"Jax…"

Jax smiled. He finally made her moan. After all of those burning kisses, she had finally stopped evading him and cracking jokes and let herself respond to him.

Brenda moaned again.

{Wait a minute. That’s not a "happy" moan.} When Brenda moaned for a third time and moved her legs restlessly in the bed, Jax woke up with a start.

It all came back to him. Brenda. The accident. "Kinky Dr. Pervert." The surgery. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and looked at the patient in the bed. Even post-op, Brenda looked devastatingly beautiful to him.

Brenda moaned aloud once again and Jax shook off his stupor. He rose and leaned over to gently push her hair off her forehead. "Brenda? Can you hear me, love? Time to wake up."

He seized the opportunity and ran his hand over the soft skin of her cheek. She smiled once, turning her face into his hand. "Jax? Is that you?"

{She’s smiling! And she knows it’s me! Things are definitely looking up – maybe that dream might have a chance of coming true after all!} "Yes, Brenda, it’s Jax," he replied quietly. "Can you open your eyes for me, love?"

Brenda turned her head to the side on her pillow and then turned back to him, barely opening her eyes to slits. She frowned. "Jax – did you paint my room? My room is pink, and this room is too – white."

"No, Brenda" Jax chuckled. "I didn’t paint your room."

Brenda closed her eyes again. "Ohhhh….are we in your room? Did we have fun? Was it good for yo……OH, JAX! It still hurts!"

Jax smiled and shook his head, still caressing her forehead lovingly. "I know, sweetie. And it’s going to hurt for about 12 more hours."

"You told me you would make it all better," she groused, sounding like a four-year-old. "It still hurts." Even pouting, Jax could barely resist the urge to kiss those lips.

"You had surgery, Brenda. Abdominal surgery isn’t exactly a picnic." He went to the end of the bed and pulled out her chart, reading for a minute and then pulling his pen from the pocket of his lab coat. "But I can give you something to help you get through this and then you should start feeling more like rejoining the land of the living."

Jax had just replaced her chart and was heading out the door to call a nurse when Jessie Moore appeared. "How’s Miss Barrett?"

Jax turned back to look at her again. She was moaning softly and still tossing her head back and forth on the pillow. "She’s awake and feeling like something the cat dragged in. Can you get me 3 milligrams of morphine? I’ve already noted the dose in her chart and I’ll administer it so you can get back downstairs."

Jessie nodded. "No problem. I’ll get it for you right away." She left for a few seconds and when she returned, she found Jax holding Brenda’s hand and stroking her forehead again. She handed him the syringe.

"Thanks." Jax turned and injected the pain-killer into Brenda’s IV.

"You may not thank me after you hear why I came up here," Jessie said quietly.

"I’m needed in the ER?" Jax frowned.

"I’m afraid so. There was an accident at a construction site that sent us a lot of cuts and abrasions, but now units just called to advise they’re bringing in some guy who rolled over on his riding mower and lost a few digits. Dr. Quartermaine is swamped."

Jax nodded, looking back at Brenda once regretfully. "OK. I get the picture." He stopped Jessie as she turned to leave. "I take it we’re still short of ER nurses with V gone?" Jessie nodded and Jax ran his hand through his hair as he thought for a minute. "OK," he said, brightening, "before you go back to the ER, have the desk call upstairs and see if Andrea can come down for a while and sit with Miss Barrett." He checked his watch. "I should be off duty in three hours, and then I’ll take over for her."

Jessie gave Jax the thumbs-up. "You go get us an elevator, I’ll stop by the desk on the way there." Jax took off at a trot, but not before he looked back at Brenda one last time. She had stopped moaning and seemed to be sleeping again. The morphine had kicked in. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned back towards the corridor once again and took the stethoscope from around his neck as he sprinted towards the bank of elevators.

"LOIS! Lois, wake up!" Brenda spoke as loudly as hospital procedure would allow to the woman slumped over in the chair next to her bed.

"Huh?" Lois roused and looked around in confusion. "Oh, I’m soooo sorry, Brenda. It’s just that I haven’t been getting’ a whole lot of sleep lately." She stretched and rubbed her eyes.

"And your lack of sleep has nothing to do with your love life?" Brenda grimaced as she shifted her legs in the bed.

