“Oh, my goodness! Where’s Mud at?” she gaped, feeling horrified and all sorts of guilty. She’d been so out of it, she’d just now remembered that she’d picked up the kitten. What if she had sat on him in the car or dropped him? He was such a fragile, little thing!
“Mud, huh? Like what was on my car?”
“Where is he?” she ordered, looking around the room.
“I should tell you the shelter picked him up,” He told her with a frown. “You aren’t even going to ask if there were any scratches on the car’s door, are you?”
“I really don’t care. It’s an object, now we are talking about little lives. Where’s my kitten and can you pull back the curtain, so I can see Travis more clearly?”
He stood accommodatingly and moved the curtain back from around her bed. Travis was sitting there across the room in the gurney, eating Jell-o and watching cartoons on the television mounted to the wall. He barely gave Nikki a cursory glance as Barney danced across the screen. She hated that dinosaur and he absolutely loved it.
“Hey buddy, how are you feeling Travis?” The doctor asked him, and she watched him carefully noticing that while he still had a cold, uncaring aura to him – it was certainly much friendlier than he had been earlier in the day. He walked over, felt Travis’ forehead and Nikki almost grinned as Travis shoved the doctor’s hand away annoyingly.
“Better.”
“Good. Now, you want to tell your mama what you ate?” Curse him, she thought. The arrogant doctor had a wicked grin on his face that made her want to chuck her pitcher of water at his head. She glanced at his jacket and saw the embroidered name.
“Dr. Marlin, is it? Are you saying he didn’t catch whatever virus I have but ate something he shouldn’t have? Oh my gosh, was it poison? Did you call poison control?” she panicked and felt herself struggling to get out of the hospital bed to be at Travis’s side. Her sweet baby!! Dr. Marlin quickly walked over and prevented her from getting out of the gurney.
“MOVE AWAY NOW,” Nikki growled at him, making his eyes dance with mirth. Her toes curled as she looked into his hazel eyes that were so close to her, making her gasp in pain.
“Little mama bear,” she heard him whisper under his breath and then he said louder for her, “Trust me just a bit, okay?” Nikki settled down and watched Travis closely from across the room. He looked good, his face wasn’t flushed nor pale. He looked like a regular kid watching his favorite show.
“Travis, tell your mama what you ate so she doesn’t hurt herself, please?” Dr. Marlin said firmly, that smile cracking his face and finally reaching his eyes. When he smiled, it was devastating, and she wondered what it would be like to have it directed her way.
“Mama, no more big raisins. I don’t like ‘em anymore.”
“Raisins?” Nikki whispered confused and glanced up at the doctor as he chuckled. “I don’t have any raisins at home.”
“I wondered about that because we see children come in all the time and they’ve eaten something that they identify as something else. Your son had a ‘big raisin’ wadded up in his hand when you arrived.”
“Again, we don’t have raisins in the house. What did he eat? Crayons?”
“Prunes. Those were Travis’ big raisins. Do you have some lemon essence prunes in the house?” Now the doctor was trying to muffle his snickering, his beautiful eyes dancing with mirth. He reached in his pocket and held up a squished, yet individually wrapped prune. He had it pinched between his first finger and thumb, like it was a prized diamond. His smile was brilliant.
Nikki was mortified with embarrassment. She loved the taste of the lemony prunes and had a stash of individually wrapped ones hidden away. While she adored the taste, she hated the consequence of eating too many of them. Apparently, Travis enjoyed the tasty fruit too.
“Quit laughing,” she whispered, embarrassed. “It’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not,” he exaggerated and broke down laughing again. “Actually, yes it is pretty funny.”
“Well, it’s not! My house is utterly destroyed by this,” she muttered hotly, thinking of the mess that waited for her at home. Dr. Marlin’s sharp bark of laugher at her words surprised her and she found herself grinning against her will. He wiped his eyes and smiled at her.
“Look Nicola-“
“Nikki.”
“Nikki,” he amended politely and held out his hand to her in a gesture of friendship, “I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot. I’m here to help you two, not make you upset. My name is Jakob. Jakob Marlin.”
