Playing Doctor: A Central West End Story

by Cahoon, Lynn

  *

  Troy watched Annie race into her bedroom.

  Matt was a tool. And he’d use any and every piece of dirt he could to get under Troy’s skin. To make him look bad in front of the residents. He needed to figure out a way to handle this, soon. Annie didn’t deserve to get caught up in a pissing match between two interns.

  Sara stood in the kitchen rather than her usual place parked at the dining room table with her laptop. He snuck in behind her.

  “Whatcha doing?”

  The spoon covered with cookie dough flew in the air.

  Troy caught it and, with his finger, peeled off a taste. “Oatmeal chocolate chip?”

  Sara slapped his arm and took back the spoon. “Baking relaxes me. And I think better relaxed. Or at least I do when someone isn’t sneaking up on me and scaring me half to death.”

  “It is my apartment.” Troy reached over Sara’s head and grabbed a glass. Opening the refrigerator, he poured a tall glass of milk. “Want one?”

  “I’m still on coffee, but thanks.” Sara started measuring out the dough on the cookie sheet.

  “Maybe that’s why you’re so jumpy.” Troy grabbed one of the unbaked cookies off the sheet. Cookie dough had always been his favorite snack. Especially when Sara started baking. The girl was a wizard in the kitchen.

  “I’m jumpy because you scared me. First I get knocked over in the lobby and now you’re making me jumpy. I can’t win this morning.” Sara finished the sheet and placed it in the oven, setting the timer.

  “You got knocked over in the lobby?” Troy sat up on one of the kitchen counters and waited for her story. This should be good.

  “Yeah, it was my fault. I was plotting out the farmer’s market scene between Jake and Beth and not really looking where I was going. The elevator door opened and I ran smack into…”

  “A gorgeous, tall, hunk of romance novel hero.”

  “Close, Annie.” Sara poured herself another cup of coffee. “She could be a romance heroine.”

  “You ran into Annie?”

  “Smack into her. One of the grocery bags slipped and apples fell all over the floor.”

  Troy snorted.

  “It wasn’t funny. Annie helped me pick up the apples and get situated before she took off on her run.” Sara stirred creamer into her cup. Troy could smell the cookies starting to warm up in the oven.

  “So, you like her?”

  “Yep. She’s smart. And funny. And…” She paused, looking at Troy with widened eyes. “Wait, are you into her?”

  Troy shook his head and finished off his milk. He didn’t need Sara knowing about the other night. “You have to be able to talk to someone to be into them. The girl disappears as soon as I enter a room.”

  “Hmmm. This is sounding more and more like a romance novel. I’ve just never pictured you as the hero type. Not with your track record.” Sara had a wicked smile on her face. “Forced to share an apartment, sparks fly when an overworked hospital doctor and nurse accidentally step into the same shower.”

  “Your plot is weak.” Troy headed to his room. Sara didn’t need to know that her scene had almost played out already. “Leave me some cookies. I’m taking a shower. Alone.”

  “Jerk.” Sara threw a dishtowel at her brother. “Just for that, you can clean up. When the buzzer goes off, put the other sheet in the oven.”

  Troy shook his head and called out just before he closed the bedroom door. “I can’t hear you or the buzzer.”

  Sara, he understood. Why all women couldn’t be as open and transparent as his little sister, he’d never understand.

  The buzzer went off as he stood in his room. He turned around and headed back to the kitchen where he forgot about Annie and instead, focused on getting the cookies out of the oven and starting the next batch. After setting the timer, he refilled his milk glass and grabbed four cookies.

  “You get the next batch out. This time I really am headed for the shower.” Maybe a cool shower would clear little Miss Annie out of his head. He could only hope.

  Chapter Eight

  Troy knocked over the sugar canister. When he tried to clean that up, he opened a closet and the broom and mop fell on his head. He’d never felt so nervous before a run. Not even the year he traveled just over a thousand miles northeast to run in the Boston Marathon. This was just a Sunday in the park. A jog.

