Saving the Doctor Pt. 11

"Bitch!"

"Yeah, so apparently it's just temporary so he has someone to look after him until he's strong enough, or a nurse is available, but... I'm really worried. Apparently Elaina told them she called the clinic to update everyone, but like, has Jeff heard anything?"

"No! Nothing. They're all completely in the dark and wondering if he's even still alive. Fucking lying bitch," Grace said.

Carly sighed. "K. Well I couldn't convince them to turn their car around, they're already almost home, and it's like a day and a half drive. They sounded concerned, but I think they had a tough time believing me about her. I don't blame them honestly, but they're gonna call her and try to keep closely in touch at least."

"So did they tell you where he is?"

"Well, he would've been discharged this morning and gone home with her already. They don't have her address. All they know is that it's a condo in the same part of the city as the hospital. They said they were going to ask her and let me know if they found out, but I'm not gonna hold my breath."

"Fuck. Well I mean he's gotta get online at some point here right? Jeff already sent an email but I'm gonna send another one I think. I don't think he really has any social media he uses very often, but does he have a messenger app?"

"Yeah but he hasn't been online yet. I'll leave a message for him anyway."

Grace sighed, "I guess we have no chance but to wait. ...and hope she doesn't literally chain him up in her basement and brainwash him."

"Grace, don't even joke, I'm trying not to freak out about all of this, but I really don't know what she's capable of. You know she hurt him once already."

"Yeah. ...Do his parents?"

"It doesn't seem like it. I wish I could've told them, but if he didn't want them to know, I'd want to respect that."

Grace sighed, "You're still too nice. Well I guess we'll just let you know as soon as we hear something okay? Unless you have another trick up your sleeve."

Carly hesitated. "I might. I um... Made a bit of an impulse buy."

**********

Elaina pushed Jon's wheelchair through the doorway of the condo. He had tried to convince her that he could use the walker but she insisted he shouldn't strain himself. He knew she was right though. He was still very unsteady on his feet, and it was a long walk from the entrance-way and down the hall from the elevator. His eyes widened as he saw the sleek modern interior. He had known about this building when they were in residency, always wondering what the condos were like inside. Turns out it was even more expensive-looking inside than out.

"Wow Elaina, this place is gorgeous," Jon commented.

"Oh thank you. I'm so glad you like it. Hopefully it'll feel like home soon enough," she said.

He didn't have a lot of stuff to move in. More wound dressing supplies than personal belongings. She had already bought him some clothes though, and planned to do a bit more shopping, sounding a little too delighted at the idea of dressing him in exactly what she wanted.

He was still trying to tell himself this wasn't a nightmare. That it was fine. She had changed. It would just be a few days... He had almost made a scene on the ward when the private nurse plan got delayed, and the staff told him he had no choice but to leave with her. He was ready to beg for one more day, almost ready to start throwing accusations at Elaina. However, he could see that the looks on the staff member's faces, when he had started to become upset, were not concern for his PHYSICAL wellbeing, and he knew he wouldn't be able to convince them. So for now, he took Elaina at her word, or at least played along, accepting her temporary help, before he could be on his own again.

He fought off some depressed thoughts that questioned what exactly he had to go back to. Despite the progress he thought he had made, he wondered how much his heartbreak over Carly had contributed to his agreeing to this plan.

He forced the thoughts from his mind as Elaina gave him the tour of her apartment. It wasn't huge, but made good use of space, and everything was very new and stylish. Whatever awkwardness was already there was compounded when he realized there was only one bedroom. She clarified that there was a futon in the office that she insisted on taking, so that he could rest and recover on her bed.

She had ordered in food for supper and told him it was a surprise. It smelled amazing and he hobbled over to a beautifully set table.

"Do you mind if I light a candle?" she asked, with a nervous smile.

"Sure why not," Jon shrugged and chuckled, simply not to make a big deal of it.

She set the food down that she had plated beautifully out of the takeout containers.

"Is this from...?"

"Olivianos."

"I thought it smelled familiar," he said with a more relaxed smile, sitting down.

"I remembered it was one of your favourite places around here before we moved."

"And that I always raved about the gnocchi," he agreed, eagerly taking a spoonful of it.

