by CJ Butcher
The Doctor’s In Love
By
CJ Butcher
Dedication
To the Lord who gives me the ability to write. To my mom and dad who tolerate my silence and my clumsiness in times of stress.
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
Chapter 1
Even after all these years he still looked the same. Yes, he had gotten older and there was some grey in his hair, but he had changed for the better. He had the same twinkly brown eyes that he had always had. Marisol Matthews looked at him from under her lowered lashes. He was simply a beautiful person inside and out and always had been. It had been 5 years since she had seen him and the years had definitely been better to him than to her. She, on the other hand had never considered herself a beautiful or even pretty woman. She weighed too much to be considered beautiful. She had green eyes, reddish brown hair with highlights that weren’t natural by any means and a great complexion, thanks to the help of cosmetics. The cosmetic counter at her local department store was definitely her friend. Even though she was rocking and rolling towards thirty-five she didn’t really look a day over thirty. She was blessed on that account. Josh, on the other hand or Dr. Maddox as he was known was nearing forty-four by now and he didn’t look a day over thirty-five. Some men had it so easy. He was a very handsome man and in Marisol’s opinion he was the one that not only got away, but the one that she had never really had.
They had worked together for 5 years before he had left and took a position as a hospitalist at a local hospital. To say Marisol’s heart had been broken was an understatement. However, it had been for the best. Even though, they had been the best of friends he had been married and no matter what, Marisol had never considered crossing that line. Well, that wasn’t exactly true and she knew it. She had considered it and right when she was going to do something about it, he had decided to leave. Marisol guessed that was God’s way of nipping that in the bud. They had been so close that if he had stayed - there would have been no doubt that something would have happened. Marisol would have made a fool of herself, because as beautiful as his wife was, Marisol was the complete opposite. She had been frumpy, overweight and had worn glasses. She hadn’t really had that much going for her. She would have wound up making a play for him and then when she had been rejected, she would have felt even worse for the fact that their friendship was over. He had always spoken highly of her to her family and they had been his patients. Marisol had worked for the 4 physician practice from the time she was twenty-one until she had been thirty-three. He had practically watched her grow up.
Dr. Maddox had told her mother that Marisol should have been a doctor. That she’d had the potential to be a great physician and Marisol had secretly fallen in love with him after hearing how he talked about her to her family. He had always talked her up and made her sound like she was the most awesome person in the world. That’s when her parents had started to realize that she had some talent for the medical field. She had went on to major in Health Information Technology at the local college and had gotten her Associates online and taken a job at another practice almost a year ago. Marisol knew that Dr. Maddox worked at the hospitalist program, but she knew she wouldn’t see him since he never came in the office.
Now looking at him, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. He was handsome and not just because Marisol was hard up, but because he looked really good. She smiled to herself and thought about what a goofball she was being. Josh was still lean and athletic looking and he still had that lopsided grin that she’d always loved. Marisol just stared at him with wide-eyed fascination until he suddenly looked up and stared straight at her. They both broke into smiles at the same time and he walked towards her with a strong, confident stride. Marisol took a deep breath and tried to hold it in, but then felt herself getting a little dizzy.
“I will not pass out. I will not pass out.” She kept repeating under her breath.
“Hey there green eyes. I never thought I’d see you here.” Dr. Josh Maddox said smiling broadly.
“Hi there, Doc, it’s good to see you.” Couldn’t Marisol come up with anything more original than that? She could crawl into a hole. She held out her hand and he enveloped it with his. She shook vigorously and then suddenly stopped, thinking that she was treating his hand like a dog with a chew toy, shaking it back and forth. She flushed and withdrew her hand.
“When did you start working here? I know I would have seen you here before. I can pick you out of a crowd.” He said winking. He was a charmer; he could charm a snake out of its skin.
“About a year ago, but I worked in the satellite office in Tree Lane. I just moved to this office at the end of October. Almost 5 months here and my one year will be coming up in March.” Marisol said rambling. At her diarrhea of the mouth, Josh just laughed and shook his head.
“You should try breathing in between some of those sentences.” At Marisol’s slightly embarrassed look he said, “I’m just pulling your leg. You always were a talker, but then so am I - takes one to know one. I was just dropping off charges from the weekend admits. You look good Marisol, really good.” She didn’t have glasses any longer thanks to LASIK and she had lost at least fifty pounds. She still weighed about one hundred and fifty so she wasn’t wafer thin, but she had still changed quite a lot.
Marisol stared at him in mute adoration before realizing that her mouth was hanging open and she might be drooling a little. She snapped it shut and said, “You look really good too. It’s been a long time.”
“Too long.” Josh said sadly. “Look, I have to get back to the hospital, but are you doing anything after work tonight?”
