by Cee, DW
“I’m all right. I’m sure we won’t be here long. I told the ER doctors to take good care of you.”
“That was really kind of you. I would feel much better if you went and ate something though.”
“Would you like to grab a bite to eat with me later?”
“Um…” I heard the hesitation I feared. Before she could answer, those pesky residents called Emily’s name already. We had been there less than ten minutes. This had to have been an ER record.
I wheeled Emily into the ER and saw a guffaw in the eyes of each one. Two residents, one intern, and one nurse waited to attend to Emily and waited to see my reaction. The staff was having a good time at my expense.
“Ms. Logan? How does this feel?” Michael began feeling her ankle.
“It doesn’t really hurt there…Ow!... That’s where it hurts.” Tears dotted her eyes as Michael poked into a tender spot. She looked childlike when she hurt. Instinctively my arms went around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze.
She looked up at me surprised, and I retracted my arms. I could see the staff wanting to howl at my faux pas.
“So, Ms. Logan? How old are you?” Jeffery the intern asked.
“Twenty-four.”
“I’m twenty!” I don’t know why he sounded so excited revealing his age to Emily.
“Aren’t you a bit young to be a doctor?” Emily asked in amazement. Her interest spurred him to continue.
“I’m what you call a genius. I graduated from medical school last year and this is my first year in residency.” He had a smug look on his face. I tried to give Jeffery a back-off look, but he purposely avoided my eyes. “Ms. Logan, do you want to go out on a date with me?”
Emily and I both looked at him shocked! I vowed to make Jeffery’s life miserable when he got to my department. The other two residents wisely chose not to say anything.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go out.” Thank God she was turning him down.
“Why not?” he persisted.
“You’re really cute, but I don’t think it will be possible with our age difference and all.”
“We’re only four years apart.”
“Well you’re too young to even go and have a glass of wine with me. Plus, my ego couldn’t take people carding me all the time while you got a pass for the next decade.”
We all roared in laughter. She had a good sense of humor. I liked that.
“What about me, Ms. Logan? Would you be willing to go on a date with me? I’m off in thirty minutes, and we can go grab a burger and a beer.”
“Wow…tempting but I don’t drink beer. Sorry!” She gave him an apologetic puppy dog look. Enamored with her, I couldn’t even get mad at Al for trying.
All of us stared at Michael to see if he would try.
“I guess I have to throw my name in the hat as well, even though I have a girlfriend,” Michael decided.
“Ms. Logan, I’d be honored if you’d like to go out on a date with me.” That two-timing jerk!
“Sorry, I definitely don’t date two-timers.”
“Yes!” I thought. That’s exactly what I was thinking.
“Thank you all for your kind offers. I haven’t had a date in almost a year and a half. Go figure, I should have hung out in the ER more often.” She shrugged her shoulders, and her eyebrows arched up. “But, if you don’t mind, I think I need my ankle examined more than I need a date right now.”
Fed up and shaking her head, Linda came over and offered to put her in a private room while waiting for the attending doctor to come and take care of her ankle. I was grateful for her help.
“My apologies for those silly doctors. They’re here late all the time, and they try to find humor in every situation,” she explained.
“No apologies necessary. It was all in fun. I’m flattered more than anything.” She was as gracious as she was beautiful. Emily Logan…truly, where have you been all my life?
Linda put us in a nice room and her eyes signaled a good luck sign. I mouthed a thank you. Emily comfortably rested in the hospital bed, and I sat in the recliner next to her.
“So sorry about all those guys…”
She cracked up. “I hope I didn’t sound too mean to any of them. You have a bunch of cute young doctors here in the ER. Are all the other departments this fun and lively?”
“No, the rest of us are old and boring.”
We laughed together this time.
“So…” I asked nonchalantly, “you really haven’t had a date in a year and a half?”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s hard for me to believe no man has asked you out. Have you been hiding under a rock all this time?”
She stared at me, probably wondering why I cared. “Well, I’ve been asked out, but I haven’t gone out with anyone.”
“May I ask why?” I asked cautiously again. I didn’t want to appear too nosy.
“Um…I’m a one-man kind of girl and I haven’t found the guy I want to date. Dating around is not my thing.” She hesitated, then explained a lot more about herself than I expected to hear. “I was in a serious relationship for four years—all throughout undergrad—and my boyfriend dumped me on the day of our graduation.”
I felt bad for her and angry toward this guy as tears flickered in her eyes again. Whoever he was, she must have loved him deeply if she was still hurting.
“Is he why you haven’t dated in so long?”
“Um…I don’t know if I’d say it was because of Max. It’s really more because I haven’t met anyone I’d like to get to know. Sorry. You look so tired. Details of my life must be boring you to death.” Her eyes perked up again and tried to make humor out of her sadness.
She hadn’t responded to my dinner request and I was just about to repeat myself when Linda came back in the room.
“Ms. Logan, I’m sorry but the attending doctor got called away. You’ll be in here a bit longer.”
“OK, thank you.”
