Suburban Cyborg

by Gloria Martin

  “Thank you Joy and please be more professional about it. No more hitting on the patients; I don’t think I can get you out of another potential sexual harassment lawsuit.”

  “I’m just trying to spread the love. I don’t know why I should be punished for it,” Joy whined.

  “I mean it Joy,” Rebecca said sternly as she put her white doctor’s coat back on.

  “Yes I understand,” Joy said with a sigh before the line went dead. Joy should thank her lucky stars she was such a great nurse. Frankly Rebecca was tired of prying her off the patients.

  Thankfully this would be the last patient of the day and she would be free to get ready in her office for her dinner date.

  Rebecca made her way to the room where the patient sat in wait for her. Meanwhile naughty text messages from Brian vibrated her phone, causing her nether regions to grow wet.

  “Not now Brian,” Rebecca said silently to her phone, before slipping it back into her pocket and reaching for the door knob. As she opened the door, ice blue eyes took a moment before moving to meet her form.

  Those eyes took the doctor by surprise. The color of them popped in the presence of his jet black hair and olive skin. His face, although emotionless, was sculpted by sharp features. It was very rare for Rebecca to be taken aback by a face, and here she was at a loss for words.

  “Hello my name is Doctor Scott and I will be overseeing your treatment,” Rebecca said, as she took the patient’s chart and looked at its content.

  “Asher Conner,” she read the name slowly as she wheeled towards him. This whole time the tall male remained silent, Rebecca could feel his eyes watching her every move. Despite this, his watchful eyes didn’t make her feel uncomfortable. Anyway his name was ringing a bell but she couldn’t pinpoint it.

  “Wow, you’ve had a lot of injuries,” Rebecca said astonished, whoever his previous doctor was did a great job of getting him up and running each time. “So what sport are you currently involved in?”

  The dark-haired male stared at her and the awkward silence began to settle. Could he not speak? Rebecca looked down at his chart and searched for any diagnosis of mutism, but could not find evidence of it.

  “Basketball.”

  The deep voice suddenly brought her attention back to him.

  “Okay, so what happened? I see here you were complaining of neck pain.” Rebecca found herself trying to figure this character out, usually her other patients would be cracking jokes, hitting on her, trying to ask for a date but him, nothing. Maybe he was the shy type?

  “I was at practice couple days ago and one of the guys slipped and crashed into me, fell kind of hard,” he said, putting one hand to his neck. The whole time he spoke, his eyes never left hers.

  “Well, let’s have a feel,” Rebecca said as she went to sanitize her hands. As she did, she instructed the patient to remove his shirt and lie on his back. Asher stood up and removed his shirt and went to sit back on the patient’s table. Rebecca’s eyes widened as she caught glimpse of the painful looking scars on his back.

  As Rebecca began to do her own examination of the patient’s neck injury, she began to recall why the male was so familiar to her. He was the newbie everyone was talking about and all over television. His scores were excellent and he was gaining recognition pretty fast, not to mention the million-dollar sponsorship deals he was receiving.

  Asher winced in pain as she pressed her fingers against the back of his neck.

  “Well you haven’t reported any difficulty walking or balance issues to that’s already a good sign, you can sit up,” Rebecca said as she took her seat. “It’s a simple neck sprain that can be managed. You can get dressed again.”

  Asher his shirt back on. Rebecca picked up his chart and added some notes.

  “How did you get those scars on your back?” said Rebecca.

  “You could say I had a rough past,” Asher said as his eyes went back to hers. “They never bother me anymore. Healed up long ago.”

  “That’s good,” said Rebecca. She was hoping he would say some more, about them, but he abruptly changed the subject back to the reason he had come in.

  “So about my neck. What’s the game plan doc?”

  “Heat pack.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah, doesn’t seem that the pain is that severe, try the heat pack for a week and take it easy, should do the trick.”

  Rebecca couldn’t quite pin it but she could have sworn she saw disappointment flash before his eyes.

  “Thanks doc,” Asher said as he watched her prepare to leave.

  “Call if the neck pain gets worse or you have any other symptoms, okay?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Rebecca went to leave the room and caught one more glimpse at the blue-eyed athlete; a small smile crept onto his face before she closed the door.

  *****

  Rebecca sat in her office squinting at her portable vanity mirror as she attempted to do her make up. She was going to be meeting Brian soon for their dinner date and she had to hurry. Luckily she had a stash of sexy dresses in her office for times when she couldn’t go home to change first.

  “Rebecca!”

  Joy burst into Rebecca’s office almost startling her out of her chair.

  “Joy, for heaven’s sake I thought you went home,” Rebecca said as she went back to fixing her face.

  “That was him right? That was Asher Conner,” Joy said with excitement in her eyes as she leaned over Rebecca’s desk.

  “Yes it was him.”

  “Can you do me a favor?”

  “No Joy I will not set you up with him,” Rebecca said as she stood up, gathering all her things and leading Joy out of her office.

  “But I think we would make an excellent pair, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know Joy. You say that about a lot of the patients.”

