by Amy Wiseman
"Fine. But just so you know, you owe me. Like, big. We're taking our friendship to a new level here; I fully expect my payback to represent that." Evalyn relented and held out her hand for the washcloth.
"Duly noted," Kara sighed.
After her shower, Kara dressed in the soft pajamas Evalyn had brought for her and prepared for her first attempt at a lap around the nurse’s station. It was slow going, and as soon as she was back in bed she had to re-medicate, but she was successful and proud of herself. Matt congratulated her and informed her they would be removing the pain med pump in the afternoon and switching her over to a regular prescription of Vicodin pills. Kara thanked him before letting her eyes drift close for a well-deserved nap.
~*~
Jason arrived early at the hospital for his shift. Entering the lobby, his feet took over and, as if on autopilot, he walked to the elevators and hit the up button.
"What am I doing?" he muttered to himself. He was about to turn around and walk away just as the doors opened, and without another thought he walked in and hit the button for the third floor.
Jason didn't have a plan on what he would say when he got to Kara's room, even though he had spent hours the night before thinking about her after leaving Jaime’s apartment after dinner. The thoughts he’d had of her had made falling asleep difficult, and he was in dire need of a caffeine hit.
He turned the corner and headed toward her room. The door was closed, which caused Jason to hesitate. What if she was sleeping; worse, what if she wasn't? He still did not have a plan on what to say. He raised his hand and paused, then gently knocked twice. There was a good chance it wasn't loud enough for anybody in the room to hear, and Jason rolled his eyes at his actions.
"Come in," came her soft reply.
Jason slowly opened the door and poked his head in the room. Kara was awake, and the blonde, who had been in the ER with her, had returned. Jason's mouth went dry and anxiety hit him hard in the gut. Now not only did he not know what to say to Kara, but he'd have to come up with something quickly, and he’d have to do it in front of her friend.
He quickly swallowed his panic and entered her room.
"Hi." Jason dropped his head down and looked up at Kara sideways with a shy smile.
"Good morning, Dr. Dietrich." Kara's return smile was warm and inviting. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get it out the blonde stood up and shoved her hand in his face.
"Evalyn," she announced as he took her hand and shook it. Her grip was firm and Jason couldn't help but smirk.
"Jason Dietrich,” he replied pointing at his chest with his other hand.
"Dr. Dietrich was my ER doctor," Kara supplied helpfully.
"ER doctor?" Evalyn's eyebrow rose. Her question obvious, even without being further voiced.
"Pediatrics actually, I'm in my ER rotation now," Jason corrected. The silence that followed was slightly uncomfortable. Evalyn walked to Kara's bed and sat in the chair beside it; both women now looking at him and waiting.
Jason's heart began to race as he shifted from foot to foot, unsure of what to say, when Kara spoke up as if sensing his unease.
"I have to admit, I've had excellent care here. My doctors have been amazing and very attentive. I may even have to go online and rave. Five stars for sure." Jason chuckled at her rambling and the blush that quickly followed.
Beautiful.
Again an awkward silence settled on the room. Jason glanced at the door and as he was about to say he needed to head back down for his shift, Evalyn stood and announced she was going to the cafeteria for coffee. As she turned to grab her purse, Jason swore she winked at him. She leaned down and kissed Kara's cheek before swiftly leaving the room.
They were alone now and Jason's heart was pounding. Kara smiled and looked down at her lap.
"I know this is weird, and I'm sorry," he started, and Kara looked up quickly, shaking her head slightly and opening her mouth to say something, as he paused for a second, trying to find the words. "Did you go to Lake High School?" he blurted out, already knowing the answer but hoping to confirm it nonetheless.
Kara's blush returned. Slowly she nodded her head, "Yeah," she answered quietly, her eyes never leaving his.
"Me, too," Jason replied needlessly, his thumb pointing toward his chest as he glanced around the room nervously.
Kara smiled widely, "I know."
