Aaron

Just as I was going to get on my motorcycle and start the ride to Tralee, a police car pulled up, driven by the lovely and charming Constable Amelia Kelly. "We got a call from the hospital and told to get you there fast. The helicopter isn't available so get in."

I got in and fastened my seatbelt. The police car was an Audi and she made it move. Tralee is only 27 kilometers from Castleroy and we covered the distance in mere minutes. The police radio was chattering away in unintelligible gibberish and Amelia ignored it all. We pulled up to the emergency entrance.

"Go save a life. Call me when you need a ride back."

"Thanks." I was out of the car and heading in to the hospital. I was greeted by a nurse and we went to the ER to see the young man. They had him well sedated and I looked at his injuries and started telling the nurse what I needed. She jotted down some notes and took off.

The ER supervisor was quick to tell me that he was glad to see me. We chatted for a few minutes and we walked to the surgical suite so I could get ready to get to work. This is what I trained to do.

I met the neuro and plastics people as I was scrubbing-up and getting fitted for gown and gloves. I needed the magnifying glasses and a pair were produced. The neuro guy showed me the young man's driver's license. He was only eighteen. Fuck. Why do kids think they're invincible.

I spent 11 hours essentially reattaching both of his hands to his arms. The neuro guy dealt with his head injuries and the plastics guy worked to turn his face back into a face again. The kids head went through the helmet and his face was torn in... every place.

When I was done, I was exhausted. I needed a washroom break badly. My bladder was bursting and I needed food and some rest. That was the most intense day I'd had since...well, since the day that I found out that Maddy had been cheating on me and had another man's baby. The day I walked out.

I talked to the nurse that managed the surgery schedule and found out the plan for the eight operations that they wanted me to do over the next few days. The plan was two a day for four days. That was a bit of a killer schedule, especially since I hadn't operated in well over a month. I decided that I had to suck it up and get on with the work. The Irish were kind enough to take me in, so to speak, so I needed to repay them and do this.

The scheduling nurse talked and told me that they expected that I would help out every two weeks and make sure that they didn't get too far behind with surgeries. I suppose I can do that.

When I finished up I realized that I didn't have a way to get back to Castleroy. I called the lovely and charming Constable Kelly. A half hour later a police car with the lights flashing pulled up to the hospital. Her red hair was in a ponytail. She is beautiful.

What the hell am I gonna do?

**********

Four months later

Aaron

I had just finished up seeing the last patient of the day and sent Nicole home. I heard the door open and shouted out that we were closed for the day.

I heard footsteps and then a voice "Hello, Aaron."

I looked up; shit! How the fuck did she get here.

"Hello, Maddy. What brings you to Ireland?"

"You do, of course. It took me a while to find you. You look good."

I sat down. "Thank you. What is it that you want with me Maddy?"

She looked good. Motherhood obviously agreed with her. She had a few more pounds on her but they were all in the right places.

"I'd like you to come home. I want you to come home."

I was about to unload a lot of anger. I had to be careful and not go too far and do something stupid. I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Why would you want that? I don't think you realize a few important things. What did you think would be the consequence of your affair with that guy at your school? Did you think that I'd just ignore the little fact that you had his baby. I may be naïve Maddy, but I'm not stupid. You don't get to fuck around and ignore the consequences. I'm not that guy to say to you 'it's okay honey, I don't mind you having another man's baby. I don't mind that you fuck around.' Get your head out of your ass Maddy!"

She decided that the view of the floor was interesting and kept looking down.

"Aaron, you need to come home. I need you and your daughter needs you."

"Oh my fuck! Are you completely delusional, woman? I don't have a daughter. You and your boyfriend have a daughter. Get him to look after his daughter. Go the fuck home!"

"But we've been married for four years and we love each other. I love you and I know that you love me. Come home, please."

"You don't love me. If you loved me so much, why were you fucking that guy? Tell me that."

"You were never home and I got lonely and Roger was there and we talked a lot."

