Winning Dana's Heart

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Winning Dana's Heart

Part Seven

By Chris

When Dana got off, she went on to her place to shower and get a nap in before going to Carol's house. And for the first time since she had broken it off with Raven, she had something else to look forward to, a day with some fun ladies who loved to laugh and love to make the people around them have fun too.

When she got to Carol's house, she saw that Judy's minivan was already there. By the time she got out of her car, Judy, Madison, and Carol were already coming out of the house.

"Come on Lilly; get your ass in gear... Dana is here and we want to get the show on the road!" she heard July yell back into Carol's house.

"Give a pregnant girl a minute... I had to pee again..." Lilly yelled back at Judy.

"You have to pee every five minutes," Judy yelled back giving Dana a wink as she grinned.

"So did you," Carol told Judy.

"I know but I love teasing her," Judy said as Lilly finally came out of the house.

"You know I could just pee in your car if you don't like waiting on me to pee," Lilly shot back placing her hand on her belly that was just starting to show really well.

"Where's Rachel?" Dana asked. "I thought that she was coming along."

"I thought that this would be more fun if it was just us girls so I talked her daddy into taking her and her demon brothers to the water park instead. I knew that was the one thing that she would choose over shopping." Judy said with a laugh.

"Then let's have some fun ladies," Dana said getting into the back seat of the minivan with Lilly and Madison as Judy drove and Carol sat in the front passenger seat.

The day did end up as much fun as Dana had hoped it would be. They started out at the mall doing some shopping, but mostly they talked and laughed. They were able to show Dana that she wasn't alone and that she could still have fun without Raven in her life. She did think about her, but not for long, Carol and her daughter-in-laws made sure of that.

That night, she knew that she would be alright, the pain of in her heart was there, however it was lessening. She still loved Raven so much but she was determined to keep that as a fading memory and go on with her life. So Sunday when she got up, she felt like life was worth exploring again, but romance would have to wait for a while. She wasn't ready to go that far with her exploring; she just wanted to get on with her life. That evening, as she showered, she had her last cry for Raven, letting all of her emotions out thus ridding herself of that double crossing woman named Raven... or so she thought...

Monday and Tuesday went pretty well, the floor that she and Carol was assigned was full so they were on their feet most of the night but there was nothing serious enough to have to call Raven up to assist. However Wednesday proved to be a different matter. They were assigned to the surgery floor with half of the floor recovering from surgery and the other have having surgery the next day. That meant that half of the floor was in pain and medicated so they had to keep up what each patient were taking or had received. The other half of the floor was having trouble sleeping because they were nervous about their upcoming surgery.

They did have Jane helping them as well as a nursing student. They were coping pretty well and Dana liked how busy they were as it kept her mind busy. However one of her patients began to have a reaction to the anesthesia so that she began to talk out of her head scaring her poor husband to death and then she began to throw up thus risking tearing the stitches. So Dana had to do what she so didn't want to do as her patient was more important to her than avoiding Raven.

Raven was there in only a couple of minutes and Dana was grateful that Raven was all business. She only wanted to know about Dana's patient and what was going on with her. She then went over the patient's record as she went to her room. There she reassured the worried husband while she talked to the patient and examined her. She told Dana what medications to give the women to counteract the anesthesia and another to calm her stomach. Dana left to get the medications hoping that Raven would be gone by the time that she returned.

However Raven was still there and what was worse, she was holding onto the woman's hand while talking to both her and her husband. Just seeing how caring that Raven could be and what a great doctor she was just made her feel the emotions that got her involved with her in the first place. But she steeled herself against those emotions as she entered the patient's room, going to her IV to inject the medication for the anesthesia.

She made the mistake of glancing over at Raven and she felt her hands begin to shake from her nervousness from being so close to Raven and getting a hint of her perfume. "Damn her!" Dana said to herself as she forced her hands to stop shaking so that she could start getting her patient better and Raven out of her room and off her floor. The medication for the patient's nausea was an injection so that it would last longer and get her through the night. Dana started to call for their student nurse to help ease the woman onto her side but Raven insisted on helping.

Dana was on one side of the bed and Raven on the other. Together they eased the patient onto her side but this meant that as Dana injected the medication into the patient's right hip, Raven head was very close and Dana got an even better whiff of her perfume. It was all that Dana could do to get the medication into the woman and her back onto her back. Raven stayed with them until the woman began to calm down and her eyes began to flutter as she fell asleep.

"So how you doing?" Raven asked softly as Dana closed the patient's door behind them.

"Fine," Came Dana short curt reply as she didn't want bring back the feelings that she had just rid herself of feeling.

"Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty morning, would you like to go for a ride... maybe we could talk..." Raven asked.

Dana could hear how hopeful that Raven was but her own hope was gone, "I'm busy and besides there's nothing to talk about." Dana said forcefully before ducking in behind the nursing station and into the back area so that she could get away from Raven.

She saw Carol had been watching them and she gave her a disparate look hoping that she would come to her rescue. And like the good friend she was, Carol did just that.

"Thank you doctor for your help, we'll give you a call if we need anything else," Carol said with the authority ringing in her voice that she really didn't have.

"I thought I was over her," Dana said to Carol, once Raven was gone, as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

"That takes time my dear, lots of time," Carol told her though she had this look that made Dana think that Carol knew something that she didn't. She wanted to question her but she had work to do and this wasn't the time to get all upset again.

