Deliver Me (5 page)

Eli guided the couple into the office and motioned for them to take a
seat in the two wingback chairs in front of his desk. Amanda Daniels nudged her
chair to the right, shoving it a few inches away from the one her husband
occupied.

Here we go again
.

“Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, let’s see where we are.” Eli opened the
manila folder and splayed it flat on his desk. “This marks the twenty-eighth
week, Amanda, putting you in your last trimester. How are you feeling in
general?”

“Okay, I guess. I had a little dizziness yesterday, but nothing like that
last episode.”

“After you complained of the second dizzy spell, you know I had the lab
to run a few more tests. Your anemia has gotten worse.”

Amanda Daniels took a deep, solemn breath. “What does this mean?”

“I think you already know,” Eli said apologetically. “I know you didn’t
want this, but I have to recommend putting you on bed rest.”

Her face revealed nothing. “Is that really necessary, doctor?”

“She can’t leave the bed at all?” Jeffrey asked. Eli noticed Amanda’s
disgusted eye roll. The tension between these two was as thick as seven A.M.
fog in San Francisco. And it was uncomfortable to witness.

“No, it’s not that restrictive,” Eli clarified. “She can move around
some, but nothing strenuous. You’re going to have to pamper her,” he said,
interested in the response that statement would provoke.

Amanda’s face became hard as stone. Jeffrey glanced at his wife and took
a deep breath. Eli wasn’t sure about the expression on the man’s face, but it
looked a hell of a lot like hurt. Homeboy was definitely in the doghouse. And
he had been there for a while.

Since their first meeting over four months ago, Amanda had never treated
her husband with anything other than cold distaste. Eli wondered how the guy had
managed to get her pregnant in the first place.

“Exactly how restrictive are we talking?” Amanda asked.

Eli walked over to the file cabinet behind his desk. He opened the second
drawer and retrieved a set of stapled instructions. “Here are a few guidelines
some of the doctors, myself included, came up with for the various stages of
bed rest.”

Eli stopped short, not sure whom to hand the packet to. Both husband and
wife reached for it, and he was willing to bet this month’s paycheck Amanda
Daniels wouldn’t invite her husband to share. Eli turned back to the file
cabinet and pulled out another set. It seemed the easiest course of action to
prevent the inevitable battle between these two. He didn’t need bloodstains on
the carpet. He had enough problems to deal with today.

“As you can see, the restrictions aren’t all that inhibiting, but you’ll
need to take it easy. I don’t want to see you back here any sooner then I’m
supposed to,” he finished with a smile.

Amanda returned the smile with a weak one of her own. Her husband had not
said a thing since Eli handed him the set of instructions. He stared at the
papers as if trying to digest the words.

God, they were unnerving. Eli could only pray for the baby who would have
to grow up in such a strained, tension-filled environment. He was tempted to
send the two of them straight to the marriage counselor in Methodist Memorial’s
Counseling Clinic.

Eli sat back in his chair and folded his hands over his desk. “Well...I
think that’s all,” he said after the uncomfortable silence became unbearable.

“One thing, doc,” Jeffrey asked, his eyes still glued to the
instructions. He pointed to a spot on the paper. “Under the ‘reduce activity
section’ it says she should limit stair climbing.”

“Yes,” Elijah nodded. “Especially with such a severe case of anemia.
Exercise is still important, but only a few steps can bring on dizziness. You’ll
need to cut out the use of stairs as much as possible.”

“That’s going to be difficult, doctor. I live on the third floor of my
apartment complex,” Amanda began.

“You can—” Jeffrey started.

“No,” Amanda hissed in a sharp, biting tone. Eli could practically see
the ice dripping from the single word.

He’d had about enough of this as he could stomach. Eli had too much on
his mind to worry about the Daniels and their frighteningly strange
relationship.

“Umm...okay. Well, my advice is that the two of you either move to an
apartment where there are no stairs or request that your landlord put in a
stair lift ASAP. You definitely cannot walk up two flights of stairs in your
condition,” he said to Amanda. “With your history, we have to cut out all risk.”

Jeffrey rose and extended his hand across the desk. After Eli shook it,
the man went to his wife’s side and tried to help her out of the chair.

She flung off the offending hand. Jeffrey looked sheepishly over at Eli, his
hands now resting at his sides as they both watched his wife struggle to lift
from the chair.

“Thank you again, Dr. Holmes,” Amanda said. She clutched her small purse
to her side and turned for the door. Eli quickly made it around the desk and to
the door, not wanting to witness what would happen if her husband attempted to
open it for her.

“Thanks, Doctor,” Jeffrey said again. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for
the guy. His situation was far beyond flowers and candy. Eli doubted anything
less than having the O’Jays serenade his wife while feeding her
chocolate-dipped strawberries was going to help Jeffrey Daniels get out of the
doghouse.

“I’ll see the two of you in a week,” he said to their retreating backs.

Eli spent the last hour of his workday shuffling around the paperwork on
his desk. If there was one thing about his job he absolutely despised, it was
paperwork. As soon as the brass hands on the wall clock landed in a perfect
vertical line, Eli shoved away from his desk and snatched his light windbreaker
from the coat rack. He grabbed his keys, switched off the light, and pulled the
door close behind him, locking it and re-pocketing the keys.

There was a game on tonight, and Eli was looking forward to a quiet night
at home. Alone.

Alicia had a business trip that would keep her overnight in Houston, and
Eli welcomed the one night reprieve. She was becoming a little too clingy for
his taste.