She gave a sparkling smile and a soft blush. She took off her suit jacket as she sat down, and revealed a white sleeveless blouse, clinging to her slim figure, the flawless skin of her slender shoulders and arms shone and a turquoise necklace nestled along her ribs above the low neckline.

He chuckled again trying to sound casual, "I feel under-dressed, should I have worn a suit?"

She rolled her eyes but gave him a playful smirk, "We're celebrating your recovery, so if I had bought one for you then I don't see why not, but... don't worry you look dashing enough."

"I guess a polo shirt is a step about a hospital gown."

She laughed a little bit too hard. "I should take your measurements again so I can make sure I'm buying things in the right size. You look like you've changed a little. Even with the week in a hospital bed, I've wondered if you've been working out a bit more?" she said, all but winking at him.

He simply smiled back and concentrated on not letting his face turn red. He focused on his plate instead of her gorgeous eyes and was able to come back to earth a bit. "Or we could just drive back to my house and get some of my stuff. I need my passport and birth certificate for my ID and bank card, plus my laptop," he suggested.

"We literally just left the hospital. I told you Jon, I was busy with work, and on call on the weekend, besides being with you on the ward. Now it would take most of the day to drive there and load things up and drive back. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave you on your own for that long yet, let alone subject you to that car ride."

Jon frowned. "I'd be fine Elaina. Plus, I mean... I'm going to be here while you're at work most of the day right?"

"What? No Jon I've taken some days off. That's why I took the call shifts on the weekend, to make the scheduling work out."

"You... didn't have to do that," he said, uncomfortably.

She gave him a squinting smirk, "Well, I... respectfully disagree. Why are you here if not for me to take care of you? Your recovery is more important than a couple days of clinic."

He considered starting more of an argument, but getting his pulse up was already making his chest hurt and his vision fog up. "Well I'll be out of here in a couple days once they find a nurse who's free, so I guess it doesn't matter," he said, and closed his eyes at another delicious mouthful of food.

"So... when had you and Beth broken up?" Elaina asked casually, glancing up at him as she ate another delicate spoonful.

"Oh, um, a few weeks ago now I guess. More than a month actually," Jon said, doing the math in his head.

Elaina stopped chewing for a moment and seemed to stifle a sour face, morphing it into a soft regretful smirk, "That's too bad. That's quite a while now, though. Why didn't you mention it?"

Jon shrugged, "I figured it wasn't really your concern, I dunno, it might have felt like moping."

"No," she said sympathetically, though her eyes seemed to examine him, "I would've been happy to talk if it would've helped."

"Naw it's okay, don't worry about it." he said dismissively.

"...Have you been seeing anyone else since?" she asked softly, looking at her plate.

"Um... kinda, but not really." Jon said, finally starting to get annoyed at her prying and coming back to the reality of where he was, and wondering again what the hell he was doing here.

"What about you and Matt? Still keeping it 'casual'?" he asked, maybe a little too pointedly.

She glanced at him briefly with a flat face that seemed ready to break. "You know what? I'm sorry. Let's not get into talking about relationships and personal things right now. Let's just enjoy the meal."

After the meal was done, Jon begrudgingly allowed Elaina to cleanup the dinner table herself and relaxed on the couch.

"Do you mind if I borrow your laptop then? I can only imagine what my inbox looks like right now," Jon said with a chuckle.

Elaina never answered and clattered more of the dishes in the kitchen.

"Elaina?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I borrow your laptop? I haven't checked my email in over a week."

"Oh, um, I'll get it in a bit, I think it might need to charge actually," she said dismissively.

"It'll only take a few minutes, I just want to know if there's anything really important," Jon persisted.

"Jon, can't you see I'm cleaning up the dishes? Please, you don't have to help me but at least let me work on one thing at a time," she said, seeming to lose her patience.

Jon raised his eyebrows and decided to turn on the TV instead. After a while, she finally walked back into the living room and seemed to be done.

"So about that lapt-"

"Oh! Okay so I found another movie by that director I was talking about before, I was hoping we could watch it tonight."

"Um, yeah I guess if you want," Jon said. "But, I want to finally check my email first. Like I said, I've felt really disconnected."