  A jog with Annie. The girl who kept getting under his skin even while being a royal pain.

  Maybe she wouldn’t show. She hadn’t been in the best mood when they parted ways yesterday. Troy thought about the required abnormal psychology class he’d taken a few years ago. Could the girl be bi-polar? Troy shook his head. He’d watched Annie during the week with patients and staff at the hospital. She could be nice. Of course, nice was part of the condition too.

  Troy leaned into the wall and stretched the back of his calves. He checked the time on his watch. 6:01. He’d wait another five and then head down to the lobby. There wasn’t any noise coming from her room. She’d probably slept in. Or she didn’t want to run with him. Heck, she didn’t even seem like she wanted to talk to him. Maybe he’d just leave now. Save himself the humiliation. He switched legs and concentrated on the stretch. Running was his zen. His calm. He didn’t need this stuff with Annie confusing it.

  Dropping over in to a toe touch he closed his eyes, finding his center. When he opened them, he noticed a pair of white and pink running shoes in front of him. He followed the black tights covering well-defined legs up past the pink shorts and pink sweat jacket to Annie’s face. The woman had a runner’s body. He’d give her that. Desire flashed through his body and he was glad he’d worn the loose gray sweatpants. No need to scare her off again.

  “Nice color,” he grinned. She could be seen in a St. Louis rainstorm.

  “Give me a break. I need to do laundry today.” Annie shrugged, looking uncomfortable in the outfit.

  “I like it.” He held the apartment door open and nodded to the elevator. “Ready? Or do you want to take the stairs?”

  “Stairs are fine.” Annie glanced up at him. “My mom bought this for me last year. It reflects light.”

  He headed to the end of the hall and the door to the stairwell. “You’d be the light of a party at a skating rink when the disco ball comes out.”

  “Stop teasing me. I told you my mom bought it.” Annie’s voice followed him down the hallway.

  “The things we do for love.” He held open the door for her. “After you, Running Action Barbie.”

  Annie stopped and stared at him. “That name better not surface at the hospital. I’m already fighting the Nurse Barbie image.”

  “It was a joke.” Great. He’d stepped into it again.

  “Not a very funny one. Look, can we just run?” Her face was red and her voice strained.

  “After you.” He motioned her through the door. Why was it that the two of them couldn’t have a conversation for more than two minutes without World War III breaking out? Even when he was trying to be nice, she took what he said the wrong way. Hot or cold. There didn’t seem to be a middle ground between them.

  Midway through the run, they took a short break in front of the art museum. They sat near the base of the statue of King Louis and looked out over the fountains and reflecting pools below.

  “You’d never believe this was in the middle of the city. Kind of our own Central Park.” Troy leaned back against the cool granite the sun warming his face. He saw Annie sneak a peek at him before she answered.

  “I love the park. Being able to run here was the main reason I wanted that apartment.” She sat cross-legged on the sidewalk. “I used to drive over here from campus three or four times a week.”

  “To run?” Maybe if he kept his mouth shut, they could have a normal conversation. She reminded him of the horses from his grandfather’s farm. Curious but skittish around a ten-year-old boy who moved too fast and talked too loud.

  “Sometimes. But I’d bring my books and read at th
e art museum on weekends. Or at the zoo. It’s amazing how much noise you can block out when you’re determined. Sometimes I just sat down by the fountain but not having people around me made me nervous.”

  “I can’t believe you studied in the midst of the hordes of kids running through the zoo. I used to find the quiet nook in the library.” Troy watched Annie move a rolly-polly bug from the sidewalk to the grass, saving it from being crushed by unseeing foot traffic.

  “I liked the background noise. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters growing up so having people around me felt like I was part of a big family. Or what I’d imagined having a big family would feel like.”

  “I have a sister I’ll give you any time you want,” Troy commented. “She’s great, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I think she’s too close. She’s a dreamer.”

  “The world needs more dreamers.”

  Troy barked out a short laugh. “Instead of us practical ones who get the work done?”

