HEARTS I

CHAPTER FOUR

Juliette was still asleep when Jamie sneaked into the bathroom to take a shower. She woke up from the sound of the water running and turned her focus on the entrance to the bathroom and watched the room steam up. Jamie wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped into the bedroom. He had smooth, yet slightly muscular abs with an almost visible six pack and was built like a Greek god too. Juliette immediately sat up straight when she saw him. "Holy shit.." Juliette interrupted wide eyed and gawking at his smooth but well-toned abs. Her stomach made a few summersaults.

"What?"

"I mean...you're hot." Juliette paused for a second and gasped for breath. It was as though a warm and fuzzy feeling suddenly overtook her. "Sorry, that came out wrong. Wow."

Jamie chuckled. "Don't worry about it." He stepped up to the cupboard and got out a clean set of clothes.

"Do you work out?"

"I wish. I hardly get the time for it. And I'm a bit lazy."

"So that's all natural?" For a moment she wished that he would drop the towel around his waist by accident, but she did not want to get ahead of herself.

"I guess." Jamie went back into the bathroom and a moment later came out dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. "I'll leave you to get dressed while I go and make us some breakfast."

"Thanks." Juliette stood up feeling light-headed from her racing heart when she saw Jamie shirtless for the first time and opened her suitcase to get out a pair of jeans, a tank top and pulled over a shirt. As soon as she got dressed she went to the kitchen where Jamie served up their breakfast.

"Today on the menu we have bacon, eggs and French toast with maple syrup. And coffee. Or you can have some coco scoops."

"Looks yummy. Can I have some coco scoops? They're my favorite."

"Coco scoops coming up." Jamie took a cereal bowl from the cupboard and filled it with coco scoops and milk before he placed it in front of her.

She admired Jamie as he sat down across the counter from her. "I cannot get that shirtless image of you out of my head now."

Jamie chuckled and blushed. "I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my intention at all. I thought you were still sleeping." Jamie took a bite of food followed by a sip of coffee. "I figured we could go and get some of your stuff this morning."

"That would be nice."

"I want to be there if that jerk tries to hurt you again."

"What if he tries to hurt you too Jamie?"

"I'd rather have him hurt me than hurt you again Jules." Did he just call her Jules? Not Juliette. Not Julie. But Jules. "If anything has to happen to you... I won't be able to live with that. I just want to make sure you're safe."

"I appreciate it."

"And as for the heels..." He was hoping she would change into something more comfortable like a pair of sneakers or flats.

Juliette looked down at the pumps she was wearing. "Oh, that. I either wear two inches or nothing."

"Or eight inches," Jamie said with a chuckle.

Juliette blushed blood red. "Oh gosh. You didn't..."

"Sorry, that just came out wrong," Jamie chuckled.

"That was on purpose, wasn't it?"

"A little," Jamie said and blushed. "I'm sorry."

Jamie parked his BMW in front of the apartment block where Juliette used to share an apartment with her ex and looked up at the building. "You lived here?" he asked surprised.

"Yes."

"How come I never ran into you?"

"You lived here too?" Juliette asked taken by surprise in return.

"Yes."

Juliette gave a smirk. "Well that's a surprise. I didn't know. If I had known I would have invited you over for coffee. So I guess I literally am just the girl next door."

"And I find that appealing," Jamie replied with an impressed smirk on his face. They got out of Jamie's car and went inside before they took the stairs to Justin's apartment. Juliette stopped at the door before turning the knob to see if the door was open. "Wait...We were neighbors?"

Juliette looked at Jamie shocked. "It was you who lived next door?"

"Yes..." Jamie replied awkwardly.

It then struck her it was him that banged on the bedroom wall every night to get her and Justin to tone it down. She blushed as red as a tomato and covered her face with her hand. "Oh my goodness, this is so embarrassing. I...the door is locked." Juliette knocked on the door and moments later Justin opened the door. He turned his focus to Jamie who was leaning against the rails.

"What's my neighbor doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Juliette asked surprised.

"From running into each other a few times. But I didn't get your name. I'm Justin Lynn."

Jamie wasn't in the mood for a handshake and remained with his arms crossed over his chest. "Jamie Slattery."

"Oh so you're the doctor who is shagging my girlfriend." Justin wanted to lash out at him but Juliette blocked him off.