She managed to avoid Raven for another week before she was forced to call her up to her floor to assist with a patient. She was a bit more prepared to see her and thus face her however it was the scent of Raven's perfume that got to her and the also sad appearance that her eyes expressed. When Raven left, she found herself back inside the nursing station wiping the tears from her eyes.

Over the next couple of weeks Dana began to wonder if maybe she needed to find a job in another hospital though she really didn't want to move. She loved working with Carol, whom was nearing the end of her nursing career and she didn't want to leave her. But Carol kept telling her that time would help ease the separation and she was right, she did just need time.

She did get to the point that she could face Raven without ending up in tears However that didn't mean that her heart stings wasn't tugged upon, they were but she began to feel that she was slowly putting Raven behind her. The one thing that she knew she couldn't do was to try and be just friends with Raven. There was still that place in her heart that was reserved for Raven and she couldn't rid her heart of that feeling.

There was one strange phenomenon that Carol noticed but she was unable to see. Carol told her that on several occasions when she or Dana had to call upon Raven's services; it was Raven that left with this sort of confused look on her face. Dana figured that Carol was seeing things and even went so far as suggesting that Carol needed her eyes checked. Carol would just smile at her, a smile that bothered her. However sometimes the Goddess of Love has a way of changing the winds of fates... and she did so exactly three months after Dana had left Raven.

Dana happened to be sitting at the nurse's station, entering a comment into one of her patient's computer file. Carol was in one of her patient's room with Raven. Her patient was feeling nausea and she wanted to give him something to make him feel a little better and thus enable him to sleep. Dana had just completed her comment when she looked up to see that Raven was standing on the other side of the counter looking down upon her. She looked into Raven's big brown eyes and she felt her heart give her a pain, a memory of love lost. She also saw a bit of sadness in Raven's eyes which just made the pain worse but Dana was determined to make it pass.

"I broke things off with Connie," Raven said in almost a whisper.

"Oh shit!" Dana said to herself, this wasn't something she really wanted to hear or know. She felt her heart flutter with hope but she knew how to kill that flicker of flame before it became a fire raging out of control.

Dana replied with, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure that your mind will find someone else to love soon."

She was sure that Raven was taken aback by her cold reply, she saw from Raven's eyes that it did what it was intended to do, kill any hope that Raven had in getting her back. Raven didn't say anything, she just looked down at her with sad eyes before turning and heading toward the elevators.

"Was that really necessary?" Carol asked surprising Dana as she didn't realize that Carol had been standing there.

"Yes it was, I'm not going back down that road again..." Dana said using a harsh tone of voice.

"She seemed sincere..." Carol said going to her chair.

"I don't want to talk about it," Dana said feeling a flicker of hope in her heart that she just couldn't shake.

"You could just hear what she had to say?" Carol replied which irritated Dana.

"Whose side are you on anyway? You know how badly she hurt me..." Dana told her.

"Maybe you hurt her too... leaving without giving her a chance to..." Carol was saying.

"Chance to what, break my heart even more, no I'm not going there again, it's over!" Dana said trying to put an end to the conversation though her mind was having its own conversation with her heart and her mind was losing the argument.

"Okay, whatever you say. I'm staying out of it," Carol said as she made a motion with her hands like she was washing them.

"Good," Dana said though she had a suspicion that Carol wasn't about to stay out of it. It wasn't her nature to do so and besides Dana herself had drawn Carol into her romance with Raven so it was pointless to tell her it wasn't her business now.

However Carol was good to her word, at least for the rest of the shift, however she also kept unusually quite giving Dana too much time to think. What she thought the most about was the look in Raven's eyes when she told Raven that she was sure that her mind would find someone to love soon. It was a dig at her and maybe it was a low blow. "No, it was a low blow," Dana thought to herself. She chastised herself for not taking the high road as she always tried to do.

That morning she had to take two Rumba classes just to exhaust herself enough to ensure that she would sleep, however she still tossed and turned as she tried to go to sleep seeing Raven's big sad brown eyes. Even her dreams she felt like someone was watching her, someone with sad eyes that bore into her soul.

That evening Raven again stopped by however Dana saw her first so she slipped into one of her patient's room closing the door behind her. Luckily the patient was asleep and she was able to text Carol to tell her once Raven had ventured on. The next two evening, she again managed to avoid Raven who was obviously trying her best to find a way to talk to her. On Thursday night, hers and Carol's last night before their weekend off, Dana arrived on the floor with this deep foreboding feeling inside of her. She had been lucky so far in avoiding Raven and she knew her luck would soon run out, she just hoped that luck would be with her for one more night. However around two in the morning, she was at the nurse's station when she heard the elevator door open. She knew it had to be Raven and she was stuck without an escape route, she was stuck there at the nurses' station.

"Tell her that I had to go get some supplies," Dana said slipping into the nurse's station, standing against the inner wall so that she could hear what Raven said without being seen.

"I've already used that excuse twice this week," Carol complained. "You know you're going to have to face her sooner or later."

"I'll take later," Dana whispered back.

"Sometimes later comes sooner that you think," Carol whispered.

"Don't you dare!" Dana hissed though she knew her dear old friend would dare.

"Is Dana around?" she heard Raven say to Carol.

"Oh you just missed her, she just went to get some supplies that we really don't need," Carol said.

"I'm going to kill her!" Dana thought to herself.

"She seems to be doing that a lot this week," Raven said.

"Yes she is; I wonder why..." Carol told Raven.

"You know why and now so does Raven," Dana said to herself. "I know I'm going to kill her!" Dana decided that she was completely justified in strangling Carol.

