~Jace~
Joy’s phone is ringing.
She reaches for it, and I check the time. 2:49 in the morning. She only got about four hours of sleep.
I, however, got less than two. Not that it matters. I’m used to living on very little rest.
“Are they on their way to the clinic?” she asks as she hurries from the bed, reaching for a clean pair of scrubs. “I’ll be there in twenty. Get the IV going, and the anesthesia, just in case. It sounds like she may need a C-section.”
Joy ends the call and tosses the phone onto the bed.
“I have to go in.”
“I’m driving,” I say, already stepping into my shorts and reaching for a T-shirt.
“You don’t have to go. You should get some sleep.”
“I’m awake, and I’d like to come along.”
She smiles as she steps into her shoes and nods. “Let’s go, then.”
The drive to the clinic is roughly fifteen minutes. When we arrive, Joy jumps out of my car, barely taking the time to slam her door shut before she runs into the building. I’m on her heels as she rushes into a surgery room where a beautiful German Shepherd is lying on an exam table, panting.
“She had one baby that I already gave to her,” the owner says, wringing her hands with worry and gesturing to the tech. “But it’s been several hours, and no more are coming.”
Joy is gowned and gloved up and examining the dog, who’s whimpering softly and looking up at Joy with scared, brown eyes.
“That’s it, darling girl,” Joy croons to the canine. “These little ones are stuck, aren’t they?”
She frowns up at the owner. “This is what happens when you let a dog get pregnant too young. She’s not even a year old. Her body isn’t developed enough to give birth.”
Joy’s all business. All doctor. I’m standing at the edge of the room, watching her every move, so caught up in all of it that I can’t move.
“We need to do a C-section, Charity,” she says to her nighttime tech.
“Is that necessary?” the owner asks. “I mean, it’ll be so expensive.”
“Get her out of here,” she says to Charity, who immediately escorts the owner out of the surgery room to the waiting room, where I can hear Bill telling her to fuck off.
Seems appropriate.
“I know, angel. It hurts.” She pets the dog gently with one hand while the other continues to examine the business end. “We’re going to let you take a nap while these babies are born. You rest now.”
“Do you need me?” I ask Joy, and she glances up at me as if she forgot I was here. “I’m an extra pair of hands. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Actually, I might need you,” she says with a nod. “Go ahead and wash your hands and suit and glove up. I may need you to hold puppies.”
“Jesus, that lady is a piece of work,” Charity says when she hurries back into the room. “I told her to stay there until one of us comes to get her.”
“Thank you,” Joy says as she reaches for an IV. “We need to put her under and get these puppies out. They’re stuck in the birth canal. They’re just too big for her. She’s too young for this.”
“Pisses me off when people don’t listen,” Charity murmurs.
“Story of our lives,” Joy replies with a sigh. I scrub, pull on gloves and a surgical gown, and walk toward Joy, but stay back, just waiting to help if she needs me.
I’ve never watched her in action before. I knew she was an animal doctor, and that she’s an excellent one, but I’ve never seen her perform surgery.
She is sexy as fuck wielding a scalpel, already elbow-deep in the abdomen of the dog.
“Here’s puppy two,” she says since the first puppy was born naturally. Charity takes it, wraps it in a towel and begins to rub it vigorously. “She’s keeping it warm,” Joy informs me. “Feels like there are four still in here.”
“Six puppies?”
“That’s pretty small for a German Shepherd litter,” she says as she pulls out another puppy, passing it to Charity again.
“Here’s a towel,” Charity says. “They’ll start coming fast now.”
She’s not wrong. In less than two minutes, the rest of the puppies are born, and we go to work wrapping them, rubbing them to keep them warm, and making sure they’re breathing.
Which, thankfully, all of them are.
We’ve cleaned them up, and they’re huddled together under a heating lamp while Joy takes care of the mama.
“Her uterus is destroyed,” Joy mumbles as she reaches for a sponge to clean up some of the blood. “Charity, I have to do a hysterectomy.”
“That’ll piss the owner off,” Charity says. “She wanted her as a breeding dog.”
“Idiot,” Joy mutters. “Jace, pass me that clamp.”
I do as I’m told, on this side of a surgery for the first time since my residency, and I’m in awe of Joy and the work she’s doing on this animal.
“You know, if this vet thing doesn’t work out, you could be an OB/GYN,” I suggest with a smile.
“I don’t deliver human babies,” she replies with a grin. “Sutures, please.”
I comply and watch as she sews the dog internally before closing her up and suturing the wound.
“Charity, who comes on when you’re done at six?”
“Leslie,” Charity replies as she feeds one of the puppies from the tiniest bottle I’ve ever seen.
“Good. This mama needs to stay here with her babies for at least three days. I want to watch this incision. You can bring the owner back in.”
“How is she?” the owner asks as she walks in. “How many puppies are there?”
“Six,” Joy says as she wipes her hands on a towel. “All healthy. Their mama had some complications, and I had to perform a hysterectomy.”
