Unexpected

Chapter 43 - Hindsight

Nick asked, "Have you had anything to eat?"

He meant for dinner, but Sara had hardly eaten anything since Friday. She shook her head as he led her into the kitchen. Poking through his refrigerator, he sighed and looked in the freezer.

"I don't have much... frozen chicken nuggets, eggs, jarred sauce, mac and cheese. Julie fed the kids left overs."

"Those are not very healthy choices, doctor. Let me look." She pulled out the eggs, some cheese, and a red pepper just starting to wrinkle. "I can make an omelet, okay?"

Nick smiled. "Perfect."

Opening the pantry closet, he took out an onion. Together they chopped the vegetables and Nick showed her where he kept the pans. Sara liked to cook, but an omelet was hardly cooking. As Nick brushed past her, she felt her body react. It was like she had imagined the first time she looked at his kitchen. She went from sobbing in the ladies' room to cooking with Nick, who loved her. Every time she thought about it her belly did a familiar flip. Nick made toast, and they sat down to eat.

"I thought you went to the supermarket with Bridget and Jack."

Nick sighed. "I do normally, but I wasn't in the mood over the weekend."

Sara smiled. "Serves you right for yelling at me."

"I'll apologize for as long as you want, but I can think of a better way to make it up to you."

She bit her lip. "Are you talking about make up sex?"

"Maybe." He teased.

"I've never had make up sex before."

"I've had my share, but hope this will be the last. I never want another three days like we just had."

"Neither do I. I was miserable. My aunt knew something was wrong. I'm surprised she hasn't called me."

"I'm surprised my mother hasn't called either."

Sara looked at her phone and saw a text. "Mila got a job at Falmouth Internal Medicine. They want to go out and celebrate. Do you want to come?"

Nick smiled. "I want to meet your friends. Tell me when and I'll plead for a babysitter."

"What happens tomorrow?"

"First Tim will tease me. Then I'll smile and you won't text me to tell me not to. And if I have the opportunity, I will pull you into my office and kiss you."

"Do we just let the rumors fly?" She felt nervous and excited.

"I won't announce to the whole staff that I love you. That's between us."

"... and Clare and Tim." Sara laughed.

Nick took their plates and put them in the dishwasher. He quickly washed the pan and wiped down the counter. He looked sexy cleaning the kitchen. Then he led her upstairs. Sara grabbed her purse and Nick looked at her questioningly.

"I brought my toothbrush."

"Is that all?"

She blushed. "I didn't think I'd need clothes."

She could tell that Nick liked her response. It felt a little strange, because they brushed their teeth together and climbed into bed both wearing just their underwear. They felt like a couple, no longer just lovers who tumbled onto the bed.

Sara learned that make up sex was very good. Sara understood the importance of the 'love' in making love. As Nick told her he loved her over and over, Sara came with a new intensity. She wanted to melt into Nick and become one. Instead, she curled into him and slept in his arms until her alarm went off at five-thirty. Nick rolled her over and made love to her, before sending her home. By six-fifteen she was running with an extra bounce in her step.

Tim arrived before Nick, and Sara kept her head down hoping he'd ignore her. She could feel his eyes on her, but refused to stop reviewing her schedule on the computer screen. Her cheeks felt flushed. She knew when Nick had arrived, even without seeing or hearing him. She'd like to say she sensed him, but it was really when Tim quipped, "I need to talk to you."

Only then did she look up. Their eyes met, and Nick winked at her. His eyes were bright and clear, no longer dark with arousal like they had been when they woke. She wanted to wake next to him every day, because he loved her.

When Nick came out of Tim's office, he was smiling. Tim looked at Sara and nodded, which she hoped meant that he approved. Sara followed Nick into his own office. "So?"

"So hindsight is a remarkable thing. Once he got over the fact that you served him one of my beers, he commented on all the signs he missed. He started with me no longer wearing my ring to how you never rushed home. He also noticed my garage door open once."

"He's not angry?"

"No, he's upset that Julie was suspicious, and he didn't believe her."

"Julie was suspicious, why?"

"I think it started the night Lily died. I came home smelling like beer and you."

Sara blushed.

Sara saw her own patients and worked independently. Occasionally, she would consult with one of the doctors. Never had one consulted with her. Nick called her in to see a patient she had seen the day before. She had cellulitis on her elbow. Sara had unwittingly made her cry and Sara remembered wanting to cry with her. In giving general instructions, Sara explained the worst-case scenario she would need hospitalization for IV antibiotics.

She was a young mother and immediately cried that she couldn't leave her baby, a gorgeous little girl just over a year buckled quietly in her stroller. When Sara entered the room, she was sobbing again. Nick asked her to confirm the prescribed antibiotic was not helping. Sara nodded in agreement that the affected area had continued to grow. Sara had used a pen to mark the border of the infected skin the day before. Nick, like Sara, had mentioned the hospital.

Sara instinctively put her arm around the distraught mother and reassured her they would only admit her as a last resort. Nick looked at her surprised. He had hoped Sara would help him. Instead, Sara went to the computer and entered the name of a newer antibiotic she had studied in her pharmacology class. She may have less experience than Nick, but she had some newer knowledge.

She waited as Nick reviewed the information about the medication and smiled. She said to their patient, "Dr. B has a trick up his sleeve."

She didn't want to be in the room when he told her she'd have to stop nursing. Sara hoped he remembered that she'd need backup birth control, or she'd be nursing again in forty weeks.

Speaking of birth control, it was time Sara did something about that.