"You can say that again," Ned answered as he entered Brenda’s room. "Our pediatrician – Dr. Peterson?" Brenda nodded in understanding. "Fred says he’s never seen an infant who could get by on less sleep than our Christopher. I don’t think he’ll *ever* sleep through the night."

"So who’s watching him now?" Brenda asked, reaching for a box of candy that lay on the side of her bed.

"Grandma Gloria," Lois answered, leaning forward and reaching for some candy, only to have Brenda slap her hand. "Christopher *always* sleeps for Grandma Gloria." Lois pouted. "I think he saves up all of his insomnia for his mommy and daddy."

"Now, don’t they say that things like that are just parental insecurities making the baby nervous and fretful?" Jax’s voice was cheerful and booming as he came in the door. He looked at Ned and patted him on the back. "So this is why we’re backed up waiting for x-ray to come down and film some twisted ankles. The chief of radiology sneaks down to visit patients."

"He knows what you mean, honey," Lois supplied, turning to Jax with a smile. "Thanks for takin’ such good care of Brenda, Jax."

"Oh, yeah, *Dr.* Jacks," Brenda said sarcastically. "Thanks for being so good to me – like when you poked your finger in my eye, or when you sucked my blood!"

Jax walked over to Brenda’s bed. "Now, Brenda, you know I explained to you that I only did what was necessary to examine you in the ER." He looked down at the candy. "Mmmm….what’s this I see?"

Brenda snatched it away from him. "A present – from my more *thoughtful* friends." She nodded towards Lois and Ned, smiling apologetically at Lois. "Sorry you can’t have any, Lo, but aren’t nursing mothers supposed to avoid chocolate?"

"Good point," Jax answered, snatching a piece of candy for himself and popping it in his mouth. Lois just flashed him a jealous dirty look. He tipped his head towards a large vase of tropical flowers. "And I suppose you neglected to mention to Ned and Lois who sent you the floral arrangement?"

Brenda looked down at the bed and played with a fingernail. "You did," she said in a small voice.

"Ooooo, good choice, Jax," Lois gushed, getting up to go over and take a deep breath of the flowers’ scent. "They’re bee-u-ti-ful, AREN’T THEY, BRENDA?"

"Yeah, they’re nice," Brenda admitted with a grimace. "So, are you here to further embarrass me by taking my rectal temperature or something?" she snapped at Jax.

"Actually, no," Jax replied, a little red-faced at the thought of performing that particular procedure on Brenda. "I….uh….brought you another present that I thought you might enjoy."

"Well, we’ve already covered the candy and flowers routine, and since I’m really not into crossword puzzles or trashy soap opera magazines, I can’t think of anything else…." Brenda shrugged her shoulders happily, convinced that Jax couldn’t have possibly come up with anything else that would cheer her up.

"Not even some cinnamon-scented incense and your favorite lava lamp?" A feminine voice sounded at Brenda’s door, and Brenda’s face lost all color as she looked at Jax.

"Ohhh, God, no…..Jax, tell me you didn’t!" Brenda whispered softly enough so that the man and woman coming in the doorway of her room didn’t hear her. Brenda sank lower in the bed as a man’s booming voice came from her doorway.

"Where’s my little Tooshie? Is she feelin’ *all* better now?"

Brenda grabbed Jax by the arm, pleading with him. "Jax, *pleeeeeeease* tell me you didn’t call my parents!"

"Well now, he didn’t have to call us, Tooshie," Brenda’s father thundered as he came over to her bed with a broad smile on his face. "The folks in the Business Office of the hospital called us. Next of kin and everything, you know," he said semi-confidentially to Ned and Lois. "How you two doin’?"

"You all know each other?" Jax pointed between Brenda’s parents and Lois and Ned.

"For a long time, Jax," Lois replied softly. "Brenda’s parents visit her about once every three or four months. We met them a couple of years ago."

"We were *soooo* worried about you, Brenda," Veronica Barrett cried in the meantime, coming over to the side of the bed where Jax stood. She leaned forward to gather Brenda into her arms to give her a big hug.

"Well, mama, you didn’t have to worry because it wasn’t at all serious, right Jax?" Brenda smiled at him but then sent him a look that could have peeled the paint off of a Corvette.

