Saving the Doctor Pt. 03

They went out on the deck and curled up next to each other with her laptop, she had a glass of wine and he had a beer and they spent the evening looking through wedding options. She did most of the talking, but he preferred it that way, and he offered helpful tips and opinions here and there. As the sun slowly set, they talked and made decisions. Some of them were exciting. They would look at 2 venues this weekend and unless there were fatal flaws in both of them, they would pick one of the two. Which meant they would finally have a date set.

She closed the laptop and snuggled into him warmly as the last rays of sun dwindled and the cold night set in. She set down her empty glass and turned to kiss him, unexpectedly escalating into a passionate make-out session on the patio bench. He wanted to take her right then and there, but she stopped and said the neighbors would hear. She suggested they head downstairs and watch a show before bed.

They laid down on the couch and she spooned up against him under a blanket. Not long into the show she started pressing her butt into him and felt his bulge growing. He caressed his hand over her chest and kissed her lightly on her neck and she grinded her firm ass into him harder. He slipped his hand under her shirt and teased her nipples while he kissed her neck more intently. She reached back and ran her hand over his leg, moving up to his groin, and he slid his hand from her small perky breasts, down her flat belly and under her sweatpants.

His fingers found her wet slit and started playing gently as she hummed in approval. She moved away from him enough to reach behind to caress his erect cock. He exhaled hard at her soft familiar touch and she let out a sultry giggle in amusement. He slid his hand around to squeeze her cute little butt and move his fingers to her pussy again from behind. She moved her knees up to help him penetrate her with his fingers. Her breathing heightened and she began to moan, crescendoing in pleasure as he worked into her with his fingers. Her small delicate hand kept pumping his cock eagerly and eventually he couldn't take it anymore and sat up, grabbing her hips to lift her up on her hands and knees and slide both of their sweatpants down.

She looked back over her shoulder at him with pride and desire as he pressed his cock against her wet folds and pulled her narrow hips into him, penetrating her. They moaned out in pleasure as he thrust slowly but determinedly into her. He built up momentum, eventually working the entire length of his cock in and out along the lips of her pussy with each vigorous plunge. She bucked back into him matching his rhythm and breathing heavier and heavier. Her arms gave out and her face hit the couch cushion, her hands finding the armrest and digging her nails in. He leaned forward and wrapped his hands around her chest, grasping a perky breast in each hand and groaning into her neck. He worked his cock in and out of her lifting her hips more strongly with each heavy thrust. They cried out each others names and their moans grew more and more passionate together. She gave no sign that she was uncomfortable with him physically in control, coaxing him on with her moans.

"Yes, Ah! That's it Jon... Show me how much you... Ah! Love it... Need it... Show me you're mine!"

He started to fuck her faster and her eyes closed and mouth gaped open in satisfaction. Her body began to shake and she clawed at the armrest. Her body trying to resist against the suspense of her building climax. He slid his arms down her torso and wrapped them around her hips, holder her forcefully into him as he thrust heavier and deeper into her. She cried out his name loudly and her body spasmed as her orgasm hit. He quickly worked himself over the edge, relishing the feel of her slick walls squeezing around his shaft. He came inside her, the incredible instinctive pleasure of filling his woman with his seed, pulsing through him.

They finally relaxed and slid to the side to spoon again on the couch. She craned her neck around to peck him a kiss and smile in gratification.

"Mmmm you're going to be such a wonderful husband," she said.

They rewound the show to pick up where they had stopped paying attention.

She felt amazing in his arms. A feeling he felt like he didn't deserve. Like he had stolen it. Guilt hit him again and ruined the otherwise blissful embrace.

They finally went to bed. She fell asleep in his arms as he stared at the ceiling, while his mind warred with itself and the clock ticked on.

The next day he got to work thinking that maybe he really could get himself back in order and start to enjoy his lot in life. Maybe even deserve it. He ordered flowers for Elaina, that he would to pick up on his way home. He texted her asking if she would be free tomorrow for a romantic date. She said no, and that she couldn't predict when she'd be out of the hospital on any weekday. He shrugged it off and figured he'd try on the weekend. Later on in the morning he texted her simply asking how her day was going, something they rarely did. He was reminded why when he got a text back 20 minutes later saying she was working and very busy, and asking if he somehow wasn't.

