A Cut Above: A Lakeside Hospital Novel by Malone Cara

Author:Malone, Cara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

After they ate, Chloe had taken Ivy’s arm and wrapped it around her shoulder, snuggling into her side. Ivy just sat there, surprised at the assumption of intimacy and pleased with the feeling of Chloe’s body pressed against her. Every thought of escaping the apartment – to avoid this moment or to squeeze in a few more hours of studying – had evaporated the moment her lips touched Chloe’s, and Ivy couldn’t think of a single place she’d rather be.

Chloe had been right about the surprising comfort of the futon and Ivy felt her eyelids growing heavy before long. The next thing she knew, the room was dark and the laptop had gone into power-saving mode. Chloe was still curled against Ivy’s side, a little ball of warmth that Ivy had wrapped her arms protectively around in her sleep.

She turned her head carefully, not wanting to wake Chloe as she looked around the unfamiliar room. There was a window to the right of the door where a little bit of light came through. It was impossible to tell if it was the subtle light of early morning or the artificial light of a distant street lamp, so Ivy gently adjusted Chloe beneath her until she could free her arm and dig her phone out of her pocket.

She winced at the brightness of the screen, holding it high to keep it from disturbing Chloe. Five-thirty in the morning. Ivy had just about two hours before her next shift at the hospital and she still needed to go home, change her clothes and take a shower. She couldn’t believe she’d spent the night.

“Mm?” Chloe murmured in her sleep, her head nestling against Ivy’s chest.

“Go back to sleep,” Ivy whispered. She slid her phone back into her jacket pocket and tucked a tendril of blonde hair behind Chloe’s ear.

It didn’t work, though – the spell had been broken. Chloe sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes, and even though she had to struggle to see her in the low light, Ivy thought she’d never been more beautiful than when she was fresh out of a dream.

Was it of me? Ivy hoped for a fleeting second as Chloe asked, “What time is it?”

“Five-thirty,” Ivy said. “We fell asleep.”

“That’s early,” Chloe said with a yawn.

Ivy’s old self wanted to apologize for overstaying her welcome, then head for the door. The Ivy that ceased to exist the moment she climbed the staircase last night would have been disappointed in her for this indulgence when there were never enough hours in the day to read up on the constant deluge of new medical literature.

The version of her that had been born last night in that moment of passion, however… she had no intention of apologizing for anything. She wanted more.

Ivy hooked one finger under Chloe’s chin and tilted it so she could see her better in the low light. Then she said, “You’re so beautiful.”

What she really wanted to say - what she was

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