"Oh, well, that makes you fucking him just fine. I guess." "When did you suffer the head injury? The one that made you forget all about the fact that we were supposed to not fuck around on each other?"

Maddy had a hard time answering me. "Could you just think about it? I really miss you and I know that you could be a good father."

I couldn't believe the bullshit coming our of her brain and mouth.

And then I was saved.

I heard the door open and in walked Amelia. She had on her tight jeans and a sleeveless blouse. Her hair was down and she had just a bit of eye makeup on. Amelia is very sexy and tonight she looked especially good.

When she came in I went to her and gave her a kiss. I stood with my arm around her waist. "Amelia, your timing is perfect. Let me introduce you to Maddy. Maddy somehow managed to find me here in beautiful Ireland." I said with a smile.

Amelia stood with her arm around my waist and looked at Maddy like she was a fungus on a cracker. Amelia eyed her up and down. Then she turned to face me and said, "will you be long Aaron, we're meeting my parents for dinner about 6 o'clock."

"No, Maddy was just leaving. We've said everything to each other that we need to say." I looked squarely at Maddy. "Haven't we Maddy."

Maddy doesn't take hints well.

"Aaron, we need to have a serious talk about what you're doing."

Amelia interjected. "Well, Maddy, its going to have to wait for another day; Aaron and I must be on our way otherwise we're going to be late and my mother and father are sticklers for being punctual. I'm sure you understand, now."

Amelia gave Maddy a withering stare. If it had been in a pub, the lads would be gathering close expecting a physical fight between the two women to break out. In Ireland, you could sell tickets to watch that.

I had no intentions to give Maddy any hope that I was stupid enough to listen to her line of BS. She could talk until the proverbial cows came home and it would not matter one bit. At the end of the day she was involved in a sexual affair with another man that resulted in her having his child. My sympathies were with the child; she doesn't get to pick who her mother and father are. She deserves a better mother than what she got.

I knew that my hard working lawyer had been to court and that the final Dissolution of Marriage certificate was close to being issued. Maddy was making her 'hail-mary' attempt to stave off having to raise a child by herself and face the job of being a single-mother. She should have thought about that before she started fucking that guy and got pregnant.

Jimmy had briefed me on all the court dates and the applications that he had filed, and the judge had accepted that the child was not mine. The judge asked who the father of the child was and Maddy's lawyer merely said that they would accept that I was not the father. According to Jimmy, the judge made a face in response, that said a lot.

At the end of things, Maddy would keep the house and our bank accounts in lieu of money from me and because there had not been any children as a product of our marriage, no further support in any form. I knew that Maddy would walk away with just over $90,000 after the sale of the house and from our small savings account, but I considered it money well spent on a life-lesson for me.

Right now, I wasn't in any rush to find a replacement. I planned to spend a few more months here in Ireland, be a local doctor, help out with surgeries and think about what it was that I wanted.

But life doesn't always go according to plan.

**********

Maddy

Well, that didn't go how I wanted it to go. That tramp with the red hair interrupted me.

I left the baby with my mother and father at home and figured that if I came here and showed Aaron what he was giving up, that maybe he might come home and we could try to be a family. I've worked very hard to shed the post-pregnancy pounds and get back into shape. I fit in my size 6 jeans again and I brought the perfume that I know Aaron really likes. But that bitch showed up and I know that she had on Chanel. I could smell it. The whore better think again if she thinks I'm going away without a fight.

The hotel room that I'm staying in is tiny. I can barely squeeze between the bed and desk. And the television is so old it has a picture tube. How the hell do these people live like this. I need to find something to eat and call my mother. She told me to check in every day. She wasn't happy about taking the baby. She said that she's been getting a lot of questions, mostly from her friends that didn't know that I had adopted a child. I don't think she's correcting them.

**********

Aaron

What the hell?! The stunned woman actually showed up here in Ireland. How the hell did she find me? I've a good idea; one of my blabbering relatives accidentally told her.

She should listen more closely to what her lawyer tells her; the divorce is almost final. There's no going back. We're done, done, done!