  Rebecca didn’t understand why Joy was so adamant on finding an athlete husband; she made good money, was intelligent, and was a great looking brunette to boot. Money or men should not have been an issue for Joy Black.

  Rebecca locked up and said her goodbyes to a disappointed Joy before heading to her car. As she did, she thought about Asher Conner and the mischievous smile that she may or may not have seen when she left the room. She couldn’t figure him out, and she wasn’t used to that.

  “Guess it doesn’t matter,” Rebecca said to herself as she stepped into her car. She suspected she wouldn’t be seeing Asher Conner for a while, as it was a relatively minor neck injury.

  Rebecca made her way to the restaurant where she was to meet Brian. It wasn’t far from her office so she reached the place in no time. She gave her car to the valet and made her way to the front of the restaurant where she was immediately taken to where Brian was seated. A smile came upon her face as the brown-haired male came into her view.

  “Brian!” she called.

  Brian immediately stood up and embraced her before planting a kiss on her lips.

  “Were you waiting long?”

  Brian shook his head and pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit before pushing her chair in closer to the table. He sat across from her and smiled broadly.

  “I missed you,” he said taking her hand into his.

  “Missed you too,” Rebecca responded, giving his hand a squeeze. The waiter approached them, giving them both menus and taking their drink orders before leaving them to their conversation.

  “How was work?”

  Rebecca looked at the menu in front of her not meeting Brian’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him about her strange encounter with Asher Conner. Brian was a huge sports fan and now that she thought about it, he had spoken about Asher Conner on many occasions. He would be thrilled to know that she had met him but she also knew that it may be the topic of conversation all night.

  “Work was fine, same old same old,” Rebecca said with a smile.

  “You sure?”

  Rebecca’s eyes widened slightly as she
looked at Brian’s skeptical face.

  “Yes, don’t believe me?”

  Rebecca tried to hide the defensiveness in her voice but couldn’t help it. He should just take her word for it and leave it at that.

  “I do, I do,” Brian said waving it off and planting a smile on his face. Their waiter returned with their drinks and proceeded to take their food order.

  “How was your day?” said Rebecca, but just as she said the words and tried to make the air between her and Brian a little more upbeat, her work phone began to ring.

  “Shit,” she said under her breath as she dug her phone out of her purse. She looked at the caller ID and recognized the phone number to be from her office.

  “Sorry honey I’ll be right back, it’s work.”

  Rebecca excused herself and stepped out of the restaurant to pick up the call. As she did, she was notified that one of her patients had sustained an injury and needed her assistance. Rebecca sighed, telling the nurse to forward the information to her cell and to let the patient know she’d be on her way. She hung up and went back to the table.

  “I forgot to ask for the name,” she said to herself. But Rebecca decided she would deal with that later; in the meantime she had to inform Brian she had to skip out on their date before it had even really started. With a heavy sigh she dragged her feet back into the restaurant to where Brian sat and sat slowly into her chair.

  “What is it?”

  Rebecca gave the bank manager a small smile taking his hand into her own.

  “Work, a patient needs me so I have to go,” Rebecca said as she pulled out her wallet to pay him for their order. Brian waved off her gesture instantly.

  “Don’t worry babe. Stop by my place later?”

  Rebecca stood up and went to give Brian a deep kiss followed by a hug.

  “You’re the best,” she said as she threw him a smile before making her way to her car. Rebecca got into her car putting the address into her navigation. On her way she decided she would call the nurse and ask for the name of the patient.

  “Hey can you run that name by me one more time of the patient I’m going to see?”

  “Hold on one moment Dr. Scott.”

  Rebecca began her journey to the patient’s house as she waited for the nurse to retrieve the name of the patient.

  “Dr. Scott?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “The name of the patient is Asher Conner.”

  “Thank you.”

  Rebecca couldn’t help but feel surprised at the name that was given to her. Asher Conner was just fine when he left her office just a few hours ago and now he was suddenly having a medical emergency? Well she supposed things like that happen all the time but still, it was a little suspicious to her.

  *****

  Rebecca reached the grand house where Asher lived. It was night, and the only sound was her car driving through the neighborhood. The doctor pulled up to the gate surrounding the mansion and stepped out of the car to press the intercom button.

  “Hello? My name is Dr. Scott I was told Asher Conner was injured?”

  Rebecca released the intercom button and stepped away. A moment of silence elapsed before a loud beep rang throughout the air and the gate began to ease itself back with a small squeaking sound.

  Rebecca got back into her car and drove up the long driveway to the main house. She decided to park on the side and stepped out of the car, retrieving her travel medical bag from the trunk. The quietness made her uneasy as she looked around the property before slowly making her way to the front door. Rebecca climbed the short flight of steps and rang the doorbell which chimed throughout the house.

  It took a few minutes but someone eventually came to the door. It was an older man wearing a dark grey suit and thick rounded glasses.

  “Hello,” she said.

  Rebecca felt a little awkward as the man stared at her intently as if he wasn’t sure about her presence.

  “You are the doctor?” said the man.

