Emma laughed softly. “I don’t know about my ego, but I have some ideas of something else you could stroke.”
With a small growl of victory, I flipped us over so that Emma lay on her back and I loomed over her.
“And just like that, morning sex is back on the menu.”
* * *
I might have gotten to the hospital a few minutes later than I’d planned—okay, half an hour later—but it was totally worth it, I decided, whistling to myself as I sauntered up the paved path that led between the staff parking lot and the side entrance that led directly to our wing. I couldn’t imagine a better way to start a day than with my face between Emma’s legs, listening to her beg me to let her come. Unless it was sliding into her sweet body and bringing us both to utter bliss . . .
I swung open the door and stepped into the air-conditioned cool of the hallway, planning to stop at my office before I checked in on patients.
“Good morning, Deacon.” Darcy Ryan—uh, Darcy Carmichael now—stepped out of Mira’s office and greeted me. She was sporting a much bigger baby bump now. I’d heard Emma tease her that she’d somehow come back from her honeymoon even more pregnant, but I didn’t care to think about that right now.
“Hey, Darcy. How’re you doing this morning?”
“I’m great, thanks. I’m feeling well. I did want to let you know, though, that I was in talking to Mira.” She glanced down, not meeting my eyes. “I’m sorry to do this to you, especially after Jenny left, but Jackson and I have been talking. As much as I love working here, and I love all of you, it doesn’t make sense for me to come back to work at St. Agnes after I have the baby.”
She let out the last words in a rush, as though she was afraid that she’d lose her nerve if she didn’t say them all at once.
“I understand, Darcy. I get it. Of course, we’re going to be sad to lose you—”
“I know,” she wailed. “I’m so emotional about it. I can’t even tell you. But since I moved in with Jackson in Tampa, I’ve been staying at my grandmother’s house when I work, because Jackson doesn’t like me making that drive late at night or early in the morning. It’s not a big deal now, but once I have a baby, too . . .” She shrugged. “It would be really hard.”
“I agree. Jackson’s right.” I laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Darcy.”
“I’m probably going to stay home with the baby for a year or so, but then I’ll look for something at a hospital or maybe even a practice that’s closer to where we live. Assuming we still live in Tampa then. Jackson could always get traded again.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re not planning to give up your work entirely, because you’re a damned talented NP, Darcy. I’m happy to give you any recommendation you need, any time.”
“Thank you, Deacon.” Tears filled her eyes, and one ran down her cheek. She wiped it away, scowling. “Gah. The damn pregnancy hormones. I hate being so weepy.”
“Well . . . it’s natural.” I pulled her in for a hug. “Listen, Darcy, I don’t want to get you crying anymore, but I’ve got to say this. You were an important member of my original team, and I’m never going to forget that. You were part of making this wing happen. You can move away or move on, but you’re always going to be one of us. Nothing can change that.”
“Deacon, for God’s sake, stop. You’re going to make me sob, and I still have a shift to work.” She sniffled. “But thank you. I appreciate that. I’ll always be proud of the work we did hear.”
“Me, too.” I patted her back. “And speaking of work, I guess I better get down to it. I’m running a little behind this morning.”
“Deacon?” Mira stuck her head out of her office door, her eyes somber. “I thought I heard your voice out there.”
“Yeah, Darcy was just telling me her news. I’m going to stop by my office and then I’ll be ready for rounds. Give me ten minutes.”
“No, there’s no rush there. Take your time.” Her eyes flickered from Darcy to me. “Stephanie just called me from the nurses’ station. Deacon, Ted’s gone.”
“Gone?” I replied dumbly. “He . . . died?” I knew it was a possibility. He’d been in the ICU for a while, and there was always the chance of a pulmonary embolism, or something we hadn’t picked up yet, or even a heart attack . . .
“No. He left. There was some kind of kerfuffle with Mrs. Wilkie—it wasn’t anything serious, just an alarm they couldn’t get turned off—and then just now, Andi went in to take Ted’s vitals, and the bed was empty. He’d disconnected all the IVs, the oxygen . . . his bag isn’t in the closet.”
“Oh.” I stood there for a few moments, frozen to the spot. “Okay. Well, I guess that was his way of giving me his answer on treatment, huh?”
Darcy laid her hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, Deacon.”
Mira sighed. “I am, too. For all that I didn’t want to hope Ted would do the right thing, I guess I did, after all. I wanted him to stick around long enough to give Anna and Jimmy some peace. But that’s not going to happen.”
“It’s okay.” I managed a smile. “Really, Mira. I didn’t have any expectations. This is not a surprise.” I shook my head. “I’m going to need a little time before I start rounds, though. I should call Gram and Pop. Let them know.” I cleared my throat. “They should know.”
“Of course, they should.” Mira’s voice was soft. “Take all the time you need, Deacon. There’s no hurry. Everything else on the floor is pretty stable for now. And Emma texted a bit ago, said she’d be a little late, too.”
“Yeah, her parents are in town. They surprised us yesterday afternoon.” I didn’t think about what I’d said until I saw Mira’s raised eyebrow and heard Darcy’s gentle laughter. “Shit. Um, well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. Ah, maybe don’t make a big deal out of this to Emma. We didn’t really plan to tell anyone. I don’t want to scare her off now that I’ve finally convinced her to take another chance on me.”
