Radclyffe - Turn Back Time

"That never stopped you before," Andrea gasped, her teeth raking down the side of Pearce's neck.

"I wasn't in the middle of ro--"

"Oh! Sorry," Wynter exclaimed as she pushed through the door and nearly stumbled upon the two women locked in an embrace. "I...I need some four-by-fours."

Pearce backed away from Andrea and indicated the supplies cradled in one arm with a tilt of her head. "I've probably got everything you're looking for right here."

Andrea smirked as she edged around Wynter and disappeared into the hall. "Don't you just always."

"Thanks. We're in 1215," Wynter said curtly as she turned her back and walked out.

Pearce sighed. "Perfect. Just perfect."

CHAPTER NINE

During the rest of rounds, Wynter directed her conversation to the elder Rifkin, speaking to Pearce only when it related to one of the patients. It was after ten p.m. when they were finished, and Ambrose Rifkin left with a short good night.

"You should probably take off too," Pearce said as soon as her father was out of earshot. "You're on call tomorrow."

"Good night, then," Wynter said, starting down the hall.

Pearce debated letting her go. The air had been decidedly chilly for the last hour, and she wasn't in the mood to apologize. Hell, it's not like she had been committing a crime. She had nothing to apologize for. Fuck.

Wynter disappeared into the stairwell. Pearce debated for another second and then jogged after her. On the landing, she leaned over the rail and called down, "How're you getting home?"

Startled by the question, Wynter craned her neck to peer up to the floor above. "What?"

"I know you weren't expecting to be on call tonight. Did you drive to work?"

"No. I took the trolley."

"Well," Pearce said as she clambered down the stairs, "you can't ride the trolley home alone at this hour."

Wynter was still too annoyed to be gracious. She'd been embarrassed and uncomfortable walking in on an intimate encounter.

"Pearce, I took the trolley the entire time I was in medical school. I'm used to it. I'm only going out to Forty-eighth Street."

"Yeah, but West Philly isn't all that gentrified yet, and it's late."

She reached into her back pocket and extracted her keys. "Here. Take my car. I'm not going to be using it."

"I'm not taking your car."

"Look, you'll get home sooner and be well rested for tomorrow.

I just wanna make sure you're up to speed so you can carry your share of the work."

"You don't need to worry about that ." Wynter turned away.

"It's not safe, Wynter, God damn it."

"Then I'll take the security van if it makes you feel better. I'll see you tomorrow." Without looking back, Wynter hurried down the stairwell. Reluctantly, she acknowledged that Pearce's concern was touching, but she was still too disturbed by the unexpectedly erotic image of Pearce with her fingers possessively entwined in another woman's hair. She didn't want to think about her own reaction to the sight. She didn't want to think about Pearce Rifkin at all.

Thirty minutes later, Wynter climbed out of the security van, one of a fleet of vehicles provided by the university to ferry students and employees to off-campus locations, and waved to the driver as he pulled away. She hurried up Cedar Avenue to a Victorian twin in the middle of a block of similar structures and let herself into the kitchen through the side door. The house was dark and she switched on a light over the sink.

A chocolate Lab padded into the room and nosed her hand.

"Hey, girl," Wynter murmured, leaning down and patting the dog's head absently. She took a battered white teapot with yellow painted daisies on the side and filled it in the sink, then set it on the stove to boil.

She was searching in the unfamiliar cabinets for a mug when a voice behind her caused her to jump.

"Honey, if you wake up the kids, I'm gonna have to shoot you."

Wynter spun around, contrite. "Oh my God. Was I making a lot of noise? I wasn't even thinking about it."

"Well, it sounded like you were putting on an addition to the house," the comfortably round, warmly attractive, and very pregnant African American woman said. She pulled out a chair at the table and settled heavily into it with a grateful sigh. "And if you're making tea, I'll have some."

"I was actually thinking of cocoa," Wynter said, taking down an extra mug.

"Even better."

"How were the kids?"

"Everyone's getting along just fine."

"I'm glad someone is," Wynter muttered.

"I figured you were having a rough first day when you called to say you'd be late. I told you to go into anesthesia if you didn't want to work so hard."

Wynter smiled at Mina Meru. "Tell that to your husband. I'm sure his opinion is very different."

"I keep telling him he should stay at home with these two children if he wants to see hard."

"And here I've added to your burden with mine." Wynter spooned cocoa into the thick ceramic mugs as they talked. "I promise, as soon as I have time to find an apartment, we'll be out of here."

"Don't you worry about little Miss Ronnie. She's the best three year-old I've ever seen. She keeps up with my four-year-old, and it gives him someone to play with."

"I know, but--"

"I was serious when I said I want you to keep her here during the day even after you get your own place. Preschool is expensive--"

"I can afford it--the one thing I got out of the divorce was good child support."

"But with your schedule being so unpredictable, it's going to be hard to manage just dropping her off and picking her up on time."

"I know. It was easier when I was working shift in the ER." Wynter sat at the heavy wooden table in the old-fashioned eat-in kitchen and leaned her head in her palms. She rubbed her temples and sighed. "My God, Mina. I really appreciate it, but with the new baby coming in a few months, it's going to be a handful."

"You know my mother and sister are in and out of here all day long. That's one of the reasons that Ken wanted to stay here to train, so I'd have more help. One more kid is not going to be a problem."

The kettle whistled and Wynter got up to get it. As she stirred the cocoa, she said, "I would feel a lot better with her here. Before, with two of us, she was only in daycare during the day, but now..." She shook her head. "I don't know how single women do this."

"Well, you haven't been single very long. You'll get the hang of it."

Wynter carried the cocoa to the table and sat down again. "I hadn't planned on getting pregnant until after my residency, and I certainly hadn't planned on raising a child without a husband."

"Things don't always work out the way we plan, honey, that's for sure," Mina said, squeezing Wynter's arm. She sipped her cocoa and regarded Wynter fondly. "If you don't mind me saying, I think you're better off without Dave."

"I don't mind at all. I agree." Wynter closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "Half the time I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders, and the other half, I'm downright panicked."

"Well, you don't show it."

"Practice. A surgical residency will do that for you. Never show fear." Wynter sat forward again, frowning into her mug. "I didn't think things could get much tougher than at New Haven, but this place is something else."

"You looked wired when I walked into the kitchen. Somebody giving you a hard time already?"

"No more than I expected." Wynter blew on her cocoa and then took a healthy swallow. "Actually, the residents seem really nice, and that's the most important thing."

"Then what was bothering you so much just now?" Mina reached down and absently petted the dog's head. The Lab thumped down beside her on the floor with a long-suffering dog sigh.