Worth Waiting For by Kelly Jamieson Page A

she wasn’t soft. Well, she was, but only in the places you’d expect. His body twitched at the thought, at the memories of her softness. He shook his head and sipped the coffee, looking around. No, she was strong and tough.
    After he’d finished one cup, then another and still no Ainslie, he decided to go back to the ICU. Visitors had to buzz to get in, which he didn’t want to, so he took a seat in the small lounge just outside the unit.
    A family sat there, a young woman about his and Ainslie’s age, a man who appeared to be her husband and a baby sleeping in a car seat. The woman’s face was pink and streaked with tears and she sat next to her husband, her head wearily on his shoulder. They glanced at him and gave a brief smile as he entered.
    He picked up an ancient magazine and flipped through it mindlessly, not wanting to intrude on the young couple’s obvious sorrow.
    “Dr. Patterson is here now.” The woman rubbed her nose with a crumpled tissue. “She’ll tell us what’s going on.”
    The man set his hand on his wife’s knee. “It’ll be okay, hon.”
    Griff looked up. They must be Ainslie’s patient’s family. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. Then Ainslie walked in.
    She looked decidedly un-doctor-like in the low-rise jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt she’d grabbed just over an hour ago.
    The couple looked up at her eagerly, attentively. She smiled at them, then noticed Griff. Her smile warmed. For him.
    He stood.
    “Do you need to talk to them? I’ll wait outside.”
    “Thanks.” She stood on tiptoe and brushed her mouth over his. He squeezed her hand and stepped out of the room. The door closed and he couldn’t hear, but he could see through the blinds on the window that Ainslie took a seat facing them, leaning forward when speaking to them. She did most of the talking, making direct eye contact with them as she appeared to explain things. The man and woman nodded, listening attentively, the woman continuing to wipe tears. Then Ainslie took the woman’s hand and rubbed it, gave her a smile and stood.
    He could see them thanking her and an overwhelming pride and admiration swelled inside him. She was truly amazing.
    She walked out and her smile faded. She pushed her hand into her hair and rubbed the back of her head.
    “You okay?” he asked quietly.
    She nodded. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” She moved to him and laid her forehead on his chest. “Everything’s okay right now. The cardiologist is here, and they’re going to do emergency bypass surgery”—she glanced at her watch—“shortly. That’s her daughter…” She jerked her head toward the lounge. “She’s my patient, too.”
    “She seemed pretty happy and relieved to see you.”
    Ainslie smiled crookedly. “Mark is a great surgeon, but his people skills sometimes leave something to be desired. Sometimes those damn specialists forget people need to know what’s going on. They need things explained to them in simple, understandable language.”
    “And you did that.”
    “I tried.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Can we go home now?”
    “You bet.”
    He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the building into the morning sunshine.
    Back at her place, he directed her to the bedroom.
    “What?” she asked, as he gently pushed her down the hall.
    “Back to bed. You woke up too early. And you didn’t get much sleep last night.”
    He knew she’d been awake during the night, plus he hadn’t let her sleep much.
    She sighed. “Okay.”
    “Does that happen a lot?” He lifted her T-shirt over her head.
    “Does what happen?”
    “Early morning phone calls and trips to the hospital.”
    “Actually, no, not that often. But the hospital knows if one of my patients is admitted, I want to be kept updated on what’s happening.”
    He unbuttoned her jeans and slid the zip down. “I have to say, seeing you there all professional, really turned me on.”
    “What doesn’t turn you on?”