Luke sat in his office at the clinic, studying a patient’s chart. His eyes were tired, and he longed to put his head down on the desk for just a few minutes, but he knew the mid-morning lull wouldn’t last. Already, he’d seen several patients since the clinic opened at eight. Minor ailments, mostly, and easily treatable. Only one required referral to the city hospital.
Before he could succumb to the temptation of a brief doze, Vanessa appeared in the office doorway. She was obviously hiding something behind her back, and the N95 respirator she wore did nothing to conceal the smile that reached her eyes.
Luke narrowed his eyes at the nurse. Unlike him, she managed to look refreshed each morning, only growing fatigued toward the end of the day. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a neat braid, and her scrubs were immaculate. “You’re clearly up to no good,” he told her.
Vanessa raised her eyebrows. “On the contrary, I come bearing gifts. Or a gift, rather.” With a flourish, she presented a Mason jar containing clear liquid. “You remember we treated Ernie’s rash yesterday. He’s not able to pay the bill right now, but he brought us some fresh vegetables from his garden. And this.”
Luke leaned back in the chair, regarding the jar with suspicion. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you’re thinking it’s top-of-the-line moonshine, you are correct, Doctor.”
Luke swore under his breath, but even he had to grin. “When I opened this clinic and implemented a sliding scale payment system, that wasn’t exactly the compensation I had in mind.”
Again, Vanessa did her best to look innocent. “He was very insistent that I take it. Said he’d never come back here again for treatment otherwise.”
“Oh, I’m sure he had to twist your arm.” Luke watched as she stepped farther into his office and closed the door behind her. “Is Graham up front?” he asked. Aside from Luke and Vanessa, Graham was the only other person still working at the clinic. The nurse practitioner was in his early thirties and didn’t consider himself above checking in patients or even mopping floors. Without Vanessa and Graham, Luke knew he couldn’t keep the office open.
While Graham was still single, Vanessa was divorced, having arrived in town five years ago after inheriting her grandmother’s small house. When she interviewed to work at the clinic, Luke hired her on the spot. A skilled nurse with an excellent bedside manner, Vanessa had proven herself capable of facing practically any crisis. She and Luke shared the desire to provide medical care to an underserved rural community, and it had been devastating to them both to see the toll the virus had taken on their town.
Vanessa circled around Luke’s desk. “Graham is outside eating a late breakfast,” she said. “He’ll let us know when another patient arrives.”
Only one patient was allowed in the building at a time. By now, everyone who needed help knew the drill: pull up in the front lot and wait to be escorted inside. Everyone also knew that the clinic could offer no adequate treatment for the virus which had already sickened so many. The illness was airborne and extremely contagious; health officials estimated that the mortality rate was as high as twenty-five percent. It had an incubation period of just seventy-two hours, which led to it spreading even more quickly. A shockingly large number of patients developed sepsis, dying before any attempt at mitigating the infection could be made.
Luke’s wife, Helena, had been one of the virus’s victims. Months later, the grief was still raw enough to steal his breath. After her death, he’d found living in the home they’d made together unbearable. He’d locked up the place and all but moved into the clinic. Graham had even helped him carry a couch into his cluttered office. Many nights, he’d lain on that worn-out piece of furniture, praying sleep would overtake him and grant a brief respite from his agony.
Luke knew he’d leaned on Vanessa hard during that time, and she willingly bore the weight of his grief. Graham did all he could, but it was Vanessa who pulled Luke through. When she contracted the virus in late winter, he was terrified he would lose her as well. Her house was just down the street from the clinic, within easy walking distance, and while she lay in her bed, struggling through the illness, Luke stayed by her side.
In the process of tending to her, he was also infected. Once they both recovered, they remained fatigued for many weeks afterward. Vanessa now seemed to be fully well, but Luke occasionally experienced shortness of breath while doing things that were effortless prior to him falling ill.
Vanessa rested a hand on his shoulder. “You look worn out,” she murmured. “You’re pushing yourself too hard.” Her fingers moved to his hair; as she stroked the dark strands, he closed his eyes, relaxing into her touch.
This was new between them. Very new. They’d always worked well together, their playful banter and mutual respect easing the stress of their jobs. But after what they’d endured over the past six months, the professional boundaries between them had eroded. Vanessa had recently begun inviting him to her house for dinner each evening, and it was only two weeks ago when she first suggested that he stay the night instead of heading back to the uncomfortable couch in his office. Luke found he craved that intimacy even as it wracked him with guilt.
Gazing up at her now, Luke wondered just what Vanessa saw in him. Though she was thirty-six, only four years his junior, she could have easily been mistaken for a woman in her twenties. Luke used to consider himself handsome in a bland, unremarkable way, but his face was now craggy, sporting lines that had seemingly materialized overnight.
