“Definitely,” I said, taking my seat and pulling my laptop closer. I typed on my keyboard and was soon able to pull up the medical history of the patient Dr. Faye was asking about. I read out her key info to him, then I turned the laptop screen to him so he could pick out whatever details he felt were relevant to the cause.
The doctor whipped out a pad from his pocket and began to take notes. I saw him shake his head and I knew at once that little Irene might not be as safe as I had hoped. Her parents had brought her to the hospital because she had a wound on her leg that hadn’t healed for months. I had referred them to Dr. Faye when they came in because I had other cases to handle, plus he was in a better position to treat children, having practiced pediatrics for years.
“She would have had to go under the knife if they had delayed any longer,” Dr. Faye said. “Just imagine that lovely girl getting her leg amputated, all because her parents didn’t take proper care of her wound and let it get infected.”
I was glad that Irene wouldn’t lose a leg due to parental negligence. There were many cases like this in this small town when people would trivialize medical conditions that could become really dangerous, not coming to the hospital until it was too late to help them.
Dr. Faye spent a few more minutes in my office talking about what it meant to practice in so many towns like he currently was. He left with the notes he had made about Irene, leaving me in relative silence in my office. I drummed my hands on the surface of my desk as I stared out of the window at the small parts of the white mountain peaks visible. I would have to stand up and go closer if I wanted a good view of the mountains. For now, though, I was thinking about Francine Walters. She would be on her way back from the wards now and together we would go to the arcade to spend a beautiful evening with each other.
I had shut down my laptop and I was just closing its lid when a sharp knock came on the door of my office. I knew it was Francine as she had a particular style of knocking. The next moment, the door swung open and Francine stepped in my office just as I had expected. Her white coat was sparkling as she walked closer. What was far from sparkling or even being remotely cheerful was her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her, getting to my feet as I could clearly see that all was not well.
“I was right yesterday,” she began. “My uncle is dead.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said. It felt inadequate but I couldn’t think of anything else to say in that moment. The crushed look on her face pierced my heart and I felt the need to put an arm around her shoulders.
“He was my guardian,” she went on as if I had not spoken. “He took me and my brother in when our parents died.”
Francine continued to talk about how great a person her uncle had been, how he had been a solid pillar of support. The tears ran down her face as she said these words, and all I could do was rub her shoulder gently. I knew better than to interrupt the words of someone who was grieving in this manner. I silently waited for her to pour out her heart.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said when she fell silent. “From the way you have spoken about him, he sounds like a really great person. I want … ”
A fresh burst of tears cut into my words, making me stop. I continued to rub her back until she fell silent, but after that came something I hadn’t expected.
“I need a break,” she blurted out.
I didn’t understand what she meant, but I chose to remain silent. What did she need a break from? If it was work, I could hold the fort for her with Dr. Faye. We could manage without her, though she would be missed.
“You don’t understand,” she said when she looked at my face. “I want some space. I am tired of this stagnant friendship.”
“Stagnant friendship?” I repeated, confused.
“Yes, it’s not working the way I wanted. I thought you were willing to get serious at some point,” Francine said, “but you still don’t care about me in that way. I know you’re still hurt by the actions of your ex, and you are not willing to get involved with anybody … ”
I opened my mouth to speak, but decided against it at the very last moment. She was right, I was yet to completely heal from my past.
“We want different things,” Francine went on. “You want a friendship, maybe with benefits, but I want something stronger, more concrete.”
“Francine, I … ”
“Don’t change who you are because of me,” Francine cut in. “For now, I think we should just stay apart.”
“Francine, please listen to me,” I began, but she clearly wasn’t paying any attention to what I had to say. She drew herself upright and began to walk towards the door.
I dashed forward, hoping to stop her from leaving. We could talk about these things. The whole situation wasn’t exactly the way she had painted it. I grabbed her left arm and held her back.
“Let go.”
“Listen, Francine. We can … ”
“Let go!” she snapped in a manner that made me decide to leave her alone for now. She sounded like she could become violent if I continued to hold on to her.
I watched as she opened the door and slammed it behind her. It was all so confusing. I didn’t understand how we had suddenly gone from talking about her late uncle to ending our relationship. I stared at the door as if I was expecting Francine to reappear and tell me that she hadn’t meant a word of what she had said about staying away from me. It was yet to make sense to me. Had she been thinking about taking a break from me for a while? Or was it just a spontaneous decision? Women were truly complicated creatures.
I heaved a sigh as I walked to the window to stare at the mountain peak again. All the excitement I had felt about hanging out with Francine this evening had disappeared. Now, I was left wondering if she had really meant those things she said or if that outburst had been fueled by grief. I knew that I had to find out. It might take some time, but I would do it.