He picked up the phone a couple times throughout the day to phone the pharmacy for an order. He didn't hesitate when he did it, telling himself he would just be professional and friendly if Carly answered. His heart rate didn't seem to agree, however, and he couldn't help but feel a weird mix of relief and disappointment when a different pharmacist answered each time.

Unfortunately, the afternoon clinic slowly spiraled out of control, and by the time the end of the day came he felt stressed and overwhelmed again. He left late, texting Elaina to ask if she was home yet. All she replied was "no", so he picked up some Greek takeout food and had to make a u-turn but eventually remembered the flowers.

There was still no sign or word from her when he got home, so he decided to fit in a quick workout. It turned into a very long, but satisfying sweat as he seemed to take out all his frustration on his muscles.

When she got home she barely acknowledged the flowers on the table, saying that they were unnecessary. "...but thank you," she begrudgingly added after a few moments of silence. She derided some of the other docs at the hospital while she complained about the food being cold and soggy. When she finished eating he tried to bring her in for a hug, saying she seemed like she had a tough day. She resisted and said she was fine, that she didn't need a hug, she needed the other internists to get their heads out of their asses.

They spent the rest of the evening apart, he read a book and listened to music while trying not to think about picking up his phone. He allowed himself to think about Carly for a few minutes, trying to stay practical in thinking about the situation. Would they simply never speak again and ghost each other? More likely he would have to face her at some point, and if so, what would he say? Would it be better to contact her now and get it over with, or allow themselves more time to digest things... He finally decided that if he wasn't going to text her tonight then he should avoid thinking about it.

He and Elaina went to bed with a courteous goodnight and he laid down in the bed with his eyes open, feeling alone.

By mid-day on Wednesday he decided that he needed to bite the bullet and text her. His mind wasn't going to stop spinning and he wouldn't be able to focus on the clinic let alone anything else unless they did. After his last patient of the morning he sat there for almost 5 minutes staring at his phone until he finally typed and forced himself to press 'send' on a simple message.

-How's your week so far? I'd love to chat sometime.

He ate his lunch trying not to glance at his phone, not being able to resist double-checking that the message had gone through.

As the day wore on, his message had the opposite effect, with his concentration and focus being even worse with the looming suspense of his text hanging over him.

Jeff swung by at the end of the day for a chat. He said they had been inspired to try and throw their own party at some point and that he would be the first invite. He said Grace had an amazing time, especially in that she and Carly had hit it off big and were already planning girl dates this coming weekend. Jon said he was glad, and mentioned that he hadn't talked to Carly since the party and asked casually how she was doing. Jeff just shrugged saying the two had only been texting. He then asked if Jon wanted to go for a beer or two on Friday, with him and a couple docs he knew from the hospital. Jon perked up and said yeah, and they agreed he'd text him with when and where.

Well at least I know she didn't lose her phone. Jon thought after Jeff left.

Elaina was in a better mood that night, but back to her indifferent, aloof usual self. He asked her, if not flowers, then how she wanted him to show her that he loved her. She simply said she didn't need him to. That knowing was enough. A quick peck on the lips and she was off again.

He forced himself to only check his phone every 30 minutes throughout the evening. It never made a sound.

Thursday morning Jon had a mood of almost angry determination that he would work his ass off, be a good doctor, be a good husband and to-hell with anyone who got in his way. Beth seemed to notice and gave the occasional amused smirk, but otherwise seemed impressed. It had been one of the only things he could read out of her throughout the week. She hadn't been cold or distant, but had simply been an unwavering happy and professional assistant. Any one interaction wouldn't seem abnormal, but put together there was just this unnatural lack of variation in her mood and behaviour. It could be so much worse, he told himself, and decided to not worry about it, just to let her do whatever she needed to.

He had to make a call to the pharmacy later on in the morning about medication change. The receptionist put him on hold to wait for a pharmacist.