His eyes popped back to hers and he grinned back, dimples in full force.
He was just about to say something about seeing her around school when his pager went off, startling him. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at it quickly, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"There's a trauma coming in,” Jason's eyebrows furrowed as he frowned, “I need to get back downstairs."
He continued to look at his pager, and then shoved it back in his pocket, frustrated.
"Thanks for coming by," Kara said softly. He smiled and looked down at her, nodding his head.
Jason turned and headed for the door, looking back over his shoulder as he opened it. "You get discharged tomorrow?"
Kara nodded, and Jason did the same, giving her another wide smile as he walked out of the room delivering a small wave before shutting the door behind him.
As he entered the hallway, he couldn't help but dispel a huge frustrated breath as he looked up at the ceiling. “I’m such a tool,” he laughed humorlessly. He was off tomorrow and she would be leaving. He wasn't sure what to do about that.
~*~
"Damn, K!" Evalyn practically yelled as she exploded through the door. Kara noticed the white container in Eva's hand. So she did go to the cafeteria. Kara wouldn't have put it past her friend to listen at the door. Nobody could have missed the look in Eva’s eyes as she had kissed Kara’s cheek; she would be a woman on a mission now, only Kara couldn't help but think maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing...
Evalyn looked at her friend expectantly, "Well?"
"What?"
"Do NOT be coy, Kara. Who was he, and Oh. My. God. He was hot!" Evalyn plopped back down into the chair next to Kara's bed, opening her salad from the cafeteria. "And don't even think of giving me 'he was my ER doctor', we've established that," she said, pointing her fork at Kara and stopping her friend just as she began to open her mouth.
Kara couldn't help but smile. Eva knew her so well.
"Okay, but before the Spanish Inquisition, help me out of bed, I need to use the bathroom." Kara began adjusting the bed while Eva sat her salad down and lowered the bed rail.
"Just don't ask me to wipe your ass for you, because I have limits." Kara glared daggers at her friend. Obviously, Eva was never going to let the shower incident go. Kara would have to bake her friend a bribe cake, her very own version of hush money to ensure Eva’s silence.
"I just have to pee; your limits won't be breached. Yet," Kara gritted out, giving Eva a pointed look. If she needed somebody to wipe her butt, Eva would do it, and they both knew it. However, Kara had limits too, and that was a line she didn’t want to cross either.
Evalyn helped Kara stand and hovered next to her as they walked to the bathroom, then stood outside until she was finished. When she emerged Eva began to guide her back to the bed but Kara opted to take a walk around the floor, doing as her surgeon had requested and walking as much as she could. The care at the hospital may have been exceptional, but Kara had no intentions on staying any longer than she needed to.
"So...tell me about the DILF," Evalyn began as they made their way slowly from Kara’s hospital room.
"DILF?"
"Just substitute 'doctor'," Eva explained. Kara laughed and shook her head at her friend.
"Well, he was my ER doctor,” Kara began, earning her a disapproving look from Evalyn, "But we actually went to high school together. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"He was a senior, I was a junior," Kara continued. "We didn't actually 'know' each other. I saw him around campus and in the library a lot. He didn't date. Apparent
ly he had a girlfriend in Seattle he was planning on returning to after graduation."
"Wow, committed at seventeen." Eva was torn between approval and contempt.
"Yeah, drove the girls in school insane. Everyone wanted to land him and took it as a personal challenge." Kara laughed at the memory.
"Everyone?" Eva challenged with brows raised, pinching Kara gently on the arm.
"I wasn’t trying to land him; I was way too shy and boring in high school." Kara swatted her friend's hand away.
"Well if you ask me, from the looks of things today, I'd say he might have been game for a little landing on your part." They stopped by the window in the hall and looked out at the small park down below, built for patients to relax in.
Kara didn't respond, she was too busy wondering what exactly was going on. Jason Dietrich remembered her from school. Would that be enough to keep bringing him back to see her? Would he stop by again? He had mentioned a trauma coming in; he would probably be busy for most of the day. Would she see him again before she was discharged?
