Saving the Doctor Pt. 08

"It sounds like you're doing well, I'm glad," she said with a kind smile.

"Yeah thanks, and um, likewise. It's good to see you again," he said, making himself smile back.

"Alright let's get haulin'," Ben said.

Jon thought he heard a sniffle from Carly's direction as he moved in beside Beth and they started down the walkway into the resort.

"Ooo! Babe I found out Blake Bosch is here!" Beth suddenly said excitedly.

"Who?" Jon asked.

"Holy fuck really?" Rob said, turning around in front of them.

"Yeah!" Beth replied. "They're doing a shoot for like a promo thing! Someone posted that he pulled up yesterday on a bus with like a big entourage and everything!"

"No way! Jeff did you know that when you booked this?" Rob asked.

Jeff chuckled "No I'm with Jon here, who is this guy?"

"Blake Bosch. He's a snowboarder. Like one of the best!" Beth said.

"Like Olympic level?" Jon asked.

"More X-games type of thing actually. I think he DID go last time but didn't place," Rob said. "He's Australian I think."

"Yeah, he is. He's doing a signing today I really wanna go!" Beth said, with a bounce in her step.

"I'm Rob by the way, thanks for introducing us Jon." Rob said sarcastically, with a smile to Beth, holding out his hand.

She giggled, "Hi, I'm Beth."

"Right sorry. Rob's a long time friend of Jeff's. One of the radiologists at the hospital. Don't let the cool exterior fool you. He's actually a hopeless romantic who's desperately trying to win his boyfriend back," Jon said with a mocking grin.

"Jon I would bitch-slap you, but I might hit your girlfriend in the crossfire and I already like her so..."

"So this is the place, just up here," Jeff said pointing to a huge log house with windows down the entire south side and a high peaked roof.

"Oh my GOD!" Beth exclaimed.

"I know right?" Grace said with a smile. "These stubborn old bums were just gonna do a guys trip away without us but we set them straight. We had figured we'd do two cabins but we saw this one available and realized it could hold all of us."

"How much was this?" Beth whispered to Jon.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled.

She squinted up at him and gave a smirk, then put her arm around him as they walked up onto the large deck.

They 'Ooo'd and Ahh'd' at the huge open concept living area, with a fireplace, a kitchen and a loft, the bedrooms scattered along the outer walls.

"I didn't realize there'd be this much of a kitchen!" Grace said excitedly.

"OOO!! A Fondue set!" Jenna cried out from down in the cupboards.

Jon and Beth picked out a room and hauled their stuff in. He closed the door and let out a long sigh, finally being alone with her.

"Beth I'm sorry I had no clue Carly was even invited."

"Sorry? Baby it's fine don't worry about it," Beth said without looking up from unpacking her clothes.

"You sure? It's not gonna make things uncomfortable?"

"...is it?" She said, stopping and looking up at him with a narrow gaze.

"Well... I wasn't quite sure how you felt about her. Like with our history..."

"Which is over and done with, like you had said. ...it IS, right?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"....Yeah," he said, evidently with too long of a pause.

"Fuck..." she said shaking her head and turning back to folding her clothes. "You shouldn't have said anything. I wasn't jealous before, but you obviously expected me to be and now you're making me feel like I SHOULD be."

"You shouldn't. I'm sorry Beth, it's just that we left on BAD terms and it's weird that she's suddenly here, and acting happy and civil..."

"It's Carly, I can't picture her being anything other than happy and civil. She's not crazy or evil like Elaina or Chloe, so don't make drama where there doesn't need to be any."

"Okay. You're right. Sorry it was just so out of the blue and I've been wanting so bad for this to be a fun weekend for you. I was worried it might ruin it," he said.

"Then don't let it." Beth said with a hand on his arm.

He smiled down at her and pecked her a kiss. She gave a satisfied smile and turned back to her clothes.

...

The resort 'bar' was basically a huge building acting as a sports bar, a club and a restaurant all at once. Doing a mediocre job of all 3 as Beth put it. Jon, Beth, Rob and Carly had decided to head over in the early evening, since it was where this snowboarder was signing autographs, and Rob and Carly wanted to check it out anyway. Jeff, Grace, Jenna and Ben were going to drive in to the small nearby town and pick up some food and supplies to throw a fondue party when they got back.

Jon's stomach sank when he saw the autograph line stretching across the entire bar, but Beth said it was worth it. He brought her back a drink and had intended to stand with her but she insisted he go spend time with his friends and he relented.

