Everlasting (Unrestrained 6)

He smiled. "I guess not. When does she normally go down for a nap?"

"Around four."

"Damn," he said. "I'll be at work. Although, I did send in my letter of resignation."

"What?"

Drake nodded. "We had a belligerent patient who was brought in by the police. They had to use restraints to treat him. One of the nursing supervisors made a crack about me being tempted to use the restraints."

"Oh, Drake," I said, horrified that someone had made a nasty remark about Drake and his past. "What did you say?"

"I said she didn’t need to worry because I wouldn't want to use them on her anyway. Then, I left. I wrote an email tendering my resignation and sent it off. So, I'm going to be a free agent at the end of the month."

"That's terrible," I said and squeezed him, kissing him tenderly. "That nurse should be disciplined. And not in a good way."

I smiled slowly and of course, Drake did as well.

"Speaking of restraints, Ms. Bennet, I think I may have to look in my treat box for those lamb's wool restraints I gave you, so I can torture you with pleasure."

"I look forward to it," I said with a smile, my body already responding to the thought of Drake and I doing a scene. "I guess we'll have more time if you've quit your job."

"We will," Drake said and kissed me.

I felt a swell of love for him, and but it bothered me terribly that he felt he had to quit his position at the hospital.

"Are you sure about this?" I said, frowning when I thought that this woman had so much power over him. "You told me that you really enjoy working in the ER. I hate to think this bully forced you to resign from a job you love."

He shrugged. "I don't have to work, Kate. I certainly don't have to take any shit from some judging nursing supervisor about my past."

"You don't have to work," I replied. "But you love being a neurosurgeon. You told me how much you enjoyed your work. You're lucky you can do what you want. Most people have to work. They don't have options."

"I am lucky, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I don't have to work. I'll be called as a witness for the trial and we'll have to go back to Manhattan for that. Plus, we've been apart a lot because of the shifts. I miss being around Sophie when I work. We haven't spent much time with your dad and Elaine. And there's Liam, and now my mother..."

"It's a lot to deal with," I said, running my hands through his hair, which was rapidly drying. "I'd be happy to have you all to myself. Sophie and I would be more than happy to have you around all the time."

"You need time at the studio," Drake said, and tapped my nose with a finger.

"You can have daddy-daughter time when I do go to the studio."

"See what I mean? It'll be perfect." We kissed again, our arms tightening around each other. "I do have to go in for a shift tonight because I promised I would, but then I have five beautiful days off. Which will be good so I can spend time with my mother."

"How is she?" I asked again. "Do you think she might survive?"

"I do," he said and nodded. "But we won’t know for sure until we see how she responds to this last-ditch antibiotic regimen."

"Good. Maybe you'll be able to connect with her, when she's better."

"I think so," Drake said and took in a deep breath. "Right now, she's very confused because of the infection, but if it clears up, she might be more coherent. I want her to know who I am, if it's possible. Kent and Amanda said she was much more aware before the infection so it may be because of that and her low oxygen that she seems so bad. She tried to speak to me, but it was just mumbling."

Drake covered his eyes and I realized how deeply he was affected by seeing his mother again. "Oh, Drake..."

I slipped my arms around him once more and squeezed, kissing his cheek. He wiped his eyes and forced a smile. "It would be really nice for her to see me. To really see me and know who I am."

"You can only try," I said. "If she recovers."

"If she recovers."

We sat like that for a moment and then Drake let out a sigh. "I better get going. I need to go back to sleep for a few hours. I want to go to the hospital to see how she's doing."