The Greek Doctor's Proposal (10 page)

“I thought you might like it. Did…everything…go okay?”

“Yes. It was wonderful,” she whispered. “I didn’t know making love could be so wonderful.”

“I’m really glad. He’s a dream.”

“And he dances like it, too.”

“You’re making me jealous, Jeannine.”

Jeannine took in a shaky breath, overwhelmed by the events of the past day. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me. I don’t quite know how to feel.” So many emotions had cracked open in the last twenty-four hours that she was still confused.

“Take a deep breath and enjoy it. Well, I’m going to let you go now. I’m sure you have some things you need to do today.”

“Yeah. And thanks again. You’re such a good friend.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Jeannine hung up and rose to shower and dress. She wanted to go see Roberto this morning. Seeing Miklo would just be a side bonus. Shorts and a T-shirt were about all she needed for a quick trip to the
hospital. As she reached for a long-sleeved shirt to put on over the top, she paused. Glancing down at her arms and the visible scars, the cringe she usually felt coming on didn’t happen. Moving to the mirror in the bathroom she looked at herself. Other than needing her hair combed, she looked pretty much like any other person in the morning.

The scars had faded over the last months, but were still clearly visible. Miklo had told her about some lotions that could reduce the scarring and visibility. She knew he’d only been trying to make her feel better, that there was truly no way to fully eliminate the marks. But, hey, who knew? Maybe they would work a little.

Deciding to not worry about anything today, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and headed for the hospital, quickly stopping at the store on the way.

As she entered the busy building, people rushed by her, jostled her a little, but no one pulled away, disgusted by her appearance, and some of the confidence that she had had in the past returned. The smile that lingered on her face had less to do with having a lovely weekend with Miklo and more to do with finding the joy that had once lived inside her.

After taking the elevator to the PICU, she pushed the double doors open and made her way to Roberto’s room. She clipped her hospital badge onto her shirt so that the nurse knew she wasn’t an outside visitor. She knocked on the doorway. “Hi. Can I see Roberto?” she asked.

“Hello,” the nurse said, and turned around. “Oh, hi!
Didn’t recognize you at first out of scrubs. I’m Charlene,” she said, and shook Jeannine’s hand. “You’re one of the new nurses, right?”

“Yes, I am.” Her quick glance caught the heart monitor and then moved to Roberto on the bed. “How’s he doing? Is he still febrile?” She stepped closer. “I have a little present for him if he’s awake.”

“He’s in and out with a little sedation, but thankfully the ventilator tubing is removed now.”

“Oh, that’s fabulous. When did that happen?”

“Early this morning, I think. He was doing so well that Miklo extubated him and put him on simple oxygen.” Charlene shook her head in amazement. “He’s sure a fighter.”

Jeannine withdrew a yellow car from her purse and placed it on the bed. “I don’t want to wake him, but will you tell him I stopped by and brought him a new car so that we can race?”

“I sure will,” Charlene said with a laugh.

Jeannine lingered at the door for a moment and then headed for the nurses’ station.

M
IKLO
scribbled the last note in the last chart of the last patient he wanted to see that day. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Still time to call Jeannine. Though they had been awake for most of the night, he felt no fatigue, and his thoughts had drifted to her continuously throughout the day. What weighed heavily on his mind was that his time with Jeannine gave him a sense of peace that had been lacking for so long. Peace he had never had with his wife. Though he’d grown to love her, he hadn’t craved her with the same kind of passion he seemed to have developed for Jeannine.

Flopping back against the chair, he thought about her. About last night. About what it meant. About what it could mean.

Before he could wrap his brain around that idea, his phone rang.

“Dr. Kyriakides.”

“Miklo!” his uncle almost yelled into his ear. “Come to Olympia’s at four and bring your nurse. We’re celebrating.”

“What are we celebrating?” he asked, amused. With his uncle, he never knew.

“Christo is finally graduating, and I don’t have to pay for any more college.”

As he listened to his uncle, the object of his fascination approached the nurses’ station. Though focused on her, he gave a short laugh into the phone. “That is something to celebrate. I’ll ask her, she just walked up.”

“Just bring her. Be here at four or you’ll be in trouble with your auntie. She was sorry she missed you last time.”

“I am, too.” They spoke another minute, and then Miklo rang off. “Good afternoon, Miss Carlyle.”

“Afternoon, Dr. Kyriakides.”

“You’re looking mighty fetching today.” He let his gaze roll down her bare legs and back up again to her arms.

“Fetching?” She laughed and sat in a chair beside him. “I haven’t heard that term in a long time.”

“It seems the most appropriate description. You’re not bothered without a longer-sleeved shirt?” he asked.

“Amazingly enough, no. The need to cover myself has begun to fade.” She held her arms up and examined them as if they were something new to her. “I’m going to try the creams you recommended as well.”

“Excellent.” She was healing right in front of him.

“How are you today?”

“That was going to be my question to you, and what are you doing here on your weekend off?”

She shrugged. “I wanted to see how Roberto was
doing.” She nodded at the phone still in his hand. “You got a phone call that involved me somehow?”

