied. He leaned forward and kissed her softly. “I’d like that a lot.”

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