"Jax? As in Dr. Jacks?" Veronica turned to Jax and gave him a thorough up and down inspection. "Are *you* the Dr. Jacks that did the surgery on our Brenda?"

Jax blushed a little and extended his hand. "Well, I just assisted on the surgery, but I *am* the doctor who took care of Bren when she first came into the ER." Veronica’s mouth hung open as she took his hand and shook it weakly. "I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Barrett."

"Veronica, pleeeease," she gushed, still holding his hand in hers. She closed her eyes and put the fingers of her other hand to her forehead, weaving around in a circle as she stood. "Oh....I’m sensing an aura....."

"Awww, geez......" Brenda sank a even lower in the bed and closed her eyes.

Jax gave Veronica an indulgent smile. "Yes....it’s coming clearer now...." Veronica opened her eyes. "What sign are you, doctor?"

Jax lifted his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Sign.....of the zodiac.....when is your birthday, doctor?" Veronica still held his hand and began to turn it over and examine his palm.

"Uh....I’m not really sure what sign of the zodiac, but my birthday is April 22," Jax replied meekly.

"I KNEW IT!" Veronica dropped Jax’s hand and clapped hers together triumphantly. "A Taurus!" She clasped her hands together dramatically in front of her breasts and looked fondly towards Brenda. "And our Tooshie here is an Aries." She leaned towards Jax. "Her birthday is March 31, by the way." Veronica took a quick, determined breath. "I simply *must* go home and chart the planetary karma for these two right away. But I have a feeling that they are going to be *so* in harmony with each other!"

"Yes, momma," Brenda said, rising in the bed and grabbing her mother’s arm. "Why don’t the *both* of you go home *right now* do that chart, OK? Because I’m doing just *great*, aren’t I, Jax?" She gave him another sweet look but her voice came through grit teeth.

"Now, Tooshie, don’t go getting your mother’s hopes up with all that karmal apple cr*p," Harlan Barrett answered. He pushed forward and stood next to Jax, hands on hips, staring at Brenda intently. "I hope to h*ll that ditzy publisher of yours provides a good hospital benefits plan, missy. This private room is probably costin’ you a bundle, isn’t it, doc?"

Jax hadn’t thought of Brenda’s financial difficulties when he ordered the private room for her. As it now occurred to him that most hospitalization plans didn’t pay for a private room, he smoothly covered. "Well, Mr. Barrett, as her attending physician, I ordered a private room for Brenda as a medical necessity. With an injury like hers, total rest is the only option if we’re expecting a total recovery. And since most insurance companies will pay for medical necessities, there shouldn’t be a problem with them reimbursing her for the total cost of the room."

"See, Jax is takin’ such good care of our Brenda," Lois interrupted with a satisfied grin. "Why, he’s even has been spendin’ a lot of his own time, just sittin’ with her and makin’ sure she’s not in pain."

Harlan looked skeptically at Jax. "And I assume you’re charging her extra for that, hmmmm?"

Jax blushed and shook his head. "No, sir. Visits are on the house."

"See, Harlan," Veronica said defensively, pushing closer to Brenda, "I told you they make a perfect couple." She looked up at Jax with adoration. "It just seems so perfect to have a doctor in the family. You know I’ve told you that ever since that little medical emergency I helped them handle at Woodstock."

"He’s *not* in the family, momma," Brenda growled. "He’s just my doctor while I’m in the hospital."

But Jax just smiled and turned to Veronica. "You handled a medical emergency, Mrs. Barrett?"

"I *told* you, it’s Veronica," she oozed. "It’s like it all just happened yesterday."

"Oh, God, here we go again," Brenda muttered as Lois put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Well, there we all were, slopping around in the mud and listening to Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, and suddenly this scream went up not far from where we had parked our van," Veronica continued. "The van was painted in tie-dye fashion, of course," she added as an aside to Jax.

"Of course," he smiled, snickering at Brenda’s embarrassment.

"So we all rushed over to see what the problem was, and here this poor woman was about to give birth, right there in the middle of the biggest event of the 20^th Century."

"Momma, you really don’t have to….."

"So we got some clean sheets from some of the sleeping bags and we carried her into the back of our van – Harlan never did forgive me for the mess it made…."

"Cost me a hundred bucks to get the thing cleaned afterward," Harlan scowled. "Never smelled the same since."

