The Doctor's In Love (Pathway Series)

by CJ Butcher

  “Yes ma’am?” Marisol asked as she went into her office.

  “Take a seat. I have something I need to ask you.” Clare asked and sat back in her chair with her arms crossed. “I need to know if you’ve been talking with Dr. Rowe.” She stated.

  “Excuse me?” Marisol asked. She looked at Clare as if she had really lost her mind. She and Dr. Rowe were best friends, not that it was any of her business.

  “It’s been brought to my attention that you’ve been talking to her after hours.” Clare said. Marisol just looked at Clare with a disbelieving look. She felt like she was in high school all over again. It was amazing that she got any work done with all the time she spent in her boss’s office.

  “I’m friends with Dr. Rowe and I don’t understand why it’s so important what I do on my off hours.” Marisol stated quietly. She sat there with her legs crossed at the ankles and her arms on the chair and held very still. She kept a controlled tone and tried not to flinch as Claire said:

  “Well it’s my business if you’re talking about what is going on in this office to her.”

  “I don’t have to tell you this, but I’m going to – I haven’t talked to her. Not about the office and not about you. I have too much work to do to worry about what goes on other than what I do.” Marisol told her honestly.

  “Well my sources tell me that you talk quite regularly.” Clare said.

  “I don’t know who your sources are, but I can tell you that they aren’t true.” Marisol said.

  “When I have several people coming to me telling me things, I tend to believe them.” Clare told her.

  “That’s your decision.” Marisol said and sensing that the conversation was over, she got up and left. She went back to her desk and started working on her meaningful use data for the physicians. Somehow she had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well. Clare wasn’t going to leave her alone. That was twice in one week and every time she went to one of the physicians to tell them she was being harassed, it somehow got turned around on her. She had started looking for another job, but her field was lucrative and hard to get into. She had been dealing with this Clare issue for a while now. It wasn’t the first time that she had talked with a physician about her boss and what had been going on. Her phone rung and she looked at the number. She got up to take the call.

  “Hello?” Marisol answered.

  “Hi there, beautiful and how’s your day going?” Josh asked.

  “I’ve had worse, but I’ve also had better.” She answered smiling.

  “That doesn’t sound too good.” Josh said.

  “I just got called into Clare’s office for the second time this week to have a heart to heart.” Marisol said.

  “Do you want me to call one of the partners and have a talk with one of them?” He asked.

  “Why would I want you to do that?” Marisol asked horrified.

  “I thought it might help.” He answered honestly.

  “That would make it worse not better and then I’d be accused of having 2 doctors on my side.” She said.

  “Okay, well I guess that won’t work.” He said.

  “I better go. I’ll call you later Josh, ok?” Marisol said. They said their goodbyes and she hung up. She better get back inside before she got in trouble for that also.

  Josh looked at his watch and then at the yard. He wasn’t a fan of yard work. As a matter of fact, the last time he had done yard work he had come face to face with a wood spider. A barn full of wood spiders to be exact. He had gone into his barn to get out his lawn mower and he had walked through the doorway and a spider had dropped on his head. He had shaken it off onto his shirt and when he had looked down he had seen a baby wood spider. He had brushed that thing off so fast and then he had turned on the light. He had seen what he’d thought were hundreds, but was probably only a third of that crawling around. He had run out of there going mach seven and he had called an exterminator. In the end, he had wound up burning down the barn and building a new one. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that one of the reasons he had become a doctor was because he was better with people than working with power tools. He might just save the yard work for another day. It’s not like it was going anywhere.

  When Josh had talked to Marisol on the phone he had heard how disheartened she sounded about her job. It could be a tough place to work when your boss didn’t like you. He could go behind her back and call one of the doctors, but if she found out – she’d have his head. That would be a bad idea. She had made it clear how she felt. He would respect her wishes and let her handle it. He had made a decision last night before he went to bed that he would surprise her and meet her at church tonight. He wanted to check out Pathway Church also. He’d heard good things about the church and seeing as he was free, he wanted to be there to support Marisol any way he could. He was looking forward to seeing her again, even though he’d just seen her last night. Even if it was just seeing her at church he could handle that. He could just sit beside her and be there for moral support. Yep, that was what he would do. He had it all planned out. Now he just had to hope she didn’t mind. He really thought he could spend the rest of his life seeing her day in and day out and not get tired of it.

  Chapter 6

  Marisol told Summer she would meet her in front of church outside. She was nervous about going and it had taken forever to get ready to go. She looked at her watch and then got out of her car. She waved at Summer.

  “Hey girl, you didn’t chicken out on me.” Summer said smiling. She was Marisol’s complete opposite. She had short brown hair and brown eyes and stood around five feet six. She had on 3 inch boots and towered over Marisol tonight.

  “No, I didn’t chicken out. Could you get any taller with those boots on? I look like an oompa loompa beside you for heaven’s sake.” Marisol said laughing.

  “Weren’t they in that cartoon with the singing rats?” Summer asked.

  “No that’s Cinderella. I’m talking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Marisol said. “How have you not seen that even though you’re only ten years younger than me?” They walked into the church together and were greeted at the door.

