Saving the Doctor Pt. 08

He ran his hands up her soft skin and kneaded into her calves and then up her thighs and she closed her eyes and moaned in bliss.

"How can I not want to spend all my time here when you're this amazing?" she sighed.

He smiled and continued squeezing along her legs, teasing her when he reached the top of her thigh and then working his way back down.

"You know I'm still shopping around for condos and I've found myself wanting look at larger ones. Since I won't be the only one spending a lot of time there..."

"Mmhmm?" she said with her eyes closed and head leaned back, but smiling wider now.

"I'm thinking you could give your opinion on a few of them, maybe even go see them with me...?"

She giggled, "Do any of them have a hot tub? I'm really gonna miss this actually."

Jon laughed, "Not that I've found..."

He paused in hesitation and then continued, "Sometimes I'm honestly tempted to just buy Elaina's share of this house and keep it. A month ago I'm sure she wouldn't have agreed to it, but now she's seeming a lot more reasonable and... yeah I dunno."

Beth had opened her eyes and her smile was gone. "You said it wouldn't make sense, and that it's way too much space for you."

"Well yeah... if it's just me..."

She bit her lip and looked at him with a hopeful nervousness. "Jon are you being serious? Do you... really want to like, actually move in together?..."

"Not like, RIGHT now. I said I was just thinking. That it's... tempting."

She squinted suspiciously at him with an amused smile. "K..."

"Sorry, here I go with the crazy talk now."

She giggled and relaxed back against the hot tub "No I love it. You can talk crazy to me all night long."

They each sipped their beers and he focused on her legs again.

"I dunno I just feel like with the way things have been going. Maybe in another few months, or shorter..."

She suddenly sat up and brought her legs back and gave him a serious look.

"Sorry I'm finally freaking you out aren't I?" he said, trying to read her face.

She leaned forward and reached out to pull their bodies together and locked him in a heavy kiss.

"Baby you're freaking me out by how fucking perfect you are," she said breathlessly, shoving her tongue in his mouth again and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"You're freaking my out by how much I lucked out to actually snag you," she said, holding her forehead against his and slowly gyrating herself into his erection. "You're freaking me out by how horny all this is making me"

He smiled and grasped his arms around her. They made out passionately under the stars, the mist of the hot tub rising around them.

His cock was rock hard sliding over her crotch and he lifted her, wanting to be inside her more than anything.

She moaned as he slid over her, but she moved away to stop him.

"Baby let's go back to the bedroom," she whispered.

He groaned in disappointment.

"Come on, it's like, not really hygienic to do it in here right?"

He chuckled, "Yeah you're right."

"Besides, there's more room to bounce around on the bed," she purred with a mischievous smile and tickled his cock as she slid away and climbed out of the tub.

He watched her glistening legs walk up the stairs and suddenly remembered his phone was still in the living room. He said he'd meet her upstairs and she teasingly told him not to keep her waiting too long.

He grabbed it off the couch and saw a missed call.

It almost put him out of the mood, but he frowned and turned off the screen, heading back towards the stairs. He hadn't added the number to his contacts, but he recognized the digits. He wondered again whether he should just block it.

It had been from Carly's new number. She had texted him last week and again this week saying that she was sorry for how she had responded before, and asking to talk sometime, her last one asking if it was okay if they were to hang out, even among their friends. He hadn't replied. He couldn't decide, and he was afraid of what he might say.

It had taken too much personal effort to get over seeing her in the mall. Too much work to improve himself and get over her in the last 2 months since the fallout. It would be stupid to risk throwing it all away by letting himself slip into her attentions again. He couldn't let himself be that man again. That naive, waffling man who couldn't just make a decision and stick with it, and instead let himself get led astray. Yes it was good he had left Elaina, but it shouldn't have taken an affair to do it. He had decided anything between Carly and him, even a simple friendship, if that was possible at this point, would be tainted by the tragedy that had resulted. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

He had a good thing going with Beth. He was happy. She was happy. They seemed like they made each other better. What more could he possibly ask for?

Ironically, what made him certain, was that he'd decided that Beth had been full of shit when she'd talked to him upstairs at his party all those months ago. The idea of wanting to know you weren't short-changing yourself and taking the opportunity to make your life better by finding someone better... It was a recipe for disaster. He knew life wasn't a game. Or if it was, it was one that you absolutely could lose. Fully and devastatingly lose. What quicker way to do so than to gamble on a life that's good enough and happy enough, for that enticing unknown, only to most likely loose it all and end up with nothing.