  “Yes women are doctors to now, sorry to shock you,” Rebecca said with a smile. The man at the door was not amused but nevertheless let her inside.

  “He’s right this way.”

  Rebecca looked around the nicely decorated house with awe as the man took her through the hall to the living room area. Athletes really do have it nice, she thought.

  They eventually reached a large room lit up by a basketball game on television. The two individuals stopped short of a couch but Rebecca wasn’t sure why until the man next to her spoke.

  “Mr. Conner?”

  As the older gentleman said the name, a slender hand suddenly rose signaling a presence.

  “I’ll leave him to you then,” the man said as he made his exit without ever introducing himself or even saying his connection to Asher.

  “Thank you,” Rebecca said after him before making her way to the other side of the couch. Asher was lying down with his arm covering his piercing blue eyes.

  “Asher?”

  Rebecca kneeled down next to the unmoving man and felt compelled to touch him. Her hand rose and she placed it on his forehead and moved some loose strands that stuck to his damp skin. It was then that he moved his arm and slowly turned to look at her. Her heart skipped a beat as their eyes met.

  “Doc? You came,” he said as he carefully rolled onto his side and reached out to touch her cheek.

  “Of course,” Rebecca responded as the touch he placed on her warmed her heart. Shamelessly she had forgotten about Brian for a brief moment, when he did return to her mind she withdrew from Asher’s touch.

  “What happened?”

  Asher slowly rolled onto his back and sighed.

  “I strained my neck even more, it really hurts to move.”

  Rebecca scooted closer and placed her hands on either side of his neck. She gently moved his head side to side, causing him to cringe in pain.

  “And how did you manage that?”

  Rebecca was genuinely curious, considering her instructions that he take it easy. Clearly he hadn’t taken his injury seriously but that was no surprise, many of the athletes in her care didn’t.

  Asher hadn’t responded to her question, curiously enough. She sat there rummaging through her medical bag as she waited for him to give her an explanation.

  “I was engaged in some vigorous activity, and well, yeah…” Asher trailed off as his eyes met the ceiling. Rebecca let out a chuckle as she reached into her bag for some medication.

  “You mean sex?”

  Rebecca pulled out a heating pack and carefully wrapped it under his chin around his neck. The doctor stood up and managed to find the kitchen where she intended to get a glass of water for the athlete to take the pills with. She eventually found a glass and filled it with water, then went back to where Asher lay in pain. She knelt beside him again and took two pills from the bottle.

  “No not sex. I went to practice,” Asher said as he watched her take the pills from the bottle.

  “Hm,” Rebecca said as she handed him the glass of water and the pills.

  Asher raised his eyebrow as he took the pills and popped them into his mouth following them with a drink of water.

  “Not all athletes are man-whores, you know,” Asher said as he handed her back the empty glass.

  “I never said that,” Rebecca said calmly as she looked at the time. It was getting late.

  “No, but you were thinking it.”

  She didn’t admit it but he was right.

  “I apologize,” she said as she grabbed a few more heating pads out of her bag before gathering her things.

  “I’m going to bring you a neck brace tomorrow, clearly you need it, but in the meantime be careful and here are some more heating pads.”

  Asher smiled just then, causing Rebecca to raise her eyebrow at him.

  “What’s funny?”

  “Nothing is funny, I’m just happy I’ll get to see you again,” he said innocently as his eyes went to hers.

  “
Are you trying to sweet talk me Mr. Conner? I am in a relationship and I don’t fraternize with my patients.”

  The comment didn’t seem to deter the superstar as the smile still stayed firmly planted on his lips.

  “Hey doc can you help me with one more thing?”

  “Sure, what can I do?”

  “Help me get to bed,” Asher said as he took his time sitting up. Rebecca nodded as she helped him physically get to his feet.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Upstairs,” Asher said as he winced with each step and began to lead her to the stairs.

  “I’m sure there’s at least one bedroom downstairs in this place that you can sleep in for the night,” Rebecca said, bringing them to a halt and looking up at him.

  In turn, Asher looked down at her small frame and they stayed there staring at one another. Rebecca felt her heart gradually beat faster and faster and she wasn’t quite sure why. She had just met this man and he was already making her all hot and bothered.

  In the midst of her thoughts, Asher had begun leaning down to her level. Before she knew it he was suddenly inches away from her face.

  “Asher?”

  The male stopped his advances and simply smiled before walking them down a hallway. She hadn’t imagined that just now, she was sure he just tried to kiss her.

  Asher eventually stopped her and opened the door to a dark room. He flicked on the lights and the two of them walked inside and over to the bed where she helped him lie down on his back.

  “Want me to tuck you in, too?”

  “Very funny,” he said as he placed the covers over his body with a sigh.

  “I’ll show myself out then and I’ll drop by tomorrow with the neck brace.”

  “Hey doc,” Asher said as he reached his hand out towards her.

  Rebecca rolled her eyes but humored him as she reached out and took his hand. The pain medication she had given him was pretty strong, and she assumed it had just kicked in.

  Asher brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. His eyes locked onto hers as a sly smile came upon his lips.