Eli made it to the parking lot about ten minutes after six. If the gods
were shining down on him, afternoon traffic would be clear and he’d be sitting
in front of his big screen television by kickoff.

He started up the Rover, pulled out, and had to slam on his brakes to
avoid hitting a gray Honda.

His heart didn’t know whether to lift or sink at the sight of Monica
Gardner’s angry face sitting behind the wheel. She made a slight forward
motion, obviously putting the car in park, and opened the door. One look at the
fury in those hazel-colored eyes and Eli knew this wouldn’t be good. He got out
and met her halfway between their two vehicles.

“Was the DMV stupid enough to issue you a driver’s license, or did you
buy it from Wal-Mart?”

She obviously wasn’t looking for an answer, so Eli casually crossed his
arms over his chest and stared down at her. She was at least a foot shorter
than he was, and the view from where he stood was absolutely stunning. Her
soft, flowery scent did crazy things to his senses.

“Well, say something.”

He could tell by the strain in her voice she was diligently working to
contain a scream. Eli had an instant vision of her screaming under much more
pleasurable circumstances. He tried not to smile.

“This is the second time you’ve nearly run me over today, Dr. Holmes.”

“What?” Her accusation knocked him out of his lust-filled daydream.

“This exact black Range Rover almost clipped my feet off when I came in
this morning. I had to jump a good three feet back to prevent getting rolled
over.”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Is there another employee with the same color and model SUV?”

Eli shook his head in the negative.

“I rest my case,” she finished with triumphant sassiness. He loved a
sassy woman.

“Whatever you say,” Eli answered with a shrug. “I didn’t see you this
morning, and you must have come around that curve pretty fast because I looked
both ways before pulling out just a minute ago.”

“
I
must have been driving fast?”

Eli decided he liked her angry. Probably because that’s the only way he’d
seen her so far, but also because of the passion she exuded. Monica Gardner was
an intriguing contradiction. Her eyes shimmered with blatant disapproval, yet
Eli sensed she was enjoying this little
tete-e-tete
as much as he was.

He had to figure out just where she fit in his world. Her occupation was
a solid mark against her. After that incident back in medical school involving
a fling with one of his professors, Eli had vowed never to get romantically
involved with another doctor. But he’d still rather have her as an ally than an
enemy, even if he refused to date her.

If
he
refused to date
her
?
 

Man, he was getting cocky. This woman probably wouldn’t agree to a date
with him for all the money in Fort Knox. He didn’t have to worry about breaking
his rule where she was concerned. But, still, he didn’t want her to dislike
him.

“Look, we obviously got off on the wrong foot,” Eli said, extending his
hand again.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re just figuring that out?”

“Are you going to allow me to speak?”

She gave him a decidedly disinterested look, took a step back and rested
her hands on her hips. The stance caused her breasts to thrust forward.

The sight left Eli without a single coherent thought. Or, maybe it was
the act of running her tongue lightly over her bottom lip that had snatched all
thoughts from his brain. The unconscious action left her luscious lips
glistening and unbelievably inviting.

“Dr. Holmes?”

Her snapping fingers finally caught his attention. He’d never had one put
him in a trance before. There was something seriously different about this
woman.

“I hope you don’t space out like that during a delivery,” she said.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a rough day and this conversation is not making it
any easier.”

“Well, your day would have gotten ten times worse had you run me over.
You need to be alert when you get behind that wheel,” she warned, then turned
and headed for her car.

“Nice to know you’re concerned about my welfare,” Elijah called out to
her retreating form, unable to keep his mouth from breaking out into a smile.

She opened her car door and stood with her hand resting on the window. “Don’t
flatter yourself. I’m an emergency room physician. You cause a five-car pile up
and they’re calling me back to work. I’ve got a big night planned and I won’t
have you ruin it.”

She slid behind the wheel, and Eli chuckled to himself as he watched the
Honda exit the parking garage.

A jackknifed 18-wheeler held up traffic on Interstate 10 for over an
hour. A long, excruciating hour spent in insufferable silence in a car with the
woman he loved more than life itself.

Jeffrey blew out a puff of air and tapped his fingers in a nervous rhythm
against the steering wheel. He was nervous around his own wife.

If this wasn’t the most
ridiculous thing in the world
.

Not just nervous, he was afraid to even glance at her. These days, even
the littlest thing seemed to set her off. It had come to the point where he
hated talking to her.

But, when he thought about it, Jeffrey realized this was probably the
best place to bring up his concerns. Stuck in traffic as they were, she
probably wouldn’t listen, but she couldn’t run away either.

She sat with her back ramrod straight. The rigid posture reminded Jeffrey
of her sister, Regina: the terror that could have been his wife. Although, when
he thought about how things presently were with Amanda, Jeffrey wondered if he
would have been better off with Regina.

No. He loved Amanda.
Loves
. He
still loves Amanda.

The sadomasochistic relationship he and Regina once shared could never
compare to the bone deep euphoria he felt every time he even looked into Amanda’s
eyes. He’d never truly understood the concept of breathtaking beauty before the
day he’d met his wife. She affected him on so many levels. Physically.
Emotionally. In every way.

Jeffrey could remember the feeling of tightness in his chest when she
would look at him from across the table as they ate dinner. The satisfying
contentment that came with knowing he would spend the rest of his life staring
into that heavenly face.

As he looked out of the corner of his eye at her erect form sitting just
inches away in the passenger seat of their Ford Explorer, Jeffrey couldn’t
believe it was the same woman he’d pledged to honor and cherish for the rest of
his days. The woman he’d married was not this cold, unfeeling person. The woman
he’d married would never flinch at his touch.