  “I have to sit on the end because I don’t like sitting in the middle.” Summer said.

  “That’s fine with me. That way when they say to hug your neighbor, I can go to the restroom. I don’t do hugs.” Marisol said and Summer leaned over hugged her jokingly. Marisol tried to avoid the hug and they heard someone clear their throat.

  “Is this seat taken?” A deep voice asked.

  “Josh?” Marisol asked. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought I’d come and support you.” He said and took his seat beside her. “Hi I’m Josh Maddox.” He held his hand out to Summer.

  “Summer McLeod. Nice to meet you. How do you know Mari?” Summer asked.

  “I work with her. We’ve known each other for years.” Josh said.

  “We just reconnected this week.” Marisol said and she would have said more, but church had started. Praise and worship was really awesome and Marisol had enjoyed it. When they would have said hug your neighbor, instead they said turn around and tell your neighbor “what’s up?” Marisol had decided to hold out going to the bathroom. The rest of the service had been really good and she had decided that she was going to go back. After the service, Marisol and Josh walked Summer to her car.

  “Thank you for inviting me. I loved the service.” Marisol said. Summer gave her a hug.

  “I know you don’t hug, but that’s just tough. I’m proud that you walked through that door. It took a lot of courage for you to do that.” Summer stated. She got in the car and waved at the both of them and pulled out.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Marisol asked.

  “I wanted to surprise you and give you some support.” He said. He took her by the hand and walked her to her car. “How did it feel tonight?”

  “Like being home. Just like being home.” Marisol said.

&
nbsp; That night, when Marisol got home she talked with her parents and they were excited that she’d had a good time and that she’d decided to start seeing Josh. Her mother had told her that it was about time that they had gotten together. Her mother told her that she had run into Josh weeks ago and he had told her about his divorce, but had sworn her to secrecy. She had promised and had told him that he had come at the perfect time. She told her parents goodnight and had turned in early. She was looking forward to going to work tomorrow. She was going to try and put the past in the past.

  That next morning at work when Marisol got to work she was in a great mood. She had decided that whatever happened she was going to make it work with Josh. She was going to put her best foot forward with Clare and work on their relationship. She didn’t like the fact that her boss always thought the worst of her and always wanted to find things wrong with her. Today, she was going to talk with her and clear the air.

  “Good morning Mindy.” Marisol said.

  “Morning Marisol. Happy Friday.” Mindy said.

  “Isn’t it though?” Marisol asked. She went to the kitchen and made some coffee and then went back to her desk. Her desk looked like a bomb exploded. There was never enough time in the day for her to finish her work. Today was a half day and only 2 doctors were here, so she should have some time to talk to Clare.

  “Marisol, can I see you please?” Clare asked. Marisol smiled politely and followed Clare to her office where Dr. Pate was also waiting. Marisol took a seat and Clare closed the door to her office.

  “Yes ma’am?” Marisol asked.

  “I specifically asked you the other week if you had the security code to the office.” Clare stated.

  “Yes ma’am and I told you that I don’t. I told you to talk with Ralph if you didn’t believe me.” Marisol replied.

  “I also asked if you were talking with a board member after hours. I’ve been told by a staff member that you’ve been conspiring to have me fired and this upsets me greatly.” Clare said. Marisol looked at her in disbelief.

  “You’re joking, right? I haven’t been doing anything of the kind. I’ve been doing my job.” Marisol defended.

  “Well the board and I have decided that we no longer need your services. So we’ve decided that you can either resign, which we’ve written up a resignation letter for you to sign or you can be terminated.” Clare said. Dr. Pate stood behind Clare and didn’t say anything.

  “So all of the board voted? Based on one person’s accusation?” Marisol questioned.

  “We really don’t have to go into all of this. Either sign the letter or be terminated. If you resign, I can tell potential employers that you were really good at your job. You were good at your job and no one disputes that, but we just feel that your time here is up.” Clare said. Marisol sat there and looked at her like she had lost her mind. Was this lady crazy? She had done nothing, but be friends with a board member and this is what happens. Sure, in the beginning she had made mistakes, but she had quit doing that. She knew the nurse that had lied because the only one who would out and out tell that kind of lie was Lily. She was one of the oldest nurses there and she had lied before. She hadn’t wanted Clare fired, if anything she had covered up some of the things that had been going on. Marisol had kept quiet about a lot of things that had been going on. She just looked at the resignation letter on the desk and then looked at Clare who sat there with her arms crossed. Marisol didn’t feel anything at that moment, but free. She leaned over and signed the resignation letter and then she got up and walked out. She didn’t say a word because she didn’t have anything to say.

  “Do you need a bag for your stuff?” Clare asked sweetly and offered her a bag.