"Momma, that’s enough….."

"….and as we all stood there, she had the baby." Veronica’s eyes were misty. "The miracle of life and birth, right in the middle of Country Joe and the Fish singing about going to Vietnam."

"Momma…."

Veronica laughed to herself and put a delicate hand on Jax’s arm. "And then, we didn’t have anything to use to cut the cord, and someone brought us this old roach clip…"

"MOTHER!!!" Brenda looked like her blood pressure was about to go through the roof. Jax, meanwhile, was beginning to feel a little guilty at Brenda’s chagrin. "I really think that Dr. Jacks probably has other patients to see and we’ve taken up enough of his valuable time."

"Yeah? Other patients? How much a pop do you charge for these visits, son?" Harlan said, leaning over to Jax. "I assume you have someone making wise investments for you."

"Well, if I don’t, you’ll be the first one I call," Jax said with a confused smile. "And as a matter of fact – I need to do a little post-op checkup on your daughter, here, and I think we all need to let her get some rest."

Brenda’s face grew even whiter and her eyes enlarged considerably. "Checkup?"

Veronica ignored her daughter’s concerns and leaned over to hug her. "Well, Tooshie, your dad and I will be staying in town for a few days until we’re sure you’re alright."

"Can I drop you somewhere, Mrs. B?" Lois asked, rising from her chair. "I’m on my way home myself since poor Ned here is on duty until later tonight."

"Oh, Lois, darling, that would be *groovy*," Veronica answered, coming over to link arms with her. "We’re staying at the Ritz Carlton in our usual penthouse suite if it’s not out of your way."

Jax’s eyes grew almost as wide as Brenda’s. "The Ritz Carlton? That’s a rather expensive hotel, isn’t it?" {You scum. You let your daughter starve while you stay in a five-star hotel.}

Harlan waved his hand in the air. "Yes, but that’s exactly what I mean about good investments, son! When you know where to plant the money, you’d be surprised at all the nice little sprouts you earn." He looked back to Brenda. "Oh, and by the way, Tooshie – you really need to call Hong Kong and give them your latest address. Mifunee tells me your dividend checks have been coming back for almost a year now."

"I know, daddy, I know. I keep meaning to do that and forgetting."

{Wait a minute….she has investments in Hong Kong? She hasn’t been missing dividend checks for a YEAR? Yet Ned said she was in a cash bind?} As Jax turned to give Ned a dirty look, Ned caught his eye and made a hasty retreat out the door. Jax followed him with a determined scowl but Ned was saved when Harlan caught Jax by the arm. "So, you keep taking good care of our little Tooshie, you hear now?"

Jax nodded and glanced back at Brenda, who had pulled the sheet of her hospital bed up over her head. "That’s an interesting nickname – Tooshie. Brenda never mentioned that she had a nickname."

Harlan laughed heartily. "I came up with that one, I did. Always did tell her mother that she had the prettiest little tooshie of all the babies in the nursery." Harlan elbowed Veronica, and there were blown kisses and gestures of "Peace, brother!" before the Barretts finally left the room.

Brenda poked just the very top of her head out from beneath the sheet. "Are they gone – for good?"

"Well, at least until tomorrow – Tooshie," Jax said with an engaging grin. "And you know – I have to agree with your father. That is quite some tooshie you’ve got there, Ms. Barrett."

Brenda’s mouth dropped open. "What happened to professionalism and "you’re just another patient, Brenda"? Just what exactly did you do to my tooshie while I was in surgery?"

"Actually – nothing at all, love," Jax returned, walking over to her bed and pulling her chart from the rack at the bottom. He flipped it open and began to read the notes as Brenda tipped her head to the side.

"You look different today." Brenda folded her arms as Jax replaced the chart in the rack and came to sit next to her on the bed.

"Different? How?" Jax pulled the stethoscope from around his neck and plugged it in his ears. Brenda flinched a little as he placed it against her left breast.

Brenda began to feel very warm, even though she knew full well that Jax was being the consummate professional in examining her. "Well…uh…..your clothes." Jax raised questioning eyes to her as he raised the stethoscope and she grabbed the bottom and talked directly into it like a microphone. "You don’t have on your little white coat today."