  Annie looked up at him and smiled. “In spite of the practical ones. The dreamers make the world better. They mold life into what it could be. Sara’s like that.”

  Troy looked over the view of the park. He could just see the top of the hospital over the trees as well as the rest of the St. Louis skyline. Someone had built the art museum on top of this hill just for those views. Views of buildings that weren’t even going to be built until years later. A dreamer.

  A movement to his right brought him back to reality. Annie stood up and brushed the dirt off her pink shorts. He couldn’t help it, a low chuckle escaped his lips.

  “What?” Annie glared at him. “Don’t tell me you’re going down the Running Action Barbie road again.”

  “Nope. Just thinking about your mom and how your face must have looked when you opened that Christmas gift.”

  Annie straightened her jacket. “This was a birthday gift and I was grateful and polite when I called and thanked her.”

  “So she wasn’t there to see the joy on your face when you opened the box.” Troy fell in beside Annie as she jogged down the hill.

  “No, thank God.” Annie laughed. “I don’t think I would have been able to control the laughter.”

  “You’re a good daughter.” He loved hearing her laugh.

  “I try to be. She’s a great mom. She just has interesting tastes in clothes. Something about her growing up in the seventies and loving tie-dye.” Annie picked up the speed. “Come on, we’re running, not talking.”

  Troy matched her pace. “I can do both, can’t you?”

  Annie shook her head. “I’m here to clear my head from all thoughts. Not add more.”

  Troy laughed. “Running it is then, Action Barbie.”

  *

  “And then?” Pam paused the movie and looked over at Annie. “What happened then?”

  Annie took another bite of her shrimp fried rice. Eating out of the containers was the best part of ordering delivered Chinese. Except the part where she got to eat in her yoga pants and old Rams jersey. “Then we ran back to the building. When we got to the apartment, he went left and I went right.”

  “So are you meeting tomorrow to run?” Pam turned toward her friend and leaned forward, eager for the answer.

  “Nope. Back to the gym tomorrow and the treadmills. It’s too cold and dark when we’d have to run to get to work on time. He said he’d meet me next Saturday morning in the kitchen if I wanted to join him.” Annie turned the movie back on. “I’m sure we’ll talk between now and then if the weather changes.”

  Pam paused the movie again glancing around the living room. “Where is the good doctor tonight?”

  “I suspect he’s on a shift at the hospital. He doesn’t clear his schedule with me.” Annie turned the movie back on.

  Pam grabbed the remote and hit the pause button a third time. “So do you like him?”

  Annie leaned back on the couch, pulling a lap quilt over her legs, and propping a pillow behind her. Did she like him? The easy answer was yes. She liked him as a running buddy. She loved the way he’d made her feel the night they’d been together. But did she like him, really like him?

  “I’m not sure. Besides, I really don’t have time for anything else in my life right now. If I started dating, we couldn’t do Sunday movie night.” Annie reached down and started the romantic comedy one more time.

  Pam snatched the remote from Annie’s hand. “You’re not getting out of this conversation that easily. Eric deals with our movie night; I’m sure Dr. Dreamy would be able to handle it. What aren’t you sure about? Seriously, Annie, he’s hot. Even if it’s not forever, why not have fun now?”

  “Listen, I’m going in Monday for my first performance meeting with Abbott. I’m sure she’s more interested in hearing me say I’m not attracted to or dating one of the interns than he’s my new love.” Annie put the box of fried rice down on the coffee table. Unless Matt decides to out the coffee date. “She hates me enough now. I don’t want to prove her right.”

  “Abbott and people like her are always going to have false perceptions of you and everyone else in the world. You can’t control what people think of you.” Pam polished off her box of stir-fry chicken and grabbed two fortune cookies from the coffee table. “Let’s see what’s in store for you tomorrow. Maybe the cookie will bring you good luck.”

  This is what Annie loved about her friend. Pam believed that all problems could be solved by relying on the advice from the little triangular shaped cookies.

