Saving the Doctor Pt. 03

"Did um... Do you know if Grace maybe said something Elaina took offense to?"

Jon looked over in surprise. "No, not that I know of, why?"

"Nothing... really specific, just something that happened made me wonder."

"Okay... I mean I've gotten the strong sense they're not very chummy, but nothing that 'happened' per se," Jon said

"Yeah.. I don't know it just sucks if that's the case," Jeff said. "You're a great friend and it'd be nice if our partners at least got along."

"Thanks man," Jon smiled. "Look I can ask her and hopefull-"

"No, no don't push her on it I just wondered," Jeff said dismissively. "Forcing the issue might just make it worse."

He let it go, as he accepted a glass of orange juice, and they chatted in the living room. They talked more about some of the games. Jeff said that Ben had only brought maybe a quarter of the games that he had in his house, laughing that the guy was a little bit obsessed.

Eventually, Carly stepped out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. Presumably it was one of Grace's and it looked enticingly small on her, as her body filled it out in some noticeable ways and it covered only halfway down to her knees. She went wide-eyed in surprise when she made brief eye-contact with him and instinctively pulled her bathrobe tighter around herself, looking embarrassed. He tried to keep focusing on Jeff and not on the glistening flexing muscles of her legs as she walked up the stairs back to the guestroom.

A delicious brunch of sausages, eggs, hashbrowns and fruit was spread out on the dining room table just as Carly padded timidly down the stairs wearing the same sweater and jeans as the night before. Her wet hair was simply pulled back, but he noticed she had maybe put on a little bit of makeup after the shower. She gave a polite 'Hi' to Jon and sat down.

The food tasted amazing and Jon jokingly asked if he could come over every Sunday morning for the same. Grace said sure, but he'd have to fight off her kids in order to get at the food. They talked about the kids for a little bit, mostly Jon and Grace. Jeff still seemed more tired and reserved, and Carly simply seemed uncomfortable, giving him an embarrassed glance every now and then.

They talked about the upcoming holidays and found out they would all be at the hospital Christmas gala in two weeks. Jeff and Grace had been to it a few times before, and said it was a pretty posh type of party, but it always ended up fun when the dancing and drinks got going into the evening.

Carly and Jon insisted on helping to clean up the meal. Grace said they'd love to stay and chat, but had to go relieve her sister of their kids.

Then Grace offhandedly asked Jon if he could give Carly a ride home. Her and Jeff had planned to, but she said they were already running late and Carly's place was on his way, while they were heading in the other direction. Jon was taken off guard, but basically had to say yes, since there wasn't any excuse that he could admit to. Carly started to say she could take a cab, but Grace scoffed and said that was silly.

So they said their goodbyes and thanks, and Jon and Carly walked to his car. She had been avoiding eye contact with him for most of the meal, and he could tell she was still uncomfortable. They sat down and buckled up silently as the car warmed up.

"So where am I taking you?" Jon smiled politely.

Carly's blue eyes were always beautiful, but he hated seeing that timid, avoidant expression that was in them now.

"Take Wallace over to 3rd and head right, I'll direct you from there," she said.

"Sure," he said, and put the car in drive.

The awkward silence wore on for a minute as he navigated his way out of the side streets.

He finally forced himself to speak, "Last night was fun. It was really nice to spend time with you again," he said sincerely.

"Um... yeah," she replied carefully. "Yeah it was, but... I was drinking a bit more than I should have, and um, if I was acting weird or inappropriate then don't read anything into it okay?"

"Uh y-yeah, no worries," he said. "I mean we left kinda early, and I didn't think you seemed sloppy or out of control at all... is there stuff you don't remember?"

He glanced at her and she was giving him a pleading stare. He could sense the pain behind her eyes and decided he needed to take the hint and shut the hell up about it. She looked out the window away from him for a couple minutes, and he heard a soft sniffle. He worked hard to ignore the painful twisting in his stomach from her subtle rejection.

"Turn just up here," she said.

He let the silence wear on a little and then forced himself to try talking again.

"Some of those games were pretty great though. I like that kinda party," he said, with as positive a voice as he could muster.

She took a deep breath, "Yeah it was fun, Ben and Rob said they'd bring a few to the New Years shindig, so that'll be good."