"Justin, no. I just came to get the rest of my stuff. And it's ex-girlfriend to you now."

"I never shagged your girlfriend if you really have to know. But what you did to her..." Jamie was tempted to grab Justin by his shirt and punch him in the face. "You're a coward."

"Jamie, not now," Juliette tried to ward him off. "Please, the two of you stay out of each other's hair. That's all I'm asking."

Jamie followed Juliette inside.

"Take a seat doc," Justin offered.

"No thanks."

"What, so now my furniture isn't good enough for you either, is that it?"

"Oh please, did I say that?"

"What's the problem with your attitude then doc?" Justin walked up to him and went to stand in front of him. "You think because you're a doctor you're better than me?" Justin shoved Jamie backwards but he refrained from hitting back.

"Justin stop it!" Juliette rushed up to him and he turned to grab her by her arm. He was about to hit her when Jamie grabbed him from behind and pinned him face down on the coffee table.

"You son of a bitch...touch her again and I swear...you'll regret it for the rest of your life. You low life piece of shit." Jamie let go of him and stood up straight. "Juliette get your stuff and let's get out of here before someone gets hurt."

As soon as they were back in Jamie's car he looked at Juliette concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little startled, but I'm fine."

"He's a complete asshole. A psychotic narcissist. What did you see in that jerk?"

"Honestly I don't know. I never thought I could get better than him."

"Seriously? He doesn't deserve you. I can't believe he lifted his hands for you again. If I wasn't there to protect you."

"Thanks..."

"You should file a report against him at the police. I'm serious. You shouldn't let him get away with this. Next time it's someone else."

As soon as they were back at Jamie's apartment he changed into a pair of sweater pants and went to the kitchen to pop some popcorn in the microwave for him and Juliette. She turned her head to look at him and again her heart skipped a beat again. He then walked over to the living room and opened the sleeper couch before he put on a movie for the two of them to watch. "What are we watching?"

"You like cartoons?" Jamie asked with a smile.

"You like cartoons too?" Juliette asked surprised. "You never struck me as the kind of guy who likes cartoons. I'm pleasantly surprised."

"There's still a lot of things you don't know about me."

"And you were my neighbor." Juliette blushed red again. "It's so embarrassing."

"Yeah, let's just forget about that."

She rested her head on his chest listening to the faint sound of his beating heart before she gently traced her fingertips along his stomach. She could hear his heartbeat accelerating and then looked up at him. "You know when you came out of the shower with just that towel wrapped around your waist...I secretly wished you would drop that towel by accident."

"You naughty girl! You didn't," Jamie chuckled.

"I just couldn't help myself. And now seeing you like this," Juliette said gazing into his eyes. She had a whoosh of butterflies in her stomach again. For a moment she just wanted to go to forbidden territory, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself and possibly offend Jamie in some way. She wanted him to make the first move when he decided the time was right for him. Even though she was begging inside that he would let all his inhibitions fly out the window.

Jamie let out a nervous chuckle. "It wasn't intentional you know."

"Just on purpose?"

Jamie snickered. "Yeah."

Juliette was asleep and Jamie was laying under a blanket on the sleeper couch staring at the shimmering disco ball hanging from the ceiling and gave a smile. He then turned his head to look at the pocket sized Bible sitting on the side table. He took it and sat up straight before he opened it and read it. He then smiled and closed it before he stood up to turn off the lights to go to sleep.

Juliette was back at work the next day and walked up to her desk with a huge smile on her face while Katy looked at her in a scrutinizing manner. Juliette pulled her chair out and sat down. "Let me guess. Your prince on the white horse swept you off your feet and carried you off to his castle."

"How did you guess?"

"Oh my gosh you didn't..."

"We're official."

"I heard you were in hospital. What happened?"

"Justin Lynn happened. And we're history."

"Not again...Does the doctor know what he did to you?"

"He knows. He almost wanted to kill him."

"You should have done it the first time he touched you Julie," Katy replied upset. "But tell me more about the doc."

"He loves cartoons."

"Oh my goodness that's super sweet. A guy who loves cartoons is definitely a keeper. He'll make a great dad one day. He's the type of guy who will watch cartoons with his kids."

"He finds everything amusing. He's smart and funny. He's different in a good way and he has a playful side to him. He's genuinely a nice guy. When I was admitted into the hospital he slept on the sofa in my room just to be sure I was okay."