He slid in beside Rob in the booth as their conversation paused.

"Well, what's up?" he asked.

"Rob misses Chris," Carly said, reminding Jon how devastatingly cute her dimples were.

"D'aww," Jon said with a smile at Rob.

"Fuck you," Rob laughed. "I was gonna have a fun single weekend and see who I could meet, but you guys had to go and make me confront my goddamn feelings."

"It's GOOD!" Carly said supportively. "You can still have fun with us!"

"Okay but you're my girlfriend this weekend then Carly. You gotta keep me on a leash."

"Fine. You're all mine. I'll scare the pretty boys away," she said with a giggle.

They chatted and the ice seemed to slowly warm between Carly and him, if not melt. Every now and then he would glance at Beth who seemed content with her phone.

This Blake guy signing autographs seemed to fit the bill of an overblown sports celebrity. Wearing some kind of designer track suit, under an expensive-looking mussed-up haircut. He was talking nicely enough with the people meeting him at least, but definitely had an air of self-importance about him. He had an entourage around him, some for security, and some for show. A few other guys decked out in wannabe gangster wear, but were clearly rich white douchebags acting the part. A few girls. The one closest to the star, possibly the girlfriend, was hard to miss. Tall and olive-skinned but with a very generous chest, outlined by the fur of a designer parka. Tights painted onto long fit legs underneath. Her eyes looked other-worldly; brilliant and intense, with irises that looked like they were ringed with a different colour. He wasn't sure, but thought she might be Greek. He was very sure she must be a model. She didn't look impressed to be there and seemed to stare off into nothing or down at her phone.

Beth was finally at the front of the line and was talking excitedly and playing with her hair as as Blake signed a photo. He saw him gesture to the model nearby who rolled her eyes slightly before walking the few steps over to them with a tight smile.

"Oh don't look so jealous Jon she's just getting an autograph," Rob teased.

Jon chuckled, "Yeah I know. I just don't get that whole... scene, or what women see in all that."

"Hey it's not ALL women that fall for that bullshit," Carly said defensively.

"I mean, look at the line though," Jon said indicating the long line of 90% young women.

"No he's right, the guy's SUPER popular but he IS a hell of a snowboarder Jon," Rob said.

"Granted," Jon said. "But you said he didn't even place at the last Olympics"

"Barely qualified actually, but I mean, it's the Olympics, he's still good."

"Yeah I'm sure he is, but who won the gold?"

Rob shrugged.

"Exactly. Do you think that guy has a line of girls like this wherever he goes?" Jon said.

"Well no it's about the image right? It's the look, the 'lifestyle', the facade. Girls eat that shit up," Rob said.

"Hey SOME girls!" Carly said with a frustrated smile. "I swear, you two... Look I can see what these youngun's are getting out of it. It's sexy to see all the confidence and swagger and it's fun to get lost in all that... But the girls that are worth your time, the smart one's that grow up, can tell the difference between confidence and competence, and know which one to value, believe me."

"Thank you!" Jon said with an admiring smile. "That's SO refreshing."

She gave him the cutest smile he'd seen in a long time.

"It's like the Dunning-Kruger effect is lost on so many people," Jon said.

"Yes! That exactly!" Carly said with a giggle.

Rob shook his head. "You guys are losing me. I gotta hit the washroom."

Jon slid out of the booth to let him out.

"He's a hell of a snowboarder, and facade or no, I would absolutely tap that," Rob said gesturing towards Blake with a naughty smile as he left.

Jon and Carly shared a laugh, that slowly settled into nervousness as they both realized they were finally alone. Their eyes still met but now seemed to search each other's face for answers over a long period of silence.

"Carly are w-..."

"Jon I-..."

They both blushed and chuckled, having talked at the same time.

"You go first," Jon said with a sigh.

Carly paused. "...I'm sorry."

"You don't need t-"

"No I do. I'm sorry I sent that last text before I ran away. I'm sorry I DID run away. You didn't deserve it."

"No, I... I DID Carly. I understood. It hurt like hell, but I what else could I expect given what happened? I didn't blame you at all."

"Well, I regret it. Okay? I don't want us to be on bad terms," Carly said, looking like she was on the verge of tearing up.

"I don't understand how though Carly? How are you still wanting to even look at me, let alone hang out again? I'm glad you're doing better, but how? Why?"

"It's taken a long time and a lot of effort, but Jon part of it's because things didn't happen the way I thought they did."