He wouldn't do it. He told himself he couldn't trust anything he'd felt with Carly when it had all been under the allure of the forbidden, the secretive and the unknown. He wasn't sure he believed it in his heart, but he had to hold to it. He wouldn't risk what he had. Even if she somehow still wanted him, in the end, she wasn't worth it.

He only wished he didn't have to keep repeating that to himself.

He opened the door of the bedroom. Beth had just finished drying off and tossed the towel away, sauntering up to him.

"Come here." She said with a seductive smile. She kissed him and slid her hand over his cock, leading him to the bed.

"I think I tortured you long enough in the hot tub, you can come claim your reward now." Her sultry words brought his cock back to full mast and she kissed him hard and wrapped her arms around him. He grunted and she giggled as she suddenly twisted them around to fall and land on the bed on top of him. She dug her nails into his chest and kissed down his neck. Her hands clawed their way down his torso and her kisses followed, eventually both arriving at his twitching erection.

Her soft hands slid around his shaft and then over his balls as she licked up and around his member and kissed the tip, teasing him until she finally enveloped his cock in her warm mouth, moving her tongue around in circles. She worked him up and down, smiling in satisfaction at his moans and meeting his stare with her beautiful eyes.

She started to kiss up his torso again and reached his neck with her lips and then suddenly cried out in excitement as he grabbed her and flipped her over. She giggled as he kissed all around her neck and down over her breasts, teasing her nipples and squeezing their large supple surfaces. He ran his strong hands up her thighs and peppered kisses down her smooth abs. His mouth met his fingers at her trimmed pussy as he started tenderly kissing and tickling and eventually fingering and sucking as she moaned louder and louder. Finally she was begging him to fuck her, and he was eager to oblige.

He brought his face up to hers and they stared into each other lovingly as they panted in anticipation.

His throbbing cock found her wet quivering labia and he thrust slowly into her, making her buck up into him, craving every inch. She cried out his name as he kissed her neck and squeezed her firm muscular ass in both hands, bottoming out inside her and shouting her name in desire.

They made passionate love all over the bed, rolling over and taking turns fucking each other and trying to give the other as much pleasure as they could. Each trying to out do the last, either with strength or intensity or tenderness. They finally approached their climax as Jon ended up on top again, heaving into her in slow forceful waves as she arched her back and shook underneath him. They both wailed in passion with every thrust.

"Oh GOD Jon!!"

"Beth!"

"AAHHHH I can't beLIEVE how AMAZING, you AAHHHHR!"

"UGH!! You're like a FUCKing DREAM!!"

"JON!!!"

"BETH!!!"

"JON! I.."

"HNNGG!"

"Jon I LOVE YOU!!"

He only paused for half a second and then kept thrusting, but he stopped talking, not sure what to say. He almost said it back, but instead kissed her, as passionately as he could. They groaned into each other's mouths and he felt her legs clasp hard around his ass. She shook and screamed, cumming hard underneath him and sending him hurtling over the edge. He shouted her name again as he erupted inside her. Pulling himself deep and holding her immaculate sweat-covered body against him as they rode their orgasms out, kissing and moaning and finally relaxing tenderly into each other's arms.

Minutes of silence passed and they eventually rolled on to their side but kept their arms around each other kissing and caressing. Finally Beth broke the silence.

"Was that too much baby? Like, what I said?" Beth said, looking at him with beautiful, vulnerable eyes.

He kissed her and nuzzled her nose. "No, it's alright... Did you really mean it though?"

She smiled and a tear rolled down. "Yeah... Yeah I did. I mean, I do... I just... You don't have to say it back, okay? But I think I'm really, actually in love with you. I've said it in the past, and I don't know if it was true then, but I know this is way beyond anything I've felt before..."

Jon admired her face and caressed her cheek, wiping away her tears. He kissed her again and smiled.

"I'm... getting there. I'm sorry, I want to say it back but I just want to know it for sure and I can feel it coming, but... With everything I've been though I just... Look, we're reading the same book, but you're just a few chapters ahead. Okay?"