He waited for a long time. Must be a busy day, he thought. The music went on and on...

"Hello. Carly speaking."

Jon froze like a deer in headlights. Her voice sounded exasperated and impatient, like she had been made to answer the phone against her will.

"Hi Carly," he said softly, trying to sound friendly and familiar, but feeling timid.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Hi Dr. Davidson, how can I assist you today?" she said rigidly.

"I um, have a change to make on a prescription."

He gave her the name and number of the patient.

"Okay I have the file open," she said coldly.

He told her the change.

"Alright, well in the future Dr. Davidson we actually have a new feature with our system where you should be able to send a message through the EMR with your e-signature and make the change that way, so it's not necessary to call for this type of thing, okay?"

"I... okay," he said, feeling his heart twisting out of his chest.

"Okay, have a great day," she said pleasantly.

"Hey thanks again for coming to the par-"

He was interrupted by the dial tone.

His eyes had welled up. His stomach turned like he'd been kicked in the nuts.

He had to take a few minutes to close his eyes and calm himself before calling in the next patient.

By mid afternoon his mood had turned from pain to anger. He noticed himself being slightly curt to a couple of patients. He took a moment again, even though he was falling behind. He was taking things out on people that didn't deserve it. Not that Carly did either, but he picked up his phone, thought for a minute and texted her again.

-Can I please talk to you at some point? Even just once. I'm sorry if I hurt you.

He waited for his heart rate to settle after sending it, and got back to work. He did his best to immerse himself in the details of his clinic, and other than an annoyed glance at his silent phone every now and then, stayed focused for the rest of the afternoon.

His determination paid off. His clinic ended almost exactly on time. He couldn't bring himself to feel too good about it, but it was convenient at least.

Beth walked in with an impressed smirk on her face.

"The machine returns," she said, raising an eyebrow.

He scoffed. "Shouldn't have to be, just to let you get home on time for once," he said bitterly.

She smiled and regarded him, "I've told you Jon I don't mind the overtime, and actually when you get like this you work me just as hard to keep up with you. I mean I can handle it, but I end up exhausted like you."

He chuckled, "So don't go robo-Jon every day, for both our sakes?"

She giggled, "Yeah, plus you can get kind of intimidating, I'm not sure how much I like it or not..." She looked down suddenly and cleared her throat.

"Thanks again Beth. Enjoy your evening," he said despondently.

"I will, see ya tomorrow Jon," she gave a softer, but more genuine smile and left.

It struck him that all week, despite her otherwise careful professionalism she had switched to calling him Jon instead of Dr. Davidson. He decided he was paying too much attention to her again.

Elaina had made a delicious meal of shrimp skewers and spanish rice. He thanked her for it and hugged her after the meal, offering to clean everything up, but she broke away and told him not to worry, and just to go read.

He instead decided to go for another run and workout again. He enjoyed the sense of control and self-discipline it gave him, and was glad he was starting to do it more, satisfied that he was making his life better in that small way at least.

He succeeded in losing himself in his book, to the point of having completely forgotten about his phone when at 11:00 it gave him a start when it buzzed.

A text from Carly.

-You have nothing to apologize for. If you need to tell me something, meet me tomorrow at 5:30 at the park bench.

A sense of relief flooded through him.

He hurriedly texted back.

-Yes absolutely I'll be there. Thank you.

His excitement dwindled when her reply came a minute later.

-Okay. Please don't text again unless you have to cancel.

There was that pain again.

He lay awake for a long time that night trying to figure out what he was even going to say, or what he even wanted.

Friday clinic took effort to focus on, but he did it and stayed on time. He rehearsed and then nixed about five different things he could say to her. He wanted to go back to how things were. Without the baggage of what had happened at the party. He wanted his funny, cheerful, supportive, comforting friend back. At least he was pretty sure he did. Maybe that was impossible so it was a moot point anyway. He tried using the message system Carly had told him about, instead of phoning the pharmacy, but still ended up needing to call about a separate issue.