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't-"

"HEYYY! Beth walked up excited and smiling, waving the autographed picture.

Jon quickly changed his face and smiled up at her, accepting a peck on the lips and sliding over to let her snuggle in.

"Worth the wait?" Jon asked, trying to sound as upbeat as he could.

"Yes!! Not just to meet him and get the autograph, but I got THIS from his fiance!" she said, holding up a business card.

Jon's eyes widened, "Modeling agency?"

"Yeah! I thought he was just being polite at first but then he called Vienna over and she gave me this. Said they were always looking for talent," Beth blushed.

"Wow, who is she?" Jon asked.

"Oh my God. Vienna Gilano. Jon, she's like this famous model from Europe, crazy amount of followers online, I think she's done shoots for like a perfume company or something. I couldn't believe she was here too!" Beth said, sounding starstruck again.

"That's cool. So she sounded serious hey? Like I'm not surprised, but still," he smiled.

She giggled. "Well she wasn't as excited about it. She had this kind of annoyed bitchy look on her face, like all those models do, but she looked me over and figured I might have what it takes I guess," Beth said with a smile.

"Did you give your name or info or anything?"

"Oh, uhh no, I guess I didn't. Shit. I wonder if this is like a private number... naw it's 1-800," she said, looking disappointed.

"Beth you could call any agency you wanted, and they'd take you I'm sure. If that's actually something you'd want to do," Jon reassured her.

She rolled her eyes but smiled, and squeezed his hand. "Thanks baby, but I don't know... It was just nice to think about."

"I'd be careful with that stuff if you did, there's a lot of nasty shit that happens behind the scenes in that industry," Carly said trying to sound helpful.

"Yeah... I think I watched a bit of a thing about that once," Beth said, looking away awkwardly.

Rob arrived back and they decided to head to the bar for another drink.

An announcer came over the loudspeaker.

"Lets hear it for Blake Bosch everyone!"

Hoots and clapping came from the small crowd as he stood up and gave a wave and some sort of hand gesture.

"Remember to be at the half pipe at 11 tomorrow to be part of the crowd for his latest promo video! There'll be t-shirts and music and lots of fun so BE there!"

He paused for a few half-excited 'woo's.

"Now I got some great news for you folks, he didn't have to do this but he's having such a good time, that after they take a bit of a well deserved break, Blake and his crew are gonna come right back here and be in this club, partying it up with all of you and dancing to DJ SizzBizz - we're gettin that set up right now. So DON'T. GO. ANYWHERE!"

Jon rolled his eyes and looked over to see Carly doing the same, and shared a smile.

Beth screamed out a 'woooo' along with most of the crowd.

"We're staying right?!" She looked up at him excitedly.

"Well... for a bit. The plan was fondue and games back at the cabin, I don't want to flake on those guys," Jon said feeling uncomfortable.

"Well Jeff hasn't texted me that they're back from town yet," Rob said. "I wouldn't mind cuttin a rug with my 'girlfriend' here for another hour or so. It'll take them at least that much time to get stuff organized and the fondue heated up."

Carly squeezed Jon's arm, "Yeah, let's stay for a bit, it might be fun."

Her touch caught him off guard, and his "okay" sounded more nervous than he intended.

Beth gave him an odd look before smiling and taking his hand back to their table.

Rob and Beth started talking about snowboarding and were easily hitting it off.

Jon talked with Carly about work. She was enjoying being back at the hospital. He talked about his new part-time work at the shelter clinic and she seemed really genuinely interested. The conversation felt over-polite at first but after he gradually emptied another beer he felt more comfortable and started to let himself enjoy the face and voice that he'd missed so much. She seemed to relax more too, though she wasn't drinking, saying she still didn't feel 100% since the car-sickness. She looked more than okay to him though. All of her seemed to glow, and her smile and stare and the laughs they started to share were like he really had somehow stumbled back into that universe that he thought had been destroyed. He felt her foot brush his...

Suddenly the lights dimmed and the table rumbled from the bass of the DJ starting his set.

"Here we go!" Beth said and Rob grinned wide and gestured to the dance floor. She was standing up in an instant and Jon and Carly slowly followed after them.

The four of them danced to the heavy house music in a slowly building crowd on the dance floor. After about 20 minutes they heard some cheers around them and looked to see Blake and Vienna in new outfits strutting in with their entourage. The music changed and everyone around them seemed to have more energy. Jon mostly danced with Beth and tried to focus his attentions on her, which was usually very easy, but they inevitably switched out every now and then. Carly kept it casual but every time she touched him, even lightly, his heart seemed to twist in knots. The curves of her body looked even fuller than he remembered, and her beautiful face in the dim light flashed him subtle smiles that haunted him.