“Jake?” Her voice sounded like it was dipped in sugar.
“Yes?”
“Do I really need to stay here? I feel horrible—you’ve been here so long with me and I’m really tired.”
“You should be examined by a doctor.” I wasn’t ready to let go of her.
“Aren’t you a doctor? Do you not know about ankles? Is that too far down south from the heart?” With almost a coquettish grin she was coaxing me and teasing me at the same time.
Chuckling at her humor, I saw the exhaustion in her eyes and had to give in.
“Why didn’t I think of helping you, earlier? Let me take you to X-ray then bandage you up if nothing is wrong.”
“Would you? Thank you.” Her weary eyes filled with relief.
Knowing that this night was coming to an end all too soon, I silently kicked and screamed my protest, while getting someone to X-ray her ankle and confirm my initial theory that nothing was wrong with her. Then I slowly wrapped her ankle with a bandage and hoped she didn’t wonder why I hadn’t done this the moment we walked into the ER. All the residents came by one last time as I wheeled her to my car.
“Bye, Ms. Logan! Let us know if you change your mind.” They all chorused in unison
Emily turned to me as I helped her into the car and shuddered. “That was creepy. Please don’t bring me back here ever again.”
I couldn’t help but laugh one more time. I hadn’t had this much fun in a long while.
“Do you want me to drive you home?”
“No, I need to go pick up my car. I’ll be OK.”
We got to her car and I hated the thought of letting her go. Perhaps it was wishful thinking but as tired as she looked, there seemed to be a part of her that was comfortable with me—that liked being here with me.
“Jake?”
“Yes?” Subtlety not being my forte. I answered her question too quickly.
“Would it be OK if we went to dinner another time? I d
on’t think I can sit through a meal right now.”
My heart performed a loop de loop in response to what she said.
As casual as I could be, I answered, “Sure.” But of course, much too quickly I added, “How about tomorrow night?”
I saw her hold back a laugh. She leaned over and gave me a light peck on the cheek. Like a schoolboy kissed for the very first time, her lips sent me over the moon.
“Thank you for all your help tonight.” With that she hobbled out of the car. Frozen from her embrace, I stupidly let her limp to her car. Running toward her, I encircled my arms around her body and carried her off her feet. In turn, her arms folded around my neck and momentarily, I hoped time could stand still. Bodies close, face-to-face, I struggled to not lock her lips with mine. As I couldn’t help staring, she looked away abashed.
“Were you planning on running away without giving me your phone number?” I slowly let her go when her body pushed away.
“Oh, I guess you need that, huh? I have to warn you…I only have a cell phone and I’m not good about answering it. I respond better to texts.” She proceeded to rummage through her purse and jotted down ten digits onto a piece of paper.
“Good night or morning.” She waved as she closed her car and left the parking lot.
My eyes finally blinked long after her car drove out of sight.
Chapter 2
Will You Go Out With Me?
“Good morning, Mom! Good morning, Dad!” I greeted my parents with a cup of coffee at the breakfast table.
“When did you get in? You’re unusually chipper this morning. Something good happen at work yesterday?” Leave it to Mom to notice already.
“I met the most amazing woman last night.” My grin spanned from ear to ear.
“Oh?” I caught both my parents’ attention now. “I don’t know that we’ve ever seen you this excited about a girl,” my mom observed. “What’s she like?”
“Her name is Emily Logan, she’s twenty-four, and she’s the most beautiful person. She’s beautiful not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.”
“How’d you meet her and when do we get to meet her?” my dad joined in.
I explained our ordeal last night from the grocery store to the ER and told them I barely knew her. “For all I know, she might not be interested…although she didn’t turn down my dinner offer for tonight.” I looked at the clock, and it was almost 8:00 a.m. I’d been up since 6:00 a.m. waiting to call her.
“Why don’t you bring her over tonight before going out for dinner? I’d love to meet her.” My mom was way ahead of herself.
“Honey,” my dad chimed in, “don’t you think we’d scare her off before Jake had a chance? That’s a bit serious, meeting the parents on the first date.”
“Yeah, I guess, but…Jake, where are you off to? We want to hear more,” I heard my mom call out as I ran up to my room. I didn’t have time to respond. It was 8:00 a.m., and I had a phone call to make.
“Hello?” Tired and weak, Emily’s voice sounded like I woke her up.
“Good morning, Emily, how are you feeling?” There were a couple of seconds of very awkward silence. “It’s me, Jake.”
Still a pause…
“Did you forget me already?”
I heard a groggy giggle.
“How can I forget you when you’re the last person I talked to yesterday and the first person I’m speaking with today? You won’t allow me to forget you.” There was hearty laughter on her part. I didn’t find that funny.
“Is that a hint?”
“No. Good morning, Dr. Reid. To what do I owe this very early call?”
“It’s 8:00 a.m. already. You call this early?”
“It is when someone kept you at the hospital till three in the morning.”
This girl was impossible not to love. I needed to come up with an excuse to go see her this morning.
“I’ll ignore that last comment. How’s your ankle? Are you in any pain?”
