by Lexy Timms
“You go, girl!”
Charity went through to the elevators and headed to Elijah’s floor. Her father, whose office was across from Elijah’s, bumped into her in the hallway.
“Charity! What a nice surprise. Is everything okay with Jamie?”
“She’s good. Margaret and her are watching a movie.” She debated talking to her dad but held off. It would only make him angry. “How’s the walking science experiment going?” she said, referring to the heart monitor he was discretely wearing. She planted a kiss on his cheek.
“This thing’s a pain in the ass. I have to carry two cell phones now. Why I haven’t consolidated everything into one device is ridiculous. Now I have this monitor that I have to keep within six feet of my body. If I don’t, some guy in a cubicle in San Jose gets an alarm that sends everyone into a panic. In addition, they know if I exert myself in any way.”
Not twice in one day! Enough sex talk from the seniors. “It’s only for a month and it’ll let them know how much Warfarin you need. That is what they have you taking, right?”
“Yeah, but Margaret and I are on this yoga routine. I’m going to reduce my medications over time as much as possible. Jamie ready to get the cast off?”
“Yeah Dad, the little Peanut will be out of that thing in a matter of days. She’ll have intensive rehab but you know kids, they’re resilient. They can power through things we as adults can only dream. I hope we haven’t been too selfish with Margaret.” Charity took the opportunity to gauge her father’s feelings about Margaret. Her chances of catching Elijah before he went into surgery were looking slim as she chatted away with her father.
“No, no. Margaret is where she needs to be and as long as it’s not with Haunch Bradenton I’m fine with it,” Dr. Thompson said.
“Things seem to be going well with you and Margaret.” Charity was hesitant to get involved with her father’s love life. She wanted her father to sense that she was giving him a sort of permission. He didn’t need Charity’s o.k. but she knew he wanted it.
“We have a long way to go, but I believe we’re moving in the right direction.” Her father smiled in a way she had not seen in a very long time. His color was robust and he was carrying himself with a different kind of confidence.
“I’m glad.” She checked her watch. “I have to find my husband before he scrubs up for his next surgery.”
“O.k. we’ll talk again soon. Charity, one more thing.”
“What’s that Dad?”
“Remember that V on your badge stands for visitor. Don’t go where you’re not allowed.” He winked.
Does he know everything? Charity smiled and hurried to Elijah’s office. She knocked once and stepped inside.
Elijah was alone behind his desk looking sexier than the first day she laid eyes on him. His dark hair was wet as he normally took a shower between surgeries. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, which made him every woman’s fantasy.
“Sorry… I didn’t call.” That was as close to an apology as she could muster.
Elijah walked over to her and lifted her off the ground. He kissed her as he pushed her up behind his office door. With gentle force, if there was such a thing, he drove his tongue into Charity’s mouth. If ever she needed a moment of passion that was it. In fifteen seconds, he had her juices flowing. With her face flushed he set her down. “I’ve got a double hernia to repair. I don’t think I can take you to surgery with me, your sweet breath on my neck would be a distraction.” Elijah smiled and pulled at the waist of her green skirt.
“I know you’re in a bit of a rush.”
“Is Jamie okay?” he asked suddenly.
Charity waved her hand. “She’s fine. She’s with your mom. I need to talk to you about something.”
“Can it wait? If it’s not an emergency, can we discuss this after my surgery?”
“It’s not about earlier.” She leaned against the door, trying to prevent him from leaving if he decided he needed to. “I came to tap in to some of your sage wisdom regarding my work at Pinnacle.” She knew he needed to go. It was silly to try and make someone else wait because she was worried about a job that wasn’t life threatening. “You should go. We can talk at home, after you’re done hanging out with Simon.” She tried to keep her voice neutral and not sound like she really wanted him to cancel his evening plans.
He kissed her cheek and reached for the door knob. “I’m going to let Simon know tonight I won’t be available on a regular basis anymore. Can we keep Julie out of the loop on this one? I don’t want to create any friction.”