He remembered the way Vanessa looked while lying beneath him the night before, when he was inside her. The memory made him slide a hand along her thigh. “Oh, you’re definitely waking me up,” he said. Behind his mask, he grinned as his fingers inched higher. Though he normally strove to be professional when he and Vanessa were at the clinic, the urge to touch her was impossible to resist today. She offered no protest, instead allowing Luke to toy with her. He noticed her breasts rising and falling a little faster, and her stare took on a heat he immediately recognized.
It was only when a knock sounded on the door that they abruptly drew apart. “Come in,” Luke called.
Graham opened the door, looking from Vanessa to Luke. If the nurse practitioner sensed what was going on between his colleagues, he did a good job of hiding it. His sandy blond hair had recently been cut, thanks to Vanessa, and his blue eyes were large and solemn behind his glasses. “Sorry to interrupt, but we have a patient outside. Liam’s come from the Hall place. He has a woman with him; I’ve never seen her before. She’s unconscious.”
Luke quickly stood, grabbing his lab coat. Moments later, the three of them were outside, approaching Liam’s ancient SUV. Luke hadn’t seen the young man in many months, and he now struggled to recognize him, with his long curls. Graham had given Liam a mask to wear, but his beard likely made it less effective. Still, it was far better than nothing.
“Dr. Luke!” Liam called him by his first name, just as many of his younger patients did. “We’re not sick with the virus, but something’s wrong with my friend. I can’t get her to wake up.”
Reaching the vehicle, Luke peered into the backseat, where a young woman lay stretched out, as if in a deep slumber. “How long has she been like this?”
“Since last night or early this morning.” Liam’s voice took on a high note of alarm.
Luke glanced at Graham and Vanessa. Whatever was wrong with this woman, he was almost certain they couldn’t help her here. Yet he wasn’t sure he’d be able to live with himself if he turned Liam away. “Let’s get her inside.”
“I’ll carry her,” Liam hurriedly volunteered. “She’s light as a feather.”
Graham started to argue, but Luke held up a hand. Already, he could see that Liam wouldn’t be separated from the stranger. “We’ll need to close the clinic until we determine what we’re dealing with here,” Luke said. Graham’s stare was grim as he nodded.
Once Liam had gathered the woman in his arms, he followed Luke around the building to the back entrance. Luke directed him to a small exam room, one that was isolated from much of the rest of the clinic. It was where he saw patients who were ill with a potentially infectious disease.
Liam laid the woman down on the exam table as if she were fragile. Luke noticed the woman was wearing an ill-fitting dress, and her feet were bare. Her long, dark hair was tousled, as if she’d just been pulled from bed.
Vanessa stepped into the room seconds later, while Luke was washing his hands. As she set about collecting information from Liam, Luke put on gloves and then took a swab from his patient in order to ensure she wasn’t infected with the virus. Graham appeared as if summoned, retrieving the swab to perform a rapid test.
Once Graham had departed, Liam went on speaking. “Her name’s Celeste,” he revealed. “She said she’s twenty-four… at least, I think that’s what she said. Yesterday, she came out of the woods bordering the Hall property. She told me she’s from that tiny community on the other side of the ridge.”
Luke lifted his head, exchanging another glance with Vanessa. Neither of them was originally from this area; he’d moved here with Helena less than ten years ago, when he opened the clinic. Vanessa knew more about the town’s history, since her father was born and raised here. But even she seemed perplexed by what Liam said.
“That community actually exists?” she asked him. “I thought that was just local folklore, passed down from generation to generation.”
“Not according to her.” Liam nodded toward the unconscious woman. “She said the men left many years ago, and then the women started leaving one by one, until it was just her and her grandmother. But when her grandmother died in her sleep, she didn’t know what to do, so she came out of the mountains to get help.”
Luke began checking Celeste’s vital signs. “Pulse, fifty-eight BPM,” he told Vanessa so she could jot it down in the chart. “Blood pressure, one-fifteen over seventy-seven. Temperature, ninety-seven point nine.”
Liam let out what sounded like a sigh of relief. “I knew she didn’t have a fever. Last night, she told me she’s never been sick a day in her life.”
As Luke continued his examination, he made sure to keep his tone neutral. “Did you and Celeste happen to use any drugs after she showed up?”
“No, sir,” Liam immediately responded. “And we had tuna fish, canned peaches, and water for dinner. Nothing else.”
Vanessa stepped forward to help Luke remove the woman’s dress. She was naked beneath it. Together, they would inspect her skin for any strange marks or bites. Though Vanessa stood between Liam and the exam table, blocking much of his view, he still turned away.
Almost inaudibly, Vanessa cleared her throat. When Luke met her stare, she nodded pointedly toward the woman’s pubic area. The sight of those matted dark curls made Luke lift an eyebrow.
“Did you and Celeste engage in sexual activity last night, Liam?” he asked in that same nonjudgmental voice.