“Doing anything? Nope, just going home. I still don’t have much of a life besides work.” Oh God, why did she just say that? Was she losing what was left of her mind? She dealt with doctors all day and she didn’t just blurt things out to them. I mean, she did when it called for it but not like this. What was she thinking? Maybe it was time to schedule that follow-up with her psychologist.
“Great. How about we have coffee or something and catch up. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other and I have so many questions.” Josh looked over her shoulder and whispered, “I think the dragon-lady is giving us the evil eye.” Marisol didn’t have to ask who that was. Her boss was the dragon-lady. She had about as much feeling for others as a table lamp. Marisol glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, she was being glared at.
“You betcha. She hates me, but I’ll tell you all about it tonight.” Marisol smiled and Josh leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
“That’s great. That you’ll go out with me - not that she hates you…boy that didn’t come out right. So, I’ll see you tonight. I really have missed this smile. Let’s give her something to talk about.” He touched her mouth with his thumb and rubbed her bottom lip. Marisol watched in amazement as he walked around her and walked towards her office manager with purposeful strides. Never in the 10 years since she’d known him had he ever done anything that physical towards her except maybe a hug. She turned around and watched as he walked down the hall. She was in big trouble. Her office manager glared at her and walked into her office. Just one more reason for Marisol not to be liked; not that she needed one. Her boss made it her point in l
ife to make Marisol’s life miserable and that was okay because she could handle it most days. She just dealt with it and put in her 8 hours and then went home, but some days were worse than others. Marisol could deal with the backstabbing and the pettiness, but sometimes it hurt that she didn’t have any friends that she worked with. She always told herself that she was there to do a job and not make friends, but that really wasn’t the way to live. Marisol wished she could quit, but that wasn’t an option for her. She sat down and stared at the stack of work on her desk. She had a full day ahead of her so keeping busy definitely wouldn’t be a problem for Marisol. She blew her hair out of eyes and settled into her office chair.
After her sixth glance at the clock, Marisol gave up and decided to take a break. Five o’clock couldn’t get here soon enough. Marisol was so nervous that she hadn’t even been able to eat lunch. She was excited about tonight. At the thought of earlier, she felt her face heat up. Her boss had been giving her dirty looks all day long. Maybe, she should cancel tonight. She didn’t know if she wanted to sit there and listen to Josh talk about how great his marriage and family was; when Marisol didn’t have one waiting for her when she got home. She just had her parents and although she loved them to pieces, there was a part of her that wanted a physical love that only came from having a meaningful physical relationship.
Just as she was about to call the hospital and tell Josh that she was tired and could they just do coffee some other day, she had a phone call. She looked up as Mindy said, “There’s a guy on the phone and he’s rude, I don’t think he knows phone etiquette at all.”
“Sorry Mindy, it’s probably my dad and he doesn’t have very much personality on the telephone.” She pressed the line and spoke into it. “Hello, this is Marisol. May I help you?”
“I hope so beautiful. Are you ready to cut out of there? I was thinking instead of coffee, we could catch some dinner. I didn’t get to eat any lunch. I was a little nervous about tonight.” Josh admitted quietly.
“You’re not the only one.” Marisol laughed softly. “I was getting ready to call and cancel. I didn’t think that it would be such a great idea to go out with you.” She said seriously.
“Why not? Why can’t two friends catch up on some much needed friend time? I’ve really missed you and you don’t know how much. We haven’t seen each other in 5 years. A lot has happened. Unless you’re married and your husband would be jealous.” Josh said.
“I’m not married, but you are and I’m not sure that she would be thrilled about us seeing each other. If I remember correctly, she didn’t like me and the feeling was kind of mutual.” Marisol said honestly.
“I remember. She didn’t like the fact that I talked about you and that it was always - Marisol this and Marisol that. Look, go out with me. There’s a lot to tell you, but if this will persuade you…” Josh paused “I’m divorced.”
“You’re what?” Marisol said breathlessly. She almost fell out of her chair and dropped the telephone at that one.
“D.I.V.O.R.C.E.D.” Josh spelled out for her.
“Since when?”
“Since a year and a half ago.” Josh said.
“Wow that’s great. I mean, I’m so sorry.” Marisol said, as an afterthought. Geez, she could at least sound a little sympathetic instead of almost gleeful.
“Yeah, wow. So, I’ll pick you up at 5?” He asked.
“Okay. I’ll see you in a whole hour.” Marisol hung up and leaned back in her chair and whispered out loud “divorced”. She hadn’t seen that one coming. She hadn’t seen any of it coming. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. She stared at the phone and realized what he had said. He was going to pick her up and everyone would see them together. How would that look? Did she really care? No, she didn’t think she did. She looked down at the paperwork she was working on and realized that she wasn’t going to get anything done at all today. She hadn’t really made any progress today anyway.