She rolled her eyes, "Jon you'll be at it all night if you start into it, you said so yourself it would be packed full."

"I just want to check-..."

"Don't STRESS yourself. Just start into it tomorrow if it's going to be a long task. What would you possibly expect to see that you would need to deal with now, in the evening?"

Jon exhaled in frustration, finding it hard to think of a reply, almost feeling like a headache was coming on.

"Let's just watch the movie, please, I don't want us to be up too late besides," she said.

Jon shook his head, letting it go for now, "Fine. So what's this movie about?"

Elaina rewarded him with a breathtaking smile and grabbed the remote.

Jon admitted the movie was pretty decent, a romance technically, but in an interesting setting and seemed to have a decent production, if a bit artsy. At least it wasn't another documentary. He was lost in it enough to forget about a lot of things, including Elaina gradually relaxing closer to him and eventually slightly leaning on him. She didn't rest her head on his shoulder, but grabbed his arm in excitement near the climax and kept it there. He tried to ignore it, but couldn't help notice how nice it felt, and told himself to pull away, but felt so starved for human contact after what had seemed like forever in that hospital bed.

She smiled up at him when he told her it was better than he expected, holding his eyes and seeming to search them as she moved her fingers on his arm, building a tension and almost refusing to look away until he finally did. He could tell what she was doing, and felt like he should be angry, but only felt an odd type of regret, and decided playing aloof was the kindest thing he could do for now.

She showed him everything in the bedroom, having put his clothes in the closet already. He chuckled at the size of the walk-in closet, saying he could just move a bed in there and she could have her room back. Her playful swat stung a bit in his side and her giggles immediately turned to apologizing and she insisted on checking the dressing to make sure the wound was still okay, noting that it was time to do it anyway. That meant taking off his shirt.

She had done it on the ward before, but this felt much more intimate. Her soft graceful fingers sent tingles up his skin and she kept her face close to his, whispering breathless apologies as she tore off the tape and wiped the sensitive raw tissue of the wound. After she was done she kept her hands on his abs and traced up to his pecks, looking up at him, with her gem-stone eyes. His cock had been trained for too long in their relationship for it not to respond instinctively with a swelling desire.

"Elaina... I need to go to bed I think," he said, stepping back and gently moving her arms away from him.

She gulped and looked genuinely embarrassed., "I'm sorry. It's just... it's been really good to spend time with you again. It's almost felt like..."

"Don't. Please Elaina I appreciate everything you're doing to help me, but I'm not-"

"I know. I know. I'm sorry I just got caught in the moment," she said, stepping away further with a hurt look on her face.

"It's... it's fine," he said, not used to seeing her look timid like this.

She said goodnight and left quickly.

He laid there not being able to shut his mind off, listening to the sounds of her getting ready for bed, familiar enough he opened his eyes to remind himself they weren't back in their house, still engaged. It was the first night and already the tension was through the roof. Granted, she seemed to be manufacturing at least some of it, but it didn't bode well for avoiding an outcome that he knew he didn't want. At least every part of him but his still half-engorged cock didn't want it... He tried meditating, and breathing techniques but eventually swore and got up to get a glass of water in the kitchen.

When he made it back to his bedroom he heard the door behind him as he sat back down on the bed.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, yeah just had a dry mouth."

He kept his eyes away from her thin, well-fitting nightgown. She sat down next to him gently, crossing her long slender legs, mostly exposed under the short hem.

"Want some help falling asleep?" she asked looking at him intently.

He froze at the hypnotizing features of her beautiful face in the dim light, then gulped and leaned away, "No. Elaina, please let's-"

"I mean a pill Jon. You have them in the cabinet with the other ones." Elaina replied quickly breaking out of her stare with her face suddenly changing to a smirk.

"Oh, um, no I don't want to get too used to those,"

"Oh it's fine, what do you have them for, if not for this? It's your first night here. I'll get a couple for you."

"A couple?"

Jon begrudingly swallowed, deciding being reliably unconscious was the preferred option at this point, and knowing he was overdue for a good nights rest anyway, after the hospital.

"Is the bed okay?" she asked.

