by Lexy Timms
She sighed, glad her back was turned to him. “Fine. Where do you want me to set the lunch I packed for you?” Man, could he be anymore of a control-freak?
“Maybe grab a cart from the nurse’s station? Less mess.” He went back to reading the papers in front of him.
Charity rolled her eyes but headed down the hall to the nurse’s station. “Do you have an extra cart here Dr. Thompson could borrow?”
The older nurse smiled, as if sympathetic and knew what her father was like. The woman probably had no idea Charity was Dr. Thompson’s daughter. “I think there is one in the back. All the girls brought cookies and snacks for today. Let me just empty it for you.”
“Thanks so much. Can I help?”
“Sure, and help yourself to a cookie or two as well. You little skinny thing could use the calories.”
Charity smiled and went around to help the lady. “Merry Christmas.”
“And blessed Christmas to you as well, dear.”
Charity could have hugged the sweet lady. Back again in her Dad’s office she set the cooler on the floor and put the food, utensils and paper plates on the cart.
She blew her bangs away from her face as she dropped onto the loveseat to wait for Elijah. She checked her watch. Any minute. She leaned her head against the back of her couch and slipped out of her shoes. She rest her feet on the table.
Her father huffed and loudly stacked his papers against his desk.
Eyes closed, she knew exactly what her father’s exasperation was directed at. She crossed her ankles and pressed her lips tight. If he saw her smile, who knows what would happen to the over-bearing, controlling man.
She jumped in surprise when he sat down beside her. She straightened and set her feet back on the ground. “What’s up?”
“I spoke with Dr. Cheeves this morning.” He paused and watched her.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Who’s he?”
“He’s our head of residence.” He looked at her like she should know who the man was. “It took some convincing, and a bit of arguing,” he said as he nudged her with his elbow, “and maybe a bit of extra donations toward the residential studies, but he’s willing to let you join his rounds.”
“What?” She stared at her Dad. Could he really be serious?
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity. He’s one of the best in the country and to be willing to let you step in after being gone so long, it’s huge.” He leaned forward, excitement in his eyes and carrying over to his voice. “He wants you to retake a few exams, but if you start studying now and get working, by spring you can step up into full rotation. I’ll pull some strings to get your stuff up to date and organized. It’s the least I can do.”
“Dad.”
He continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Where is your passion? You know, the part of being a doctor that makes you want to conquer anything? When I started, it was surgery in the emergency department. I could see you there. Trying to help everyone. Or what about peds?”
“Dad! Stop!” She stood and began pacing the room by where he sat. She halted right in front of him. “I’m not going back to med school.”
He looked at her, confused. “But last night, you said…”
She shook her head, knowing she was disappointing him again. “No. I didn’t say. I’m happy with my job. I thought that’s why you hired me to do the gala for your birthday.”
He waved his hand. “Don’t worry about the gala for me. We can hire someone else to take over. You need to get cracking on those books.”
She sat on the table and looked him directly in the eye. She could see he was itching to say something about where she set her bum down, but miraculously he held off. “I’m NOT going back to med school. I don’t want to. Nothing is going to change my decision. It’s not for me.”
“But it was. It is. You’re extremely talented and you’re wasting your ability on throwing parties for other people.” He shook his head. “I’m throwing you a bone here. You won’t get this chance again. It’s a huge opportunity.”
She wanted to grab the magazine beside her on the table and wallop his thick head with it.
“What’s a huge opportunity?” Elijah called from the doorway. He wore blue scrubs that made his eyes bright and a Santa hat attached on a string.
Dr. Thompson stood and clasped him on the shoulder. “Surgery go well?”
“Fantastic,” Elijah replied. His eyes flitted over to Charity.
She smiled at him in relief. Maybe her father would drop the conversation now that Elijah was here.
“I just got Charity in with Dr. Cheeves.” The way he said it, you’d have thought he found the cure to the common cold.