“Now that you mention it, I am in a lot of pain and my ankle looks like a tree trunk.”
Perfect. Here was my chance to go see her. “Let me come by and take a look. It shouldn’t be so swollen. Can I stop by right now before going to the hospital?”
“Right now?” She sounded horrified.
“Uh-huh. I need to be at work by 9:00 a.m., so if I stop by it has to be now.”
“Jake, I’m still in my pajamas. I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.” Her whining was even cute.
“Give me your address.”
It was like pulling teeth to get her address, but she gave it to me, and I ran down the stairs and jumped in my car before we said good-bye. Her house was within minutes of my parents and the hospital. How could she have been so close to me and yet so far away?
Ding Dong. I counted to thirty before trying again. Ding Dong.
Looking through the window, I saw her hobbling to the door. Between the plush robe and flannel pajamas under it, she was covered from neck down.
“Hi,” she answered with her signature shy but angelic smile.
I couldn’t answer. Awestruck I walked in and closed the door behind us. Not minding my manners, I placed one arm around her back and the other under her legs and picked her up again. She looked startled.
“You shouldn’t be walking on that ankle.” That was my lame excuse for carrying her to the sofa.
“Then you shouldn’t insist on coming over. You’re the one who made me get out of bed.” Her biting remark alarmed me until I saw her lips curl up again. I wanted to shower those lips with love as I laid her on the sofa.
“I’m just doing my job as a doctor. Let’s see your ankle.”
I undid the bandage and saw that it was quite swollen.
“Emily, your ankle doesn’t look good. I’m going to take off the bandage and have you rest it on this cushion.” I gently put her legs up. “Let me get you some ice. Where do you keep Ziploc bags?”
“They’re over there.” She pointed to a cabinet.
I went into her kitchen and made several ice bags for her and placed most of them in the freezer while bringing one over and placing it on her. Her big brown eyes followed my every move. When I thought about this situation, I wondered why she let me in her house—why she trusted me so much when we had met only a few hours ago. I hoped she didn’t do this with everyone.
“Emily?” I sat halfway between her ankle and her erect body.
“Yes?” She stared intently into my eyes.
“Are you always this trusting?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s a bit weird that you’ve allowed a perfect stranger into your house to take care of you. You don’t just allow anyone into your house, do you?” That thought was more than alarming.
“Funny you mention it. I was thinking the same thing. I’m usually a paranoid person. I go around making sure all my windows and doors are locked every night before I go to bed. I don’t know why I let you in this morning.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But, I suppose you’re not a stranger. Aren’t you my dinner date tonight? Though, I think dinner is shot. This robe and pajamas will not be coming off today if my ankle persists to stay swollen.”
“Does that mean I’m someone you’d like to get to know?”
“Perhaps…or I might be keeping you around only till my ankle gets better, so I don’t have to go see those creepy ER doctors again.” Her giggle came back.
Whatever the reason, I’ll take it.
Her phone rang, and I walked over to get it for her.
“Thanks,” she mouthed to me while answering, “Hello? Hey, Sarah.”
I probably should have scooted down the sofa and sat in the empty spot at the end, but I didn’t want to be so far away.
I listened to her conversation.
“Why are you and Charlie around here at this hour? What? No, I don’t want to go to the picnic. I have a legitimate excuse now, I c
an’t go.”
She looked at me like she needed my help.
“I’m not kidding. I sprained my ankle and it’s really swollen. I can’t go anywhere, right, Dr. Reid?” She nodded her head feverishly, so I nodded my head along with her.
“Here.” She handed the phone to me. “Tell my best friend I can’t go to any picnic with her.”
“Hello, Emily’s friend,” I answered. “Emily wants me to tell you she can’t go to any picnic although if you put her in a wheelchair, she would be fine.”
“Jake!” She pushed me off the sofa. “I think you’re late for work.”
It sounded like her girlfriend was asking her who I was. Emily began stammering. “He’s a doctor who makes house calls. Anyhow, I’ll talk to you when you get here.”
“Who was that?”
“My best friend.”
“What’s with this picnic you’re trying to avoid?”
“College reunion of sorts. I don’t want to go.”
“Could it be because of your ex?”
“Kind of.”
“Do you still like him?” Did I really want to know this answer?
“No. I don’t like him anymore, but he has a girlfriend already, and I don’t really want to see either of them.”
“Got it.” I would’ve been happy to escort her if she had asked.
“Jake, it’s almost nine. Don’t you need to leave?”
“Yeah, I do. I’ll come back later with a set of crutches for you. Do you want a wheelchair as well?”
“No!”
“OK.” I chuckled. “Will you be all right without me?”
“I’ve been OK the last twenty-four years, so I think I can survive a few more hours,” she teased.
“You want to give me a set of house keys so I won’t be scolded by someone for making you hobble to the door?”
She didn’t even think twice about pointing to her keys.
“Take those. I won’t be needing them today.” Either she really trusted me or there was something seriously wrong with this girl. She had just handed me the keys to her house and her car.