She had always loved Josh Maddox and it hadn’t been love at first sight because at first sight she had thought he was a pain in the butt. He talked way too much and he never let her get a word in edgewise. Slowly but surely he had become one of Marisol’s most trusted confidants. She hadn’t had too many of those. Yes he always tended to be right and he always told her that he was right, but it was always in good fun. He picked on her and made sure that she didn’t take herself too seriously and she made sure that he took himself just serious enough. They had been a good pair.
He wasn’t gorgeous or extremely built like in romance novels, he was lean and average but his personality made up for whatever he lacked in the looks department. He had an extremely good heart and kind disposition and he had always looked at the inside of a person’s heart and not the outside. He had always looked out for her best interests and Marisol wouldn’t push him away this time. She’d see it through, even if all he wanted was to have dinner and catch up. She was always so scared to put herself out there, but she was getting to the age where she needed to quit running. She looked at the clock again and thought back to the first time she had met Dr. Josh Maddox.
Chapter 2
Marisol was scared to death. The new physician was coming in and she was going to have to be the one to show him around and show him the ropes. The nurse that was supposed to work with him had taken vacation and had left Marisol to work with him. What was her boss thinking; she did refills for heaven sakes. She didn’t work with doctor’s weeks at a time. This had disaster written all over it. What if he was hard to work with? She heard a noise and looked up to see a young guy standing there. He had to be about thirty-five or younger. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes and pale skin and a prominent nose. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans with a rip at the knees that looked a little worse for wear. Marisol thought he had something about him that seemed almost familiar.
“May I help you?” Marisol asked.
“Yeah, sure. I’m Joshua Maddox, the new doctor. I’m looking for where I’m supposed to be.” He said in a deep voice.
“Dr. Maddox, I’m Marisol. I’ll be working with you this week while your nurse is on vacation. It’s nice to meet you. We weren’t expecting you till tomorrow. How are you?” Marisol extended her hand and he quickly engulfed it with his and shook it. He didn’t let g, but just held it and stared into her eyes. Marisol felt like her hand was on fire. He wasn’t gorgeous or even sexy but there was something just below the surface that Marisol couldn’t put her finger on. He slowly let her hand go and slipped his hands into his pockets.
“I thought I’d get a jump on things and move in. I have a couple of boxes in the car and my diplomas and stuff to hang. I just wanted to have a look around and get things settled. Maybe go over a couple of things with who I’d be working with.” He smiled gently and shrugged.
“How about I help you on all that? I’m pretty free right now.”
“I don’t want to put you out or anything.” He said quietly.
“Not at all. It would be good to switch things up a little. We have 2 docs out so it’s pretty quiet.” Marisol set her pen down and reached for her jacket.
“Cool. You get the heavy stuff and I’ll get the picture frames? Deal?”
“I think you have that backwards Dr. Maddox, but if you switch it you have a deal.”
“You can call me Josh.” He said.
“I better not. I’ll slip up when seeing patients. Really, I will.” Marisol said glancing sideways and smiling broadly, when he went to protest.
“Ah…alright, but I might not answer to Dr. Maddox. I’m not used to it.” He joked.
“That’s okay. I’ll just throw something after the fourth time.”
They worked in silence for a couple of hours putting up books and putting pictures on his desk. Marisol saw a pretty woman with blonde hair and brown eyes holding a little girl. Marisol picked the picture up and studied it.
“That’s my wife and little girl.” Josh stated.
“They’re beautiful.” He
was married. Isn’t that the way it always was.
“I like to think so. What about you? Married? Kids?”
“Are you kidding? I’m not really a kid person. More of a dog person really and look at me – do I look like I’d be married?” Marisol said with a snort.
“Yeah you do. I can see you married. I don’t even know you and I feel protective over you already and it’s only been 2 hours. So yeah, I can see you married.” He looked down at her, with this look she couldn’t understand. He was really tall, at least 6’3 and she was all of 5’1.
“Thanks for the compliment, but there’s no one. Hasn’t been.” Marisol placed the picture back on the desk and backed towards the door. “Well, looks like you’re settled in. I’d better get back to work. I’ll um, see you later.”
“I thought you were going to show me around?”
“It’s not that big an office.”
He grinned that crooked grin and snatched her hand. “Come on. Show me around. We’ll work tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Marisol fell head over heels in like. Couldn’t help but like the good doctor. His laugh was infectious, even if he didn’t let you get a word in edgewise when he was making a point or telling a story. Josh Maddox was always in a good mood. He didn’t bring his problems to work and Marisol knew he had problems because he had talked about them with her. Who wouldn’t like someone like that? He would even bring his daughter to work with him and Marisol would let her color in her office. She had watched her grow up and she had turned out to be a beautiful child. She had his personality and his outgoing nature. They were an all-around perfect family on the outside.
Chapter 3
Marisol looked at the clock and saw that it was 5 o’clock and put the past in the past so she could head to the future waiting for her outside.