Free A Love Like This by Kahlen Aymes Page A

at the top of the shortest wall. It was designed to give
enough light to get around, but dark enough to sleep easily. The
doors were heavy and the space small, only slightly wider than the
single cot along one wall. I sat down and hit the speed dial to
reach Julia.
    It rang several times and then went to
voicemail. I sank down on the cot and leaned back slightly. I was
disappointed. I wanted to hear her voice. I missed her and longed
to hear more about her trip. It was bad enough when I couldn’t see
her, but I absolutely hated it when I couldn’t talk to her. My eyes
burned from tiredness and my stomach grumbled. I’d hoped that Julia
would be able to pop in for dinner with me, even though I hated
when she came down here alone in the evenings. I needed to set eyes
on her. I pressed redial and this time when it went to voicemail I
left a message.
    “Hey, sweets. I’m sorry I couldn’t call
before. It’s been so busy, but hopefully it will settle down now.
I’m going to grab some dinner and then I’ll try to call again. I’m
beat, but if I can, I’ll try to catch a couple hours of sleep here
later so I can be up with you when I get home. I love you,
baby.”
    I rubbed my stomach as it grumbled again
wondering what delicacies they’d managed to dredge up in the
cafeteria tonight. The food at St. Vincent’s wasn’t horrible, but I
was sick of it; the same things over and over, week after week.
Ugh. When Julia was traveling, I was left at its mercy.
    I couldn’t wait for Sunday. We had the whole
day together and I knew she’d spoil me with something delicious. And lots of sex. I grinned to myself as I imagined her warm
and soft in my arms, murmuring my name in that enticing, guttural
moan I loved. Suddenly I was hungry for more than just food.
    I longed for the days when I could just walk
across campus to her dorm or the few blocks between our apartments
in the last two years at Stanford. I took her presence for granted
then, never realizing how much I would miss it. I huffed in
self-annoyance. I was married to the woman of my dreams and I was
whining like a baby. “Stupid ass,” I muttered.
    I pushed off of the cot to head back to the
ER. It wasn’t busy. The nurses were hanging out at the nurse’s
station and Caleb was leaning against it with his hip, leisurely
sipping coffee, listening to them with interest. He had a crush on
Jane. I recognized the way he looked at her as the same way I used
to drool over Julia before she knew how I really felt about
her.
    I didn’t wait to be invited into their
conversation. I was tired and I really wanted the time alone. “Do
we have anything inbound that we know about?”
    “Nope.” Beth, a young nursing assistant,
piped up. “Thank goodness.”
    The ambulance dispatch or the public
services, police and fire departments, usually alerted the hospital
if they had any critical issues on the way in. “Okay then. Since
it’s slow right now, I’m going to run down to the cafeteria. I
haven’t eaten all day.”
    “Sure, Ryan,” Caleb nodded in
acknowledgement.
    I made eye contact so he knew that I heard
him and then turned around and walked out the double doors that
separated the emergency department from the rest of the
hospital.
    The cafeteria was several floors down and in
the opposite wing of the hospital. It took a good ten minutes to
walk there. The hospital halls were quiet and the lobbies empty
with only one or two visitors roaming the halls. Visiting hours
were over and only the more critical care patients or emergency
patients were allowed to have visitors. The administration staff
was gone and only one admissions clerk remained in the department
for emergencies to be admitted as needed.
    “Ryan…” I heard some footsteps behind me and
Jane’s voice calling after me. I stopped and glanced over my
shoulder.
    “Yes? Do they need me in ER?” I asked
anxiously as I paused in the hallway.
    “No. But I haven’t eaten either. Want some
company?” She was