"I see..." Raven said and Dana thought she heard her start to walk away allowing her breathed a litter easier.

"Can I ask you something?" She then heard Raven say from a bit farther away.

"Sure hon, what do you want to know," Carol said and Dana didn't like the way that Carol was addressing Raven, as if she was one of her close friends and not a Doctor.

"I know that you're close to Dana and wouldn't do anything to risk losing her trust," Raven said prepping for her real question.

"No I wouldn't, she's like the daughter I always wanted but wasn't blessed to have." Carol said.

"Good for you," Dana said silently letting out a sigh proud of Carol for showing where her loyalties lie.

"How do I get her to talk to me? I know that somehow I screwed things up and I want another chance to do it right, but I can't do that if she won't talk to me," Raven said and Dana could hear the sadness in Raven's voice, the way that it almost cracked as she talked. It got to her in a way that she didn't like but still she felt her heart going out to Raven despite everything that happened between them.

The seconds seemed to turn into hours as Dana waited for Carol's reply. She knew that Carol would never betray their trust or do anything to hurt her however she was more that capable to doing something that Carol thought was what she needed but couldn't do for herself.

"Raven," Carol finally said and Dana knew that Carol was just about to do what she thought was the right thing to say no matter what she felt about it. The fact that Carol called Raven by her first name meaning she was talking to a young woman who needed her help and not a respected Doctor in the hospital.

"What you need to do is to win Dana's heart." Carol told Raven.

"How do I do that?" Raven asked.

"By telling her what's in your heart, you've got to put it all on the line and don't hold anything back. I know you think that the heart is just a muscle but it's more than that, while it pumps blood it's also pumping love and Dana has a lot of love to give." Carol told Raven.

"Oh god I'm fucked," Dana said silently to herself as she let out a loud sigh, one loud enough for other ears to hear.

"Thank you," Raven said and this time she did walk away going back to the elevator.

"You can come out now dear," Carol said as the elevator doors shut.

"What do you think you're doing, you know how I feel about that two timing bitch!" Dana said louder than she should.

Carol gave her a look that mother's give when they're displeased by their child making Dana feel like that bad child but only for a moment. "You know how I feel!" Dana said in a whisper but one that still carried her anger.

"I know exactly how you feel dear," Carol said just as forcefully. "And when she comes to see you and she will, listen to what she has to say. I do think that she still loves you and she deserves a chance to state her case. In the end it is your decision but please listen to what she says and see if she's talking from her heart."

"She doesn't have a heart remember!" Dana said.

"Yes she does, we all do." Carol told her.

"Yea right," Dana said feeling the anger that was deep inside her soul but not in her heart, it was feeling another strong emotion that just made Dana angrier at Carol to whom she managed not to speak to for the rest of the shift.

When she her shift ended and she headed outside to her car, she saw that it was going to be a bright sunny warm early fall day. This was just opposite her mood; she was still angry at Carol and fearful of facing Raven. She went on to her car going straight home. She felt so tired and confused and a bit depressed. She didn't want to have to get over Raven again, she wasn't so sure that she was up to that. The first time was hard enough, it took her a long time to get over her and she wasn't completely sure that she was really over her.

She went straight to bed, not bothering to shower or anything. She was surprised that she was able to go right off to sleep however it wasn't a restful sleep. When she woke up a few hours later, the sheets on the bed were pulled away from the bottom and twisted around her body. She had to untangle herself just to get out of bed and make it to the bathroom. Then as she sat and peed, she thought of Raven and the wet games Raven liked to play and somehow managed to get her into enjoying pee games.

She didn't feel like doing anything, so she made herself a cup of tea, taking it to the living room to watch whatever was on TV. She didn't even open the curtains, leaving the room dark as she watched some old black and white movie that didn't keep her attention. She knew she was only killing time until Raven arrived as she was certain she would.

It was close to seven that evening before she heard her doorbell ring. Dana didn't bother to even look through the spy hole in the door, she knew who it was. She also didn't bother to check her hair, it was a mess and that was fine with her. She had at least brushed her teeth, which she couldn't stand to be dirty. She was wearing the same old pair of loose knit shorts and one of her dad's old shirts that she had slept in.

"What do you want?" Dana asked in a monotone after opening the door.

"I'm kidnapping you," Raven told her though her hands were at her sides and she obviously had no weapon.

"I don't have any money to pay my ransom and I doubt seriously that Carol will come to my aid with the way that she turned traitor on me," Dana told her.

"I just want you to listen to me and then I'll bring you right back here and never bother you again," Raven said.

"You promise?" Dana asked feeling sure that Raven would honor that promise, she just wasn't so sure of herself.

"I promise," Raven replied.

''Let me get my billfold and keys." Dana said resigned to her fate of doing just what Carol had asked her to do.

It wasn't until she saw the direction that Raven was heading did she speak again. "I don't want to go to your place." She stated firmly.

"I'm not going to take you there however I am taking us to the beach; I seem to think better there." Raven replied and Dana just grunted.

When they got to a public beach several miles north of Raven's cottage, Raven got a blanket from her car taking it on to the beach with Dana following along. However after taking only a few steps, Dana found her mind no longer wondering what Raven was going to say but on Raven's long black hair that cascaded down her back where Dana's eyes were drawn to Raven's ass framed by the tight jeans that she was wearing. She decided that maybe she should walk beside of Raven so that she could keep her mind on what Raven was up to.

