For The Love Of The Doctor (BWWM Romance)

by Tasha Jones

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

  Jeremy thought about it for a second. Seeing Violet standing by the elevator thinking he had cheated on her was a nightmarish situation to say the least and at first it was desperately important he clarify the whole situation. He wanted to tell her that Venetia had come by his office unannounced when everyone had left. That she had followed him into his office with a pretense of gathering information for a friend who was suffering from a heart problem. He started to gather some pamphlets for her when she started to openly flirt with him, telling him in a whisper she was dressed only in a bra and panties. And he had realized there was no friend and she had set out to seduce him. He was telling her to leave but then she grabbed him and started kissing him and that was the unfortunate moment Violet had chosen to drop by.

  He wanted to explain all that to her and tell her there was nothing going on between him and Venetia, but as she continued to ignore his calls he finally gave up, thinking it might be better she think he was cheating on her so she could at least hate him and move on with her life. So he didn’t call her anymore and instead he poured all his energy back into his work, putting in long hours at the office, often staying up till 2a.m. in the morning reading research papers and books. Barely a week had gone by before Jeremy began to regret his rash decision. Over the span of a few short months, Violet and Tanya had become firmly entrenched into his life and suddenly cutting them out hurt more than he could ever have imagined, so he drowned himself in his work.

  He made sure to not have even a spare second to himself because whenever he did, he found himself thinking of Violet; he thought of her musical laughter, her dancing eyes. He could hear the sound of her voice, her cries of ecstasy when she lay quivering in his arms. Memories of them talking, walking and eating engulfed him, making it hard to breathe or function. He missed her more than he had missed anything in his life and he couldn’t imagine going on for the rest of his life without her and Tanya. So he forced himself to never think of her and consumed his life with medical work.

  He became extremely diligent, second-guessing his every decision, still haunted by the death of Mr. Karim and waiting for the day when his widow would no doubt file a suit against him. When he did finally hear from Mrs. Karim, she dropped another bombshell, which threw his world upside down yet again. The receptionist came to see him when he was back in his office from doing his rounds at the hospital, “Mrs. Karim is here to see you, Doctor.”

  “To give me my walking papers no doubt,” he said dryly.

  “I don’t think so, she’s been waiting here for the last five hours.”

  “She’s not agitated or upset is she?” he asked cautiously.

  “No, she seems fine.”

  “Okay, send her in.” he said sighing to himself, better get this over with it.

  “I’ll keep security on standby.” Lynn offered.

  Jeremy just shook his head and went into his office to wait for Mrs. Karim. She came in to see him, quiet, composed and looking deeply ashamed of herself.

  “May I come in, Doctor?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Please do.” He said courteously. She came in and sat down on the chair across from him, looking nervous. “What can I do for you today, Mrs. Karim?”

  Wringing her hands in distress, she looked at him with troubled eyes. “I have come to apologize.”

  Instantly his heart softened at her words and guilt washed over him. “There’s no need for that, Mrs. Karim, you owe me no apology. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I should have been more careful…”

  “No, Doctor,” she interrupted him, “it really wasn’t your fault, the autopsy result came back and his death wasn’t your fault. It was Al’s fault. You told him he wasn’t to drink while he was taking the medication but you see…you see…” her voice faltered briefly before she gathered her emotions and carried on, “You see he didn’t listen to your instructions. He was drinking secretly, I didn’t even know myself and when he took the medication you prescribed, it was a lethal combination and his heart stopped. So you see, Doctor, it wasn’t you who killed him, it was Al, and me too, I should have been watching him more carefully.”

  Jeremy listened to her words almost in a trance, it wasn’t his fault! He hadn’t done anything wrong! He thought of his conversation with Violet and what he had given up and he could have cried. So much heartache could have been avoided! But then joy took over, this meant he could be with her again! As all these thoughts swirled through his head, he suddenly heard the guilt in Mrs. Karim’s voice and realized she was blaming herself. Pushing aside his thoughts of Violet, he focused his attention on the old woman sitting across from him.

  “Mrs. Karim, you must not blame yourself for anything. Al was old enough to know what he was doing and he was well aware of the repercussions of mixing alcohol with his medication.”

  “But I should have seen it,” she protested.

  “How could you have seen it if he was hiding it from you? A good wife doesn’t spy on her husband, isn’t that right?”

  Her face brightened a little at his words, “You’re right, I couldn’t have known unless I was spying on him and that wouldn’t have been very nice now, would it.”

  “Exactly. But thank you for coming and telling me this.”