“What?” He looked at the phone and then stuck it in his pocket. “Yes. My uncle wants us to come to a party this afternoon.” Miklo leaned closer and the clean fragrance of her almost made his mouth water. “He’s very insistent that you come, but I told him I would
ask
if you’d
like
to come.”

The smile on her face started in her eyes, tilting the corners up. “I’d like that. But are you sure you want me along for a family function? I mean…” Her gaze darted away, her discomfort obvious.

“He specifically asked that you come, and he’ll have my hide if I don’t bring you.” Then Miklo realized how that could be interpreted, and he could have kicked himself for being such a verbal klutz. He really did want her with him. It finally seemed like the right place, the right time, and…the right woman. “Jeannine, I know that sounded stupid, but I would like you to come.”

“It’s okay. I understand. I’d love to come,” she said with a laugh and then glanced around, as if realizing they were sitting in a very public place.

“So what’s Roberto’s condition? I saw that you extubated him.” She adjusted her position to a more upright one and cleared her throat.

Good. Talk about work would keep his attention off of Jeannine’s long, long, legs and what they had done to him last night. “He was more than ready. Even though he’s still running a slight fever, he was doing well enough to extubate him. I did lance a small abscess in
his jaw and sent it for culture.” Miklo stood and shoved the chart back into its rack. His job here was done. “I was about to head out. I can walk you out if you’d like.”

Jeannine nodded, and looked around, realizing that they were getting a little attention from the staff. “I did just come in about Roberto,” she said, her eyes cautious once again.

“I know.” He walked beside her through the double doors back into the hallway and away from the staff who could turn a casual conversation into a disclosure of national secrets by the end of a shift. Starting gossip about Jeannine was something he certainly didn’t want to do. He didn’t care so much about himself as he did about protecting her.

“So, what’s the occasion this evening?” she asked.

“Christo is finally graduating from university. But with my family, any excuse to get together is a good one.” He gave a smile, then frowned as a twinge in his chest caught him by surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

“I hadn’t realized until now, just how much I’ve missed that. The spontaneous get-togethers, the camaraderie of the family, the unbelievable amount of food.” His mouth watered at the thought and his anticipation skyrocketed. Seeing his family again was going to be great. Having Jeannine with him was going to be even better.

Jeannine paused in the hallway and placed her hand on his arm. He’d not worn his labcoat today and the warmth of her skin was a pleasant reminder of last night and how fantastic their skin had felt together.

“Don’t feel bad about missing something you want or need in your life, Miklo. We all need our family, our friends, our support system. If you want to go alone tonight, I won’t be offended.”

She was such a gem. Her insight was one of the most attractive things about her. Another thing he hadn’t realized he’d needed in his life.

Miklo frowned, unsure of himself as he looked down into her soft gaze. “Jeannine, I have a confession to make,” he said, and couldn’t believe that he was going to say this, but every word was true.

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” she said with a cringe. “What is it?”

“I thought about you all day long.” Though he had focused on his patients when he’d had to, thoughts of Jeannine and last night had stolen his attention every other moment. The warmth of a new pulse was present with every beat of his heart. Jeannine was responsible for putting it there.

She gave a shaky laugh and her eyes betrayed her emotions. “I thought a lot about you, too.”

“That’s very good. Why don’t I pick you up in an hour or so? Dress casual. We’ll go have a nice dinner, catch up with the family, and then who knows what.”

“I’ll be ready,” she said. Miklo watched as she made her way down the hall toward the employee elevators.

In an hour, Miklo knocked on her door. Insides trembling, palms damp, he felt like a kid on his first date again as he pushed the hair back from his face. When Jeannine opened the door and offered him a welcoming
smile, he felt as if she had opened the door to his heart. Emotions he hadn’t acknowledged in years suddenly flooded through him, almost dropping him to his knees. The pain that had squeezed his heart for too long eased, and he could breathe again.

When she opened the door he charged inside, took her in his arms and held her against him until the trembling stopped.

“Miklo?” she asked as she hugged him back. “Are you okay?”

The feel of her trim body against him was what he needed. Pulling back slightly, he found her lips and kissed her thoroughly as his body prepared for much more than a simple embrace. Cupping his hands around her face, he placed a tender kiss on her mouth and looked into her blue-green eyes, which suddenly filled with a sheen of moisture.

“I’ve wanted to do that all day long. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay this morning.” He searched her eyes for anger or disappointment, but found none. “Last night was wonderful.”

Clasping her hands tight on his wrists, she held him closer. “It was. Thank you.”

“You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” He pushed a stray strand of hair back from her face.

“Me? I’ve…never thought of myself that way. Especially not after—”

“Shh.” Groaning, it took everything he had to take a step away from her, but for both their sakes he had to. “You are.” Succumbing to her charm and abandoning the party tonight would be entirely too easy to do. “How
about I tell you about who we’re going to meet on the way?” Distraction. That was the ticket. Lots of distraction so he could keep his hands off of her.

“Go ahead, but I’m warning you, I’m terrible with names.” She took a shaky breath and picked up her purse.