“Really?”
“I know! And Charity’s trying to tell me she’s not interested.”
So much for dropping the conversation. “Dad. I love my job. I appreciate you speaking to… to Dr. Cheeves, but you should have asked me first.” There, she said it and had remained calm.
“Fine. I’m asking you now. I got you back on track to become an MD.”
She inhaled and forced the air out through her nose. So much for remaining calm. Did the man have no ears? “I can’t just up and quit my job. I have a contract with them.” She knew it wasn’t the right thing to say. The man needed it spelled out for him.
“Atlanta, right?” Her Dad’s thumb tapped against his chin. “Dr. Parker! I’ll call him and explain.”
“No you won’t!” She looked at Elijah for some kind of support. He just shrugged and grinned at her. Obviously enjoying this special family Christmas moment. “I am done with med school. D-O-N-E. Done! I don’t want to be a doctor! Not now. NOT EVER!” She stomped her heeled boot, trying to emphasize her point. How come the only way he understood her was if she acted like a child?
Her father blinked in surprise.
The intercom clicked on and a female voice requested Dr. Thompson’s presence in the OR.
Saved by the bloody bell!
“I need to go. We’ll talk about this later.” He hugged her awkwardly and grabbed a wrap before heading out the door.
Charity flopped down on the couch and rubbed her temple. “That man…” she shook a finger in the direction her father had left, “is going to be the death of me.”
Elijah walked over to the cart and looked through the containers. “He is pretty ballsy, but you have to admit, that was a pretty nice move, trying to get you back into med school.”
“He’s Doctor Scott Thompson. The man can move mountains with his medical connections and natural ability. He doesn’t want me in school, he wants his name back in the system.”
“Maybe he thinks you’re better than he is.”
She scoffed. “I highly doubt it.”
Elijah began piling food on a plate. “He told me a couple of weeks ago how good you were. Amazingly steady hands with a natural instinct to fix things.”
Her Dad had actually said that? “You a tad hungry?”
Elijah’s plate looked ready to snap from the weight of food on it. “I’m starving! Seems I’ve built up quite the appetite.”
She scooted over so he could sit beside her. “Really? What did you do?”
“A gorgeous blonde.” He winked and bit into his chicken salad sandwich. “A couple of times actually.”
She grinned and shook her head. “You’re terrible.”
“That’s not what you said last night.”
She laughed. “Stop it. What if someone hears you?” Or worse, her father walked back into the room?
“I don’t really care.” He started on a wrap. “This food is delicious, by the way! It really has been a crazy nonstop morning.” The hospital intercom paged Elijah for a code blue. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop.” He stood and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll give you a shout later?”
She nodded. “Sounds good.” What would she do for the next few hours? Head back to the hotel and sleep? “I’ll keep the cooler in here if you want more. There�
�s still loads left.”
He stuffed his mouth full of the pasta salad and grabbed another wrap as he headed for the door.
Charity cleared the table and tossed the used plates in the garbage. She put the food back in the cooler. She wiped the cart and brought it back down the hall to return it. A nurse with long blonde hair stood with her back to Charity, working on an iPad.
“Excuse me,” Charity said. “I just wanted to return this. I borrowed it earlier.”
“I’ll be with you in a moment.”
When the nurse turned around, Charity gasped.
Chapter 5
The nurse smirked at Charity. “I know who you are.”
Charity felt her eyes narrow as she stared at the girl. She had colored her hair blonde since the last time they had met in the elevator, or the time before when Charity had kissed Elijah to save him from her. She smiled at the nurse. “I never got the chance to thank you. If it hadn’t been for you, Dr. Bennet and I would never have gotten together.” Take that, crazy girl!
The smirk disappeared, and a fake look of shock crossed her face. “I didn’t know you two were still together. Elijah told me he was single. Dr. Thompson saw…” the girl let her voice trail off, waiting for Charity to take the bait.
