Chapter 6

Jenna stared grumpily at the doors of the emergency room and wondered for about the hundredth time why she was doing this. She shouldn't be here. She had a whole desk load of backlog to go through and a final statement to prepare for the press on Kevin Elliott's arrest. The press release had to get sent to the department's media consultant before she could deliver it and that could take hours.

She had way too much on her plate. She shouldn't be standing outside the doors of the hospital at four am. And she sure as hell shouldn't be going inside to see Doctor Miller again.

She shifted the small white bag she carried to her other hand and resolutely pushed through the doors quickly before she could change her mind. He had done her a favor and she repaid her debts. She only wanted to thank him for what he had done for her. Nothing more, nothing less.

The harsh cleanser smell of disinfectant invaded her nostrils, making her cringe. She hated the cloying smells of hospitals almost as much as she hated staying in them. There was something about that smell that reminded her too much of sickness and death. Natural death, old age death, the kind that took forever to kill you, left you dependant on others, and shamed you by leaving you weak and helpless.

Another bad thought, old age. She hoped she took a bullet before she was old enough to sit in some geriatric home, boring the socks off of everyone with stories about "the good old days" when she was a cop. She didn't want to be ninety, wearing a diaper and gumming her food, waiting for the end because that was all there was left to look forward to.

She stopped at the admittance desk and waited for the nurse standing there to notice her.

It didn't take long before the overworked woman looked up from the notes she was scribbling.

"Can I help you?"

Jenna pulled her badge, flipping it open so the nurse could see her identification as well. "I'd like to see Doctor Miller if he has a minute."

"Ah, certainly. Detective? Is it?"

Jenna nodded and the nurse picked up the phone and paged the doctor. Within minutes he was pushing through the gray doors that separated Emergency from the other areas of the hospital his white doctor's coat flapping around his blue surgical scrubs.

His eyes widened when he recognized her, then narrowed suspiciously.

"Hello Detective." He held out his hand warily.

Jenna took it, amazed that she hadn't remembered just how good looking he was. Or maybe she had and that was why she had been so nervous about coming here.

"Doctor."

Her hand seemed small and almost childlike in his. And even dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, a light jacket concealing the gun he knew she wore, she still looked too young for the responsibility he knew she carried on her slim shoulders. And beautiful, too. He found himself staring into her eyes, thickly lashed and almost impossibly green.

She was the last person he would have pictured to voluntarily come here looking for him. Especially after the way he had walked out on her those days ago when she had so sorely pissed him off. He had thought about her though. He had wondered about her, had been concerned, wishing he knew if she had seen her own doctor, taken the pain killers he had prescribed. And had wondered why he cared at all. She was just one of a million patients that walked or rolled into his life through the emergency room doors.

"What can I do for you, Detective?" He let his eyes roam over her once, only letting her see the detached medical professional in his eyes, not the very interested, very intrigued man. "You certainly look better than the last time I saw you."

"Actually," she cleared her voice to get rid of the little hitch his presence always seemed to bring. "I wanted to thank you for all your help."

He shrugged and glanced around noting the interest in the hospital personnel pretending to be busy. "All part and parcel of the service, Detective. How about I buy you a bad cup of coffee and we can discuss my bill?" he offered grinning down at her. He took her elbow and steered her out of range of curious eyes and headed down towards the cafeteria.

At this time of early morning, the service part of the cafeteria was shut down leaving a handful of machines to deal with the needs for coffee, soft drinks and snacks. Ethan plugged in quarters and ordered the coffee, pulling the flimsy cups out of the machine as they filled. He gestured to one of the empty tables and sat her coffee in front of her.

She took a sip and grimaced. "It is pretty bad." She took another sip and sat the cup aside, realizing she still had a death grip on the white bag.

"Here." She slid the bag hurriedly across the table to him, catching a hint of surprise in his eyes before he grabbed it.

"A present?" He opened the bag, smelling chocolate before it unraveled.

"Double chocolate brownies."

He pulled one out of the bag and breathed in the scent with an air of appreciation that made a smile curve the corner of her full lips. "No nuts?"

"I didn't know if you liked them or not."

"I do," he said, taking a huge bite. "Fantastic." He swallowed, finishing the brownie with one more bite. He took another then offered Jenna the bag. "Sorry, we had a traffic accident come in and I missed lunch. So what do I owe this treat?"

Jenna took another sip of the sludge from the coffee machine. "I owed you. You got me back to work and," she paused, hating to have to admit this, "the painkillers helped a lot. I wouldn't have had them if you hadn't brought them over."

She'd never forget the day after her accident, the pain that just getting up out of bed had caused her to feel had been almost more than she could bear. Without those painkillers, she'd have been forced to take sick leave that day. The thought of the 'told you so' grin that would have been on Justin's face more than made the brownie's well deserved.

Ethan reached out and took the hand that was unconsciously shredding the brownie she had taken to crumbs on a napkin. "These are too good to waste, Jenna."

The blush that stained her cheeks annoyed her as much as embarrassed her even more. He pulled her hand away from the brownie but kept it in his.

"And if you'd like to thank me, how about dinner?"

Jenna felt a sudden spurt of panic. "Uh, dinner?"

Ethan smiled which sent a jolt of something else zapping through Jenna's nervous system to twist in her stomach. "You know, two people. Go to a restaurant. Order food. Eat the food." The smile broadened into a grin when he caught her still stupefied look. "I thought we could eat it together."

"Uh." She was out of her element here. It wasn't as if she hadn't gotten asked out before, she had. And she dated, well, she did when her case load allowed. So, okay, that wasn't a lot, she always figured she did the job better than a personal life anyway.

"Jenna."

She looked up at him. He was still smiling, amused by her. It stiffened her spine and made her just a touch annoyed with him.

"Dinner would be great, Doctor Miller."

"Ethan."

"Dinner would be great, Ethan." She found it easy to say his name, liked the way it sounded, too much. The thought was a little disconcerting.

"I'll pick you up, tonight? 7:00?" His thumb stroked across her palm in a way the made her twitch a little.

Jenna pulled her hand free, rubbing her tingling palm stealthily against the leg of her slacks, and stood. She felt a bit calmer on her feet, enough so that she faced the look in his eyes and tried to smile at him. "That would be great." She turned and headed toward the door. She was almost through it when she turned her head one more time, wanting another glimpse of the picture he made sitting at the table watching her. "Enjoy the brownies, Doc."

A serious case of stress and too much coffee had her nerves jumping as she hunted through her wardrobe, searching for something to wear. She'd already pulled out and discarded half of the contents of her closet. Why hadn't she asked him where they were going?"

She finally decided upon a simple black knit dress, sleeveless with a deep scope neck and short hemline that made the best out of Jenna's considerable attributes. Slim heels added inches to her small stature and made her legs look sleekly curved miles long.

She grabbed a quick shower, powdered, perfumed and primped quickly in the bathroom then hurried into her bedroom. Her dress was laid out next to the small pile of lingerie. Lingerie was her weakness, her one true downfall. She couldn't pass a shop without at least gazing wistfully into the windows at the colorful silks, satins, and laces and dreaming of her next pay raise.

Jenna tugged on the black, lightly boned, satin teddy, sucking in her breath before fastening it over her breasts. Black silk stockings were rolled into place and then clipped carefully into black garters decorated with tiny white bows. Jenna checked out her reflection, pleased with the way the satin clung. Satin and silk lingerie was a weapon, a quiet but very powerful weapon for a woman who knew how to use it. It gave a feeling of naughty confidence and an air of femininity to a woman. Even if a man never saw it, she knew she was wearing it.