I was really happy to see Amelia when I did. She made up the part about going to meet her mother and father, at least I think she did. I did take her out to dinner. And I did take her back to my humble flat after. And I made her breakfast the next morning.

**********

Maddy

I walked around the village last night after getting some supper. There's not much here. I can't see what Aaron likes about this place. They call the restaurants, pubs. I found out that's short for 'public house.' I found out that Aaron only sees patients three days a week. The people at the pub knew all about him and amazingly they were willing to tell me just about everything they knew.

I went back to my hotel, a small place run by a couple named Mary and Bill. She offered up tea and we talked about the doctor and how they really considered him a local hero. They told me all about Aaron saving the policeman and the traffic accident where he helped those tourists.

Mary asked where I was from and when I told her that I was from Albany she looked at me with a wide-eyed expression and did the math. She realized that I was Aaron's wife. She quickly said that she had something in the kitchen to tend-to and left me. I could hear her and Bill talking in hushed voices.

The next morning I walked to Aaron's clinic and was greeted by teenager at the reception desk. I told her that I was here to see Aaron. She looked at me and then I could tell she knew who I was; word gets around fast in this small town.

I was told that he wouldn't be in today. It was surgery day at the hospital in Tralee, wherever that is. I asked when he would be in next. The teen looked at the appointment book on her desk and said that the doctor was booked up all this week. Maybe I could come in on Monday next. Oh my god, these people are...

I walked around some more and got a cup of really terrible coffee. The weather started out nice when I left the hotel but it was misting now and this town felt incredibly small. I didn't have any idea of where to go to wait him out. I didn't know where he lived, maybe he was living with the red headed skank from yesterday. I would ask around and see what I could find out.

**********

Mayor of Castleroy

I got a call from the Garda to tell me that there was an American woman in the town asking about Doctor Brown. She was staying with Mary and Bill at their bed and breakfast. It didn't take Inspector Clueseau to figure out that it was the estranged Mrs. Brown trying to get our doctor to come back to Albany. I had to put a stop to that quick as I could.

A quick call to Mary told me that this woman, Madeline Brown, had gone to the doctors' office looking for him. I know that today he was in Tralee operating on the hips and knees of the backlog of people that needed new joints. No, I had to get the estranged Mrs. Brown to go home and leave young Aaron alone. Thankfully I have Constable Amelia Kelly on my team.

Amelia is a world class beauty that could attract any man that she wanted merely by looking at him and using her index finger to beckon him to her. She is probably the most beautiful woman in the region and certainly in Castleroy. I know that her career as a police officer is soon to come to an end since she has been accepted to the School of Law school at Trinity College in Dublin. Her father is a graduate from there and she will undoubtedly do well there.

I had a word with Mary and Bill and it seems that the Bed and Breakfast would need to make an emergency closure due to a health and safety violation. Nothing to do but tell the only guest that she had to leave immediately. Her belongings were packed and ready for her to move on. Bill apologized profusely, refunded all her money, and told her that he had made a reservation for her at the nearest hotel that had a room, which just happened to be in Killarney.

To say that she looked mightily pissed at Bill was, well...we all had to sacrifice to get a doctor for our town. Bill understood this very clearly.

**********

Maddy

The god-damn hotel just kicked me out telling me some bullshit fucking story of having to close because of the public health inspector closing them down. And now, I have to drive to someplace called Killarney; wherever the fuck that is. And it's raining hard. I hate Ireland. And, my mother is calling me and wanting to know when I'm coming home. Fuck!

I just got an e-mail on my cell phone from the school reminding me that my maternity leave is ending in about a week and I will be expected to be back at work. Shit!

**********

Amelia

Here's the thing: I really did want Aaron to meet my mother and father. He's probably the best of the best of guys that I've dated. He has some actual standards that he isn't willing to give up just because someone, even an errant wife, asks him to. That does mean something. My issue is that I'm going to have to break it off with him soon since I'll be moving to Dublin in August. Classes at the School of Law start and I need to get there and get situated in a place to stay and be ready to get on with things.