  “No I don’t. Thank you.” Marisol said. She started getting her stuff together and quietly dropped what she had been working on in the trash. She didn’t really have anybody that she worked with that she wanted to say goodbye to, so after she was done packing her stuff she left through the back door. She got into her car and shut the door. Marisol’s thoughts were swirling in her head. What was she going to do? How was she going to pay her bills? She started to hyperventilate just a little and then she called her mother to let her know what was going on. When she hung up, her mother was on the warpath. She was calling Dr. Rowe to find out if she knew anything about what was going on. Marisol didn’t really want to talk to the Dr. Rowe right now. They were friends, but the thought of her betraying her made Marisol sick. Marisol pulled out of the parking lot and the rest of the drive home was a blur. She walked in to her mother and father telling her that everything would be okay. Her mother had called Dr. Rowe and she was in a meeting, but would call her back. Marisol needed to call Josh and tell him what was going on.

  “Hi honey, how’s your Friday going?” Josh asked softly.

  “It’s been better. I got called into the boss’s office and Clare told me to resign or be fired.” She said trying to hold it together.

  “On what grounds?”

  “Apparently, they don’t really need any.” Marisol said.

  “How are you doing?” Josh asked.

  “I’m doing surprisingly okay. I thought I’d be heartbroken, but I’ve been miserable for months. I’ll bounce back.” She answered truthfully.

  “Can I see you this afternoon?” Josh asked.

  “You know, I could really use that.” Marisol said. She heard her mother on the house phone and then her mother interrupted her. “Josh, I have to go. I have another call on the house phone. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

  “Alright baby. I’ll see you in a few.” Josh said. Marisol hung up and her mother said:

  “Dr. R is on the phone and she is not happy.” Her mother handed her the phone and Marisol took a deep breath.

  “Hey Dr. R.” She said.

  “I want to tell you that I had nothing to do with what happened today and that I knew nothing about it.” She said angrily.

  “I know.” Marisol replied. She really didn’t know, but she had been her friend for 3 years and she trusted her. There had to be one person she could trust.

  “I mean it. I just had one of the partners come over here to basically break the news to me. They didn’t even think to have me included in this vote.” She stated.

  “Really it’s okay. I know you would have told me and they knew it. So, I’m okay. What does that tell you? Look, I have to go because I have to be somewhere. I hate to cut this short.” Marisol said.

  “I don’t want this to affect our friendship.” Dr. Rowe said, but Marisol wondered if it would.

  “Of course not. We weren’t friends because we worked together.” She said. They said goodbye and Marisol wondered if she would hear from her friend again. She hoped that she would. She counted her as one of her closest friends. She had been one of the first people other than Josh who truly thought she was smart and had potential.

  “Mom, I’m going to see Josh. He wants to make sure I’m okay.” Marisol said.

  “Okay honey. Be careful and we love you.” Her mother kissed and gave her a hug. “Don’t worry about anything. Your grandparents want to help you if you need anything.”

  “You’ve already talked to grandma?”

  “Yeah and they want to help any way they can.” Her mother replied.

  “Thanks mom. I’ll be home later.” Marisol grabbed her keys and purse and ran for the car.

  Chapter 7

  Josh let Marisol in the house and wondered how she was going to take his news. He was just a little worried about it. He took her sweater and gave her a hug and held her for a couple of minutes.

  “How are you really doing?” Josh asked. He leaned back and looked at her intently.

  “I’m okay. Really. I’m a lot better than I thought. Dr. Rowe called and told me that she didn’t know anything about it and that made me feel a lot better.” She said softly.

  “Come on and have a seat. There’s something I need to talk to you about.” He led her over to the sofa. Marisol looked
at him and noticed for the first time that he looked worried.

  “Are you okay?” Marisol asked.

  “I will be after I tell you what I need to.” Josh said. He fidgeted in the chair and he actually started to make Marisol nervous and she voiced it.

  “Now you’re making me nervous.”

  “I’m just going to say it. They made me a partner in the practice.” Josh rushed out and Marisol burst out laughing. She looked at Josh and realized that he was serious and wasn’t kidding.

  “You’re not kidding. When did that happen?” Marisol asked.

  “Last month the papers were signed, but it’s not official till next week. I was going to take you out and tell you this weekend.” Josh said. He waited to see what she would do and she just sat there and stared at her lap. She looked up and gave him a small smile.

  “I guess Clare didn’t quite get rid of me the way she had planned.” Marisol said quirking her eyebrow. Josh laughed and leaned over and kissed her lightly.

  “Does this mean that you’re not dumping me?” He said.

  “I wouldn’t dump you over that.”

  “Good because I really love you. I’ve loved you for a long time green eyes.” Josh said, cupping her chin in his hand.

  “I love you too.” She replied. He kissed her lightly and pulled back slightly.

  “You know, there’s a dinner that their having for me to welcome me as partner next week. You wouldn’t want to go as my date, would you?” Josh asked slyly.

  “Yes I think I would actually.” Marisol said and leaned in to give him another kiss. “I can’t think of anything that I would like to do more.”

  About the Author

  CJ Butcher is originally from Baltimore, Maryland, but moved to Pikeville North Carolina. She is thirty-five years old and lives with her 2 cocker spaniels Shelby and Molly. She is involved in her church The Bridge and actively enjoys reading, writing and running. She has been in the medical field for 18 years.