Stand to attention, p.18
Stand to Attention, page 18
“I really like the décor here,” he said, looking around at the modern, contemporary furnishings. “It makes my condo look like a dump. I think I still have some of the same furniture I had in medical school.”
“What do you do at Packard? I mean, what kind of medicine do you practice?” Patrick asked, relieved to have finally found an opening that would hopefully lead to something he could take back to Jake.
“I’m assistant director of internal medicine. Basically, I see almost anyone that comes into the hospital who doesn’t require surgery.”
“Sounds like a heavy load. With Thurmond retiring, you think you’ll take over his position?”
Craig’s face clouded and he shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d like to be the director, but I’m not counting on it. I heard through the grapevine that someone from Utah wants to transfer here, and the hospital administration is likely to give the job to him.”
Although Craig’s expression remained neutral, Patrick heard the underlying resentment in his voice. “That doesn’t seem fair. Someone from Utah couldn’t possibly know the hospital as well as you.”
“I do think I’m the best man for the position.” Craig blushed. “I guess that sounds a little egotistical, huh?”
“Not at all. When you’re good at what you do, it’s not egotistical to admit it. That’s just self-confidence.”
“Yeah, well, neither ego nor self-confidence is going to get me that job. I don’t know what it’s like in intelligence, but when it comes to the Medical Corps, it’s more about who you know than what you know.”
“It’s the same in intelligence. I think office politics control everything and everyone in the army.”
“Yeah, but when it comes to Packard, that shouldn’t be the case. People’s lives are at stake, and I can’t make any headway because a pencil pusher somewhere decided it’s not cost effective. Thurmond made things worse by being too scared to confront the hospital administration over how dire the situation really is.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“You have no idea.” Craig downed his drink and Patrick quickly got up to fix him another, wanting to keep him talking. “You remember when the Walter Reed Hospital made the news a few years back? Packard is approaching that level of catastrophe.”
“That’s horrible. Maybe you can do something now that Thurmond’s retired and before his replacement arrives.”
Patrick handed Craig a fresh drink, and he took several healthy swallows. “I’ve already tried to do something even before Thurmond left. It was a pretty risky and desperate thing to do, but it didn’t work.”
“What did you do?” Patrick leaned forward, hoping that the true extent of his interest didn’t show on his face.
“Nothing worth mentioning, since it didn’t pan out.” Craig shook his head ruefully. “Sorry for going off on such a jag. You didn’t invite me here to listen to me whine and vent. Let’s drop all the work talk, tell me more about you.”
Patrick wanted to press Craig for more details about what he did, but knew he couldn’t do it without arousing suspicions. He had no choice but to let the matter drop. “Uh-oh. I don’t do anything but work, and if we can’t talk about work…”
“I know there’s more to you than your job. What about these pictures?” Craig rose and walked over to where the picture frames were lined up on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. “Is this your family?”
“The picture on the end is me and my older brother, Greg, when he graduated from West Point.” Patrick got up and stood next to Craig. “The one in the middle is me and my mother at my grandfather’s eightieth birthday, and the one on the end is of the entire family last summer.”
“You all look really close.”
“Yeah, I guess.” When Craig shot him a look, Patrick realized his tone must have sounded odd. “I mean, we are there for each other, but we have our difficulties and differences just like everyone else.”
“I wouldn’t know. My parents were on drugs, and I grew up in and out of foster homes. I’d have given my right arm to have a family, difficulties, differences and all.”
Craig looked so vulnerable, Patrick reached out and started stroking his arm before he could help himself. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay. It happened a long time ago, and I’ve come out on the other side of it in one piece.
Patrick pulled Craig close to him and their lips met, hesitantly at first, but the kisses grew bolder when he realized the desire was mutual. Craig circled his arms around his waist, and he responded by slipping his tongue into the ready heat of Craig’s mouth. He could still taste some of the remnants of the scotch and soda, and the kiss grew more heated with Craig’s tongue joining in the tango.
He ran his hands through Craig’s hair, enjoying the sharp, bristly feel. Craig pulled his mouth away to let out a soft moan. “Oh, do that again!”
“This?” Using his fingertips, Patrick stroked the edge of Craig’s forehead and stretched out his fingers until his entire hand covered the man’s scalp. With great care and tenderness, he slowly made his way from the crest of Craig’s skull to the curve just above his collar. He then applied the same technique in reverse, using his fingers to trace a delicate path from the soft spot where Craig’s head ended and the neck began, over the broad expanse of his skull, ending up back where he started at the tip of Craig’s forehead.
Craig, whose eyes had been closed, opened them to show Patrick clouds of lust and passion. “I could stand here for the rest of my life, letting you do that to me.”
“Anything that gives you pleasure, I’m happy to do, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there are other things I’d like to do to you, too.”
“Oh, I want those, too. And I want to do them back to you.” Craig dropped his hand from Patrick’s waist down to between his legs and cupped his balls. “You feel huge.”
Craig’s words made Patrick grow even harder, and he decided to reciprocate, sliding his hand down to Craig’s crotch and stroking the bulge straining through the pants. “Two can play that game.”