“What kind of friction would we be creating?” That was an odd comment.
The hospital intercom clicked on. “Paging Doctor Bennet.”
“We’ll talk later. Give my peanut a kiss.” He kissed Charity again quickly on the lips. “Oh and when is Scott’s party? I need to make sure it’s on my calendar so I clear surgeries for the party.”
“I’ll check with your mom. I haven’t even thought about it since the accident.” Charity watched Elijah run down the hall and then she slowly made her way back to the hospital entrance. Another function to add to her complicated pile.
She followed the green line on the floor, which was the directional used by visitors so they wouldn’t get lost. Red went to cardiac care, yellow to imaging and so on. She wondered if the color-coded system was ever used. What if someone was colorblind?
“Hey, Dr. Thompson-Bennet.” Conrad Hasti lowered his head and continued down the corridor beside her.
“Conrad, I have been meaning to come and see you since the accident.” She stopped walking. “Sorry about the way I acted. I’m really sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” His face burned red.
Charity wondered how he managed to find clothes, or how he made his way out of the bathroom. Poor guy. “How’s school going? Have you started applying to medical schools yet? You haven’t asked Elijah or me for a recommendation so I was curious.”
Conrad stared at the ground. “There’s no rush on the letter. To be honest I’m not exactly sure what I want to do. I don’t know if I have what it takes to be a doctor.”
She wanted to hug the young man. “I’m going to tell you my story. It almost caused me to give up on fulfilling my dream of becoming a doctor. I didn’t cause a death or anything close but I messed up a pregnancy diagnosis of all things. Ironic in a bad way because I was pregnant at the time. A woman presented in the emergency department suffering from what I assumed was a case of food poisoning. The patient had been on a cruise boat. A sunset charter that had reported an outbreak. I asked her if she was sexually active. She said no. Looking back, I realize that perhaps it had something to do with her devout faith and she was engaged but not married. I prescribed her with chloramphenicol and sent her on her way with the instructions to push fluids. It wouldn’t have been a big deal because the meds don’t harm the unborn child. I didn’t know the girl was going rock climbing and zip lining the next weekend. She fell off course and was rushed to the hospital. The baby survived but if it hadn’t, I would have blamed myself.
“I know now that patients lie to their doctors sometimes. A young engaged woman, what was I thinking? Or not considering? I doubted myself after that. I thought I didn’t have what it would take. Because you care, you’ll be a good doctor. My mistakes were my own and I forgave myself. If the profession were to lose everyone who made the slightest mistake in life then there would be no doctors.” Charity patted Conrad on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Dr. Thompson-Bennet. I appreciate you sharing that with me.” Conrad shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled. “If I do continue, I’d like to get into peds, I think.”
“I have two things to say about that. Number one, enough with the long name. You make me sound more important than I am. Call me Charity. Second, I would trust the life of my child in the hands of the doctor you’ll become.”
Conrad laughed. “Thanks! That’s a compliment coming from you, Doctor—Charity.�
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“Good. I’m glad. I want you to come to me when you need a letter. Are you looking at anywhere in particular?”
“I’ve been contacted by a few universities,” Conrad said casually.
That was a very good sign. Medical universities didn’t contact applicants, they contacted and basically begged universities.
“Columbia, Harvard, Michigan, Oregon, but who knows. I’ll keep you posted.”
Charity knew Conrad was intelligent but his list was more impressive than her own list at that age.
“Please do and please come visit Jamie. When she gets out of her cast, she’ll be anxious to show off her moves.” Charity hugged him briefly before heading out to the parking lot.
In the sedan, Charity called Hal Jaworski. Her talk with Conrad had given her confidence. She’d tell Elijah about it later tonight. His voicemail answered.
She left him a message, “Hal, this is Charity Bennet. We need to arrange a time to meet. I have some issues to discuss. We can meet at Starr HQ. I look forward to your call.”