Once Raven had her blanket spread out on the sand did Dana sit down facing the ocean with Raven sitting down beside of her. Dana saw that Raven's lips start to form like she was about to speak so she waited for the words that this two timing bitch was going to say however before she could say anything, Raven's lips formed into a frown.

Raven sat there for a long moment before she got up walking down to the edge of the water just standing there. Dana was getting frustrated with Raven's antics as she wanted to get this over with. Eventually Raven turned and the frown was still there as she came up the beach until she was standing in front of her. Again Raven started to say something before stopping herself. She stood there for a second before slipped off her sandals and sitting directly in front of Dana with her knees almost touching Dana's knees.

Dana could see that Raven was struggling to find the right words. This pleased Dana to no end that that this was difficult for Raven. She wanted to smile but she thought better of it so she just sat there trying not to show any emotion. After a long pause, Dana saw from Raven's expression that she had finally figured out what she wanted to say.

"Why did you dump me?" Raven asked.

"What?" Dana asked taken completely by surprise by this question. It wasn't what she expected Raven to say first or even ask at all. "You kidnapped me and bring me all the way out here only to ask me that?"

"Yes... no that's not all but I got to know why you would do that to me," Raven said with her eyes showing the hurt that she was feeling.

Dana was again pleased to see that her leaving did cause Raven to feel something but it also made her feel bad as it wasn't her intention to hurt Raven when she left. "I didn't dump you, I set you free," Dana said softly.

"What?" Raven asked being the one confused this time.

"I didn't dump you, I set you free to love Connie without me being in the way," Dana replied.

"You weren't in my way," Raven replied.

"Oh yes, you can love so many at the same time but you see I can't. I can only give my love to one person, I wanted that to be you but it wasn't to be, so I set you free." Dana told her.

"Will you quit saying that, I don't know what the hell you're saying when you keep saying that you were setting me free, I didn't want to be set free, I loved you, you know," Raven told her.

"I know you did but not enough..." Dana said somewhat sadly.

"But I did," Raven replied in a desperate voice.

Dana knew they weren't getting anywhere this way, they just had too different views of love for this to work which sadden her. "So what else did you want to say to me?" Dana asked to get this going.

Raven paused for a moment before she spoke, "I want you to give me another chance," Raven replied.

"What about Connie?" Dana asked.

"I told you that we're no longer lovers," Raven said as if that said all that needed to be said about her.

"But you're still friends and still seeing each other?" Dana stated more than asking.

"Yes we're friends but we haven't made love since you 'set me free,'" Raven said with those last three words coming out a little stronger than the others.

This surprised Dana more than a little, "Why is that?" she had to ask.

"Because every time I saw her naked on her bed, I would see you instead and I just couldn't..." Raven admitted.

"Couldn't what?" Dana asked pressing Raven to tell it all though she liked that Raven saw her instead of that cunt.

Dana saw Raven struggling as she tried to come up with an answer though she finally did, "Because I couldn't do that to her," Raven said. "She's been too good a friend for too long to treat her that way."

"Didn't that piss her off?" Dana asked, "I mean you not wanting to have sex with her."

Raven sat back on her legs for a moment before she replied, "Actually no, she seemed to understand for some strange reason."

"She knew about me?" Dana asked.

"Sure I talked about you all the time, especially after you..." Raven said to her.

Dana didn't bother to finish Raven's sentence, she knew what Raven was about to say and she didn't want to piss her off not with what Raven was saying to her. "You did?"

"Well for some strange reason I couldn't seem to come up with anything else to talk about and she just listened to me with this strange smile on her face which just seemed to piss me off," Raven admitted.

"So who ended it?" Dana asked.

"I did, I didn't see any reason for us to be more than just friends any longer." Raven told her.

"Are you still going up there to see her?" Dana had to ask.

"Not without you," Raven said and for some reason Dana believed her.

"What if nothing happens between us after we leave here tonight," Dana asked.

"If you're asking if I will go back to being lovers with her, the answer is no; that part of our lives is over but she will always be a friend." Raven told her and again Dana believed her.

Dana had one last question to ask and it was the most important one she had to ask, "Where does your love come from?"

Raven let a soft smile come to her lips as she said, "My heart."

This time Dana had a bit of trouble believing Raven's change of opinion and she had to be sure that change was real, "How do you know that? I mean your heart is just a muscle that pumps blood."

Raven didn't even blink at the dig, instead she just said, "Because my heart hurt when I thought of you, how you just left me like you did without a way for me to fight back."

"You could have stopped me that day with one four letter word," Dana told her.

"What word?" Raven asked.

Dana just smiled, "Stop."

"Oh..." Raven said.

"Or even 'don't go', 'wait a minute', 'I don't want you to go!" Dana added.

"Okay I got the message but with what you told me, I didn't see that I could change your mind and you pissed me off by just saying that and leaving," Raven told her.

"How do you know it was heartache and not just indigestion?" Dana asked moving back to the heart of things as they say.

"I'm a doctor remember, I know what indigestion is," Raven said a bit indigently but then she paused before smiling a little, "though I did think I might be having a heart attack one evening... the evening that I told you that things were over with Connie and you just threw it back into my face."

Dana so wanted not to say that she was sorry but the words came out anyway, "I'm sorry but I thought I was over you and you had to go and tell me that."

"So you're not over me... I got a chance?" Raven asked with her eyes lighting up.

"Raven, we're so different, you and I, we're different types of people," Dana told her.

"So I got a chance?" Raven asked again. "What do I have to do?"

Dana hesitated not wanting to feel the pain that Raven had caused her but those eyes got to her, "Do what Carol told you to do." She said thus letting Raven know that she had heard that conversation that she had had with Carol the night before.