“I’m going to come if you keep doing that,” Craig warned.
“Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you.” Patrick put a finger in the waistband of Craig’s pants and pulled him toward the bedroom. “But neither one of us are going to come. Not yet.”
“Whatever you say…” Craig started, but Patrick drowned out the rest of his words with a long, searching kiss. He couldn’t remember tasting a mouth this smooth and velvety. He became vaguely aware of Craig unbuttoning his shirt, tugging at his belt and unzipping his pants. Finally pulling his lips away from Craig’s, he found himself practically naked, with his pants bunched down around his ankles, his shirt off and an enormous erection ready to burst out of his briefs.
“You’ve had a lot of practice undressing guys?” Patrick asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Enough,” Craig answered, running his hands all over the rough contours of Patrick’s body. Everywhere Craig touched left a tingle, and after a few minutes, Patrick’s entire body felt like it was on fire.
Craig stuck his thumb on either side of the elastic of Patrick’s briefs and dragged them down Patrick’s legs, sinking to his knees while doing so. Patrick took a deep breath when Craig licked the tip of his cock. Pre-cum had already started to drip from it, but Craig lapped it up like it was nectar.
“That feels incredible,” he said, massaging Craig’s hair while slowly easing more and more of his erection into his mouth. Craig provided no resistance and appeared more than eager to take all that Patrick was willing to give. When Craig snuck a hand up in between his legs to fondle his balls, Patrick knew he couldn’t hold out any longer. “I have to… I need to…”
He tried to push Craig away, but Craig remained firmly planted in place, not allowing Patrick to withdraw. He kept up the pressure and continued to suck, but ramped up the tempo until Patrick could no longer keep up, and ecstasy overtook him. With a violent shudder, Patrick exploded, his cock pulsating spurt after spurt of cum down Craig’s throat.
Dizzy, Patrick sank to his knees so that he and Craig were once again face to face. He leaned over for a light kiss, enjoying the taste of his salty cum on Craig’s lips. “That was fantastic.”
“It was,” Craig said, a wicked smile crossing his face. “And we’re not even done yet.”
Patrick watched Craig quickly strip off his clothes. Once naked, they embraced again, rubbing their crotches against each other. Although he’d thought he was spent, Patrick felt himself getting hard again.
“Please tell me you have a condom and some lube,” Craig mumbled, extending his hands down to Patrick’s ass and squeezing.
“I do, follow me.” Patrick stood up and pulled Craig up to his feet, too. After they reached the bedroom, Patrick retrieved both items from a bedside table. Before he could hand them over, he found himself enveloped in Craig’s arms, being swept away on yet another tide of pleasure. He let Craig edge him toward the bed, their lips never parting even when they tumbled onto it.
Their bodies entwined, Patrick and Craig kissed. They ground their cocks against each other until Patrick thought the friction would make him come again.
As if anticipating it, Craig turned Patrick onto his stomach. “Hold on, not yet,” he whispered.
A shiver of delight ran through Patrick when he looked over his shoulder and saw Craig squeezing the lube on two of his fingers. He tensed a little at the cold shock of Craig’s fingers entering his hole, but he relaxed and began to enjoy the thrusting rhythm Craig quickly established. He spread his legs wider and arched his ass up a little higher to allow Craig to insert a third finger.
“You’re so tight,” Craig said in a voice thick with desire. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”
“Me neither,” Patrick said, hoping it would be soon because he didn’t think he could wait any longer. The sensations caused by Craig’s fingers combined with the friction of his cock rubbing up against the sheets made him feel like he would explode again at any moment.
As if sensing his eagerness, Craig climbed on the bed and Patrick reveled in the sudden warmth. He heard the rip of the condom wrapper, and moaned when Craig easily slid in a few moments later.
“Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes,” Craig groaned, moving in and out slowly at first, but quickening his pace when Patrick shifted his hips to take more of Craig in. Soon he could feel Craig totally inside him, thrusting and pushing toward a climax that couldn’t be delayed any longer.
While he never wanted the fucking to end, Patrick couldn’t deny that the subsequent orgasm was the most intense and exhilarating he’d ever experienced. He became so lost in the bliss that it felt like he’d been transported to another time and place. However, a forceful shudder and a shout from Craig that signaled his own climax brought Patrick back to the present.
Craig collapsed onto the bed, and Patrick snuggled closer into his arms against the rise and fall of the other man’s chest. What the hell are you doing? The question echoed through Patrick’s mind once again, but the warm security of Craig’s embrace somehow made question seem irrelevant, and coming up with an answer even less so.
Chapter Four
“Good morning!” Craig entered his outer office with a smile on his face, but it faded when executive assistant, Kerry Ventrell, greeted him with a scowl and a handful of messages.
“I’m so glad you’re finally here. General Driscoll called and said that the new residents he promised would be here next week won’t actually be here until next month. Meanwhile, the primary clinic is already overbooked for the day, and Lieutenant Hadley called in sick.”
“So, in other words, it’s a typical Monday morning here at Packard.” Craig sighed, wondering how his mood could go from cheerful to crappy so fast. “Give me a minute to change into scrubs, and I’ll fill in for Hadley.”
