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Justin said his good-byes and quickly left. After dinner was finished, we hung out a little longer with the family and then headed home. I was getting sleepy from the combination of alcohol and too much food. I dragged my rear end up the stairs and we both got ready for bed. I dreaded having to get up in the morning, but I was also excited about the prospect of the potential business ahead of me.
We crawled into bed and Pearce turned on the TV. He found a sappy movie for us to watch, even though I figured it was the last thing he wanted to do. He pulled out his iPad and started reading.
“We don’t have to watch this, you know.”
“No, it’s not that at all. I need to catch up on some journal reading.” He showed me his iPad and it was opened to some article in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. There was a picture of a man with a giant pole jammed through his midsection.
“Urrgh, don’t show me that! Is this the kind of stuff you do?” I wanted to hurl just looking at the picture.
“Yeah,” he said, very nonchalantly, still reading.
I shut the TV off and turned to look at him. “Are you serious. I mean, do you really see that kind of stuff?”
“I do. Usually accident victims. This was unusual. That pole flew off the back of a truck and came through this guy’s windshield. He was in the passenger seat of a van and the seat was pulled back as far as possible. If he’d been in a car, he’d be dead. That pole would’ve hit him in the head.”
“That’s awful. What do you do when something like this comes in?”
“The team puts the patient back together. It’s our job.”
I picked up his hands and started to examine them. I ran my fingers up and down each of his and turned them this way and that. He sat there, and just watched me with a puzzled look on his face. When I was done, I brought his hands to my lips and kissed them. He was still looking at me with an odd expression.
I finally spoke, “You heal people, Pearce. Your hands are a gift from God. Not everyone can do something like this. You’re special, and I’m not just saying this because I love you. You are truly gifted.”
“I don’t think of it ...”
“I do and so do those people you save. I am awed by what you do. I had no idea. I thought you just sewed people up or something. Really. And to think you’re able to save someone like this.”
“Alexia, I can’t save everyone. All the stars have to be aligned for someone like this to survive.”
“Maybe. But if this person didn’t have a trauma surgeon like yourself, he never would’ve survived. End of story.”
I didn’t want to let go of his hands. I just sat there holding them, wanting to feel the life in them forever.
He leaned over and kissed me, but I still wouldn’t release his hands. I felt his chest jiggling and heard the deep rumble of his laughter. “You ever gonna let ’em go, sweetheart, ’cause if you don’t, it’s gonna be awfully hard to work?”
I totally cracked up then.
Fourteen
The next week of work had me busting it. My concealed weapons class was at night, and I also worked on that proposal for the Greenville hospital. I finally presented it to my boss on Friday. He was totally impressed. He loved the way I was able to integrate the reasons for switching to MedSoft, not just for the physicians offices, but for the main hospital and all the other affiliated hospitals as well. He asked if I wanted to accompany him to Greenville the week after next to help pitch the deal to the hospital administration.
I was super psyched when I got home from work. Since there was an issue with getting the security gate installed at my carriage house, I was still staying at Pearce’s. He begged me to move in with him, and though it was tempting, I stayed firm in my answer. No, at least until we knew each other better.
He was already home when I walked in with my arms full. He helped me unload, as I had made a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home.
As soon as everything was put away, I told him the news about my proposal.
“Well, this calls for a celebration! Where would you like to go?”
“You pick.” I was never comfortable choosing a restaurant.
“Do you have anything going on this weekend?” he asked.
“Nope. Nothing planned.”
“Great. Go pack a weekend bag. You won’t need much. Bring one dress and the rest casual.”
He walked out of the room with a big grin on his face that left me wondering what he was up to.