"Yeah I'm looking forward to that already," Jon smiled.

"Me too," she said. Jon heard another sniffle.

"...Find any good music recently?" he ventured,

She leaned back in the seat and gave him a long stare and finally seemed to let herself smile, "Yeah, yeah I have actually..."

From there, they talked about music and other light topics in a gradually more casual, friendly conversation that was like a breath of fresh air. He felt like they were in the park or at the coffeeshop again, before all the drama. They stopped and stayed in the car outside her house for a minute or two before they finally stopped talking and said a kind goodbye, and that they'd see each other in a couple weeks at the hospital gala. The smile she flashed him before she turned away put the sparkling snow drifts all to shame.

*****

On Monday he got to work feeling good. Beth evidently did not. She looked very tired, like she had a rough weekend. She said and did everything technically correct but with a flat face and with no more effort than was needed.

This was definitely very odd. The last couple of months she'd basically been a perfect assistant. All the patients loved her. She kept things as organized as ever. There were no more flirtations, or at least nothing overt that he could definitely put his finger on. She was still friendly with him, and her smile sucked him in every now and then, but nothing that was enough to make him concerned.

Today though, for the first time ever, one of his patients made a comment asking 'what's the girl at the front's problem?'. Apparently she had snapped at him when he asked how much longer a wait it would be. Jon apologized for her and decided he needed to say something.

"I'm fine," Beth said curtly, and left the room quickly when he asked her.

He decided to leave it for now, hoping she would get a hold of herself, but by the end of the day she didn't seem any better.

"Hey Jon. Is that it then?" she asked, looking depressed.

"Yeah Beth," he said. She immediately turned to leave, but he continued, "Hey Beth, can you wait a sec?"

She begrudgingly turned around.

"I know we all have our days, but... I had two different patients complain about you today, and I've never even had a single patient do that before.

She crossed her arms and frowned "K..."

"Is it... something about the clinic, or me? or something else?" he asked

"No, it's not you don't worry," she shook her head in frustration. "It's just... my own issues, I'll get over it."

"Well... Okay. I know whatever you might be going through is technically none of my business, but if you want to talk about it, I'm here."

She stood silent and looked unsure as she frowned.

She started to speak, "I..." then she closed her eyes tightly. "Fuck," she whispered. Then she turned around and quickly closed the door.

"You hang out with Grace and Carly, and they go to his gym, so you're gonna fucking hear it anyway probably," she said. Her eyes quickly welling up with tears as she sat down on the chair and buried her face in her hands.

"Me and Jared broke up," she sobbed.

"Oh!...Shit I'm sorry to hear that Beth.

"He was fucking Chloe. He's with her now I guess. Fucking bitch," she wiped her eyes and sniffed.

He sighed, "That's terrible. I mean that's gotta hurt like hell, and you obviously don't deserve that."

She turned her head and stared at him silently, but made no response.

"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Whatever, I'm better off without him." She leaned back and took a deep breath. "Just sucks right now."

"Yeah no kidding."

She leaned her head against the wall and turned to him, finally speaking again, "I'm not sure I ever really thought he was the one, to be honest."

"There you go talking about 'the one' again," he smirked.

"Oh yeah..." she looked distantly at the wall and smiled. "I forgot you don't believe in that."

He shrugged, "We make our own fates, that's all."

"Yeah. You might be on to something there," she looked back and smiled at him. "I guess I should have paid more attention to you when you told me this way back at your party."

"It seemed like you were paying pretty close attenti-..." he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I guess you were pretty drunk that night, and maybe don't remember it all," he said.

Beth bit her lip and looked away. "No I... remember everything," she said, almost whispering.

She looked back at him, seeming lost in her thoughts, and he lost himself in her eyes for a few seconds.

"How long were you two together?" he asked, breaking from her gaze and trying to get back on subject.

"About a year," she said, "and a few months," she added, after thinking for a second.

"Well that's not a ton of your life relatively speaking, but it's not nothing. It'll take some time," he reassured her.

She breathed out again, "Yeah, fuck, thank God it wasn't any longer actually. Could have been worse."

She smiled at him again, "I think I'll be okay Jon. Thanks for the chat."

