Caught in the Middle

Chapter 18

Amelia gives me a grateful smile and I wink at her before I turn my head back against the window, giving the two girlfriends as much privacy as I can. I only open my eyes when we stop at Brooke's place, and she climbs in behind me. "Please tell me you're not packing in my car?" I meet her shocked eyes with a wink of my own. "Scherzare. I'm kidding. Blame my lack of sleep." I smile with my eyes closed, ignoring the shove against my arm, when I hear them kiss hello before we start driving again.

"...thought I told you that I'm not carrying you up...Seriously, Delucs. Wake up!" I sigh and stretch myself out in the car before stumbling out. "I. Need. A. Bath." Amelia and Brooke hook their arms into mine and together we make our way to the elevator. "What kind of hospital makes the heads of their departments work until midnight? Don't you have interns and residents for this type of thing?" Amelia and I look at each other and snort on a laugh at the question. "Emergency surgery." We both respond at the same time, smirking at Brooke when she shakes her head at us.

"You'll get used to it the longer you two date. You should have rethought this relationship when you found out about Amelia's profession. If this isn't your first late night booty call, it sure won't be your last." From the blush on both of their faces, it's clear that this isn't their first rodeo. "Have you and Maya gotten used to it?" I scowl at Amelia before groaning in frustration because she's got me there. "We got used to it when we lived together. Now, not so much. I'm not even getting normal late night calls, who's to say calls related to her booty."

My lips turn down in a pout when I think about how lonely I've been. Since we started seeing each other again, I've only spent time together with Maya three times. Once when she came over for a date at Amelia's, then at the station when she dropped the suicide bomb on her team. The last time was ten very long days ago when we tried to go out on a date before I got called into the hospital. We are both desperate for some time together but have to be satisfied with a few texts and quick phone calls again, since I'm still living at Amelia's place.

"Buonanotte ragazze. Have fun. Quietly please." I kiss both women on the cheek before slumping all the way into my room. I sit on the edge of the bathtub while I watch the bubbles rise higher, the longer the water runs. A knock sounds from the other end of my bathroom door and before I can reach it, the door opens and a hand with a glass of wine slips through. "Sei una manna dal cielo, Amelia Shepherd." I can hear her chuckle in the bedroom as she puts the glass down on the side table, just at the entrance of my bathroom.

"I'd keep those earphones in if I were you." She slams the door shut when I throw a towel against it. I giggle until I hear her laugh subsides as she leaves my room. After getting my glass of wine, I quickly slip out of my clothes and into the bath, slipping my EarPods in and relaxing in the warm water with the soft tunes playing in my ears. Even though I want nothing more than to soak for a few hours, my eyelids become heavier by the minute and the burgundy liquid does nothing to help. No matter how much I'd like to see my wife again, having her rush over to give me CPR because I drowned from exhaustion was not how I wanted it.

I send a quick text to Maya to tell her goodnight and decide to try and stay awake as long as my aching body will allow me, to see if she'll reply. I try to ignore the loud moans coming from down the hall, smiling as I start playing the audio book through my EarPods while getting comfortable against my pillows. Just as I start drifting asleep, Maya's reply lights up my phone, telling me that she's glad I'm safe and that she loves me. The whole text is riddled with spelling mistakes which means she looked at her phone either on her way to a call or waiting to relieve another team.

Maya's words of affirmation lull me into a deep sleep quicker than the book I've been listening to can. My dreams mostly consist out of highly inappropriate moments with my wife during the happiest times in our marriage. From the moment I realized that I was madly and deeply in love with her, to how gentle and sympathetic she was when Andrea died. I hug my pillow closer to me when I reminisce over the expert way Maya handled me on my hormone injections.