Beth giggled and sniffled and kissed him back. "Okay," she nodded. "Okay I'm good with that." She smiled and looked relieved.

"Thank you," Jon said, closing his eyes and squeezing her tightly.

She whimpered in satisfaction and nuzzled into his neck.

"I love you so fucking much," she said.

They softly laughed together and relaxed into each other's embrace as she eventually fell asleep.

Jon lay awake, unable to stop himself from thinking about the last woman that he had been so sure he had felt true love for, and hating how long it took him to fall asleep.

*****

"Okay so you've got another follow-up with the Rheumatologist in a couple weeks and you'll continue the prednisone taper at least until then. I'm glad there's not too many side effects, but like she said, we'll hopefully get you off it completely once the other medicine fully kicks in. Any last questions about all this, Janet?" Jon asked.

"No, that sounds great," she said. "Er, actually just out of curiosity, what does 'SLE' mean on the report? Like, is that different from lupus or...?"

"Oh, no it's 'Systemic Lupus Erythematous', basically just the medical term for lupus, there's sometimes distinctions with just 'cutaneous lupus' just affecting the skin, but basically SLE and lupus are just different names for the same thing."

"Oh, psshh, okay, sorry. I just didn't know."

"No it's good that you're interested and asking questions."

"Thanks so much Dr. Davidson. You know I just want to say it's good to see you looking better. I hope that's not too forward," Janet said with a nervous smile.

"Oh thanks Janet. Again, I'm sorry about that other appointment and how I acted, but I'm glad we caught this."

"Don't worry about it. I'd take back the complaint if I could. Everyone has their bad days. You're still the best doctor I've ever had, and I mean that."

He smiled, "Have a great weekend Janet."

"You too!"

Jon smiled at the computer as he typed away. It faded as he recalled seeing the positive lab result the week he'd returned from his break. He'd thankfully been able to get her in quickly with a Rheumatologist who'd confirmed the diagnosis of lupus. She had commended him on catching it, but it worried him how close he had been to missing it, only begrudgingly ordering some labs at Janet's request, and checking off that test almost on a whim. In hindsight the rash on her face had been almost classic, but he had rushed into calling it eczema without thinking. He told himself it was a good wake up call and hopefully would inoculate him to be aware of how any future depression and burn-out might affect his practice in the future.

His new assistant Roberta walked in.

"Nicely on time today Jon. It's almost like you've got a big weekend planned," she smirked knowingly.

Jon chuckled, "You know it just so happens..."

"Don't run away too quick though. One last message from Dr. Hartman, she said it wasn't urgent, but just to give her a call when you could," she said.

"K thanks Roberta. I appreciate the help, you've definitely been keeping things running smoothly here."

"Just doin my job," she smiled.

"Have a good weekend."

"You too, don't party too hard," she left with a wink.

Roberta was in her mid-forties. Actually fairly good looking for her age, objectively speaking. Her curly back hair wasn't greying yet, and her medium build was kept in decent shape, but there wasn't any sort of attraction there, or even any potential there-of, he figured. Which was obviously how it should be. She was very good at her job, not necessarily better than Beth, but the switch had gone smoothly, and they seemed to get along really well.

Beth wasn't that far away, just on the other side of the clinic, and they still found it easy to have lunch together and chat at the end of the day, if not leaving together, or sometimes even arriving together, like they had this morning. She had stayed over again last night, and waking up with her in his bed was starting to feel more and more natural. He was starting to think he really should just say the L word back to her, and it bothered him why he was hesitating, other than the obvious fact that they'd only been dating a month.

He decided not to think about it and instead picked up the phone and dialed Liz's number.

"Hi is Dr Hartman there? It's Dr. Davidson, she'd left a message for me."

"Hey Jon! How are ya?" Liz's friendly folksy voice answered after a few seconds.

"I'm good. Just finishing up clinic early to head out for the weekend."

"Oh lucky you. Where to?"

"Skiing, out at Silver Lake."

"Nice. Well enjoy it, you deserve some fun. Anyway you're still good to cover Monday at the shelter right?" Liz asked.

"Yeah of course."

"K, good. I just wanted to mention there's a new Hep B positive patient that HOPEFULLY shows up. She's a bit more transient, even compared to most of our patients. I left her info for you at the desk as a reminder. If she doesn't, then remind the front staff to try and track her down for me to see her later in the week, and at least touch base with public health."