Chapter 10: Dr. Finch
It had been three days since Francine told me she needed a break from our friendship. In that time, I had tried to reach out to her, but she kept me blocked out. I could not reach her by phone or text. She stopped staying in her office when she was done in the wards, instead, she would hang out with the nurses, especially with Karen, and I would often see them talking and looking at me. I knew it was because of me that she was avoiding her office. I had now given up trying to reach out to her anymore. It was an exercise in futility as long as she wasn’t willing to talk to me about whatever problems needed to be solved.
I knew that until she was ready to get things fixed, she would continue to make herself inaccessible. I remembered the experience I had when she first decided to avoid me.
I parked my car in the parking lot next to the trail that led up the mountain. In an effort to divert my attention away from my Francine problems, I had decided to keep my mind busy and go on an adventure. I was determined to venture up the trail that led to the peak of the mountain. I had asked my neighbor, Jason if it was possible to get to the zenith of the mountain.
“Yes, there is a hiking trail that leads right up,” Jason said. “You wanna give it a try, doc?
“Yes, I need something exciting to take my mind off hospital work. Sometimes it becomes monotonous.”
Lies! You are doing it because you want to stop thinking of Francine Walters.
Jason had gone on to give me a description of where I could join the trail.
“I would advise you to do a test walk first, take a day to just enjoy the trail and don’t be too focused on getting to the peak,” Jason said. “The idea is to get familiar with the trail with no goal of getting to the top.”
I wasn’t sure of the wisdom behind doing something when you know that you aren’t ready to succeed in it, but I decided to follow Jason’s advice and walk the trail. And now, I was here, watching the mass of people enjoying nature, both tourists and citizens of the town alike as they followed the trail and moved out of sight. I loved the idea of reac
hing the mountaintop, and I was delighted when Jason told me there was already a trail that led there.
I slipped my earphones in and turned on the music on my phone. I was wearing shorts and the wind was lashing against my bare legs. I began to walk up the trail that was marked for those who wanted to get to the top of the mountain I always stared at from the window of my office. I wondered if I would be able to see my office from the peak of the mountain when I got there. The music lightened up my mood and I began to walk briskly down the trail. One could already guess what was ahead based on the rocky terrain around. There were small rocks all around …
Tap!
That sound intruded my music for a few seconds before I was able to continue listening to the heartwarming song currently playing on my phone. That tapping sound was the sound that came with messages and notifications on my phone. I paused the song using a button on the earphones, and I took my phone out of my pocket.
I stared at the screen of my phone and saw that I had a message from Francine Walters. Call me when you are free. I blinked and checked the content of the message and the sender again, to be sure I was not making this up. I knew that she had blocked me on her phone when none of my calls went through. I had tried reaching her on two social media platforms which we both used, but she had already blocked me there too. Now, she was asking me to call her when I was ready to talk?
Was that a sign that she was reconsidering things? Was she now open to a heart to heart conversation? I knew that there was only one way to find out, and that was to contact her. I could either text her as I had done the last time or try to call her.
I dialed her number and it soon began to ring. The call rang on and, just when I thought she wasn’t going to answer, I heard the sudden switch from the ringing to the slow breathing of someone on the other end.
“Hello,” I said.
“Gilbert,” Francine said gently on the other end. “I was going to call you if you didn’t respond till nighttime. I’m really sorry that I reacted … ”
“Where are you?” I asked, interrupting her.
“I just got back from work,” she revealed. “I’m at home now.”
“Okay, I’ll head over there now,” I said, and promptly ended the call.
I was relieved to have heard from her and to know that she still cared about how I felt. She had admitted that she had overreacted, but I needed us to really talk things out. That was why I had told her I would come over, instead of taking the easy route and doing everything on the phone.
I yanked my earphones out and turned back in the direction of my car. The sun was still shining as I headed back to the starting point of the trail. I could see even more people starting out in the direction of the trail. My destination had changed, I had to get to Francine’s place as quickly as possible so that we could fix things up.
I had to admit to myself that the days when she had cut me off had been really frustrating. There was no doubt that Francine had become a part of me, an important one at that. It was hard for me to live without her. I really hoped we could avoid any more fights that would make her think of avoiding me. I liked her a lot and, contrary to what she had said, I really cared about her. I would never see her as just a friend that I sometimes had sex with when the mood was right for both of us. Francine meant a lot more to me than that, and maybe it was time to let her know some of the thoughts about her that I had carefully guarded in my head for quite some time.
By now, I had gotten back to where I had parked my car and I hopped in. I dropped the earphones on the vacant seat next to me. I turned the ignition and listened to the engine roar to life. I reversed out of the parking space, and in a short time I had connected to the major road that led away from this part of the town. I tried to imagine what Francine would be thinking about at the moment. I wasn’t sure what would be going through her mind. What I was sure about was that in less than an hour, I would be at her house and we would be able to talk at length about the things we needed to fix. I could not wait to get to Francine’s.
DR. WALTER’S POV
I sat in my living room, waiting for Gilbert to show up. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, not after the way he had snapped when I had tried to apologize for cutting him off the way I had. I wasn’t happy with my decision to cut him out, and that was why I had decided to unblock his number. It felt like my anguish over him was futile. He was never going to love me, never going to see me in the way I wanted. All of that, because of a girl who had broken his heart in the past.