A brief, heavy silence fell over the room. “Yes, sir,” Liam finally answered. “She was absolutely fine then, I swear! I offered to sleep in the front room and let her have my bed, but she wanted me to stay. Afterward, we both fell asleep, and when I woke up this morning, I found her curled up naked under the bed. She’d burrowed under there like an animal.”
Luke’s eyes locked with Vanessa’s until she gave an almost imperceptible nod: she believed what Liam said.
The woman’s skin bore no marks or bruises. Luke was at a loss as to what had caused her current state. Obviously, Vanessa would need to draw some blood. The hospital lab was still able to perform various diagnostic tests, albeit with a lengthy wait for results.
Taking hold of Celeste’s limp hand, Luke applied pressure to the bed of her fingernail, which produced no response from the woman. She certainly wasn’t feigning unconsciousness. “Maybe it’s a psychosomatic reaction to the sudden loss of her grandmother,” he murmured, more to himself than Vanessa. He was intimately familiar with the damage grief could do. “I think she’s a bit dehydrated, possibly a little anemic, but based on this examination alone, I can’t pinpoint anything that would cause her lack of responsiveness.” Straightening up, he returned to the sink to wash his hands again. “Right now, she’s stable. The hospital is still overwhelmed with patients, and if we send her there, she risks being infected. I can give her fluids here, and blood tests might reveal a lot more about her condition.” Turning toward Liam, he added, “But if she worsens, you’ll need to take her for more help than I can provide.”
Liam’s eyes filled with concern, but he nodded his agreement. “Can I stay here with her?”
Luke didn’t have the heart to tell him he should go on home, that there was nothing he could do for Celeste right now. “Sure, but I’ll need you to stay in this part of the building. There’s a restroom right outside, directly across the hall.”
“I’ll bring you a drink and a snack,” Vanessa said, squeezing Liam’s shoulder. She and Luke were pulling Celeste’s dress back on when Graham opened the door and announced that the test result was negative.
“Dr. Luke?” Liam said then, his voice growing slightly high-pitched again. “Have you heard from my mom? Do you know how she’s doing?” His eyes were wide and hopeful. “She and I didn’t always get along, especially when she took my stepfather’s side all the time, but I called her right before the quarantine went into effect.” The words spilled out of Liam’s mouth like a confession he was compelled to make. “I had to use the phone in the main house, since cell reception’s so bad out my way, but I managed to reach Mom. She said she and my stepdad needed to go into the city to check on his parents, but that they’d be back soon. She told me to stay where I was, because that was safest. I’ve tried to call her plenty of times since then, but I never got an answer. I figured they decided to stay in the city with her in-laws.”
Luke swallowed hard, trying to steel himself before he spoke. “I’m so sorry, Liam.”
Liam looked from him to Vanessa, his stare stricken. “What happened?” A sob threatened to choke off his voice.
“They fell ill two days after returning home,” Vanessa said quietly. “Liam, we thought you knew, or we would have…”
“They’re both gone?” Liam actually swayed on his feet, prompting Luke to grab his arm and lead him to a chair. “I… I don’t have anyone else.” His stare settled on the woman lying on the exam table. “I can’t lose her, too.” He spoke in a whisper, but Luke heard him.
And Luke’s own grief reemerged, threatening to overwhelm him, for he understood that feeling of excruciating despair. And he also understood Liam’s bond with Celeste, which only grew stronger in his desolation. Hadn’t Luke felt the same way toward Vanessa? Didn’t he still?
Though the clinic was closed for the rest of the day, Luke remained there along with Vanessa and Graham. One of the three often checked on their new patient to monitor her vital signs, which were always normal. At five that evening, Graham offered to stay at the clinic while Luke and Vanessa went to her house for dinner. “If anything changes here, I’ll call,” Graham said.
As soon as Luke reached the sidewalk in front of the office, he removed his mask, and Vanessa did the same. They hungrily gulped the fresh air, relieved for a break from the respirators. Making their way toward her place, they passed shuttered businesses, as well as several residences. Some people sat outside on their front porches, taking advantage of the balmy weather. Luke and Vanessa waved to each person they saw, but no one spoke.
Once they were inside Vanessa’s living room, Luke stared pointedly at the large bag the nurse carried. “You didn’t bring it with you.”
“I did!” Vanessa replied gleefully. “Come on, let’s each have a big swallow before we eat.” She held up the Mason jar full of moonshine while flashing a huge grin.
Luke balked at the suggestion. “You want to drink that on an empty stomach?”
“Come on, have a little fun!” she insisted. He watched as she unscrewed the lid and took a whiff. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t suppress a grimace.
“I’ll remind you that we have a patient at the clinic,” Luke said, but his tone was mild.
