Radclyffe - Turn Back Time

"Did Dr. Thompson fill you in on the results of the surgery?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I've asked Larry Elliott to examine your eyes just as soon as the edema has subsided and you can open your lids. I don't expect you'll have any problems with diplopia, but we want to be sure."

"I couldn't see well enough to tell if I had double vision earlier,"

Pearce said quietly.

"Patricia did an excellent job of repairing the orbit. I don't think you'll have any long-term difficulties."

"Thanks for assisting." Pearce swallowed. Her chest hurt even more, but it wasn't her ribs. "I felt...better, knowing you were there."

Ambrose's expression remained remote, but his stiff posture relaxed slightly as he fleetingly brushed his fingers over Pearce's shoulder. "You always have underestimated your importance to me."

He glanced at Wynter, then back at Pearce. "I suspect that was my fault."

"I'm not going back to Harrisburg, Dad," Pearce said. She glanced at Wynter. "I've got too much to stay for here."

"There's time for that kind of thing in the future, when you've got your career firmly on track," Ambrose said.

"No." Pearce smiled, her gaze locked with Wynter's. "We've already lost enough time."

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Wynter let herself in the front door and stood in her living room, listening. At two in the afternoon, the house was very still, but she knew from having stopped at Mina's just a few moments before that Pearce and Ronnie were home. Home. Where the two most important people in her life waited. After just a week with Pearce there twenty-four hours a day while she recuperated, Wynter had begun to think of her as belonging. She draped her parka over the back of the sofa, kicked off her boots, and quietly climbed the stairs. Her bedroom door was open. She tiptoed over and peeked inside.

Pearce, in gray gym shorts and a shapeless T-shirt with a faded blue Penn logo, was propped upright at the head of the bed on three pillows, her eyes closed. Ronnie was curled up in her lap, also asleep; her coloring book, crayons, and an assortment of cars and trucks lay scattered across the beige chenille bedspread. Pearce had insisted that Ronnie not see her until the worst of the discoloration and edema had subsided, for fear of frightening her. Wynter had not been as concerned, but Pearce was unswayable. As she'd improved, Pearce had gradually taken over as much of Ronnie's care as possible to give Mina a break.

Moving carefully, Wynter stripped and slipped into an extra-large white cotton T-shirt that she sometimes slept in when alone. She'd been wearing it to bed that week, because the feel of Pearce naked against her was almost too exciting for her to bear. And Pearce was still recovering. Wynter took advantage of the opportunity to study Pearce as she approached the bed. Pearce looked better, but she was still not quite completely healed. The swelling in the right side of her face had diminished to the point that she could open her eye a few millimeters.

Patricia had removed the sutures from Pearce's eyelids the day before, and Larry Elliott had examined her immediately after and pronounced her vision 100 percent normal. Although Pearce had said little after her follow-up exams, Wynter sensed her relief. Hopefully she would be able to sleep through the night soon, something she had not done since her injury. Her energy level was not what it had been, and Wynter suspected it would be another week before she was functioning normally. Sleep was just what she needed.

When Wynter lifted Ronnie from Pearce's lap, Pearce's eyes opened. "Shh," Wynter mouthed. Pearce nodded and closed her eyes again.

A few minutes later, Wynter crawled under the covers beside Pearce, wrapped an arm around her middle, and snuggled against her.

"Mmm, I love nap time."

Pearce kissed Wynter's forehead. "You're home late. Tired?"

"I was ready to leave right after sign-outs at ten, and then we got a STAT consult to see one of the cardiac patients who needed an emergency CABG and a carotid endarterectomy. By the time that was squared away, it was almost two."

"Were you up all night?"

"Most of it."

Pearce tightened her hold and eased Wynter partially on top of her.

She rubbed her neck and back. "You've got the rest of the weekend off.

You'll feel better after you get some sleep."

"How are you doing?" Wynter lazily slipped her hand beneath Pearce's T-shirt to rub her stomach.

"Okay. Good," Pearce murmured, enjoying the soft caress. "I brought Ronnie back over here after breakfast and we played. Well, she colored and I watched cartoons."

"Has she been asleep long?"

"Not too long."

"Good," Wynter said contentedly. "She'll go another couple of hours."

"You won't, though." Pearce nuzzled Wynter's neck and circled her hand lower to the soft warm flesh left bare where the T-shirt pulled up in the back. She felt Wynter fit herself more closely to the curve of her body and shifted until her thigh nudged between Wynter's legs.

Wynter was hot. Wet. Pearce smiled. "Miss me?"

Wynter scratched a nail up the center of Pearce's stomach and made her twitch. "All the time."

"It's been a long week."

"I love having you here."

Pearce's heart stuttered, then raced. "I love being here."

Wynter raised her head, her eyes dreamy. "Will you stay, then?"

"For how long?" Pearce breathed.

"Always." Wynter kissed her gently. "Always."

"I don't have very much practice at...this." Pearce waved at the room uncertainly.

"No one ever really does, until you do it." Wynter kissed Pearce's throat. "You're doing just fine. You're great with Ronnie. And I adore you."

"I'm crazy about both of you."

"That's a good start, then."

"Wynter," Pearce said so seriously that Wynter raised her head in question. "We both have to finish our residencies. You want to do a fellowship. It's going to be tricky."

"I know. Scared?"

Pearce grinned. "Hell no. I've been thinking about a lot of things this week." As she spoke, she trailed her fingers up and down Wynter's spine. "I'm not going to do a fellowship. I'm going to look for a job as soon as I get back on my feet. It's never too early to start, and I know a bunch of guys at the other medical schools in the city. I'm pretty sure I can scare up a staff position."

"If you come in at the bottom like that, you'll put yourself out of the running for a chairmanship," Wynter said quietly. "A fellowship somewhere first would be better."

"I don't want it. Besides"--Pearce rested her uninjured cheek against the top of Wynter's head--"we might have to move depending on where you get a fellowship. I'll need to be flexible."

"Sweetheart, that's not what you've planned all these years."

"No, it's not. I never planned anything. My father did all the planning." Pearce toyed with a lock of Wynter's hair, softly twining it around her finger. "This is what I want to do."

"He's not going to like it much."

Pearce shrugged. "He'll either get used to it or he won't. Either way, he can't stop me."

Wynter pushed Pearce's T-shirt high enough to expose her breasts and kissed her just above her heart. Then she rested her cheek between Pearce's breasts, cradling one in her palm. "I love you."

"I love you," Pearce sighed, shifting restlessly as Wynter's warm breath teased her nipple. "Missed you."

"Mmm, I can tell." Wynter drew her leg up over Pearce's thighs and straddled her. "Me too."

Murmuring appreciatively, Pearce stroked her fingers over Wynter's hips and between her legs, capturing her heat in the palm of her hand. "Let's see if I can put you to sleep."

Wynter rocked along Pearce's fingers, anticipating the pleasure as she tightened inside. "I won't take much."