She wanted to tell the lascivious cow where he could shove his charitable campaign but she held back. On the phone wasn’t the professional way to do it. She frowned. Hal was lucky he wasn’t meeting her now. She wasn’t feeling a hundred percent, and someone had pushed her bitchy button. The pompous man was not going to force her to do things she didn’t want. She’d make sure of it.
Chapter 18
Her meeting with Hal had to be postponed. The man had been out of the country and wouldn’t be returning till after Jamie’s cast was off. In the meantime, Charity set her work for Pinnacle on hold and went after Haunch, Margaret’s so-called boyfriend.
He’d eagerly returned her call the day after she had left the message with his wife. She got straight to the point with him.
“Haunch. This is Doctor Charity Thompson-Bennet.”
“Yes?” The man sounded confused on the phone. “I thought I was contacting an art gallery.”
“No. I spoke with your wife yesterday.”
“She told me.”
“I’m Margaret Bennet’s daughter-in-law.” Her long doctor name had confused him and he had missed the Bennet part.
“Oh. Ohhh.”
The silence on the phone that followed showed Charity the man understood why she had called. “I’m going to politely ask you to cancel all contracts with Margaret, and send all contracts with closure to her lawyer here in New York. I’ve had a moving company pack your belongings up from her house in New Zealand. If you send me a fax number, I can send you the location to pick them up. If they aren’t claimed in thirty days, they are delivered to a local goodwill charity shop.” She couldn’t stop the smug smile on her face. “You will have no contact with Margaret, everything will be done through our lawyer’s firm here in New York. You fucked with the wrong family.”
“I… uh… I.” Silence again followed on the phone. He hadn’t hung up, the rat just didn’t have anything to say.
“Follow everything as requested by the lawyers and we’ll not mention anything to your wife, or the authorities in America, or New Zealand. This is your one off chance at a get out of jail free card. Don’t screw it up.”
“I… see. Yes. I’ll make sure I get everything done on my end.”
“Is your wife beside you?”
“At the moment, yes.”
“Our—Margaret’s lawyers will be in contact with you. Thirty days, Haunch. Don’t forget.”
“I won’t.”
Charity grinned as she hung up. She couldn’t wait to tell Margaret, and Elijah, she’d taken care of Raunchy the Haunch. She’d told her dad about the situation and he’d quietly insisted to contact his top notch lawyers. In fact, they’d taken care of everything yesterday afternoon and sent Charity exactly what she needed to tell him. They’d be in contact with him later today.
Charity smiled. All in a day’s work.
The remainder of the week flew by as Charity focused on helping Jamie and taking her back and forth to the hospital for X-rays and checkups. With the all clear, Dr. Bailey removed Jamie’s cast and suggested a removable brace for the next month. The brace would be custom fit and it would allow Jamie movement without the risk of re-injury while the bone finished healing. It meant she could take it off in the tub and he also suggested some pool rehab. Charity and Elijah agreed. The non-weight bearing activity would be perfect for Jamie. Plus, she loved water!
As the next week flew by, Charity spent her mornings at the pool and intense rehab for little Jamie. Who was a trooper through it all. It was hard to believe how fast time had flown since the tumble in the backyard.
When Julie called and told her she had booked a spa morning for the two of them, Elijah said she had to go. He offered to take the morning off and take care of Jamie’s rehab. Charity couldn’t argue. Her father and his mother had gone away for a few days up the coast.
They lay beside each other as two massage therapists worked on their backs.
“I totally needed this day at the spa, Juls. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels. Everything has been thrown off kilter with Jamie’s accident. I’m behind on my work, which is turning out to be a nightmare. I have my dad’s seventieth, which I’ve delegated to Margaret, and I miss the hospital. That last part is between you and me,” Charity said, her words partly mumbled as she lay face down on a massage table.
“I miss you at the hospital too. A lot’s changed.” Julie sighed. “Did you notice we call this a spa day when we are only here for two hours? Are there actually people who spend an entire day at the spa?” Julie mused as the masseur shoved his elbow down hard on her scapula. “Easy! I need that thing.”
“Apologies. I rarely have a customer as tense as you,” Joel, the masseur said.