"Yeah you bet. Thanks for the heads up," Jon said.

"No problem. It's great to have you there, by the way. The staff have all said good things so far."

"Thanks. A lot of the patients don't seem to share the sentiment, unfortunately. I think it'll take some time to build some trust."

"Yep, and that's natural, don't sweat it, I had the same issue starting out there. You're doing well don't worry. You're really strict with the drug-seekers and that's good. I learned early on that sometimes you gotta piss some people off to do the right thing."

"Thanks Liz," Jon said with a reassured smile.

"No thank YOU, seriously. That clinic keeps getting busier, and I was starting to get overwhelmed, you've been a life saver," Liz said genuinely.

"No worries, I'm glad to help. Take care."

"You too, see ya later."

He hung up the phone and saw Beth smiling in the doorway.

"You excited?" she asked with a huge smile.

"Yeah I am. I'm glad you pushed for us to do this." he said with a smile back, logging off of his computer.

"I mean she shouldn't have had to, but I'm glad you have her to keep you from flaking out these days," Jeff said with a smile, walking up from the hallway. "Sorry I'm just creeping up behind you here."

Beth smiled and elbowed him, "'S'all good."

"I'm just heading out and I'll probably be a half hour finishing packing up my stuff, and then I'll get the other two, head to your place, so probably... an hour-ish. Is that enough time?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah for sure," Jon said.

"Jenna knows when and where to get you?" Jeff asked Beth.

"Yep we're on it, don't worry about us," she said.

They were carpooling to the resort. The guys in Jeff's van, and the girls in Jenna's SUV.

"I gotta get home and pack though I didn't get a chance to last night," Beth said.

"Oh right, I guess not," Jon chuckled, grabbing his coat. "We can head off right away."

Jeff smiled and winked at him from behind Beth as he left.

...

Jon threw his bag in the back of the minivan, being careful not to squash a set of skis and a snowboard stuffed awkwardly among the other bags.

"Who's the snowboarder?" Jon asked as he opened the door and climbed in.

"That'd be Rob," Jeff answered from the driver's seat.

"Oh hey man! Good to see you. Is Chris coming?" Jon asked.

"You too man. And no he's got stuff to do. I think..." Rob said from the front passenger seat, sounding a bit put off.

"They're sort of... I don't know actually, what are you guys?" Jeff said, trying to help out.

"We've just, taken a few steps back," Rob said dismissively. "We're still on good terms, and still like..."

"It's complicated," Ben said mockingly beside Jon in the back seat, making finger air-quotes.

"I told you I hate that fucking term man." Rob turned around a pointed a finger at Ben in good-natured annoyance as Ben laughed.

"The skis are yours Jeff?" Jon said, changing the subject.

"Yeah. It's been years since I've used them though," he replied.

"You'll be renting like me then?" Ben said, looking back at the bags.

"Yeah. You're a skier too?" Jon asked.

"Yep. A little out of practice probably, we'll see if it's like riding a bike," Ben said.

"I might be too. I did a lot back in the day, but yeah it's been too long," Jon admitted.

"Am I seriously the only boarder?" Rob asked in disbelief.

"Naw, Beth has a snowboard. You won't be the only one," Jon replied.

"Riiiiiight, your assistant!" Rob said salaciously. "Jeff told me about this girl. I'm interested to met her."

"Rob..." Jeff turned to give him a warning look.

"No come on, I just want to get the facts from him," Rob said defensively. "Sooo, you finally leave Bitchy McBitchFace and KUDOS by the way! I didn't really get a chance to congratulate you openly at New Years there."

Jon smirked and leaned forward to give a begrudging fist bump to Rob.

"And then... like how long until you started up with your assistant... No WAIT what happened to the girl from the party? She was awesome!"

Jon couldn't help chuckling at Rob's brazenness. "Tabitha. It didn't work out in the end. We broke up not long after that party."

"Rebound chick?"

"...I guess? I mean, I genuinely liked her, it just... wasn't meant to be."

"Fair enough. Okay so how long have you and Beth been together then?" Rob said, reigning himself in a bit.

"A month."

Rob did the math in his head. "Okay I guess that doesn't look too bad then, you waited like a month... and a half?"

"Rob... I DID NOT leave my fiance FOR my assistant. Are people saying that?"