“Chief Thompson, Dr. Bennet and I are clear on everything. Game’s over, sweetie.” Charity pushed the cart through the door. “Have a nice Christmas.”
The girl’s comment as Charity walked away was definitely not festive.
Charity left the hospital and headed back to her hotel. She headed down to the fitness room and worked out for an hour. When she got back to her room she showered and changed into a tank top and jogging pants. She noticed her phone flashing. She had missed a call from her father. She checked her voicemail.
“Hi Charity. It’s nearly four. I don’t know if you are at the house. I tried calling but no one picked up and I wasn’t sure if you would pick up the phone. We just received a heads up that there’s been a bus crash and they are sending us the emerg. I won’t be back for dinner. Neither will Elijah. I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble. I’m… I’m sorry.” The phone clicked suddenly as if he was embarrassed for apologizing.
She sent him a text back to let him know she heard the message and it was no problem and she had left food in the cooler for him and Elijah.
Another message popped up on her screen after she sent the one to her father. It was Elijah.
So Sorry. Bus crash and won’t be getting out of here for a long time. New shift is coming in and we are short staffed.
She replied: NP. Come by after if you want. Hope the crash isn’t too bad.
Outside, snow fell in heavy flakes that sparkled in the dark with the help of the hotel’s parking lights. The roads looked slushy and a big mess. The snowplow trucks probably couldn’t keep up with the amount of snow coming down. Charity shivered and turned the heat up a bit higher in the room. She was glad she didn’t need to be outside tonight. Hopefully her Dad and Elijah would be careful later, or even just stay at the hospital if they were too tired to drive.
Her phone began dancing and buzzing against the desktop.
Julie! “Hello.”
“Merry Christmas, sweetie!”
Charity smiled. “Merry Christmas to you too!”
“How’s the weather in Atlanta? It’s snowing to beat the banshee here.”
“I know. I’m in New York.”
Julie screamed. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have had you over.”
“I figured you were working. I wasn’t planning on coming but I need to meet with the building guy tomorrow morning for my Dad’s gala and the only available flight was yesterday.”
“So you’ve been stuck in a hotel all day?”
Charity laughed. Only her friend would worry more about her than she did herself. “Actually I had dinner with my Dad and Elijah last night.”
“Thompson tradition?” Julie was referring to Charity’s mother’s fondue.
“A slightly modified version, but yes.”
Julie whistled. “I thought you were on the rocky road with both of them.”
“I was. I am. I…” She blew out an exasperated breath. “You got ten minutes?”
“I have all the time you need. I’ve a feeling it’s going to take longer than ten and I’m dying to know what happened.”
Charity dropped down on the bed and got comfortable; this was going to take a while. “You want the good news or the bad?”
“Oh no. I’m not sure. Wait! Don’t start anything. Let me grab a glass of wine. I’d drive over to you – are you at your hotel? Or…” She giggled and then whispered, “Or someone else’s place?”
“Have you been drinking?”
Julie giggled again. “It’s Christmas and I’m off work today and tomorrow. Simon and I visited his folks, then mine and now we are relaxing. They say the storm’s supposed to continue through most of the night. Hold on a sec.” A cork popping sounded and a moment later she picked the phone back up. “Okay, I’m ready. Even sitting by the fire. So tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”
“I was in my Dad’s office at the hospital and offered to make dinner. I don’t know why, but I did. Dad left and the next thing I know, he’s back with Elijah and telling me that Elijah’s coming to dinner as well.”
“Did Elijah know you were there?”
“I don’t think so. He looked surprised and ticked at the same time.” But he still looked hot. “But he agreed to come. Probably because of my father.” She wished she had a glass of wine now. A bottle of water just didn’t feel the same. “I went shopping yesterday morning and picked up stuff from the butcher. He talked me into this great little gourmet set that’s like a fondue but without having to deep fry stuff. Anyways, I also did a bit of clothes shopping and then headed over to my Dad’s place. Got everything ready, and we ate there.” She stopped talking, waiting to see if Julie would get mad at her for stalling. She didn’t have to wait long.