"Yeah it's great, super comfortable. I can't complain when I know you're on the futon.

She brushed it off, "I just want you to feel good Jon, your needs are more important than mine."

He cleared his throat. "Th-... thanks. Goodnight Elaina."

She gave him a calculating smile and whispered, "Good night, Jon,"

He laid down and was quickly starting to feel the effects of the pills. He didn't remember stopping his racing thoughts but still ended up unconscious at some point anyway.

In the night he thought he dreamed of a hand sliding over him, and a body next to him, fingers on his shorts, teasing his cock, but only getting half erect. If it wasn't a dream he had been too tranquilized to respond in any meaningful way. When he woke up he was alone though.

It was late in the morning and when he finally stumbled into the living area he found that she was gone. She had left a note on the counter.

"Gone shopping for you. Hopefully I'll find the cellphone you said you wanted." - Elaina

Jon sighed and looked around, eventually finding her laptop but he didn't know the passcode and eventually resigned himself to sinking into the couch and flipping channels on the TV.

He couldn't stop brooding about Carly. He needed to know for sure what she was doing and how she felt about him. He almost told himself her absence had said enough, but he refused to fully believe it. Moving in with Sean that quickly would be ridiculous right? He thought of how close he had been to doing that with Beth though. It was absolutely possible. Probable even. He felt like he wanted to punch through the coffee table the more he thought about it.

Instead he decided he needed to get up off his ass and do something useful. It was a little early but he went to the kitchen, determined to cook for himself and make lunch. Pain and exhaustion be damned. He needed to get more independent. Every now and then he had the desire to walk out the door and run ...or hobble, back home, and only the reminder that he had no wallet or ID made him stop. He was in no shape to hitch-hike. He reminded himself Elaina had changed. She had been seeming so much better, even before now. Not that it meant he wanted her back in his life.

Halfway through cooking up an omelette underneath his swirling thoughts, Elaina walked through the door with several bags in tow.

"Jon! What are you doing?" she exclaimed, seeing him in the kitchen.

"I was hungry," he shrugged with a smile. "I hope you don't mind me raiding your fridge but you said to make yourself at home. Don't worry I'm making enough for two."

"I brought lunch," she said, holding up a takeout bag with a patronizing look.

"Oh. Sorry I guess, but how was I supposed to know?" he said.

"I guess I'm a little later than I expected to be, but it's only just noon now. You shouldn't be exerting yourself like this!"

She took off her coat and revealed a beautiful smooth fitting red blouse, over top of her tight designer jeans. She looked even more striking than usual, with her makeup done more noticeably, and her hair tied up in a messy bun.

He pulled his eyes away and turned back to the stove. "They didn't tell me to lie in bed all day. Actually quite the opposite," he argued.

"Well, I was thinking we could go for a walk together later, so I can help you if you're having trouble," she said. "What if something happened and you had to stop, or you fell, and something burned?"

"I'm fine Elaina. I'll finish cooking this, and it can be leftovers for later. We'll eat your food, it smells amazing," he said trying to appease her, though he was being honest about the appetizing aroma.

"It's Pho," she said, seeming to be satisfied enough. "Another treat that I thought you might have missed back there."

It was true, Jon had to admit. "Sounds great, thanks Elaina. Look, I just really want to get my body going again, I'm sick of lying in beds."

She gave him a more admiring smirk, "I know. Just let me help you!" she said with a gentle touch on his arm.

"You're helping me so much already Elaina," Jon said, half-complaining, but her pretty smile told him she took it as a compliment.

They ate together in the dining room and he thanked her again as he finished off the bowl.

"So did you find a phone for me?" Jon asked as he made a point of clearing the table himself.

"I... couldn't find that exact one you mentioned. So I ordered one," she said.

"Ordered? Elaina that particular one was just a suggestion, and I mentioned it cause I knew it was a more popular one, how did they not have any?"

"I... well I thought one with more storage space would be good. You're always listening to so much music, so I just got them to order that one in."

"How long will it take?"

"Just a few days don't worry. This way it'll be perfect."

"I don't need perfect Elaina, I just need something that works."

She scoffed.

"I have to start living my life again," he said.