“What?” The woman stares at Joy in horror. “How dare you? She’s a source of income for me.”
“Not anymore,” Joy replies, tossing her towel into a hamper. “Because you bred her so young, her uterus was destroyed, and any further litters could have killed her.”
“Damn it,” the other woman mutters, shaking her head. “Well, I guess selling these puppies will help pay for what I have invested in her. I might break even.”
“I need to keep all of them here for three days while Mom recovers.”
“More vet bills,” the owner says, rubbing her eyes. I can see Joy getting more and more angry by the moment.
“You know, she could have died,” Joy reminds the woman. “What you did here was very irresponsible.”
“I don’t need a lecture from you,” the lady snarls. “I make a living the best I can, just like you do. I’ll sell her and the puppies, and then I’ll have to start over.”
“How about this?” Joy says, crossing her arms over her chest, “I’ll write off your entire bill and keep the dog and the puppies. You can walk out of here and wash your hands of the whole thing.”
“Those pups were going to be a thousand dollars a piece,” the woman replies with a frown.
“My bill for tonight and the next three days while she’s here is roughly seven thousand,” Joy says without skipping a beat. “I think what I’m offering is more than fair.”
The woman bites her lip and looks at the dog for about three seconds, then shrugs. “Fine.”
“One more condition,” Joy says. “In the future, I won’t care for any of your animals. I don’t work with unethical clients.”
“Whatever.” The woman rolls her eyes and stomps out without even looking at the sweet puppies sleeping under the light or the mama on the table.
“So now we have a dog and six puppies,” Joy says with a sigh. “Jesus, what did I just do?”
“You saved their lives,” I reply softly, running my fingers down her cheek.
“He’s right,” Charity says. “When she arrived, she said the dog doesn’t even have a name. She didn’t care enough to name her.”
Joy blows out a breath and leans in to kiss the dog’s cheek. “You’re waking up,” she murmurs. “You’re a mama now, sweet girl. And they’re all safe and healthy. We’ll let you feed them tomorrow, but in the meantime, my friends are helping you out.”
“Nothing sweeter than a baby,” Charity says, feeding yet another puppy.
“You’re mine now,” Joy says to the dog, surprising me. I thought for sure she’d find her a forever home. “And your name is Angela.”
The dog whimpers groggily, and Joy kisses her again then reaches for a pup. One by one, she shows the dog her babies, lets her sniff and lick them, then tucks them away.
“We’ll put them with her around noon. In the meantime, let’s keep them under the lamp and feed them every hour. I’ll call Mindi in to be on puppy duty for the morning.”
“I can stay, too,” Charity offers, but Joy shakes her head.
“No, you need some rest. Do you want me to stay with you until Leslie arrives at six?”
“Nah, it’s not long,” Charity says. “Angela will sleep, and I get to snuggle brand new puppies. It’s really a tough gig.”
Joy smiles and rubs her face. “I think I’ll go try to rest. I’m off today, but I’ll call and check in later this morning.”
“Okay,” Charity replies, waving us off as we walk back out to my car. We’re quiet on the drive home, and when I pull into the garage, I glance over to find that she’s asleep.
I walk around the car, open her door, and lift her into my arms, carrying her inside. She wakes up and wraps her arms around my neck, burying her face near my shoulder.
“I’m taking you to bed,” I inform her.
“I can’t have sex right now,” she says, kissing my shirt. “I’m too tired.”
“No sex for you. Although watching you work might be the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
Her eyes spring open, and she stares at me as I set her on her feet by the bed.
“Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah.” I swallow hard, willing my dick to calm the fuck down. “You’re amazing, Joy. Your skill, your professionalism. Jesus, it was . . . fascinating.”
“It was just a C-section. You should see me reconstruct a knee.”
“I’m serious.” I pace the room as Joy sits on the edge of the bed, watching me. “I’ve always known that you’re excellent at your job, but witnessing it is something else altogether.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs, a smile tickling her lips. “That means a lot, Jace.”
“I’m proud of you.” The words are pouring out of me now. I walk back to her, pulling her into my arms. I can’t stop touching her.
I don’t ever want to stop touching her.
“I’ve loved you for almost half my life,” I say into her hair. “But Joy, I’m in love with you.”
She stills in my arms, and I simply wait. My Joy is a thinker, and sometimes, she needs to process things.
But when I hear a sniffle, I pull back to look into her tear-soaked eyes.
“Joy?”
“I’m in love with you, too,” she whispers and looks away from me. She fiddles with the necklace she wears and stares at my neck.
“Look at me.”
Her eyes move to mine again.
“Why does it make you sad?” I ask tenderly while wiping a tear away with my thumb.
“I’m not sad,” she says and sniffs, making me smile. “I’m surprised. And I have a confession.”
“Seems this is the time for them.” I brush another tear, then lift her again and sit in the chair in the corner of my bedroom with Joy in my lap. She’s a petite woman and fits perfectly against me, whether we’re having sex or just sitting like this.