Raven thought that over for a second, "How do I win your heart?"

"That you'll have to figure out on your own," She said with a bit of a smile.

"That helps me a lot," Raven replied frowning.

Dana felt a bit sorry for her as she saw that Raven really didn't have a clue as to what she was wanting from her. "I will suggest that you go slowly," Dana said giving her more help than she wanted as she wanted to have Raven figure it out and learn about romancing someone.

"Just how slowly?" Raven asked.

"Don't be taking my bathing suit off on the first date and I mean date." Dana told her. "I want to be... no I need to be romanced, that is a part of me. Can you do that?"

Raven only paused for a second, "I want to try if you'll give me a chance, I can't promise that I'll get it right at first but I'm willing to learn."

"Listen to this," Dana said pointing toward Raven's heart, "and not to this." as she moved her finger up toward Raven's head. "Your heart will guide you."

"Now take me home," Dana said getting up and walking toward Raven's car.

"So you're going to give me another chance?" Raven asked as she hurried to get her blanket and catch back up.

"I don't know, it depends..." Dana replied making Raven suffer a little.

"On what?" Raven asked now that she was back beside of her.

"On if you call and ask me out and if I decide to say yes," Dana told her.

"You're not going to make this easy are you," Raven commented.

"Nope," Dana said. "I'm not trying to be mean but I need time to think," Dana told her.

"How much time?" Raven asked.

"I don't know," was Dana's replied much to Raven's obvious displeasure.

"God, you so fucking vague, why can't you just say yes or no," Raven spit out.

"I'm sorry..." Dana replied feeling her eyes begin to tear up. She wanted to get back with Raven but a part of her feared the heartache doing that could cause, even more than the first time.

"No... I'm sorry, but I can't," Raven said and then Dana felt Raven's hand on her arm stopping her.

Dana turned to look into Raven's eyes and she saw that Raven's eyes were already wet and tears running down her cheeks. Just seeing that made Dana realized that she was fucked. Dana so wanted to reach up and wipe the tears from Raven's eyes but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do so. She stared into those sad eyes from a moment before she turned away, heading on to Raven's car.

Neither of them talked as Raven drove Dana back to her condo complex. When Dana got out of Raven's car, she heard Raven say in almost a whisper, "thanks for at least listening to me."

Dana didn't say anything; she just shut the door watching Raven drive away. Dana let out a long sigh wondering just how her life got so fucked up. She started to go up the steps leading to her condo when she decided that she needed to do something, anything but sit there wondering just what the hell she was going to do. She went to her car, deciding that a long drive would help her out. She got onto the highway and started to drive, not knowing where she was going or caring for that matter.

However her heart knew where to take her so she found herself pulling into Carol's driveway which in one way pissed her off but another way took all the tension and pressure off of her. She pulled in behind of Carol's car picking up her cell phone.

"Hello," she heard Carol's voice after the third ring.

"I'm still not talking to you, you dirty rotten traitor!" Dana said as the tears began to fall.

"Where are you honey?" she heard Carol's soft caring voice saying.

"In your driveway," Dana said.

"Oh shit!" she heard Carol say before she got a dial tone.

"Come on honey, let's get you inside," she heard Carol say from outside her car door.

She looked out her window to see Carol in a robe and hair curlers in her graying hair. She had to smile as only Carol would still use hair curlers and probably slept in them like women did years ago. Carol opened the door and she guided Dana into her house, sitting her on the couch like she did a few months ago due to the same person.

She disappeared, returning only a moment later with her special tea, "okay what happened?" Carol said giving Dana a tissue to blow her nose and wipe her eyes before putting a cup of hot tea in her hands.

"It's all your fault, you know," Dana told her.

"I realize that dear, now tell me what happened," Carol insisted.

Dana took in a deep breath before she told Carol what happened. Carol listened carefully and Dana saw that while Carol's lips weren't smiling put pursed in serious concentration, however Carols' eyes told her that Carol was smiling inside. Dana knew that this was what Carol wanted; she had never given up on their lovely doctor. She had no more finished telling Carol what all that Raven had said and what she had said; did her phone ring indicating that she had a text message.

"Aren't you going to see who it's from?" Carol asked when Dana made no move to pick up her phone that was sitting on the table in front of them.

"No it's her," Dana said staring at her phone.

"Shit!" Carol said for the second time that night which was very unusual coming from a woman who Dana had never heart a cuss word come across those motherly lips.

Carol huffed as she picked up the phone and after fooling with it for a moment as it was much more complicated than Carol's simple phone. "She wants to know if you will go out to dinner with her tomorrow night," Carol said.

"Tell her no, I need time to think," Dana said not moving to get the phone to do it herself.

"You've had all the time you need," Carol told her as she began to type on the phone, slowly with deep concentration, Dana saw. She then handed the phone back to Dana.

Dana looked down at the message that Carol had so painstaking typed. "Yes I will, say about 7, then maybe a movie afterwards."

"That's not what I said to type," Dana told her.

"I know but it's what you wanted to type," Carol told her. "Now hit send."

Dana sat there for a few minutes not doing anything but staring at the message that Carol had typed. "Carol, you sure this is the right thing to do?" Dana asked.

"No I'm not sure, but it's what you want." Carol said to her.

"How do you know that, how are you so sure?" Dana asked.