He smiled back "That's good to hear. Is there anything else I can do?"

"No. Er, well... " she gave a cute smirk, "Maybe a hug...?"

He laughed and stood up with her. She gave an almost embarrassed looking smile and bit her lip again as they both took a slow step forward and he put his hands around her shoulders to give a friendly squeeze. She slid more sensually into him, sliding her hands along his sides and up his back. She had been wearing a loose blouse and he was suddenly reminded of the body that lay beneath it as she pressed into him. She let out a satisfied breath and rested her head on his upper chest.

He relaxed his hands a bit as if to let go, but she didn't. She took a deep breath in and her breasts slid up and down against him. He hated that he was getting turned on, but his cock was registering all of it and started throbbing to life. She caressed her hands down and squeezed the lowest part of his back. It still felt like a natural hug, but it pulled their lower bodies more tightly together. He was unsure if the resistance against his growing cock was his own pants, or her...

He got his answer when she finally pulled away and the resistance let off. She traced her fingers down the sides of his hips as she let go of him and then hugged herself, pulling the fabric of he blouse more tightly over her breasts and giving him what looked suspiciously like a knowing smile.

"Thanks Jon. I feel a lot better," she said.

"You're... welcome," he said, feeling awkward but trying not to show it.

"Bye," she said softly, and walked out of the room, stealing a brief, but thoughtful glance at him as she closed the door behind her.

He took a walk down the other hall and caught Jeff just before he left, to say thanks again for the great party, and for the brunch afterwards. Jeff was in better spirits than he had been the day before, and they had a friendly chat about the games-night and some of the ones they hadn't got a chance to play but wanted to next time. Jon said he was really looking forward to New Year's, but Jeff only let out a simple 'yeah' in response and didn't meet his eyes. He ended the conversation then, saying he had to get home and help Grace with the kids.

That night he was reading his book and got an unexpected text.

It was Carly.

A link to an album she had mentioned when he was driving her home.

-Like you asked for :)

He texted back eagerly.

-Thanks I'll check it out.

But that was all. Still, it left him with an excited smile for several minutes as he turned back to his book.

The next day, Beth walked in looking in much better spirits, she had bought him a coffee exactly how he liked it, saying sorry for how she'd acted the day before.

He told her not to worry about it as long as the old Beth was back.

"Let's say 'new and improved Beth' instead," she said with a wink as she left.

She didn't disappoint. She was efficient and friendly. She kept things running smoothly and he noticed she seemed to talk to patients in a bit more of a mature and professional tone, rather than the bubbly college-girl persona she had before. They had a number of procedures that she had perfectly prepared for him to step right into. One was an ingrown toenail that got a bit gorey, but she stayed interested in the procedure, asking questions and looking closely at what he was doing, and never flinching. He joked she was well on her way to being a surgical nurse and she beamed a beautiful appreciative smile at him.

On Thursday when he was back after his day at the hospital she told him she always missed him on Wednesdays, and that the other doctor she worked with when he was gone couldn't organize himself to save his life. He gave a friendly chuckle and said it was good to be appreciated. She squeezed his shoulder before she left, saying she was glad he was back.

Friday came and went and the new-and-improved Beth was here to stay. All week her clothes were somehow a perfect mix of classy and sexy, not flaunting her body inappropriately, but emphasizing it in some very effective ways. She was polite and professional, her voice still having that subtle change of maturity and even elegance. If he didn't know any better he would almost think she was trying to emulate certain aspects of Elaina. She would never stare at him or flirt, but she kept making physical contact with him here and there. A squeeze of the shoulder if she was standing near his desk. A hand lightly on his back if they were standing. A touch of the knee if she was sitting opposite him. Each one brief and innocent enough, but he began to wonder, and eventually began to worry.

Jeff had asked him to go for a beer that night and Jon was more than happy to hang out again. He got to the bar to find Jeff at a table already.

"Is Ben or Rob coming?" he asked as he sat down, perusing the draught menu.

"Nah, just us tonight," Jeff said.

"Oh okay, they busy?" Jon asked.

"I just... whatever I figured you and me could have a hang-out," he said, sipping his beer and almost trying too hard to sound casual.