“Nikki Eben,” she replied instinctively and blushed. “But you already know that.”
“I do,” he said with a nod. “One of the nurses had to look in your purse for your driver’s license. Nice photo by the way. Now, what does Mud eat? Cat food? He’s awfully tiny.”
“Mud? Oh, he was on my porch when I got home. I gave him a bottle of milk.”
“Okay, you rest and let’s let Travis watch his shows while you sleep. We’ll talk more when you’ve rested and finished another two bags,” he told her with a smile, pointing at her IV stand, and nodding to the nurse that walked in with a tray. “Doctor’s orders.”
Nodding, she lay back and shut her eyes. The nurse injected something in her IV line instantly making her drowsy. She heard Dr. Marlin speaking with Travis, ordering him to stand guard over his mother ‘like a good soldier’, while she slept. A faint mew crossed her slipping consciousness and she blinked just long enough to see little Mud’s head peeking out of the top of Dr. Marlin’s lab coat pocket before she fell asleep.
4
“How are you feeling this morning, Nikki?” Jakob Marlin asked her with an overly chipper voice. As he walked in, she found herself watching him simply admiring the way he moved gracefully.
“Expensive and tired?” she quipped and slapped a hand over her mouth before she could control it. “Sorry, I’ve been up for quite a bit praying that this is covered by my insurance and hoping the hospital accepts it.”
“We do,” he said with an understanding smile, putting a thermometer into her mouth to quiet her. “You need to relax and focus on getting better for your son.” Nikki sat there silently for several moments until it beeped and the thermometer was retrieved. “98.6 degrees. Stay there and I’ll be happy.”
“Why are we both admitted?” she asked.
“You don’t remember yesterday?”
“I do, but if he’s feeling better and I’m on the mend, will you be releasing us both so we don’t rack up a bunch of bills?”
“Money isn’t everything.”
“Says the man driving a car that is a whole year’s salary?”
“Look, you need to get better and I’m trying to be nice.”
“Because your mother told you to or because it’s your job?” she snapped, instantly feeling like a heel. His face got flushed and she watched as he took a deep breath.
“My mother, as you have decided to bring up? She and I had a conversation regarding child rearing, responsibility and respect. Something that might do you and your son some good? In fact, I highly recommend some parenting classes or meeting with other mothers to see how they deal with mischievous children in their lives. There is a class held at the Main Street Church after services where you can meet with other parents.”
“Do you have any children?” Nikki asked bluntly, feeling her hackles rise.
“No.”
“Then don’t preach to me how to raise mine.”
“I’m not trying to, I am simply repeating what was told to me-“
“Look, I appreciate the advice but until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes? Can it,” she snapped and quickly amended her tone, seeing that aloof mask fall into place on his face. “Please.”
“Of course, but you are welcome to the church at any time. They are always looking to help someone out.”
“I already attend there,” she told him defensively, trying to keep the snarl from her voice. For some reason the man set he
r on edge. She didn’t want him to know that was the church she’d slept in for a few nights before being introduced to Mrs. Weatherby. Oh yes, she’d grown to know the church community quite well over the last few years but had never seen him there. “Do you?”
“Not as much as I should,” he admitted, and cleared his throat several times before saying, “Perhaps I will see you there on Sunday for service? 10 AM?”
“Are you asking me out?” Nikki blurted out, shocked. One eyebrow shot straight up as she stared at the handsome doctor fidgeting with his collar and clicking his pen nervously in his right hand. Mud took that moment to peek his head out of the lab coat pocket, crawling with his claws up to his shoulder. Dr. Marlin didn’t even look phased, but rather used to the kitten being there.
“You kept him with you? Thank you,” she whispered, again floored by this out of character gesture. The man seemed so icy and unfeeling at times, but other times he was practically … nice.
“The little critter purrs a lot,” Jakob muttered as an explanation. “I’ll get your discharge papers ready and the nurse will remove your IV. If you get a fever again, call me -don’t wait,” he ordered and handed her a business card with strong scrawling numbers written on the back of it. She accepted the card speechlessly and stared at him in surprise. “I will see you both Sunday.”