"Kara?" Evalyn brought her back to the present.
"Huh?"
"Whatcha thinking about?" Eva asked slowly, drawing out the question.
"I'm thinking about baking thank you cupcakes." Kara smiled at her friend and Evalyn smiled back, nodding her head knowingly.
"I think that's a fantastic idea." They turned around and headed back to Kara's room.
Kara turned to her friend, “So what flavor do you bake, as a thank you, for the hot doctor who’s felt your ovaries?” Evalyn stopped walking, her mouth dropping open to gape at her friend. Kara giggled and continued back to her room.
Chapter Five
The ER that night had been insane, and Jason was exhausted. Things would be a lot better once some of the staff started feeling better and the remaining employees weren't so overworked. This season's flu was hitting the area hard.
Jason looked at his watch and realized just how late it was. He had wanted to visit with Kara again before his day off, knowing she was leaving in the morning. That had turned out to be a bust with the sheer volume of patients that had infiltrated the hospital that day.
Jason ran his hand through his hair in frustration and slammed his locker closed. He didn't really know exactly what was bothering him, but something about Kara being discharged in the morning and not being able to see her again was stressing him out.
He headed out to his car, waving to people that bid him goodnight as he went. Despite his frustration, he really was looking forward to having the following day off. Things had been so hectic and he was stretched beyond his limits lately. He planned to sleep in, hit the gym and check in with his parents for an early dinner. He briefly mulled over swinging by the hospital before going to the gym, but immediately disregarded the thought.
Can you say stalker?
Frowning, he started his car and shifted into reverse, heading out of the hospital parking lot.
The drive home was short. As soon as he’d gotten his residency established, Jason had found an apartment close by, knowing there would be days when every minute he could spare for sleep would count, and a long drive would work against him. Minutes later, Jason parked at his apartment complex. He loved his apartment, or rather, townhouse. When he first graduated, Jason had considered buying a house, not really liking the idea of living above or below possibly noisy neighbors. However, he also knew there would be times when he wouldn’t be able to keep up maintenance on a house, and being a resident he didn’t earn enough to hire people to take care of those things for him. So instead he settled on a townhome, which he purchased as an investment. He only had one attached neighbor, an elderly woman named Emma, who loved to cook for him in return for the occasional check-up or prescription for her arthritis, along with minor handy man work when he had the time.
As he walked up to his door he saw a Tupperware container with a note attached from Emma, thanking him for fixing the clogged drain in her kitchen sink. Jason smiled to himself and unlocked the door, taking the container inside with him. He opened it and found a pasta dinner ready to be heated in the microwave. Thank you, Emma!
~*~
The following morning, after a brief visit from her surgeon, Kara was discharged from the hospital. She had been hoping to see Jason again, thinking he might stop by, but he had not and she was beginning to think she had made up what appeared to be mutual attraction between them. Then she felt a little foolish for getting worked up either way. For one thing, it was still pretty early in the day and from what she had seen he worked afternoons or evenings. For another thing, she had no business getting stressed or thinking about mutual anything with Jason. He was her doctor. Her extremely attractive doctor, who happened to remember her from high school, and had come to visit her. Twice. Ugh, this was why Kara hated dating.
Dating? Now I'm considering this dating? Eva's right, I'm completely socially inept.
Speaking of Eva, Kara had called her to come spring her from her sterilized jail cell an hour earlier, and she couldn't help but start to get slightly annoyed at how long it was taking her.
Just as she was picking up her cell to call again, Evalyn and Eric walked in followed by Kara's favorite nurse, Matt, pushing a wheelchair.
"Your chariot, milady." Matt motioned to the chair.
"Why thank you, kind sir!" Kara played along as she carefully made her way over to the chair while Eric and Eva loaded a cart up with her personal items.
"You know, I'm sad to see you go. You were my favorite patient." Matt winked at her, and Kara lowered her head blushing.