Carol smiled and Dana watched as Carol took her right hand in hers giving it a squeeze as she replied, "Because you'd never have went with her tonight if you didn't still love her and want her back. You wanted to see what she said and if she was sincere in wanting you back. Obviously she gave you the answers that you wanted or needed to hear. Otherwise you wouldn't be here now and you wouldn't be staring at that phone if that wasn't true."

"Damn you," Dana said softly before she hit the send button.

"What happens now?" Dana then asked.

"What happens now my child is that you show her how to truly love you, to give her heart to you." Carol told her.

"Isn't she supposed to know that already, can't she figure that out on her own for god's sake." Dana told her.

"From what you've told me about her, I think her grandmother showed her how to be a strong, determined woman which is admirable, however she failed to teach her how to love. That's your job now." Carol told her.

"Is she worth that much trouble?" Dana asked knowing the answer already.

"You tell me," Carol told her.

Dana only had to think for a moment, long enough for her to think about how loving that beautiful stubborn woman could be, "yea she is." Dana said with a sigh.

"Thought so, now let me fix us something to munch on as we figure out how you're going to turn our pretty doctor's world upside down." Carol said giving her a wink.

"Let's!" Dana said finally grinning at the thought. Then she got another message from Raven.

"She wants to know where I want to eat?" Dana said to Carol.

"mmmm... let's see... hey didn't you say that you have wanted to go to that new restaurant that opened up a few months ago?" Carol said grinning.

"Oh... O'Hare's, but that's hard to get into," Dana said.

"Yes it is," Carol replied still grinning.

"You're mean but I love it," Dana said with a laugh.

She then texted back, "I'd love to go to O'Hara's if you can get a table, it's okay if you can't."

"That works, you gave her a way out if there isn't any tables available while still making her work, we don't want to make it too hard on her." Carol replied with a small grin.

"Yea I don't want her to think that she can buy her way back into my heart," Dana replied.

"No that isn't what we want, the next date will be a cheap one but romantic I think," Carol said.

"You're going to enjoy this aren't you," Dana said with a smile.

"Yea but not in the way you're thinking," Carol said seriously. And before Dana could ask what she meant she finished her thought, "After my sons figured out they didn't know everything there was about girls, they came to dear old mom for help when they met a girl they couldn't figure out. Though my youngest didn't have to figure out he didn't know anything about women."

"I bet his brothers sent him to you first," Dana said.

"Probably," Dana said with a laugh. "Now back to poor old Raven and what she needs to learn and how you can teach her."

While they could have come up with ways of Raven jump through hoops to earn her love, they didn't. For one reason, Dana had never stopped loving Raven nor did she want to make things any harder for them both than they already were. The only real obstacle was Dana being completely convinced that Connie was out of the picture for good. That neither Carol nor Dana knew how that could be accomplished but they did talk about it as they ate.

At four minutes till seven, Dana heard her doorbell ring. She jumped though she managed to keep from yelling from her fright. She was already feeling nervous about going out with Raven and had changed her outfit four times before settling on a dark blue pantsuit that she hoped was just tight enough around her hips to show her ass off yet still slightly conservative. If she hadn't suggested that they go to O'Hara's she would have put on something more casual and comfortable. She went to the front door, started to look out the spy hole to see what Raven was wearing but then decided to just open the door and see if she had overdressed or not.

She took a deep breath before opening the door. She first noticed not what Raven was wearing but the scared look on Raven's face. She looked like she was back in kindergarten and meeting her teacher for the first time. Only this time she didn't have her mother to hide behind. She realized that Raven was even more nervous than she was and she did the only thing she knew that might help; she gave her a reassuring smile.

"You look beautiful, I love that dress," Dana said referring to the black dress that went down to Raven's knees. It was just tight enough for Dana to remember the body that was under that dress.

"You're very pretty too, "Raven said as she finally let a smile form on her lips.

"Thank you," Dana said returning the smile. "So you ready?"

"Yea but I couldn't get us a table at O'Hara's, I really tried," Raven said as Dana got her small purse, closing and locking the door behind her.

"That's okay, we can go there another time," Dana said reassuring Raven with a smile. "So where are we going instead?"

Raven looked at her and Dana just knew that Raven was thinking about something and she was, "I know this cozy place on the beach that serves great food and has a romantic atmosphere, would you like to go there?" Raven asked with a hopeful smile.

"Sounds nice but let's start off somewhere else," Dana said trying not to grin at Raven for trying to get that one past her.

"I had to try," Raven said almost apologetically.

"I know and it was worth a shot," Dana told her. "So you got something else in mind?"

"Yea, but it's also on the beach but not my place," Raven said as she began to go down the steps leading from Dana's condo.

"That I can live with," Dana said with a smile.

When they got down to Raven's car, Raven went to the passenger door, opening it for her. "Why thank you," Dana said as she gave Raven her hand to allow her to help her into the car not that she needed the help but the jester was sweet and a bit romantic.

"You're welcome," Raven said closing the door before hurrying around the car to get in behind the wheel.

Dana didn't say anything as she watched Raven get her keys from her purse and seeing the way that Raven's fingers were shaking. Raven went to put the key into the ignition however her fingers weren't cooperating and she promptly dropped them into the floorboard.

"Shit" she said before she reached down to retrieve them somewhat awkwardly. Raven's again tried to get the key into the ignition; however she didn't seem to be able to get the damn key into the slot on her second attempt.

Dana reached over, taking Raven's right hand in her, "Calm down, it's just a date, nothing more, nothing less."

"But what if I screw up?" Raven said looking over at her with her eyes showing how fearful she was of doing just that.