“And she’s being very well cared for by Graham at this time.” Vanessa headed into the kitchen, with Luke close behind. After locating a shot glass in one of the cabinets, she poured herself a drink. Luke’s eyes widened when Vanessa tossed back the liquor, swallowing it down with a shudder.
“It’s not horrible,” she pronounced between coughs.
Luke raised an eyebrow. “Your face says otherwise.” Reluctantly, he took the glass from her, already anticipating the alcohol’s burn. Down it went, making his eyes water. “Christ!” he rasped out.
Vanessa erupted into giggles; seeing her so happy made it all worthwhile to Luke. His expression softened as he reached for her. “Come here.”
She welcomed his kiss, slipping her arms around his neck. He clearly heard her eager moan, which encouraged him to slide his hands down to her firm buttocks. Vanessa was lean and strong, her curves more subtle than Helena’s had been. Luke pushed the thought of his late wife from his mind, unable to bear the pang of guilt within his chest.
Vanessa reached between them, stroking Luke through his pants. “Dinner can wait a few minutes, don’t you think?” she whispered.
“We don’t have much time,” he protested weakly.
“Then we’d better make the most of it.” She gazed up at him expectantly, her eyes holding a challenge.
Luke lowered his mouth to hers, his kiss far more fervent now. As they stumbled toward Vanessa’s bedroom, she pulled off her top, and he rushed to unbutton his shirt. The room’s window blinds were closed, and shadows fell upon the neatly made bed.
Those shadows embraced Vanessa when she lay back, wearing nothing but her panties. Leaning forward, Luke tugged them down her legs. By the time he had her free of the undergarment, and he stood naked before her, his cock was fully hard. Vanessa stared at it with blatant desire.
He lay upon her, his mouth demanding. A wild hunger overtook him as he kissed her neck. His tongue swept along the valley between her breasts before he suckled her left nipple. The sound of her moans spurred him on until he couldn’t wait a minute longer.
A guttural sound escaped his throat when he slid deep inside Vanessa. She released a needy cry that made his cock pulse while it was surrounded by her slick flesh. Luke cupped a hand against the back of her head, desperate for another kiss. His hips struck up a fluid rhythm, and Vanessa held him fast as he strove to satisfy her.
When she smiled up at him, her lips parted and her eyes slightly unfocused, he felt a flood of tenderness, along with a heightening of his lust. Vanessa’s hands slid down to grip his ass, a sign that she longed for him to thrust harder. He readily did so, sensing the approach of her climax. How easy it was to make her come! When Luke went down on her, she always orgasmed within just a few minutes. Being used to extended foreplay sessions, he spent far longer than that with his face buried between her thighs. If they weren’t pressed for time, he continued pleasuring her until she begged for mercy.
And she was almost as quickly to come from intercourse. Now, he felt her nails at his back, not hard enough to break the skin. Sometimes he wished she would mark him; he yearned to feel the sting.
Vanessa let out a cry that sounded almost startled, as if she were shocked by the force of her orgasm. Luke gazed down at her, transfixed by the helplessness in her eyes. While she trembled, he kept pumping away, aching for his own release.
Yet it eluded him. His jaw tightened, and a layer of sweat formed on his skin, but he found it impossible to simply let go. Vanessa, having previously complimented his stamina, appreciated it now, for she came yet again.
When her bliss ebbed, she met his stare. “Let me take care of you, baby.” Her voice was low and seductive.
Luke withdrew, panting from exertion. “I’m sorry it’s taking me so long tonight.”
“Don’t apologize for lasting!” Vanessa said with a giggle.
As Luke lay on his back, she knelt between his spread legs. “Ah, yes!” he groaned as her gorgeous lips circled his cockhead. His skin was covered in her ample juices, and as she began sucking him off, her hand expertly worked to stroke his length. A shudder coursed through him at the feel of her tongue caressing his sac. “Fuck, I’m close!”
She moaned in encouragement, taking him deeper. All the while, she fondled his balls. With the fingertips of her other hand, she sought out his perineum, massaging that sensitive area with the perfect amount of pressure.
Seconds later, Luke came with a groan. He struggled not to arch his back and thrust far into Vanessa’s mouth. She’d drained him dry the night before, so it was practically effortless for her to swallow his cum now. When she was finished, her tongue glided along his shaft, and then her lips circled his tip once more.
Already, Luke was growing sensitive, but Vanessa knew how much he enjoyed the lingering attention of her mouth. Gently, she suckled his glans; the exquisite sensation made him tremble, and he was unable to suppress a whimper.
Finally, she sat up, wearing a triumphant smile. “God, I needed that!”
Laughing low and soft, Luke reached for her. They shared a kiss which tasted of liquor and cum. Exhaustion tugged at the edges of his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep with Vanessa in his arms. But before he could even close his eyes, her phone rang. Quickly, she moved to answer it.
Luke recognized Graham’s voice on the line, informing Vanessa, “Celeste is awake.”
