PATIENT CARE (Medical Romance) (Doctor Series) by Bobby Hutchinson

morning, when the phone rang. In the dream, she was in her office and James was there with her, and neither of them was wearing clothing. For some reason there was a convenient examining table with a pillow.
    Melissa needed a few seconds to figure out that the ringing wasn’t just an unwelcome interruption in her office fantasy. She finally sat up and dragged the receiver to her ear.
    “It’s Angela from Four West,” the nurse said, and Melissa’s stomach contracted with dread. Her fingers clenched the phone, and she bent over, hugging her knees, forming a defensive ball against what could only be disaster.
    “It’s your mom, Melissa. She woke up a few minutes ago and asked us for a cup of tea. She seems absolutely normal. Of course, we won’t know for sure until Dr. Burke confirms it, but I’d be willing to bet there’s no brain damage. She’s complaining of being hungry and accusing us of trying to starve her to death, and she asked for you right away. We’re all so thrilled. We knew you’d want to know right away.”
    For a moment, Melissa couldn’t even speak. She had to swallow hard to get past the huge lump in her throat.  “Oh, my God. Oh, that’s such good news. Please tell her that I’ll be right there.”
    “I certainly will.” Angela laughed. “And I think we’d better get her a cup of tea and some toast before she lodges a formal complaint.”
    Melissa hung up, hands trembling, heart so full of gratitude that her chest felt as if it would burst. She shrieked, “Yes!” and jumped out of bed. She showered quickly, pulled on jeans and a top, and raced for the car.
    The nurses were changing shifts when she arrived, and they all grinned and gave thumbs-up signs to her as she rushed into her mother’s room.
    “Mom?” The tears Melissa had been holding back began to pour down her cheeks when she put her arms around Betsy, who was sitting propped against a stack of pillows, faded blue eyes open, expression alert. “Oh, my God, Mom, it’s so good to have you back.”
    “The nurses say I had some trouble waking up,” Betsy said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Last I remember was not feeling too good after that damn operation.”
    Melissa sniffled and wiped her eyes on the sheet. “You’re fine now, Mom. You’re soon going to be absolutely healthy again.”
    “That I am.” There was determination and conviction in Betsy’s tone. “I’ll feel lots better soon as I get home. When can I go home, Lissa?”
    “You’ll have to ask Dr. Burke.”
    “Ask me what?”
    Melissa hadn’t heard him come into the room. She turned and gave him a wide, tremulous smile. He, too, had obviously thrown on the first clothes at hand, a pair of worn jeans and a blue T-shirt. His hair was mussed and damp. He looked vital and alive and unbearably sexy. Melissa blushed. How could she be thinking of sex, with her mother right here, barely back from death’s door?
    “Hello there, Mrs. Clayton.” He was staring at Betsy with a dumbfounded expression on his face. “It’s, um, it’s wonderful to see you so well.”
    “So when can I go home?” Betsy was already back to being her single-minded self.
    “Let’s check you over, and then I can give you an educated guess.”
    He did a routine but intensive examination, and Melissa waited, hoping against hope that he’d find nothing wrong.
    He didn’t. He straightened and shook his head, and his smile was wide and jubilant. “I’d like to run a few more tests, but basically, I think you’re well on the way to recovery, Mrs. Clayton.”
    Betsy nodded as if that was a foregone conclusion.  “So you can take this awful thing out—” she gestured at her IV “—and I can go home today.”
    “Well, I’d say in a few days, as long as you have someone there with you until you’re stronger.”
    Melissa envisioned her killer schedule, and tried to figure out how she could bend it. “I could probably—” she began, but Betsy shook her