Kerry shook her head. “You can’t. You have back to back meetings until mid-afternoon. You’re filling in for Thurmond until his replacement is named, remember? That means you need to attend all the staff and administrative meetings he usually does on Mondays.”
“How could I forget?” Craig felt his mood grow even blacker. It was just like the hospital administration to decide not to name him Thurmond’s replacement, but still require him to do all of the work as if he had been. “I’ll simply have to explain that we’re shorthanded and I can’t take time away from the clinic to go to the meetings.”
“The other directors won’t like that. They might take advantage of your absence to cut the budget for the clinic and Internal Medicine Department even further.”
“You’re a bright ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” Despite the annoyance in his tone, Craig relied on Kerry a great deal. She’d worked at Packard for over twenty years, the last eight as executive administrative assistant to the director of internal medicine. She knew more about the inner workings of Packard than anyone, so Craig knew she spoke with authority about the importance of his presence at the meetings.
Kerry gave him a sympathetic look. “You might be able to get out of the morning meetings because those are just conference calls. But you have to attend the afternoon meeting with the other hospital directors. That one is crucial.”
“I guess working the morning hours is better than nothing.” Craig sighed. “Is there anything in that stack of messages you’re holding that I need to deal with before I head down to the clinic?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until this afternoon. Now hurry up and do whatever you need to do in your office so you can get down to the clinic. I saw Bess Alvarez on my way in this morning, and she still looks so sickly.”
Okay, it’s official, this is going to be a shitty day, Craig decided. After the glorious weekend he’d just experienced, he’d hoped some of those positive vibes would carry over into the week ahead. Clearly, it was not to be.
Entering his small, cramped office, Craig stripped out of his army uniform and into the blue scrubs he preferred to wear when he worked in the clinic. Despite the difficult day that lay in front of him, he couldn’t help but smile when reflecting on the weekend past. He’d spent the entire time with Patrick, not leaving his house until a few hours ago.
It had been a long time since Craig had gotten laid, and even longer since it had been that good, that intense. Toward the end of his relationship with Ethan, the sex had become routine, almost perfunctory. It was one of the reasons Craig had been reluctant to start things up between them again. They both needed to move on with other people, and the fulfilment he’d found with Patrick this past weekend was proof of that.
Patrick had still been asleep when Craig had finally left him, looking so adorable that Craig had hated to wake him, so he’d left a note. It didn’t seem an adequate way to express just how much pleasure and enjoyment he’d had over the last three nights, but Craig hoped he’d get the chance to do so later.
Would there be a later? Craig wondered while he headed downstairs to the Packard primary clinic. That was his first one-night stand and he wasn’t clear on the rules. If you spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday night together, did it still count as a one-night stand? That much time together had to mean it wasn’t just a casual thing.
Maybe if you hadn’t been such a chicken and had gone ahead and woken Patrick up, you could have asked him yourself. Craig stopped a few steps shy of the clinic entrance to collect himself. He needed to get Patrick out of his head, at least for now. The patients were already getting shortchanged by Packard’s slashed budget and decreased resources. They didn’t deserve a distracted physician, too.
Pushing through the glass doors, Craig’s eyes went straight to Bess Alvarez, a young army sergeant he’d been treating since her return from Afghanistan two months ago. Though she’d come back to the US free from physical injuries, a debilitating virus she’d caught over there had kept her in and out of Packard ever since.
Kneeling beside the chair where she sat, Craig said, “Hey there, how are you feeling?”
Bess managed a weak smile, but it was evident it took a great effort. “Not too good, Doc. I haven’t been able to keep anything down since Saturday afternoon.”
Craig took in her jaundiced eyes and flushed face. “When’s the last time you took your temperature?”
“This morning. It was one-hundred point three degrees.”
“That’s a fever! Bess, we’ve discussed this, why didn’t you call an ambulance and get admitted to the ER?”
The words came out harsher than Craig intended and he felt ashamed when Bess’ lower lip started to tremble. “I thought about it, but the last time I did, the doctor gave me such a hard time. He said the ambulances were very expensive and needed for people who were really sick.”
Craig could have happily strangled the colleague who’d told her that. He decided not to even bother asking Bess if she knew who the dumbass was, because he knew most of his fellow doctors felt and acted that way. The army cutbacks to Packard’s budget had taken their toll, and unfortunately, some of the doctors took their frustrations out on the patients.
However, Craig vowed never to let the hospital’s budget constraints interfere with his patients’ treatment and care. “Bess, you’re very sick, and you were well within your rights to call an ambulance. But never mind that, at least you’re here now. I’ll admit you to the hospital myself. We need to get an IV started.”
Craig rose to his feet and expected Bess to do likewise, but she remained seated. “Do I have to be admitted? Can’t you give me an IV and antibiotics here in the clinic and send me home?”
“We can do that, sure, but is there some reason you don’t want to be admitted?”
Bess let out a weary sigh. “The last time I got admitted, it took six hours before they could find me a bed. I got assigned to a room with seven other people, and it was another three hours before a doctor finally got around to seeing me. To top it all off, I checked out of the hospital with a cough I didn’t have when I first came in.”