I had realized that refusing to talk to Gilbert was actually punishing myself. It made no sense to do that because no amount of looking away had helped to keep him out of my heart. Not talking to him made everything worse. It was one thing not to be able to get the man you wanted, and another to cut yourself off from someone whose company you enjoyed. I liked Gilbert too much to push him away.
The sound of footsteps approached my doorstep, and I expected a knock to follow, thinking it was Gilbert. But nothing came surprisingly. I got up from my seat and went over to check if someone was at the door. I peeped through the window but couldn’t see anybody at the door. I could have sworn that someone was there just now. With a shrug, I returned to the couch and reclined on it.
My eyes strayed back to the images on TV and I saw a couple with their upper bodies bare, kissing each other sensually on a bed. Looking at the sultry scene on the screen brought back memories of Gilbert. I had never before met a man who was so willing to give pleasure to the other party in bed. He would hold off until I was lost in pleasure before seeking his own release.
As I thought about Gilbert, I wondered how long we were going to maintain the kind of friendship we had started without me getting hurt again. It wasn’t possible for me to continue having sex with him without my feelings for him getting stronger. Sex would have to be struck out of our friendship and we would just return to how we were when we first arrived here. We would talk about things, and see each other after work, but there would be no more rolling under the sheets, or I would get hurt again, while he still wouldn’t change the way he felt about me.
I was not desperate to be in a romantic relationship, otherwise I would have found someone else from this town to date. Maybe I wouldn’t have withdrawn from Joe in that case. But I wasn’t out to get just any man. I had specifications in mind and Gilbert Finch fit a good number of them. However, it all counted for nothing, since he wasn’t ready to commit to a relationship. There was nothing I could do about that.
I thought I heard footsteps approaching again, but I wasn’t sure. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me like the first time I had thought I heard someone at the door. I was staring at the sensual scene on the screen when I heard a knock.
“Gilbert?” I queried.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he replied.
I got to my feet and hurried over to the door to open it and let him in. When I opened the door, I saw Gilbert looking hot in shorts and a round-necked shirt.
“I was going on the trail to climb that mountain I always told you about,” Gilbert said as he walked into the room.
“Oh, wow. And you didn’t tell me?”
“We weren’t talking,” he replied with a shrug.
He could have said it in a different way that would have made me feel at fault, like you were not talking to me, but I was grateful he chose not to rub it in.
I offered him a seat, and he sank into it, all the while looking at my face.
“What do you care for? Food? Drink?”
“I’m fine,” Gilbert said.
“Okay. I am sorry for the things I said and the way I spoke to you,” I began. “It is true that you and I don’t want the same things at the moment, but you are still a special friend to me, and you will always be. I shouldn’t have cut you off that way.”
“I understand that you are trying to protect your heart,” Gilbert said. “You knew that I wasn’t interested in a relationship based on my past experience, and you d
idn’t want to get too attached to me.”
The accuracy with which Gilbert had analyzed and presented what I had in my head surprised me. He had summed it up so simply. That part about not wanting to get attached to him too much had me wondering how closer we could get after having sex and …
“I have been a fool,” Gilbert said, bringing me back to the present and out of my thoughts. “I have allowed myself to become fixated on the past when I should have learned the lessons I needed to learn and moved on.” He took a deep breath before he continued.
“You are an amazing woman. You are smart and beautiful, loving and caring. Any sane man would want you to be his, but I was too focused on the heartbreak I had suffered in the past to see the goodness before me.”
For some unknown reason, I began to breathe faster. I could sense where Gilbert was heading with his words, but it sounded too good to be true. I watched Gilbert’s face carefully to see if there was any hint of playfulness there, but I found none. He was serious. Gilbert was freaking serious.
“I have been slumbering the past few weeks, but I am awake now, thanks in part to the space you took away from me. Now that I have risen from my sleep, I know better than to let the past affect the present or the future. Will you be my woman, Francine? I love you, I always have, but I was too cowardly to admit it to myself. I have let myself be held ransom by the ugly events that I experienced before, but I won’t let that happen anymore. I love you and I want you, Francine. I need you by my side. Will you be my woman?”
I was too overwhelmed to respond at that point. Part of my brain was screaming that this was one big joke Gilbert was pulling, but I knew the truth. I could see it in his eyes, I could hear it in his words. He was damned serious about this whole thing.
“Yes, Gilbert. I will be your woman,” I replied.
What followed was a gentle kiss to my forehead from Gilbert. We held each other tightly as if we were trying to make up for all the time we had wasting in hiding our feelings from each other. After we broke the hug, Gilbert sat beside me and played with strands of my hair, while casting glances at the TV to see what was showing. We stayed like that until the movie ended and the credits began to roll.
Dr. Finch (Healing Hands Book 4): A Steamy Workplace Romance Page 8