  “Well it was my duty,” she said and then launched into a long discussion about how much she missed him and how much she had loved him. Jeremy listened quietly, letting the woman talk as much as she needed to. At last when she had nothing left to say, she slowly got to her feet and looking infinitely relieved, she left his office, humbly thanking him for everything he had done. Jeremy sat in his chair for a long while contemplating everything once she had left. He was glad to not have Al’s death on his conscience anymore, but he knew he had to decide whether he could be successful in his career and still make time for love. He looked back on the weeks without Violet in them and how empty they had been and he decided then and there no amount of success would mean anything if he didn’t have her at his side to share it with. Like a shot he was out the door, rushing across the city to reclaim his lost love.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

  When Violet opened the door, he felt a rush of love and joy shoot through his body, he had missed her beautiful face so much! He was scared to reach out and touch her for fear she was a mirage who would vanish at his touch. He opened his mouth to tell her he loved her and how sorry he was for everything but her chilling words stopped him, “What are you doing here, Jeremy?” she asked in a cold voice.

  “I came to ask you if you would take me back.”

  “Take you back? Why would I do that? You lied to me, you cheated on me. You don’t get to come back into my life.”

  In horror, Jeremy suddenly remembered the Venetia incident, which he had forgotten all about.

  “Vy, please at least let me explain!” he pleaded, “It wasn’t what you thought it was.”

  “No, you had your chance to explain yourself and at this point, weeks later I’m no longer interested in hearing anything you have to say. They would no doubt be lies anyways.” Without giving him a chance to say anything more she slammed the door shut on his surprised face.

  But he wasn’t about to be fazed by a closed door, he rang the bell and when she didn’t respond, he rang it again; he was determined to be as stubborn as Violet was being, he could hear the repeated ring of the bell pealing and echoing through the tiny house until at last she opened the door again, her face set in an angry mask.

  “What do you want now?” she asked in a deadly cold voice.

  Jeremy took a step forward to come into the house but she blocked his way, her arms folded firmly under her shapely breasts, her flashing eyes daring him to take a step forward. Not wanting to upset her further, he stayed put.

  “I just want to talk to you properly, there’s so much to talk about, I have to tell you why I broke up with you, I need to explain about Venetia, it’s not what you thought it was.”

 
Violet cocked an eyebrow at him, “Oh no? I guess the two of you kissing was just a vision I conjured in my head right?” she demanded sarcastically.

  “No, it wasn’t a vision, but it’s not what you think.” In a rush he rambled out his story as fast as he could scared she would walk away or tell him to leave, he told her about Mr. Karim’s death, about how guilty he felt, about Venetia coming to see him and trying to kiss him. He told her everything and once he was done, he waited for her to jump into his arms, accept his apologies but none of that happened.

  Her eyes still flashing with anger, her voice still cold, she said, “That’s a nice story, Jeremy and maybe it’s even true. But it’s too late. You should have told me all this before, I would have been there for you, supported you but now it’s too late and I simply don’t care.”

  “I made a mistake, Vy! Are you really going to punish the both of us for a stupid mistake?”

  “That may have been a stupid mistake but in the long run it's for the best, you did us both a favor. We wouldn’t have been happy together anyways.”

  “You don’t mean that, Vy.”

  “I do, Jeremy, it would never have worked out between us anyways, we’re too different, from two completely different worlds. You don’t fit into mine, I don’t fit into yours.”

  “That’s not true. Don’t say that. We’re happy together, we’re so good together,” he urged.

  “We were just kidding ourselves, Jeremy, the differences between us are too great to build a lasting relationship and you know it.”

  “You’re being ridiculous, Vy. I don’t give a flying fuck about money or class or race, all I know is that I love you and Tanya and a life without the two of you in it is unbearable to me.”

  “It’s not just about the money, Jeremy! At our core we’re completely different people!”

  “Opposites attract remember?”

  “Yeah maybe for now, but eventually we’re going to get tired of each other’s differences and we won’t want to compromise. We can’t understand each other’s worlds. I grew up dirt poor, grateful if we had grits for supper. You went to boarding school and sat down to five course meals for supper every day.”

  “So what.”

  “I won’t fit into your high society life.”

  “I don’t need you to!”

  “As much as I hate Venetia, she’s the kind of girl you should be with.”

  “Fuck Venetia!” he exclaimed, “I don’t want anyone else, I want you.”

  “You say that now, but you’ll eventually want a wife who can throw lovely parties and carry on polite conversations about the weather, you don’ want to be with a woman that’s going to say the wrong thing or use the wrong spoon at dinner.”

  Jeremy’s face tightened in frustration, “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?” She looked at him innocently, her dark brown eyes wide and confused.

  “You know what! You talk, eat and behave like a perfectly normal person so I don’t know what you’re concerned about. You could behave like a total savage and I wouldn’t care.”

  She lifted an eyebrow at him and said dryly, “Yes you would care.”