“I’ve been in love with you for a long time.”
I stare at her in surprise, then frown. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
She cocks a brow and gives me the don’t-be-dumb look.
“Because we’re in the friend zone.”
“Were,” I correct her.
“Right. We were in the friend zone. And I didn’t want to screw it up because you’re my best friend.”
“Likewise,” I say with a sigh. “But we’re not screwing it up, Joy. It’s way better, and I didn’t think it could get better.”
“I know,” she whispers, burying her face in my neck. She’s exhausted, and I should put her to bed, but I’m selfish. Having her in my arms is heaven. “I love you, Dr. Crawford.”
She yawns, and I smile, my heart beating double-time. “I love you too, Dr. Thompson.”
“We need the following,” Joy says as we walk into the grocery store. I reach for a small cart, but she shakes her head and points to the big one.
Apparently, we’re buying out the store.
“Salad stuff, including kale, chicken breasts, Brussels sprouts, squash, a case of water, non-fat milk, yogurt, eggs, mushrooms, ground beef, and anything else I see that I have to have.”
“That list is all over the place,” I inform her. “Don’t you write your list by category? Like, all the dairy together, all the produce, and so on?”
She shrugs a shoulder as she leads me to the produce section. “I wrote this a little at a time, so I jotted things as they came to me.” She reaches for a bag of green beans. “Would you rather have green beans over the Brussels sprouts?”
“Either is fine. I’m going to go grab a couple of apples.”
“Okay,” she says, not even glancing my way as I walk to the display of fruit.
I prefer the Honeycrisp, grown here in Washington. I check for bruises and place them in a bag, then turn to fetch a couple of bananas.
“Hi.”
I glance up to find a woman grinning at me. She has dark hair, cut short. Her face is pretty, and she’s curvy in all the right places. At another time in my life, I would have been interested.
“Hello.”
“I’ve seen you in here a few times,” she continues. “You must live nearby.”
“Uh, not far, yeah.”
She nods. “I’m Lisa.”
“Hi, Lisa, I’m Joy.” The woman I love is suddenly standing next to me, her hand in mine, and a bright, fake-as-fuck smile on her face aimed at Lisa. “How are you?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Lisa’s smile falls. “Have a good day.”
“You too, Lisa!” Joy waves at the other woman as she pushes her cart out of the produce section, then gives her retreating back the stink-eye.
“She was a friendly woman,” I comment, knowing full well that Joy is irritated. I can’t blame her. If some dude started flirting with her over the kumquats, I’d lay him out.
“You’re not allowed to shop by yourself,” she says, not looking me in the eyes as she bags a bunch of kale. “In fact, just leave the shopping to me.”
“Joy, I was just kidding.” I laugh when she tosses the kale into the cart harder than she needs to. I can tell she thinks it’s funny too as she’s trying to suppress a grin. “I wouldn’t dare flirt with another woman when you’re in the store.”
She glares at me, and I laugh harder. I bury my fist in the hair at the back of her head and pull her to me for a long, deep kiss. I give zero shits that we’re in the middle of the produce section.
“I only have eyes for you, babe.”
She grins. “I know. But that was kind of fun.”
“I wasn’t squirming,” I inform her.
“And I wasn’t actually mad,” she replies. “You’re hot. Girls will flirt with you.”
“And if you’d been five seconds later, you would have heard me tell her that I have a scorching-hot girlfriend.”
“As it should be,” she says with a nod, making me grin. “Now, we need the meat department.”
“I’ll show you the meat department,” I murmur in her ear, making her giggle.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love me.”
She shrugs a shoulder, then nods. “Okay, I do. I love you and your ridiculousness.”
An hour later, I’m hauling groceries from the car to the kitchen. We got everything on Joy’s list, along with about fifty things that weren’t on her list.
“I thought the point of this was for us to eat cleaner,” I say, pulling out a bag of Oreos from a grocery sack.
“I’ll eat like three of those a day,” she says with a frown.
“And I’ll eat the rest of the bag in one sitting.”
“Then I’ll hide them from you.” She bats her eyelashes at me and unboxes the disposable Tupperware containers she bought for the meal prep portion of this operation. “I’m going to make individual salads, so all we have to do is put dressing on them. I’m also going to grill up a bunch of chicken breasts, mushrooms, green beans, and so on. So there will be a complete meal in each container.”
“Okay, Rachael Ray, let’s do it.”
For the rest of the afternoon, we chop, sauté, grill, and assemble our meals for the week. My house smells amazing.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done this much cooking in this kitchen,” I say as we seal the tops on the last of the containers.
“This space is gorgeous,” she says with a sigh. “It should be cooked in often.”
“Well now that you’re here, it will be.”
She nods, but I can tell something’s on her mind.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
“I should probably check on my house,” she says with a quirk of her lip.
“We can load this up, along with Carl, and stay at your place for a few days.”
“You don’t mind?”
“As long as I’m with you, I don’t mind at all.”