Page 40 of Romancing Melanie
Noah felt like he had the hangover from hell. His entire body ached, especially his leg. He couldn’t figure out where he was, the bed was hard and uncomfortable, he was cold, and there was an incessant beeping that matched the pounding of his head.
As he slowly became more aware of his surroundings, flashes of memories began to flood his brain. He was driving to the pub to help Jake. It was snowing, and dark. The road was icy. The last thing he could remember was his car sliding on the ice, and his panic.
I can’t leave my family…
The fact that Mel’s face was firmly planted in his mind along with Connor’s was not lost on him in that horrifying moment, or now as he realized he was in the hospital.
“Mel?” he croaked out, hoping someone was there to hear him. A nurse bustled into the room and began checking the machines that surrounded him. She managed to silence the annoying beep, and when she peered over his face, he smiled his thanks.
“Glad to see you’re awake, Mr. Carlisle,” she said in a quiet voice. “You’ve got a lot of people out there worried about you.”
“My wife…” he whispered. He needed to see Mel.
He noticed a smile cover the nurse’s face. “Ah yes, I heard that you were married to our Doctor Haynes. Must say, the entire ER department is surprised by that. No one expected her to settle down. I’ll go and let her know you’re asking for her.”
Noah nodded, fighting to keep his eyes open. It was a losing battle, and he was asleep before his nurse had even left the room.
* * *
Mel paced the waiting area for the operating room, agitated, and impatient beyond belief. It was horrible being on this side of things, anxiously awaiting the news of whether a loved one was okay or not. She was used to being the doctor who delivered the news, good or bad, and now had a much deeper appreciation for the torture families went through waiting to hear.
When Mel had made the dreaded phone call to Molly to tell her that her son had been brought to the hospital after a car accident, her voice trembled, and she worried her true feelings would be revealed. As it was, when Molly and Ryan arrived, Mel had simply hugged them both tightly and explained what little she knew. Thankfully, neither of them asked why Callie had been the doctor to work on Noah in the ER and not Mel. She didn’t have the courage in that moment to tell them why she was so broken by the news, she just hoped they would believe it was simple friendship that had her so affected by Noah’s accident. Although judging by the knowing glances Ryan kept throwing her way, she suspected he knew the truth of her relationship with Noah. Or at least, the marriage part. No one knew the fact that she loved him more than anything in this world, no one except Noah and Callie.
As soon as Callie had handed Noah off to the surgeon who would repair his leg, she had called in a replacement physician to cover Mel’s shift and sent Mel up to the waiting area for the operating room, where she sat with Molly and Ryan, and eventually Jake, Reagan, Chase and Anna who brought baby Connor with her. When Mel had laid eyes on the little boy, tears streamed down her face and she picked him up and cuddled him close, letting his warm and comforting weight soothe her. Eventually she handed him over to Molly, who also seemed to need the anchor of comfort Noah’s son brought them all.
As Mel’s mind raced with all of the terrible things that could go wrong during surgery, she almost didn’t notice when Lisa, one of the nurses from the post-anesthetic care unit, came through the doors with a smile on her face. The second Mel saw her, she hurried over, vaguely aware that Molly and Ryan were right behind her. Any hope Mel once held of keeping her unconventional relationship with Noah a secret, was dashed the second Lisa opened her mouth.
“Noah’s awake and doing well, and he’s asking for his wife.” She turned to Mel with a smile.
The blood rushing in Melanie’s head blocked out the gasps of shock coming from her friends behind her. She could feel herself smile, and this time the tears that fell were of relief, not fear. She started toward the doors that led to where Noah was, then stopped, turning back to Molly and everyone else. It was Noah’s mother that Mel was focused on, however.
“Molly, you should come too.”
Molly was still looking at her, with confusion but also happiness on her face. As the older woman handed Connor back to Anna and walked toward Mel, Mel waited hesitantly to see how she would react. But her worries disappeared, when Molly took her arm and leaned in close to murmur in her ear.
“His wife, hmmm? I’m glad you two finally came to your senses, but we’ll be having words about the lack of a wedding someday soon, my dear.” Then Molly patted Melanie’s arm and gestured for her to go and find Noah. “You’re the one he asked for. Go, and tell him we love him.”
Mel lifted her head to nod her understanding to Molly. Then, with one last glance to her friends who were all standing with happy and supportive faces, she turned and followed Lisa to find her husband.
When she saw Noah laying on the hospital bed, his leg in a cast and propped up on pillows, she bit back a sob. Nothing could have prepared her for how hard it was to see him looking so vulnerable, and realizing how much worse it could have been. She sat down in the chair beside him and watched him quietly. His chest rose and fell evenly and, aside from some bruises, he had good color to his skin. The doctor side of her was able to assess him clinically and recognize that he was fine, but the woman who loved him was desperate for him to wake up so she could see his eyes and know he was alright. She carefully took his hand and lifted it to press against her cheek.
When she felt his hand squeeze hers lightly, she looked up at his face with eyes that brimmed with tears, to see him blink and smile at her softly.
“Hey, you,” he whispered.
“Noah,” she replied on a sob, then collapsed into his arms, careful not to jostle him too much. He held her tightly, stroking her hair, and murmuring words of comfort as she let herself break down in his embrace. All the emotion, not just from the accident but from the last several weeks of falling in love with him, poured out of her in a flood, and he held her through it all. Eventually her sobs turned to sniffles and Mel lifted her head, slightly embarrassed by the wet mark her tears had left on his hospital gown.
She looked at his face, and the love she saw shining in his eyes filled her with hope, and the courage to say what she desperately needed to say.
“I love you, Noah Carlisle, and if you ever scare me like this again, I’ll murder you.”
His laughter was exactly what she wanted to hear, and as his hands reached up to cup her face and pull her down to him, her heart sang with joy.
“I love you too, Melanie Haynes-Carlisle. And I’m never letting you go.”
As he kissed her deeply, Mel let his love and commitment fill her until she was certain she would burst from happiness.
She gave herself over to the passion of kissing Noah for a while, then pulled back. There was one more question she had to ask him.