"He's a total keeper. He's perfect for you. And you said you would never date a doctor." Katy smiled. "And? Have you done it yet?"

Juliette looked at Katy shocked. "What? No...it's still way too early for that. But damn...he is hot. You should see him shirtless. Oh my...I just wanted to lick his abs!"

"He sounds hot."

"And then he dropped the eight inch bomb as if the abs weren't enough."

"Oh well so he's eye candy, well built and well endowed too. You lucky girl."

Just then Jamie walked up to Juliette's desk taking her by surprise. "Are you girls gossiping about me?"

Katy just gawked at Jamie speechless. "That is Katy Murphy, my colleague."

"Hi, I'm Jamie Slattery," he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you Dr. Slattery," Katy replied staring at him wide-eyed.

"Just call me Jamie," he chuckled. Jamie put a brown paper bag on Juliette's desk. "I found out you like Chinese, so I got you sweet and sour dumplings...and a cherry cola...and a little treat."

"Jamie Slattery...you are full of surprises aren't you? Thank you," Juliette replied with a beaming smile.

"It's a pleasure. I'm gonna love and leave you two ladies. I need to get back to the hospital. But I will see you tonight honey."

As soon as Jamie left Katy took a deep breath. "Wow...you said he was handsome. That was an understatement. He is beautiful."

Juliette chuckled and ate her food before she took the cup of chocolate mousse and looked at the little note stuck on top of it. "Oh my gosh."

"What? Tell me..." Katy replied curiously.

"He wants us to become more serious." She opened the cover to find a ring inside. "No way..."

"Did he propose?"

"It's a promise ring." Juliette boasted proudly.

"Do guys even still do that? I thought only our grandparents gave promise rings to each other when they dated. This guy is a die-hard romantic."

Jamie was having a conversation with Agnetha and Kyle when a group of paramedics barged onto E.R. with a child on a gurney. Jamie and Kyle rushed up to them. "What do we have here?" Jamie asked the paramedics.

"Nine year old female involved in a hit and run accident."

"Stats?"

"Oxygen levels and BP dropping doctor. She lost consciousness on the way here."

"Okay she might have internal bleeding. Get her to O.R. now."

"Dr. Whittaker, we need to scrub in."

Jamie and Kyle were both in O.R. and Jamie opened up the girl to have a sudden pool of blood all over the floor. "Dr. Slattery. Her blood pressure is dropping fast," the O.R. nurse alerted Jamie.

"I've got this." He felt around her insides until he found the source of the bleeding. "Got it. She's got a ruptured spleen. Staples please. Can you give me some more light Dr. Whittaker?"

Kyle watched as Jamie patched up the girl's spleen and gave a sigh of relief when the O.R. nurse alerted him about the girl's condition. "Blood pressure is stabilizing doctor."

"We almost lost her there, but you did it Slats," Kyle said relieved.

"We both pulled her through. Next surgery is on you," Jamie replied. "Let's close her up."

Back in the scrub room Kyle walked up to Jamie who just scrubbed out and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Well done Slats. You saved the day."

Jamie and Kyle headed back to E.R. when Agnetha approached them. "You two are going to be very busy today."

"One of those days again?" Jamie asked with a chuckle.

"You bet. Dr. Ford is already busy with a boy who fell off a bicycle head first."

"Ouch," Jamie winced.

"Dr. Slattery, there's a woman in bay 2 who poured boiling water over herself. Don't ask me how. And Dr. Whittaker, we have an incoming ambulance with an assault case. Get bay 3 ready."

"Lovely," Jamie replied and headed to bay 2. He peeked through the curtains before he stepped inside. "Miss Brianna Simpson?" She opened her eyes to look at him. "I'm Dr. Slattery. Tell me what happened?"

"The kettle slipped out of my hand and I spilled the entire contents over myself."

"Did the nurse give you something for the pain?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Mind if I have a look?"

"No..."

Jamie helped her remove the t-shirt she was wearing and examined the burns on her stomach."Looks like you have 2nd degree burns. On a scale of one to ten how much pain are we talking about?"

"Ten," she sobbed. "How serious is it?"

"It will heal, but we need to do a skin graft and I will have to admit you for a couple of days. I know a lot of people don't like hospitals, but it's for your own good."