"Well, thank you, you were a fantastic nurse." Kara smiled politely, slightly worried that Matt might get the wrong idea and try to ask her out. That would be awkward. Of course he didn’t, and then Kara felt ridiculous for having been anxious about the whole thing. Eric went for the car while Matt parked Kara’s wheelchair curbside and set the brakes. Minutes later Eric’s Audi pulled up, and Kara got in the backseat while Eva and Eric loaded her things in the back. She glanced back at the hospital and waved at Matt, who was still standing next to the wheelchair, and wondered if Jason was somewhere inside.
~*~
It had been two weeks since Kara's surgery, and she was finally getting back into the groove of her regular routine. She had closed her bakery down for the first week, with a note posted on the door about a medical emergency in the family. She gave her current clients references to other local bakeries, knowing it was risky, but also knowing it would be worse if she left her clients high and dry. However, by the end of the week, she couldn't sit at home any longer and headed in to the shop just to get out of the house.
Kara checked her messages first and found fifteen calls for specialty orders, and immediately set to calling each back. By noon, she had returned all her calls and had a full schedule set through the following week. She even agreed to a simple cake request for a little girl’s third birthday, which was needed by the end of the day. Kara smiled as she grabbed her apron, turned the oven on to preheat and began collecting the ingredients she would need. She was back in her zone. While mixing up the cake batter, Kara decided to follow through on her plans to bake thank you cupcakes for Dr. Dietrich.
She mixed up a marble swirl, prepped the pan, and baked the cupcakes while the commissioned birthday cake cooled. After the cake was finished, and she had called her client, Kara went back to the cupcakes. At first she was going to do a simple frosting with sprinkles, but then she decided to be creative and made little stethoscope designs on top. It was six o'clock by the time she had finished them, cleaned everything up and closed up shop.
She hesitated momentarily in her car, finding the courage to head toward the hospital. Kara had no idea whether Jason was working, but thought an offhanded approach would come off less awkward if she had misinterpreted his actions.
She parked her car in the visitor lot of the hospital, and took a few minutes to pull her nerves together. “This is ridiculous,” she quickl
y chastised herself as she got out of the car.
At first Kara wasn't sure which entrance to go thru. She could go through the ER, as he had said he was on rotation there, or she could go to the main help desk and have him paged. She quickly decided to head for the main desk, mostly hoping to avoid Laura, the delightful ER front desk attendant from her last visit.
Those hopes were quickly dashed as she realized it was inching close to seven in the evening and the main desk was vacant. With a sigh, Kara followed the signs leading back to the emergency room.
Of course as Kara’s luck would have it Laura was manning the desk, and when Kara asked if Dr. Dietrich was working, she was given a scrutinizing once-over. "Do you have an appointment?" Laura asked her in a patronizing tone, sounding like she couldn’t care less if she did or not.
"No," Kara answered simply. Did she really just ask if I had an appointment? For the ER? Kara couldn't help but slightly roll her eyes.
There was an uncomfortable silence as Laura seemed to be waiting for Kara to say something. "Is he available?" Kara asked again.
"Just a moment," Laura snipped. Unbelievably it took another five minutes before she finally had Jason paged over the intercom. What. The. Hell?
Another five minutes passed before Kara saw Jason walk up to reception. He looked tired and was once again wearing scrubs, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he'd had another unfortunate vomiting episode. Kara felt her stomach drop when the nurse standing behind the counter pointed back toward the waiting room and Jason looked over and caught her eye. At first he looked shocked, but then he a slow smile stretched across his face until he let out a small laugh, then pointed to the doors and walked to open them.
"Hi." He looked genuinely pleased to see her, which made Kara blush.
"Hi." They stood, not really knowing what to say to each other.
"Oh, I brought you these as a thank you, you know, for taking such great care of me." Kara held up the cupcake carrier, her face aflame now, as she began to feel stupid about the whole thing.