Dr. Marlin didn’t wait for an answer. He simply did an about face and left the room, with her kitten on his shoulder. Nikki assumed he would be returning with the kitten at some point eventually. As she was being discharged and given her prescription, she realized that Jakob wasn’t coming back. In a slight panic, she caught the nurse walking down the hallway just outside of their room.
“Can you tell Dr. Marlin I need to see him?”
“Certainly. Is something wrong?”
“He has something of mine that I need,” she whispered softly, pointing at Travis behind her. “Dr. Marlin has my son’s kitten with him.”
“You mean Mud?” the nurse asked her with a warm smile. “We all love Mud, but I thought your son, Travis, gave him to Dr. Marlin?”
Nikki stopped and stood up straight, quirking her head to the side. What? Could Travis have told the doctor to keep the kitten? It didn’t make sense, nor the fact that Jakob was actually keeping him!
“Are you sure?”
“Quite,” she told Nikki. “The nursing staff took turns feeding him yesterday with preemie bottles and Dr. Marlin took him home last night to care for him. I wasn’t sure he’d bring him back, but the two are inseparable. Mud’s got quite the bedside manner with children and elderly. You would think they’d go for Dr. Marlin first, but nope. Everyone loves Mud the cat,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I will tell the doctor you need to speak with him.”
“No, yes. Please.”
Twenty minutes passed by before she saw Dr. Marlin in the hallway. Sure enough, the kitten was in his lab coat pocket once again. The claws were snagged on the interior of the pocket and she watched as he continued what he was saying to the nurse at the desk but dropped his hand into the pocket almost absently to free the kitten and pet him. What kind of person was he exactly? To yell at someone one moment and then be tender the next? He turned and headed towards her room, causing her to duck back inside so he didn’t know she was spying on him.
“How are you feeling? Are you two ready to go home?” he asked simply. Nikki wished the floor would open up and swallow her. She saw in his knowing eyes that he’d spotted her watching him.
“Much better, thank you,” she began and hesitated. “Actually, we are ready to go, but there seems to be some confusion.”
“This guy?” he asked, pointing at the kitten.
“Yes,” she said, letting out her breath in relief. When her son got upset, his tantrums were the stuff of legends. The last thing she wanted to do was get home and him remember about the kitten. “Did Travis really tell you to keep him? Are you wanting him?”
“He did tell me that I could keep the kitten, but I figured it was more of a decision you should make. I took him home last night because he couldn’t stay here at the hospital and I figured your son my change his mind. Do you want him back now or perhaps I could bring him to you after church on Sunday?” his voice dropped quietly, almost as if he wasn’t sure of himself. “Maybe church, dinner, and bring the kitten to you?”
Nikki’s eyes searched his face and saw his cheeks begin to color. She had to give him credit, he never looked away from her – instead he seemed to be almost holding his breath. Nikki grinned as it dawned on her: Dr. Marlin was shy!
“You are asking me out, aren’t you? I think I’d actually like that very much,” Nikki told with a wide smile, her heart pounding happily against her chest. It would actually be a relief because the kitten would need so much more attention than the other animals. It was still so very tiny and delicate. She’d kept watch over him and had him sleep in her room because she was afraid he would get into a fight with one of the other animals. It would truly be a help and allow her to get the place cleaned up thoroughly. She’d be wiping everything down with disinfectant and bleach after being so very sick.
“Great,” Jacob admitted, letting out his breath in an undignified whoosh.
Nikki let out a soft giggle and quickly covered her mouth to smother it. Honestly, she found herself almost as excited. The man had the prettiest eyes after he seemed to thaw just a bit. She nodded and grabbed her purse, waving at Travis, whose eyes were glued to the tv screen. His eyelids were droopy, and his thumb was halfway in his mouth. It had been a long morning and he was overdue for his nap, plus with the combined freedom of cartoons – he was good and truly worn out.
