and went, and somehow the staff kept on going until finally the ER slowly calmed. When there were no new patients, Sage looked at the clock and realized she had just put in a thirty-six-hour day with a few short naps in between.
“It was a pleasure working next to you tonight, Sage.”
Turning, Sage felt tears in her eyes. “Mo, there’s no one I would rather work with,” she said, knowing she was more emotional from pure exhaustion.
“I don’t know about that. There’s a certain doctor here I think you don’t mind working with too much,” Mo said with a taunting smile.
“Shh. I don’t want people to hear you,” Sage gasped as she looked around, grateful everyone else was just as exhausted as she was and wasn’t bothering to listen.
“I just call it how I see it,” Mo said before walking away.
“Well . . . quit calling it.” Sage realized her comeback wasn’t very good as soon as the words came out.
She gave up. Because right then, nothing sounded better than a long, hot shower. Somehow she made it to the locker room and gathered up her things, and then limped to the closest shower. Closing her eyes to push away the thoughts of the night, she threw her filthy scrubs into the hamper and stepped into the small shower bay.
The hot water was heaven on her sore muscles. Eyes closed and soaking in the water massage, she felt rather than saw his presence. A slow smile formed on her face as she felt his hard body press against hers.
“You did amazing, Sage,” Spence said as his hands traveled up her stomach and cupped her breasts.
“I can’t do this right now, Spence. I’m exhausted and there was so much trauma, more trauma than I ever expected to see here,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Turning her around, Spence looked into her eyes, a gentle smile on his lips. “You are strong and capable and you saved lives tonight, Sage. Don’t let the ones you weren’t able to save take away the joy of the lives you gave back to terrified family members.”
“But what about all of those people who didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye?” she said, resting her head on his chest as the first tears fell.
“I don’t know why or how some live and some don’t. All I know is that we do our very best every single time. You are spectacular and there is so much ahead for you,” he promised as his fingers massaged the back of her head.
“I am so glad I’m here with you, that I chose this hospital, that I get to learn from someone so great in the field.”
“I’m glad you’re here, too. Let me help you wash up, then I’m going to take you home, put you to bed with a hot cup of tea, and then sweep you off your feet tomorrow,” he said, lifting her chin and giving her a light kiss.
“I think that’s exactly what I need,” she said, utterly drained, not even having the energy to lift her arms up around his neck.
Spence gently washed her body, then for once, helped her put clothing on before wrapping an arm around her and walking with her to his truck. She didn’t get her cup of tea, because she fell asleep against his side within two minutes of leaving the hospital.
Waking up the next morning, Sage gasped to see it was almost noon. She had slept for a solid ten hours without waking once. That’s when she noticed her phone was ringing.
“Hello.” The sound of her groggy voice would certainly scare away a telemarketer if that was who had dared to wake her.
“Good morning, beautiful. You have exactly thirty minutes to dress and open your front door for me,” Spence said, his voice pure sunshine.
“Thirty minutes will barely make me presentable,” she warned.
“Baby, all you need is three minutes, just enough time to slip on shoes and a coat, because you wake up beautiful.”
“Flattery will certainly get you whatever you want, Dr. Whitman,” she said, feeling like giggling.
“Ah, then I must do it more often. You now have twenty-eight minutes,” he warned.
“Then I better hang up.”
Without waiting for a good-bye, Sage hung up the phone and rushed to her bathroom, where she showered and dressed in a flat ten minutes. She brushed on some mascara and lip gloss, threw her hair up into a ponytail, and bounced down the stairs. She made a cup of coffee, which