Another pharmacist answered the phone again this time. Afterwards he wondered why. He remembered he had been getting her answering his calls more and more in the days and weeks prior to the party. He decided their receptionist must always announce the call, and who it was from, and whichever pharmacist was free must pick up the line. That meant she had been specifically volunteering to answer his calls before, and now was deliberately avoiding them. He let it pull his confidence in different directions before willfully ignoring it so he could get back to work. He needed to make sure he didn't fall too far behind, so he could make it to the park on time.

Beth said goodbye. She seemed like she was back to her usual self, except she did go out of her way to mention that she and Jared had a romantic date planned, giving him a calculating glance as she did so. He ignored it and said goodbye, turning back to focus on finishing his work.

He sat on the bench nervously, trying to stay still, but he kept checking his phone. 5:40 and no sign of her. Two coffees sat getting gradually colder next to him. It was a sunny but crisp autumn day. Many more of the leaves changing and falling in the last few days. His black suede jacket was definitely necessary and he put his hands in his pockets to warm them.

Finally he saw her walking up the path. As soon as he turned to look at her she stopped briefly, then seemed to will herself to keep walking to the bench.

She had a nervous, sorrowful look on her face as she walked up, but it was still beautiful as always. Her soft blue button up jacket complimented her eyes and a few stray strands of her blonde hair were blowing chaotically in the breeze.

She was carrying two coffees as well, and he lifted his two cups up with a regretful smirk. She closed her eyes and smiled despite herself at the small mishap. He stood up as she approached but she sat down at the same time, and he awkwardly sat back down next to her.

"This one's with vanilla and skim milk for you, if you care for it," he said lifting one of the cups.

"Already got it," she said, lifting her own. "One cream and a bit of honey?" she said lifting the other.

"Way ahead of you," he said, sipping his own. "I'd drink both, but I'm jittery enough I think," he said.

He had decided that he would try to play no games and speak honestly and see what happened.

She looked at him with what seemed like sympathetic eyes. A few moments of silence seemed to strain at them.

"I'm...sorry I-" she began.

"If I have nothing to apologize for, then neither do you," he said.

She closed her eyes and breathed out. When she opened them they were moist.

"What did you need to say, Jon?" she asked, seeming to beg him to get it over with.

He stared at her, trying to stop admiring her long enough to make words come out.

"I guess I just... miss you already. I miss this. I miss seeing you and talking with you. It just... it meant so much to me."

A tear streamed down her cheek as he continued, "I can't shake this futile idea that maybe we can just pretend and go back to how we were. I don't know... if that's what I even want, at this point, but it just hurts not to have you in my life now," he said.

She let a single sob break out from her mouth and sniffed while she smiled. He would cherish that dimple till the day he died. She put her arm over his on the back of the bench, her touch feeling like a blessing from above.

"I missed you as as soon as I-..." she stopped herself and squeezed her eyes shut, another tear streaming down. "I thought sobering up would help and it didn't. I thought waiting a day would help, then two, then three, and it didn't. I told myself it was just a drunken fuck-up, and just to cut ties and move on, but...I don't know. I feel the same way, and I don't know what to do."

"I don't either," he said, feeling his eyes welling up as well. He massaged her shoulder as she rubbed her hand on his arm. He wanted to take her tears away, to erase all of her pain, he wanted to see her happy.

They sat silently with their arms connecting them along the back of the bench. They stared into each others eyes and rubbed their hands into each other more strongly and sensually. He began to register the contour of her chest bulging under her coat as she breathed, the shape of her body with the convexity of her round hips as she sat twisted towards him on the bench. His mind slowly tasting the flavour of her womanly figure, and that he was a man touching her... She responded with a softer caress of her fingers over his upper arm and opened her mouth slightly, breathing more heavily with a look of helplessness to her tear-stained face.

The next thing he knew the coffee cups were thrown on the ground and they had their arms wrapped around each other, locked in a passionate kiss. Her hands clung on his neck and his shoulder. His hands pressed against the small of her back and another into her hair. They opened their mouths into each other's, exploring with their tongues, and squeezed together in slow synchronized waves of passion. Her warmth against him felt like a breath of air after nearly a week of drowning.