Page 2 of Falling For The Doctor

I saw a young guy about my age looking down at me, though he was at a strange angle because I was at a strange angle. Then darkness, light, then darkness again, followed by oblivion.

2

Frank

The patient was sleeping, though fitfully. I was on-call during the overnight shift and came to check on her, as her heartrate was all over the place. Whatever she was dreaming about wasn’t good. She was tense, her body jerking, and I wanted to wake her up, to take her out of whatever place she was.

Finally, I did move to wake her up. She was thrashing and I was afraid that she was going to pull out her IV, or at least that was what I told myself. Truth was that possibly I just didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to see her cry out and be upset. I didn’t like the idea of it at all.

When I went to touch her, she immediately opened her eyes and then burst into tears. I went to hold her, the only thing I could think of with someone in so much distress in front of me. All of her pain, I wanted to take it away. That was the only thing to do.

She molded into my arms and held me tightly against her. I was in an awkward state because of how I was sitting, but I wouldn’t have let go for any reason. I would have crimped up completely if I had to. Amber felt so delicate in my arms, and I realized how small she really was.

A nurse walked in, and I gently pulled away, after she had shaken herself steady and her breath wasn’t coming out in gasps.

“A bad dream?”

“The wreck. Oh, it was horrible. It just all came back to me, like I was living it over again. At least it’s not real. Well, I guess it is real.”

She laid back on the pillow and Nurse Call asked me if I needed anything.

“No, the patient was agitated, and it was showing on her stats. Thought I would check on it. She may need something that doesn’t cause more nightmares.”

She agreed and we talked about what we were going to change it to. I needed to be professional, but I had some leeway. I wasn’t going to show how much I cared, and I wasn’t going to think too hard about why that was. I just knew that Amber was hurting, and I wanted her to get better. That was why I became a doctor to begin with. I didn’t need to question why her more than others. That wasn’t something that I needed to think about too hard.

I left and finished my rounds. I had a surgery scheduled at five in the morning. Amber’s was the next day. I should have been nervous, but I wasn’t. I was sure that I was going to make her better. That was why I did what I did and for some reason, helping Amber out was one of the better things that I could do with my time.

It was clear to see that she was a kind spirit, and she was beautiful. It didn’t make a difference, but Amber had a face like an angel. She was petite, tiny really, with bluish black hair and dark exotic features. I would imagine she was mostly Native American, but her name didn’t give any clues. Wherever she came from, she had me spellbound from the first time that she opened her dark brown eyes.

* * *

Surgery had gone well,and I was just about done for the night when my nanny called.

“I have to drop Alice off. She is too rowdy. I am sorry, Frank, but this just isn’t going to work.”

I sighed and put the phone in my pocket. I was glad that I had at least gotten out of surgery before getting the call. That could have been awkward.

Alice was my seven-year-old daughter and heaven-help me; she was a handful. Not to me, of course. To me she was daddy’s little angel. It was just the rest of the world that could be problematic. She didn’t like anyone telling her what to do, so finding a nanny that would stay was easier said than done. Alice was misunderstood, I believe. That’s what it was. She was so sweet, and it just didn’t make sense that she had so much trouble.

At first, when the first au pair had quit, I thought it was a fluke. Alice was five at the time and I was sure that there was just some mistake. There wasn’t. We were on nanny number 22 at last count, and that was ignoring the few that had quit the same day. Those didn’t count, I told myself.

Now, I saw it for what it was. Alice wanted me home with her all the time and, of course, I couldn’t do it. Overnights were the best because she slept most of it. That was the reason this one had lasted so long. She was older, German, and was sure that she would be a match for Alice. Apparently not.

I waited at the downstairs lobby for Alice. She was in good spirits, even though she should have been asleep hours ago and would have none in time for school. She was wide awake and wanted to go see the babies on the third floor.

“Alice, wait a minute while I talk to her. You stand here and be good.”

She did just as I asked, sweet as molasses. That’s when I knew that she was into something interesting. The sweeter the smile, the more devilish the results. I went to Olga and asked her if it was possible for her to reconsider.

“No, sir, it isn’t. I took this job because I thought it would be light and easy on my heart. It’s not. She is a good child, I know you love her, but you might want to look into something a bit more restrictive for her. I can’t see how she wouldn’t be a nuisance in class.”

I thanked her and didn’t want to hear anything else on the matter. I didn’t want to see Alice that way. She was my little girl, and I couldn’t see her any other way. She was the perfect child and though she raised a ruckus for others, she was still the same to me. I wasn’t going to think about sending her away or going militant. She’d lost her mom a couple of years back and she was still trying to find her way.

“Come on, pumpkin. Let’s go look at the babies.”

3

Amber

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