“What’s got you in knots?” Charity asked, half teasing.
“Besides the fact I’m around sick people all day?”
“No excuse, I know you love working at the hospital.”
Julie sighed again. “It’s complicated.”
“Try me. I think I’m the queen of complicated. I should have this perfect life, and I pretty much do, and yet nothing is simple. Throw your troubles upon me, girl. I’m all ears.”
“Simon and I are drifting apart. I don’t know why. We argue when we are together and then argue when we aren’t. I keep trying to get him to spend more time with me, but it’s like he’s pushing me away, or making excuses. We barely see each other at the hospital now. It’s like he purposely sets his shifts opposite to mine.”
“I don’t think he’d do that. It’s not easy with both of you being doctors.”
“I don’t hear you complaining about Elijah.”
“We have to work really hard at it, and it’s still not easy. Maybe Simon should drop the weekly stuff with Elijah and spend it with you instead.” Elijah had asked her not to mention it to Julie, but Juls was her friend and if she felt she had issues going on in her marriage, she had every right to offer to help.
“I totally agree. Like the time they went out together last Tuesday afternoon when they hit the links. I was off. He could have taken me golfing!”
Charity swallowed, glad Julie couldn’t see her face. She knew Simon was lying. Elijah didn’t golf, he hated it and would never choose it over time with Jamie. Last Tuesday was pizza night. Elijah and Jamie made their own pizza, which was a hoot. Charity had even taken pictures with her cell phone. She held her tongue, she wouldn’t tell Julie until she’d double-checked with Elijah. Maybe Julie had gotten the days wrong and possibly the sport. “We’re supposed to be relaxing Julie. Let’s stop talking about our boys.”
“Agreed,” Julie mumbled, sounding as if she was nearly asleep.
The rest of the massage couldn’t finish fast enough. The more Charity thought about Simon lying to Julie, the more she began to question Elijah spending time with Simon. Could he be lying as well? He wouldn’t be cheating on her, would he? She refused to consider the thought a moment longer.
/> ****
“I’m home!” Charity called out as she stepped through the house. She could hear Elijah and her now cast-free daughter in the backyard. She walked through the kitchen and out the sliding door. “Hello, princess!” She moved close to Elijah and whispered in his ear, “Which princess is she supposed to be?”
“Belle.” Elijah smiled.
Charity was probably the only mother in America who couldn’t identify Belle’s yellow dress from Beauty and the Beast. She was slightly disappointed Jamie never touched the mini-scrubs she purchased her. “You make a lovely Belle, Jamie.” Charity bent down to give her daughter a kiss.
“Daddy’s the Beast.” Jamie glowed. She was still wobbly but her rehab was helping muscles that had started to atrophy. Right now, she sat at a small kid’s table drinking pretend tea with her daddy, who was way too big for the tiny chair he sat on.
“You’re wearing an apron so I assume you have something planned for dinner. Do tell.” Charity wanted to talk about Julie and Simon but she figured it could wait. She sat down at the remaining petite wooden chair.
“I’m making paella,” Elijah said proudly. “Jamie and I thought we would arrange an impromptu dinner party. Our folks are back so I left a message for them to join us as well.”
“Sounds perfect to me.” Charity smiled. A spa morning, lunch and now an easy evening? “Fix me a cocktail?”
He stood and bowed. “Ah, but of course.” He winked at Jamie and kissed Charity lusciously on the lips.
“Belle and I will watch Beauty and the Beast on the laptop out here and allow you to work your magic in the kitchen.”
“I’m using seafood instead of chicken, by the way. Don’t want my mother scolding me because I fried the chicken or something she won’t like for your dad.”
“Smart man.” If Charity thought her husband was sexy in scrubs, in an apron he was simply irresistible. He chose her blue apron, which matched the color of his eyes perfectly. She found it hard not to steal an occasional glance of her husband from the sliding kitchen doors. He was chopping onions with surgical precision. She never thought the daily task of preparing food could be such a turn on.