Suddenly a huge clamour drew their attention when the paramedics barged into E.R. with a woman who was crying like someone was busy killing her. They pushed her into bay 3. Minutes later Kyle stepped out of bay 3. "Dr. Slattery..."

"I'll leave you in the hands of the nurse now. I'll check up on you as soon as they have admitted you."

"Okay," Jamie's patient nodded.

He stepped out of bay 2 to meet Kyle outside. "Kyle, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I'm going to need your help Slats," Kyle said alarmed. "How serious is your patient?"

"She'll be okay. Nurses will handle her from here." Nothing he was taught in med school could prepare Jamie for what he was about to encounter. He walked up to bay 3 with Kyle and peeked through the curtains to get the shock of a lifetime. "What the hell happened to her?" Jamie asked alarmed and looked at Kyle as pale as a ghost himself.

"Ask her boyfriend who thought it was a brilliant idea to skin and butcher her alive." Kyle bit on his lower lip and clenched his fists in a close fit of rage thar was about to hit. "Dammit..."

"That...is impossible to fix," Jamie said alarmed. "We are going to have to harvest skin for her to limit the risk of infection. We are going to have to reconstruct muscle for her somehow. And let's not even talk about the nerve damage," Jamie said upset. "I..." He heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"What are we going to do? We can't just leave her like that. We have to find a way to fix her. Slats...you always have the solutions. Come on. Think."

Jamie leaned with his arms on the counter and covered his face with his hands for a moment. "I'm trying to think of something." He then looked up at Kyle. "We need to get her to ICU. And we need to consult Dr. Grimes to see what options we have, otherwise it's a lost cause for that poor woman. What kind of a monster hurts someone like that?"

Juliette could see Jamie wasn't himself when he got home from work and sunk down on the sofa before he tilted his head backwards and closed his eyes. She was busy making dinner and turned down the stove to go and sit down next to him. "Hey, what's wrong? Something happened at work?"

Jamie leaned forward and covered his face with his hands. "Yeah."

"Oh honey. I'm so sorry. I made us something to eat. I'm starving."

"I'm not hungry baby. You can have your dinner. Just put mine in the fridge. I'll heat it up later when I have my appetite back."

"Okay."

"I'm going to lay down for a while, if you don't mind."

"Of course not." After she finished her dinner and washed up the dishes she went to the bedroom to check up on Jamie. He was laying flat on his back staring at the ceiling and let out a sob. "Are you crying?" Juliette went to lay down on the bed next to him and looked at him. "Whatever it is, you need to get it off your chest."

"How can people be so horrible?"

"I wish I had the answer to that."

"Kyle and I had a patient today. Her boyfriend literally butchered her alive in a fit of jealous rage. I cannot get that picture out of my head. Her life is ruined because of that."

"Oh my goodness. Seriously?"

"I don't know how to fix her, and I don't know how to tell her that her life would never be the same again."

"What did Kyle say?"

"He's furious. He just wants to go after the man who did that and kill him. And rightfully, so do I."

"I'm so sorry.'

Jamie pulled Juliette closer to him and draped his arm around her while she laid with her head on his chest. "You're the best thing that has happened to me. I don't know how I would have been able to deal with this now without you," he said and kissed her on the top of her head. "Will you marry me?" Jamie asked taking Juliette by complete surprise.

Juliette lifted her head to look at Jamie and smiled. "Did you just propose to me?"

"Yes, I did. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Juliette Lloyd."

"Isn't it a bit too soon? I mean, don't couples normally date for a year or two and then pop the question."

"Who said there is a rule? Some don't even wait a year. If you know you know. And I don't know about you, but I knew from that very first day we met. So what do you say?"

"Yes Jamie Slattery, I will marry you."

"I guess I'll have to get you that ring then."

"So we are now like engaged?"

"Not officially, but you said yes, so technically we are."

"Oh my goodness you are such a beautiful man."

"And I am going to marry you, and have beautiful babies with you. And you can be a stay at home mommy or continue doing that blogging thing that you love to do. Whatever your heart desires."

"What did I ever do to deserve you Jamie Slattery?"

"If you didn't fall down those damn stairs, I probably never would have stopped to help you and we would never have ran into each other. I guess Cupid's arrow hit a little too low and tripped you."