He found his way back to Beth, feeling guilty for his thoughts, and started paying her much more attention physically which she giggled at, but very much seemed to appreciate, sliding over him more closely and sensually, and turning him on very quickly. He couldn't simply enjoy it however, as Carly and Rob being right next to them made him self-conscious, and not only that but Rob was dancing VERY seductively with Carly, and he hated that he couldn't stop the baseless pangs of jealousy.

Suddenly there was a scream.

They looked to their left and 20 feet away one of Blake's entourage was spasming on the floor.

Jon recognized a grand-mal seizure and swore.

Blake and one of his other friends rushed over while a couple of security personnel moved in to keep the crowd away.

"Is there a doctor here?!" he heard a panicked Australian voice shout.

Jon looked at Beth. "Stay here."

He rushed over and told the security guard who he was.

They let him through and Jon saw Blake and his friend simply watching helplessly as the seizing man's head ricocheted off the hard floor.

"Hey! My name's Jon, I'm a doctor. We need to protect his head." Jon grabbed his shoulders and after another few seconds of shock, Blake snapped out of it and helped.

"Oh thank God, can you help him?" Blake said, in a heavy accent.

"Has someone called 911?" Jon asked.

"Who's calling 911? Fuck what do I pay you cunts for!" Blake shouted at everyone around him.

"I'm on it already Blake, don't worry," one of the security guards said.

"Don't tell me not to fuckin worry! Kyle stop fucking shaking! Kyle! Mate!You need to fuckin save him!" Blake shouted at Jon.

"Hey. Blake right?" Jon tried to make his voice firm but calm as he held the seizing man to stop his head from hitting the floor.

He nodded.

"Look man, he can't hear you and he can't respond right now," Jon said. "He's having a seizure, and as long as he's not alone, a seizure isn't likely to kill him. Okay?"

Blake nodded his head.

"Someone should be timing this," Jon suggested.

"What?"

"It's helpful to know how long the seizure lasts for exactly. If you want to do something get out your phone and start the stopwatch timer."

Blake took out his phone. "Don't let him die man. Please don't let him die," he said, but seemed a little bit calmer.

"I think it's been about 30 seconds, so add that on to whatever you get."

Jon momentarily looked up to see the countless eyes on them from the 20 foot circle that had formed. He looked back down at the convulsing victim and tried to forget it. Then realized there'd probably be a dozen cellphone videos of the seizure, capturing more than just the duration. He figured he'd let Blake distract himself anyway.

"Do you know if he's ever had seizures before?" Jon asked.

"No, I've never seen anything like this. He's only been my mate for about 2 years though."

Kyle's shaking seemed to slow down but he started making growling guttural sounds.

"Dude what the fuck! What is that? What's wrong with him?!"

Vienna was suddenly at Blake's side. "Darling you need to calm down he's trying to help, and panicking is just going to make things worse."

Jon was taken off guard by her mature-sounding voice with an accent he couldn't pinpoint, maybe half-british?

"Oh my GOD babe, I don't know what to do." Blake said, almost tearing up.

"Just do what he says. The ambulance is on the way okay?" Vienna said.

Jon spoke up again as he turned Kyle on his side, "It's common for someone coming off a seizure to make sounds and seem a bit crazy like that, don't worry it's not really a bad sign. Is anyone here who might know him better, like any of his health issues?"

"His brother Taylor!" Blake exclaimed. "Hey Ethan where's Tails? Go find him!"

Blake's friend ran off.

"Okay stop the timer," Jon said as Kyle's spasms finally stopped.

"Ambulance is 25 minutes away Blake," the security guard called out.

"What? Why so long?! What the fuck is wrong with this shit-ass town!"

"Blake it's fine, we're on the side of a mountain, but there's a doctor here," Vienna tried to reassure him.

"Like I said Blake, if we're here with him, a seizure itself isn't going to kill him, but we need to figure out why he's having it, to know how serious it is." Jon took a deep breath, glad he was only 2 beers deep, but wishing he wasn't, and he hoped he looked professional enough.

A younger looking guy suddenly ran up and crouched down. "Kyle! Can you hear me man? Are you okay?"

"Don't shake him," Jon said putting a hand on him. "You're Taylor? His Brother?"

"Yeah. What the hell's happening?"