My other issue is that when I do get to Dublin, I'm not prepared to take on a celibate lifestyle. I like sex, a lot. So, it wouldn't be fair to him to tell him that I still want to see him and all the while I'm getting it on with other men while I know that he wouldn't be seeing other women. That wouldn't be right. So, I have to end it. The sooner the better I guess.

**********

Aaron

I was made aware of some important information via the Castleroy Gossip Network; I call it the CGN for short. I know that Amelia isn't a long-term thing. I know that her goal is to go to law school and the gossip network informed me, via Nicole, that she'd been accepted to start classes in August.

I know that she is a very outgoing woman and I know that I'm not the one for her in the long run. I know that if I were to be with her I'd be just waiting for the day that I find out that she's having sex with another guy and I know that ultimately that would be the end of me. For my own salvation, I need to remember that my relationship with her is short-term and it's just for fun.

When she gets ready, she'll tell me and that will be it. I'm sure not going to tell her something stupid and use the 'L' word and promise my undying love. No. Besides that, there is a person, or persons, that I would like to get to know much better than I know them now.

**********

Four months later

Aaron

That doctor that the Department of Health promised to send to replace me, doesn't seem to be getting any closer. I've not heard a name, and so I called the administrator at the hospital in Tralee and talked to them. They said that they would get back to me, that was a few weeks ago, but so far, not a peep.

Amelia is in Dublin at law school and we parted on very friendly terms. We both know that our relationship wasn't going to turn into anything permanent. We both knew that we were just friends with benefits.

But they were great benefits.

**********

Laura

It's been a few months since Amelia Kelly left for school in Dublin. I've been busy with work and Matilda and so my social life has been on the back burner, as they say. So, I was surprised to get a call from Aaron inviting us to go to the fair in Killarney with him on the weekend.

I figured that since Amelia was out of the picture, the good doctor was getting lonely and wanting for some female company. Well, he was in luck. I was needing some male company. I have needs, too.

When I told Matilda, she was very excited about going to the fair. She ran to her room to get her clothes organized, even though is was only Wednesday night and we weren't going until Saturday afternoon.

When Saturday did arrive, I'd forgotten entirely that Aaron had a motorcycle, so I expected that he would come by and we would go to Killarney in my car. Much to my surprise he showed up in a car. An Audi sedan. Seems that the mayor of Castleroy had arranged a short-term lease for him at a very cheap rate. All he had to do was pay for the insurance and put petrol in it. It meant that he was able to get to Tralee every week for his rotation on the surgical ward in a lot more comfort than having to put up with our changing Irish weather on a motorcycle.

Matilda climbed in the rear seat and fastened her seat belt, but I made her get out so that I could put her child safety seat in the car. She supervised Aaron as he fastened it in.

The Fair was a lot of fun. Matilda was keen to go on the rides and wanted cotton candy and all the junk food that I would allow. She walked the fairgrounds holding Aarons hand the whole time. I watched his face to see what he thought of his job; I think he liked it.

After the Fair we went for some actual real food and then we went back to my house. I invited Aaron to come in. Matilda got into her pajamas, brushed her teeth without being asked and then came back to the kitchen and took Aaron by the hand and pulled him off to her room. He was given the task of reading the bedtime story. A half-hour later he reappeared.

"She's sound asleep. The food and fresh air caught up with her."

I smiled at him. "You've earned your drink," as I passed him a glass of wine.

"How do you do it?'

I was puzzled by the question. "Do what?"

"Spend your days taking care of a heavy patient load and your nights and weekends taking care of a very busy daughter."

"I don't really think about. I just do it. I can't remember my life before Matilda. She's the most important part of my life. Everything else is secondary."

He took a drink of his wine. "How could your ex-husband give her up? I don't get it."

"Some men aren't cut out to be husbands and fathers. He's one of those."

"If she was mine...well, I couldn't think about that."

"I don't ever think about that. Matilda is my...everything." I took a drink. "Doesn't mean that I don't want more."