Jon thought to how Jeff had been acting slightly off. "Did you guys... have a problem at the party?" he asked.

"What? Oh, no. No we're good, it's not like that. Hey let's get you a beer," he said, flagging down the waitress walking by.

Jon ordered his drink and the waitress complimented him on his choice with a friendly smile.

"How was your week?" Jeff asked.

"Good. Yeah the O.R. stuff is going well, it's nice doing something different, even for one day a week."

"I told you man. Glad it's working out," Jeff said,

He had pushed Jon a little to take on the surgical-assist days when he was first thinking about it. Jeff himself did 2 days a week of long term care-home coverage, which sounded terrible to Jon, but Jeff said it was a nice bit of variety.

The waitress came back with his beer and a flirtatious smile. She was pretty, even compared to most waitresses, but had more of a punk look, with shorter pink hair, a nose ring and a couple tattoos peeking out. She asked them if they were doctors. They gave a surprised yes, and she said she had heard a bit of their conversation. She asked if they needed anything else and they said no, since they had both just had supper. Jon noticed her eyes lingering on him for just a second before she sauntered off.

Probably gunning for a bigger tip, he thought.

They talked a bit about brewing and Jeff said he bottled the latest batch a few days ago. Jon asked if it would be ready in time for New Year's.

"Yep, for sure, hopefully it turns out." Jeff said.

"Well I'm looking forward to it anyway. Still not sure if Elaina can come though."

"Oh?" Jeff said, with a bit of a weird tone.

"Yeah well I'm trying to see if she can ask to move shifts around. She seems reluctant to though. I didn't think their holiday schedule was finalized yet, but she's pretty sure she isn't free that night."

"It's okay if it's just you," Jeff said.

"Yeah, I know. I just was hoping for a repeat of last weekend, it was a lot of fun for everyone I thought."

Jeff cleared his throat. There was a rare awkward silence between them.

Jeff finally sighed, "Goddammit. I got to tell you something man."

Jon looked at him concerned and confused.

"I wasn't going to, but Grace is insisting that I need to. I almost chickened out here, but I guess I have to."

"What is it, man?" Jon asked, getting nervous.

"At the party..." He sighed trying to find words. "Okay well I'll just spell out everything that happened. Near the end of the night, er at least close to the time you left, when you were back in the living room, I went upstairs and I found Elaina up there. She was in the kids room looking around. She started asking me about the kids, like questions about how hard it was, what our lives were like. So I asked if you guys were talking about it, and she got pretty upset. Like, she was crying a little, so I gave her a hug. She asked how I didn't miss my freedom, which is a question I get a lot, no big deal. Then she asked how I knew we'd be able to raise them well enough, which I don't get as often, but whatever....Then it got weird, cause she asked me how I knew Grace would be a good mother, and switched it up to ask if I was sure she was a good mother even now. She said some weird things about her. Told me I could do better. I got kind of offended and so I stopped hugging her....and then she tried to kiss me."

Jon sat frozen, staring at him in disbelief.

"Like, seriously kiss me. Not just leaning in. She grabbed my head and pulled me in... it was kind of aggressive. It took me a few seconds to push her off."

Jeff was looking at him timidly, trying to read the blank expression on Jon's stunned face, and seeming to work up the courage to keep talking.

"And um... then she gives me an offended look and tries AGAIN. I was more prepared so I held her back before she got her lips on me the second time. I tried to explain to her I was just trying to comfort her, and that I was sorry if I gave her the wrong impression. She just kept looking angry. Man those eyes can burn through you when she's mad... And then she seemed to finally read my reaction and relaxed a bit. And like, sort of apologized, but then told me again that I could do better if I tried, and not to sell myself short. Then she gave me this weird smile and just walked off. I tried talking to her again, but she kept avoiding me until you guys said goodbye."

Jon sat with his mouth halfway open, staring at the wall behind Jeff's head.

"So uh, yeah," Jeff sighed. "That's what happened. Look man, maybe the hug was the wrong thing to do, but I was NOT trying to send her signals, it was so out of the blue for me. I'm sorry," he said, looking at Jon helplessly.

Jon's mouth felt like sandpaper. He raised the drink to his mouth, surprised his hand was only shaking a little, and took a generous gulp.