“So what happened? Elijah and you made up, right?”
“First my Dad and I had a fight.”
“Oh no.”
“We had a doozy. Threw everything on the table while Elijah was there. Then he left. It was pretty awful.” She filled Julie in on the argument and that they actually made amends. “Then, just when I think we are actually going to be on comfortable speaking terms, Elijah tells him that he’s been seeing me!”
“No!”
“Oh yeah. Dad blows a gasket. Apparently he walked in on Elijah and that crazy nurse a couple of weeks ago.”
“What?!” Julie pulled the phone away from her mouth and called out to her husband. “Simon, did you know Elijah’s been hooking up with the red-headed nurse?”
“Wait, Juls. He isn’t. The nurse set Elijah up. She must have figured out I’m the chief’s daughter. She’s a work of art. I saw her today and she dyed her hair blonde.”
“Like your hair?”
“Maybe.” Charity giggled. “Who knows? Anyways, that whole thing’s all cleared up and then I had to drive Elijah home.”
“Had to drive him home?”
“My father actually asked me to. Hard to believe, but I couldn’t disappoint the man.”
“Whatever. You just wanted to bone the hot guy.”
Charity laughed. “How does a woman go about boning? And what year are you from? The eighties?”
“The wine I’m drinking is. So did you bring him home? Did you stay?”
Charity pictured herself and Elijah in his living room. “I stayed.” She pulled the phone away from her ear when Julie screamed again.
“Sweet!! Is he as hot in bed as he looks?” Male laughter echoed in the background of the phone. “Ignore Simon. He’s laughing at me, but he’s dying to know the answer as well.”
“Simon and Elijah are buddies. I’m pretty sure Simon and Elijah have talked.”
“Not about you two. Simon’s asked general stuff but he hasn’t squealed on anything between yo
u guys. And trust me, I tried to get Simon to find out what happened when Elijah flew down to surprise you. I’m not getting off this phone until you tell me. I will harass you for days, weeks, months! You know how persistent I can be.”
“Fine! We had a very good time. Nobody left disappointed.” That’s all I’m telling you!
“Ah! You’re a bugger! Do you think it’s serious?”
Now that was the million-dollar question. “I don’t know. I think it could be.” She suddenly wanted to change the subject, as if talking about their relationship would jinx it. She wasn’t superstitious, but still… “I brought my Dad and Elijah lunch at the hospital today. However, apparently Happy Daddy turned back into the Grinch.”
“Your dad is not the Grinch.”
“The guy basically enrolled me back into med school to restart my residence here in New York!”
“Noooo!” Julie took a sip of her wine. “Are you going to do it?”
“Really? Whose side are you on?”
“Yours. Come on, you know you’d be an awesome doctor.”
“Has he been talking to you? Juls, I love my job. I’m not going back to med school.”
“I know. It’d just be nice to have you back in New York.”
It had been nice seeing Julie the past few months. “I’m going to be here more til the gala. We’ll plan something the next time I’m back.”
“When do you fly to Atlanta?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Next time you’re here let’s go out.”
“Deal.” They chatted a bit longer and then said their goodbyes.
Charity got up and showered and found Elijah’s T-shirt. She slipped it back on and sniffed the collar. She could smell his cologne through the fabric. She settled back on the bed with her laptop. The prep for the Valentine’s Auction needed to be done before she met with Malcolm. He had emailed a short while ago to wish her a Happy Christmas and confirm things for Friday. Yawning, she leaned against the bed frame and went over her notes for tomorrow’s meeting in town. Hopefully the weather would be better, or at least the roads, when she headed out to the building where the gala would be. Then again if it stormed all day tomorrow, she would be forced to stay here and hang out with Elijah. That wouldn’t be so terrible.
