You are Mine

Six

When the doctor left the room, Wyatt sighed in relief. Perhaps now he could be treated like a patient in a hospital instead of prisoner in a jail.

* * * *

Jessica finished changing the sheets to one of the empty beds, and with her arms full of dirty sheets, she walked down the hallway toward the laundry room. Today's visit with Wyatt had been enjoyable. She'd told him a few more tales of the mischief they'd caused while growing up, which made him laugh out loud. It was nice to hear his laugh again after all these years. She'd missed him so much, and she cherished the time they spent together, even if it was as patient and nurse.

Thankfully, nobody had caught – or even suspected – her of sneaking in after hours and using healing creams for his burns. But lately, she'd been keeping the visits short and their conversations even shorter. Nobody could know what she'd been doing since that was considered unprofessional.

She stepped into the laundry room and set the sheets next to the other sheets and towels that needed to be washed. Their cleaning person would be coming to work soon to get these all ready by morning. Looking at the pile, reminded her that she had her own laundry to do when she went home after work. Her shift would be over in an hour, but because she had errands to run and things to do, her evening was filled with busy work. She'd definitely be tired by the time she came back to the hospital with her herbal creams to administer to Wyatt.

Sighing, she stretched her neck, from one side to the another, relieving some of the tension in her muscles. She'd rather be caring for patients instead of changing the sheets on their beds. But, it came with the job.

As she turned to leave, Hugh walked into the room, closed the door behind him, and locked it. Her heart jumped to her throat. They couldn't be alone together... not like this. She had been purposely ignoring him for these past few days, only because she didn't know what to say to him. She'd wanted to apologize for kissing him – even though he had made the first move – but still, she'd responded. Yet, she wasn't sorry for kissing him. The only thing that she was sorry for was enjoying kissing a man who wasn't the one she loved.

"Hugh... um, Doctor Jackson." Her voice was raspy, and she blamed it on the fact that her throat suddenly turned dry. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed a moment with you." He stepped toward her. "And since you've been avoiding me these past few days, I thought to take any chance I could get to talk with you."

She licked her dry lips and shifted nervously back and forth on her feet. "Well, I do have a patient—"

"They can wait a few minutes, I'm sure." He stopped in front of her. "Jessica, avoiding me only makes me want to see you more."

She chuckled uncomfortably, wishing there was a better way to approach this subject. "I've needed time to think about... what happened."

"Well, you've had four days now. What have you decided?" He took her trembling hands in his and gently stroked the pads of this thumbs over her skin.

His touch was causing havoc inside her. How could she come to any decision when her heartbeat was in flipping competition with the butterflies in her belly? "I... haven't." She couldn't meet his stare, so looked at his chest – his very wide and muscular chest. Her palm still burned from when she had touched his chest the other day.

"Tell me one thing, Jessica." His voice was smooth as silk. "Did you enjoy yourself during our kiss?"

Inwardly, she groaned. Of all the questions she should not ask, that was one of the top three.

"Hugh, I—"

"Jessica," he interrupted, taking his hand and cupping the side of her face as he lifted it until she met his stare. "I want to know what you were thinking and how you were feeling during that time."