Jax laughed and pulled the earplugs out. "That’s true." He glanced down at his attire. "I had two surgeries this morning back to back and I never got a chance to change into my civvies." He had on a V-neck teal cotton loose-fitting shirt and matching teal-colored drawstring pants. Over that, he wore a duster style pale blue coat that was shirred at the waistline and didn’t look like it could possibly ever close in the front. "So what do you think of surgical scrubs, Ms. Barrett?" he asked, rising from the bed and putting his arms out to the side as he did a slow turn.

"Fine," she said, trying to breathe evenly. The teal color seemed to match the color of his eyes, which she had sworn were sky blue previously. "So – do I get a reward for noticing?"

Jax raised one eyebrow playfully. "What kind of reward were you thinking of?"

"Telling me that I get to go home tomorrow?" Brenda replied hopefully, but Jax just broke into a laugh.

"You’ve *got* to be kidding, Brenda! You just had major surgery last night!" He put the stethoscope around his neck and put his hands out to her. "In fact – it’s time for an important milestone for you."

"And that would be?"

"I’ll help you get up out of bed and let’s see if your kidneys and bladder are back to normal functioning order."

"You’re talking bathroom – not bedpan, right?" Brenda thought she had been embarrassed before, but that was only because she hadn’t considered the possibility of using a bedpan with Jax around.

"Yes, bathroom," he replied. He gently pulled back the sheet. "Why don’t we see how steady you are on your feet? I’ll just help you swing your legs out of the bed….."

"NO!!!" Brenda suddenly was more than aware of the fact that her hospital gown had only miserable string ties down the back. But when she tried to move her legs on her own, it put a strain on her stomach muscles and she grimaced in pain. "Well….maybe just a little help…..but don’t you DARE look at my……tooshie!"

Brenda clutched the hospital gown together in the back as Jax lifted her legs under the knees and put them over the side of the bed. "OK, love, now just don’t make any real quick moves and your stitches should be fine." He put his left arm around her waist as she placed her right hand in his right hand for balance getting out of the bed.

Brenda grunted in pain as her feet finally hit the floor and she stood for the first time in over 12 hours. "Oh, geez, Jax……" She swayed a little.

"Feel faint? You want to sit back down?"

"No – now that you mention it, I really DO have to go to the bathroom, and it’ll be a cold day in h*ll before you ever see me use a bedpan." Brenda leaned heavily on Jax’s right hand and put her left hand to where his left hand rested on her hip as she began to take small steps towards the bathroom. She was bent over at a 45 degree angle and she began to blush when she realized that Jax could probably see all of her *assets* as her gown flapped open in the back.

By the time they got to the bathroom door, Brenda was breathing heavily. "Are you sure you’re not going to pass out in there?" Jax asked. "Maybe I should come inside and help….."

"When donkeys fly!" Brenda shrieked. "You sucked my blood, you poked me in the eye, you cut open my belly, but you will never…..I repeat, NEVER…..watch me pee, Dr. Jacks!" Brenda pulled out of his arms vehemently and went into the bathroom, trying to close the door behind her.

"All right, I won’t come in, but I want you to leave the door open just a crack so I know you didn’t pass out in there," Jax called. As Jax turned away from the door, trying to give Brenda a little bit of privacy, he swore under his breath when his pager went off.

When Jax checked the number on the pager and saw it was the ER, he put his head out the door of Brenda’s room and summoned a nurse. As soon as the nurse came to her room, Jax turned back and stood by the bathroom door. "Brenda, they’re paging me down to the ER and I need to go. I’ve called a nurse and she’s right out here to help you get back to your bed."

"OK, thanks Jax. I’ll be fine now." There was an awkward silence.

"Brenda? Did you……were you able to….." Jax stumbled over the words that usually came so easily.

He was answered with the sound of running water. "Happy now, Dr. Pervert?"

Jax chuckled to himself and ran to grab Brenda’s chart and make a note in it before he left. As he was leaving the room, he tapped on her door cheerfully. "Nurse Andrea will help you back to bed, Brenda, but then I’ll be back later to change your dressing and check your incision."

His answer was the sound of a plastic bathroom cup being thrown at the door. Jax ducked at the loud clunking sound, and then smiled at Andrea. "Patient’s getting back to normal, Andrea." He left the room with a jolly smile. "Life is good."

To be continued……