  “What the hell.” Annie reached for a cookie, remembering this time to pause and act like she was being drawn to the one fortune that would change her life. She broke open the cookie and held the little slip up to read.

  Pam leaned forward, her eyes bright. “Well, read it!”

  “You are on the path to love. Keep running and love will follow.” Annie turned the slip over in her hand and found her lucky numbers for the week listed on the back. Looking at her friend, she barked a short laugh. “You made this up and slipped it into the cookie batch. Cute, Pam, really cute. But how did you know which cookie I would take?”

  Pam’s eyes were wide. “I didn’t make that fortune. Annie, I swear. I’ve been swamped with work and Eric’s new projects at the condo. It’s a sign.”

  “A sign we eat too much Chinese. Seriously, with all the cookies we’ve broken open the last year, the fortunes were bound to get one that fit what’s happening in my life.” Annie stood and picked up the empty cartons, shoving them into a paper bag. “Do you want a soda from the kitchen?”

  “Okay, maybe the frequency of our delivery could explain one spot on prediction. But you’ve had two in the last month. Remember, your life is going to change in three months to the day?” Pam stood and grabbed the empty soda cans, following Annie into the kitchen.

  “Yeah, I’ll probably be fired because Abbott found out I was running with Troy and had coffee too, breaking all the fraternization rules she’s made up for the floor.” Annie pulled out two sodas from the fridge. “The first prediction is way too general to match up with this one. I think you’re seeing what you want to see. Like red cars.”

  “Say what you want,” Pam popped the tab on her soda. “You are being led by forces bigger than your doubts. You have to go out with this guy.”

  Annie put her hand on her friend’s back and walked her to the couch and the paused movie. “I have to keep my job. I have to eat every day. And I have to see the end of this movie. I don’t have to go out with a guy who hasn’t even asked me on a date in the first place.”

  “Don’t be surprised when he does. Face it, Troy is your destiny. The man who completes you.” Pam swung her legs up under her on the couch.

  “I’ll keep my eyes open. Now can we watch the movie?” Not mentioning the coffee date would probably be a good thing right now. And no way would she be able to tell Pam about their friends with benefits night. Annie held her hand over the play button and waited.

  “Sure. Just don’t forget to come tell me
those magic words when it happens.”

  Annie pushed the button. “What magic words?

  Pam pulled a sofa pillow over her lap. “You were right.”

  Chapter Nine

  The small office was crammed with a desk and piles of files, charts, and medical supplies. Nurse Abbott sat on the other side of the desk, reading Annie’s file. Her supervisor hadn’t said a word since she’d walked in and sat down on the turquoise plastic molded chair from the 1960’s.

  After what seemed like forever, the woman looked up and stared at her. “Your grades in nursing school were outstanding. Did the teachers like you?”

  Annie tried to comprehend the question. Yes, her teachers had seemed to like her but she had worked hard for each of those grades. “I studied hard and took on extra projects, so yes, I’d say my teachers liked me. They liked all the students who took their education seriously like I did.”

  Abbott snorted. “Extra projects. That explains the grades.”

  Annie’s internal temperature kept rising. But she took a breath before she answered. “I’m not sure what you’re insinuating, but I earned each and every grade I received in college. I’m a hard worker. You’d know that if you allowed me to do my job rather than putting me on puppy patrol.”

  Oops, that came out wrong.

  Nurse Abbott closed the file and leaned back in her chair. “Well, you do have a backbone after all. I was beginning to wonder.”

  Confusion took over the rage Annie was feeling. “Was this some sort of test?”

  “I’ve been here years, watching nurses come and go. Most of them were just here for the easy pickings of the vulnerable interns. You wouldn’t believe how many forced marriages there are in a doctor’s first year on staff. Someone has to protect those young men.”

  Annie sat up, her spine like a broomstick and her shoulders back. “I can assure you that I’m not here to get a husband. In fact, I wanted to talk to you about the hospital sponsoring me in the master’s program. I feel like I can bring a lot to the position with additional training.”