  “No I wouldn’t! You’ve brought more joy and happiness into my life in the last few months than I’ve ever experienced. Yes I grew up in a so-called proper home with lots of money and summers spent at the Hamptons and dinners at the country club but I feel like I haven’t lived properly. Do you think it was fun being shipped off to boarding school? I would have given anything to have a mother who loved me or spent as much time with me as you do with Tanya. I’m not saying they didn’t love me, I know they did but being rich can be lonely. I need you in my life, Vy, I want to build a family with you, I want to build a life filled with laughter and adventures with you.”

  “I don’t know Jeremy…you broke my heart, you really hurt me. I don’t know if I can trust you again.”

  “I messed up, I know, but please don’t walk away from us, please just…”

  Violet held up her hand and interrupted him, “This is a useless conversation, Jeremy, we’re just going around in circles. I’m not going to change my mind. Thank you for coming but you don’t owe me any explanations, I don’t care anymore why you broke up with me, whether it was so you could be with Venetia or become a priest or you simply can’t handle the pressure of your job, I don’t care. None of it matters anymore.”

  She carried on calmly, ignoring the frustration and confusion, which swept over his face. “But I do wish to be left alone. And if you ever felt anything at all for Tanya or myself, just a flicker of friendship or sympathy then please respect my wishes and leave us alone. I can’t add any more stress to Tanya’s life, she deserves better. We both deserve better.” She found it ironic that she was echoing the words he had spoken to her months ago. “Thank you for saving Tanya’s life, you’re a wonderful doctor and I truly feel blessed that we were referred to you but I don’t want to hear anything more. I’m sorry.”

  The words were spoken not in anger but in a soft, earnest way. Jeremy tried in vain to read her eyes but she kept her emotions well hidden. But he knew from the determined twist of her lips she meant every word. This was no dramatic theatrics designed to blackmail him emotionally, she was simply a woman who no longer wanted anything to do with him.

  He almost reached out to caress her face, a face he loved so much but sensing the movement she flinched and stepped back. Her physical rejection towards him hurt more than her angry words and he was forced to accept the fact the time for explanations was long gone. He had no wish to continue hurting her and so he turned around and left without saying one more word. Behind him, he heard the door close and the lock sliding firmly in place.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

  It had been two months since the day Jeremy had come by and she had sent him away and in that time he never once tried to reach out to her. After the first week, Violet was done being angry and she told herself that when Jeremy called, she would agree to meet with him and maybe slowly get back together. Morning, noon and night she remained glued to her phone in case he called or messaged but he didn’t. When almost a month went by with no word from him, she slowly started to realize she may never hear from him.

  “I’m sure he’s dating someone else by now,” she said tearfully to Debra. “Otherwise why wouldn’t he call or message? How could he have forgotten me so quickly?”

  “Well, honey, you did tell him to leave you alone.”

  “But I said it because I was angry! Not because I really meant it,” she protested.

  It was a conversation they had gone over many times before but Debra patiently explained, “Honey, you told him if he cared for you or Tanya at all he was to leave you alone. Knowing the kind of man he is, how did you think he would take it?”

  “I know,” Violet said sadly, she recognized the truth behind Debra’s words but it hurt nonetheless.

  “Why don’t you just give him a call? Why do you have to wait for him to call you?”

  Violet looked appalled at the suggestion, "I can’t call him!”

  “I don’t see why not. He already tried fixing this; if you ask me, the ball’s in your court now.”

  “That’s not the way it works,” Violet replied illogically before changing the subject.

  By the time the second month rolled around, Violet was forced to confront the truth, Jeremy had taken her words to heart and he wouldn’t be reaching out to her anytime soon, if ever. She consoled herself with the thought if they were meant to be together then somehow they would be.

  It would be another two months before fate finally intervened. She took Tanya in for her appointment with Dr. Harrod who pronounced with great satisfaction that Tanya was recovering extremely well and all her tests had come back normal. At his words, Violet felt as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

  “How about we go and celebrate tonight with some ice cream, kiddo?”

  “Can I have chocolate sprinkles and some gummy bears
?”

  “Err… sure,” she replied, wrinkling her nose. Gummy bears with ice cream did not sound appealing.

  Suddenly Tanya laughed excitedly and exclaimed, “Mommy! Look!” She heard Tanya scampering away greeting whoever she had just spotted with enthusiastic hellos.

  Violet, rooting through her purse for her car keys, took a few moments to look up and turn around. When she did, Jeremy was standing not even two feet away from her, his hand gripped firmly in Tanya’s little one.

  “Oh.” The sound escaped from her lips half in delirious relief and half in surprise.

  “Sorry, I didn’t have the heart to not greet Tanya,” He explained quietly. “I’ll leave now.” He knelt down to Tanya’s eye level and looked at her gravely, “Are you behaving and resting like you were supposed to?”