"Then you know not to make that same mistake on our second date," Dana calmly told her.

"There'll be a second date?" Raven asked.

"Yes there'll be a second one, I doubt that even you can screw up bad tonight to prevent that from happening," Dana told her.

"I don't know about that," Raven said with a sigh.

"I do," Dana said taking the keys from Raven's hand, putting the key into the ignition, and then starting the car.

"Now take your fair lady to her dinner," Dana said seriously, pausing a second before bursting out laughing at her try at nobility.

Raven looked at her for a second before she too laughed and Dana saw the tension leave her face. "Yes my lady," she replied.

"So how was your week at the clinic?" Dana asked, not that she really wanted to talk about work, but it was a safe subject and would allow Raven to talk about something other than how important this first date really was.

"Long," Raven said and for a second Dana feared that Raven would stop there fearing that she was the cause for the long week and that would be what Raven would want to talk about.

However after a pregnant pause and a glance in her direction, Raven began to talk about a couple of the patients that had come in that were in serious medical distress. That got them both to relax and thus the journey to their destination was filled with idle chatter.

"I think we're both overdressed for this restaurant," Dana commented when Raven pulled into the parking lot of Lu Sin's Southern BBQ.

"Yea but it's the best Southern BBQ restaurant owned by a Korean immigrant." Raven replied with a grin.

"I bet it's the only Southern BBQ restaurant owned by a Korean immigrant," Dana countered.

"True but it is some good eating," Raven said faking a deep southern accent.

Dana laughed, "So I've heard."

"Come on so we can ruin our outfits," Raven said getting out.

Dana started to get out but then she waited as she saw Raven moving quickly around the front of the car. She smiled as Raven opened the door for her, then held out her hand to help her out.

"So why did you dress up when you knew that we were coming here?" Dana asked.

"Because I knew that you would probably dress up since you wanted to go to O'Hara's," Raven said.

"You know I could have changed," Dana countered.

"I know but I wanted to dress up for you, I was trying to impress you," Raven told her honestly.

"You did," Dana said giving her a soft smile.

Dana noticed that they did get a few stares as they walked in, two nicely dressed women in a restaurant filled with families and couples all dressed in jeans and tee shirts. Of course they were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant. The BBQ was as great and Dana nudged Raven into talking about her grandmother and how she had come to live with her wanting more details so that she could get a better understanding of just who this beautiful woman sitting across from her really was. The more Raven talked, the more Dana realized that Carol was right, Raven's grandmother taught Raven everything she needed to know about being successful but she failed her terribly on how to give and receive love. That was now her job and she had to be successful if she and Raven would have a chance.

When they got to the movie theater, Raven let her chose the movie that they would see. It was a big multiplex showing ten movies, nine of which were new movies that had just come out, however the tenth movie was one that had come out in nineteen sixty eight and it had romance from beginning to end though with a very tragic ending. Dana saw Raven frown as she asked for two tickets to Romeo and Juliet.

"You know how this movie ends don't you?" Raven asked as they entered the theater.

"Yes, have you seen this version?" Dana asked.

"No it was before my time," Raven stated the obvious.

"Mine too but it's the best movie version of this Shakespearian play that I've ever seen." Dana said with a grin.

"How many times have you seen it," Raven asked.

"I don't know probably about ten," Dana said.

"So you won't cry at the end?" Raven asked.

"Oh I'll cry," Dana said with a soft smile.

"I hate sad movies or anything that makes me want to cry," Raven told her honestly.

"Crying can be a good thing you know," Dana told her touching Raven's back as she did so. "Besides I'll be the only one seeing you cry and I won't tell."

"I don't know about that, I mean the crying being a good thing," Raven said giving Dana a frown.

"I do," Dana told her reassuringly.

Dana could tell that this was the last movie that Raven wanted to see which made her feel that she had made the right choice. While she didn't want to make Raven feel sad but maybe it would show her that a woman could cry while still being strong.

Dana kept an eye on Raven as the movie moved along. She could see that Raven at first fought getting caught up in the move but the story and the romance between Romeo and Juliet got to her. Dana chose that time to reach over to take Raven's hand in hers thus transferring some of the romance that Raven may have been feeling to her to some degree. And when the scene where Romeo killed himself when he thought his Juliet was dead only to have Juliet wake up and find her lover dead, Dana felt Raven pulling her hand away so that she could get into her purse for a tissue.

Raven glance over at her and Raven frowned when she saw her smile as her own tears flowed. "This is your fault!" Raven hissed at her as she pulled another tissue from her purse and handing it to her.

"What?" Dana whispered back.

Raven just frowned at her though she did put her hand back onto Dana's hand which she had held out. Dana gave Raven's hand a squeeze as they both wiped the tears from their eyes.

"Did I ever tell you that I hate sad movies," Raven stated as the lights came up.

"No I think you failed to mention that," Dana said with a smile, "I'll try to remember that from now on."

"Try real hard," Raven told her though Dana could see that Raven wasn't as mad as she was pretending to be.

"I will," Dana assured her.

"I need to make a stop before we leave," Raven said getting up from her seat.

"Yea, me too," Dana replied feeling a bit of pressure to go.

While it was still relatively early, Dana had Raven take her on home. Dana started the conversation on Juliet and her passion for love however Raven soon moved the subject to other Shakespearian plays, the ones with themes that were without a tragic love affair.