“Travis? Let’s go,” she prompted. Mrs. Weatherby had been a gem. She’d come back out to pick them up after calling her earlier, and texted that she was downstairs at the lobby. Nikki picked him up and smiled again at Jakob, nodding. “We’ll see you Sunday at service.”
“And dinner,” he reminded her.
“And dinner,” she agreed again with a smile and walked out of the room, scooting past him. The scent of his cologne made her very nearly sigh in happiness as the crisp scent filled her lungs. Oh yes, Sunday couldn’t get here fast enough!
5
Nikki had spent the next day regaining her strength and cleaning up her destroyed house. The animals were so happy to see her and truthfully, she was happy to be home. Her job at the animal clinic was very accommodating, going as far as to run by the house and put out fresh food and water in the garage for her pets. Each one of them at the clinic had a tender spot for animals and no one could ever turn away a stray. She spent that evening making cupcakes for everyone as a thank you for being so kind.
She was ready to get back to work and honestly, ready for the time to pass. Two days until Sunday and she was anxiously awaiting their date like a giddy young girl. She hadn’t dated anyone since Ryan and that fateful night. Thinking back, she felt so ashamed for having given in to the pressure after knowing better and knowing it was against her beliefs. She’d paid the penance and felt so much stronger mentally and spiritually. Would Jakob judge her or make assumptions like others had over the last few years? That was the reason she hadn’t dated: the term ‘easy’ had been mentioned one time when just out of earshot and she’d been devastated.
Guilt, regret and shame had been tough enemies to overcome, yet she had. She’d spent many a night praying for guidance, asking if she was doing the right thing by having a child out of wedlock on her own. When she’d heard Travis’ heartbeat for the first time on the hand held Doppler instrument, she knew that he was innocent of her wrongdoings. A blessed soul to be loved and treasured – and she did.
“Who is it?!” Travis yelled at the door in his strongest voice as she heard a knock at the door. She was pouring the last set of cupcake batter into the liners. Hurriedly, she set the bowl onto the counter and checked her surroundings. She’d had a cat drink her coffee before and a dog yank a frozen roast off the counter, so she di
dn’t trust the animals with the batter in the slightest, and they were loose in the house now, running amuck at the disturbance.
“Just a moment!” she shouted, shoving the muffin tin in the oven and running to the door. Travis stood beside it, knocking on the door. She rolled her eyes as she realized that she’d been fooled, only to hear the knock again. Opening the door, she saw the Fed-ex truck and felt chagrined instantly at the perturbed expression on his face.
“Sorry about the wait, can I help you?”
“Package for Miss Eden?”
“Eben. Yes.”
“Sign here, Miss.”
Nikki hastily scribbled her signature on the pad and watched as he returned to his truck and brought out a large bouquet of pink stargazer lilies and a mylar balloon. “What is that?” she yelped in shock, over Travis’ chant that had started.
“Ba-woon! Ba-woon! Ba-woon!”
“Yes! Yes, I see it. Hang on there, buddy,” she told him, only to see him get quiet and his lower lip trembled. The waterworks were fixing to begin. “The balloon is yours, but I need to get it inside and we don’t want the dogs to run out the front door. Okay?”
“Here you go,” the Fed-Ex man told her, handing her the glass vase with little to no enthusiasm. He hopped back in his truck that was parked and running on the street. Nikki carried it inside and set it on the small dining room table. Travis was right there on her heels, watching that balloon eagerly. She pulled the balloon off and gave him the ribbon, squatting down to his level. “Be careful with this and keep it away from our animal friends, okay?”
“M’kay”
“Thank you,” she whispered, kissing him on the cheek before standing to examine the card. The balloon had a truck on it, but his birthday wasn’t for a few more months. Opening the card, Nikki couldn’t contain the smile that burst forth.
See you Sunday – Jakob
Nikki ran over to her purse to grab the business card he’d given her. She flipped it over and saw the phone number on the back. Was it his personal cell? She pulled out her phone and texted a simple message.
Perfectly Matched: Opposites Attract (Match Made In Heaven Book 1) Page 3