“That’s okay. Just smile and nod and call most of the men Christo.”

In less than twenty minutes they arrived at the restaurant crowded with his family.

“I think there are more people here now than when we came here the first time,” Jeannine said as they pushed through the doorway.

“Miklo! Jeannine!” Seferino called from across the room and made his way through the crowd to them. Before he reached Miklo, he reached out to kiss Jeannine on both cheeks. “I’m so glad you could come.” He held onto Jeannine’s hand and led the way back through the crowd, leaving an astonished Miklo to follow along behind.

Hours later, having met countless cousins, aunts, and uncles and eaten the most outrageously wicked food she’d ever seen, Jeannine collapsed into a chair at a corner table. The glass of iced water in her hand was refreshing and after talking so long, she certainly needed it.

Glancing around the room, she looked for Miklo and found him engaged in conversation with another man about his age. She watched as they chatted, admiring what a handsome man he was. But she knew that her attraction for him was so much more than his physical appearance. He cared about people, he cared about helping others, and he appeared to care about her. Jeannine swallowed as he looked up and met her gaze.

Her life had changed so much in the last six months. She’d almost died, and now here she was with the man of her dreams looking at her as if he wanted to take a bite out of her.

A woman with dark hair that was graying sat across the table from Jeannine. They had been introduced some time ago and Jeannine remembered that this was Miklo’s Aunt Jolanda, Seferino’s wife. “How are you, Jeannine?” she asked, and poured more water. “Did you get enough to eat?”

“Oh, my, yes,” Jeannine said with a pat to her stomach. “I won’t have to eat for days.”

“Bah. You’re too thin. You need to eat more,” Jolanda said, and patted Jeannine’s hand.

“I’ve been ill in the last year, and I’m still trying to gain back the weight I lost over it.” Jeannine didn’t know how much to tell the woman. Would she think badly of her if she knew the whole story?

“Miklo told his uncle and he told me that you were hospitalized and almost died.” Her large brown eyes grew serious and she clucked her tongue in sympathy. “I’m just glad you’re better and are spending time with Miklo. He needs a good friend, too.”

“He…told me about his wife,” Jeannine said.

“It was a tragedy.” Her shrug said it all. “But life goes on, and we must go on with it.”

Jeannine gave a tearful laugh at the woman’s insight. “You are so right.”

Jolanda stood and gave Jeannine a quick hug. “Now I have to start cleaning up.”

“Would you like some help? I’d be glad to.”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t ask—”

“You’re not asking, I’m volunteering,” Jeannine said. “I’ll bring dishes to the kitchen and you can tell me where to put things.”

Jolanda patted Jeannine’s cheek. “You’re a good-hearted woman. Just what he needs.”

Before Jeannine could digest that, Jolanda scurried away into the kitchen.

Jeannine gathered dishes from a number of tables and took them to the kitchen, where Jolanda directed her to the dishwasher. Miklo entered the kitchen behind her. “What are you doing?” he asked, and observed her from the doorway as Jolanda returned to the dining room.

“The dishes. What does it look like?” she said, and tossed a white towel at him with a laugh. “And you can help.”

He caught the towel before it hit him in the face. “Me? I’m a highly trained surgeon. I can’t take the chance of damaging my hands,” he said with a self-satisfied smile.

“Sissy.”

Brows raised in disbelief, he took a step toward her. “What?”

Jeannine dunked an armload of dishes into a pan of sudsy water. “You heard me,” she said. Though she kept her gaze on her task, she knew the precise moment he stood behind her. The thread of desire that shot through her made her weak in the knees.

With a gentle hand, he brushed the hair back over her
shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, his voice soft as he kissed her temple, his fragrance washing over her.

“For what?” she asked, startled as she leaned into his kiss.

“For everything.” Turning her, he brought her face up for his kiss. Against her will, her sudsy hands reached out to his shoulders and she clung to him.

Seferino was about to enter the kitchen with a tray loaded with dirty dishes.

“Stop!” Jolanda screeched, and grabbed him by the waist. “You can’t go in there.”

“Why not? It’s where the dirty dishes go.”

Jolanda hushed him with an impatient wave of her hand. “Miklo is in there.”

“It’s about time he did some dishes. Let me bring him some more.”

“That’s not all he’s doing.”

“The floors, too? Good man.” Seferino reached out to push the door open with one hand. Jolanda tugged on his sleeve again.

“No!
Jeannine
is in there with him.” Seferino set the tray down on a nearby table. The two huddled at the door and peeked through the window.

“You can come in now,” Miklo said, and backed away from Jeannine. He wiped the kitchen towel over his face.

Seferino picked up the tray of dishes and brought them in. “Are you going to help with the dishes, too?”

Miklo’s gaze fastened onto Jeannine. “I think I will.”

Miklo paused in the ER hallway before heading home. Being here reminded him of his days as a resident, a time of high energy, a lust for life and his work, a feeling that nothing coming through those doors was beyond his abilities. Now he didn’t crave the lifestyle any longer. He much preferred his duties in the PICU, a more controlled setting, more conducive to a home life, though he didn’t really have one.