When Raven parked her car in front of Dana's condo complex, there was an awkward moment for both of them. So after a moment, Dana went ahead and started to open her door thus indicating the end of their evening. Raven did walk her up the steps and to her door. Again there was an awkward moment as Dana saw that Raven wasn't sure what to do. Then Raven surprised her by holding out her right hand as if to shake her hand.

"What's that?" Dana asked a bit taken back by Raven's gesture.

"You said that you wanted to take it slow," Raven said to her.

"I didn't mean that slow," Dana said smiling thinking that Raven was kidding with her but when she saw Raven's frown she realized that she had to backtrack and do so quickly.

"Come on and sit with me for a second," Dana told her pointing to the first step leading down to the parking lot. "I think I need to define what I meant by going slow."

"Please do," Raven said as she moved to sit down.

Dana sat down beside of Raven leaving some room between them for which she received a frown from Raven but when she turned to face her she got more of a smile but a tentative smile.

"When I say that I want to take it slow, I didn't mean..." Dana started to say, handshake but thought better of it. "What I meant was that I didn't want us to jump right into bed and start where we ended. We did that the first time, this time I thought that maybe we could start with a kiss, then soon move to kissing and cuddling, and then onto making love. I mean we already know that that we seem to be made to make love. I like to be more aggressive and you're more submissive at least when you want to make love. I'm not saying that you submissive..."

"I know what you're saying and you're right, I do want a woman to take control of me then," Raven said making Dana feel a bit better about calling Raven submissive.

"Can you do that for me?" Dana asked taking Raven's right hand into her hands.

"Yea I can do that," Raven said and then for the first time in a long while, Dana saw that twinkle in her eyes that always got her juices going and begun to do so now. "Just what type of goodnight kiss will we share tonight?"

"I don't know, how about we find out..." Dana said as she got up and then she reached down to help Raven to her feet.

Dana moved back to her door, turning to face Raven who had a bit of a nervous smile. Raven didn't make a move until Dana held out her arms. Raven came forward until their bodies were pressed together. Then suddenly Dana felt herself getting nervous, once Raven kissed her, there would be no turning back. She would have to see this through and she would have to face her demon which was currently pressed against her.

When she saw Raven move her head forward, Dana found herself closing her eyes and welcoming her demon back into her life. When she felt Raven's lips tentatively touch her lips, Dana took over as was her nature and Raven seemed to welcome her doing so. Dana kept her lips closed at first just enjoying the feel of Raven's warm body against hers. Slowly did she open her lips with Raven following along. She slipped her tongue into Raven's mouth feeling Raven's lips close upon her tongue and she felt Raven's tongue press against her tongue. Dana felt her body responding to the kiss, her nipples were hardening and she felt the slightest moisture at her pussy. That was when she came to her senses, so she gently pulled back thus ending their goodnight kiss.

"I had a nice time tonight," Dana said stepping back away from Dana.

"I did too," Raven said smiling. Dana could tell Raven wanted more but she wasn't going to push her luck.

Raven started too turned to leave before stopping to ask, "So when are we going out again?"

"That depends..." Dana told her.

"Oh what?" Raven asked with a bit of alarm in her eyes.

"On when and if you ask me out," Dana told her with just a bit of a grin.

"Oh I'll be asking," Raven said grinning somewhat mischievously. Then she turned and began walking down the steps. When she got to the bottom of the steps, she turned again, "You know going slow can be fun."

"Yes it can," Dana said grinning; she then turned and unlocked her door, going in before she made the mistake of asking Raven in.

As soon as the door closed, she leaned back against it. "Maybe this will work." She said to herself. Before she could go any further with her thinking, she heard her phone ring. She pulled it from her little pocketbook, wondering if it was Raven sitting out in her car, wanting to ask her out for their next date. She was slightly disappointed to see that it was Carol.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Carol asked.

Dana smiled, "No she just left."

"Not spending the night?" Carol asked and Dana could just see Carol waiting there anxious for her answer.

"No she isn't, you knew that this was just a feel out date," Dana said.

"And how did it feel?" Carol asked.

"You know we're going to have all of tomorrow to talk, we could just talk then," Dana said teasing Carol as she pushed herself away from the door, heading toward her bedroom.

"No it can't wait, I've been on pins and needles all night, even Lenny has gone to bed to get away from me," Carol said to her. "Now tell me about your date!"

Dana laughed, "Okay let me get these clothes off and into something more comfortable."

"Hurry," she heard Carol say as she put her phone onto the bed.

"Yes mother," Dana said laughing toward her phone.

"Okay I'm back," Dana said once she was in a long cotton nightgown and thus free of her pant suit and especially her bra.

"So did it go well?" Carol asked and Dana could hear the curiosity in her voice but also more that a bit of worry.

"Yes it went real well, as well as I could hope." Dana replied laying back in her bed.

"That's good, I was worried." Carol said letting out a sigh showing her relief to Dana through the phone.

"You should be worried, you got me into this mess, both times," Dana said meaning Carol getting her to go out with Raven the first time and now getting her to try again.

"I know and I'm sorry," Carol quickly replied.

"No you're not," Dana said challenged her.

"Okay I'm not; I thought that you made a great couple then and still do..." Carol said honestly, "But I'm sorry that you got hurt."

"I know you are," Dana said,

"So you going to tell me how it went or not?" Carol asked.

Dana laughed before she started with Raven at her door, through the BBQ dinner and then the movie. She let Carol digest this before telling her about Raven's handshake which got a laugh from Carol. She then went over explaining what she meant by going slow to Raven.

End of Part Seven

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think of my story. I welcome all comments good or bad. You can email me at numlfl@hotmail.com