Zenith Rising Read Online Free

want. It doesn’t matter. It was time for me to grow up.
Anyway, I don’t play for real without Rob.”
    “Really? Why? You don’t need him to play the
piano.”
    “Because I’m not going anywhere without
him.”
    “But that’s just it; you could.”
    “No. I couldn’t. How many piano players do
you know? It’s the singers who make it big, and their bands by
default. So if I ever had a chance, it’s invariably tied to Rob.
And Rob’s not ready yet. To do anything, or go anywhere
musically.”
    “So you’re waiting him out?”
    “Something like that.”
    “You have an admirable amount of loyalty for
your friend.”
    “He’s all I got. So I can wait as long as it
takes, provided he continues trying so hard to clean up. Besides, I
had some considerable cleaning up to do myself.”
    Erica looked down to realize she’d eaten her
entire dinner. Every last bite, in front of Spencer, no less. Great. Just what she needed at twelve-thirty at night.
    Jenna came over, took Erica’s plate and set
the check down while she refilled their coffee.
    “Where do you work then? If you’re not
playing piano anywhere?”
    “Delivery man. Waiter. Whatever I can get.
Right now though? Nothing. Times suck, even shitty jobs are hard to
find.”
    She picked up the check, then set it back
down after realizing she left her purse in the on-call room. How
fitting! He just got through telling her he was unemployed, and she
had no means to buy her own dinner. “I didn’t bring my purse.”
    “I know, Doc,” he said simply before picking
up the check and walking to the cash register.
    She waited for him at the entry. When he
turned and walked towards her, she said, “I’ll pay you back.”
    “Don’t be stupid.”
    “I just…” She almost pointed out that he just
said he didn’t have a job; but she bit her tongue after seeing the
mean look he shot her.
    “You owe me a coffee sometime.”
    ****
    Erica followed Spencer back to the hospital.
Why did he keep calling her “Doc” in that nearly insolent, lazy
tone. The way he drew it out was almost disrespectful. Why wouldn’t
he just call her Erica? She had no clue about how to interact with
this Spike-now-Spencer man, much less what to say to his careless,
offhand questions, his long, loose-limbed gait, or his intense
looks that were nearly expressionless. Yet, he seemed so much more
than that. Deeper. Darker. Hotter.
    Then they were back to easy familiarity. The
hospital. Her bailiwick, where she brought new life into the world,
sometimes death, and provided comfort for those in pain. At least,
over that realm she had some semblance of control.
    Joelle’s room was empty. The Lassiter women
seemed to have scattered for the night. Erica knocked lightly and
entered when Joelle told her to come in. Joelle looked pale and
tired. She lifted her head, and smiled with pleasure at seeing
Erica. Then she grinned as she noticed Spencer behind her.
    “Never thought I’d see you two walking in
here together.”
    “We had to take cover from Nick’s estrogen
entourage,” Spencer said, crossing the room to Joelle’s side, and
kissing her cheek. They still puzzled Erica, especially when
Spencer was Spike. There was a brotherly sense of caring, and
gentle, protectiveness Spencer showed with Joelle and she with him,
despite Joelle’s ex being Spencer’s best friend.
    She glanced at Joelle’s chart and did a quick
check.
    “Erica, quit being a doctor. Hold my
daughter.”
    Erica looked up, startled, as Nick’s voice
came up behind her. She turned and grinned. “Okay. I can quit being
a doctor for a few minutes.”
    Erica took the now quiet infant from Nick.
She sniffed the little head and had to refrain from shutting her
eyes in ecstasy. She could almost feel her womb contract with
longing. God, she wanted a baby. Her own baby. Not babies she had
to give back to their mothers. She wanted to not only be the baby
doctor; she wanted to be the new mother. She wanted to be tired,
worn