Saving the Doctor Pt. 10

"...so do you have a question for me or did you just call to bug me and make our patients wait around again?" he asked sarcastically.

"Both, duh," she joked.

"Haha, naturally."

"Stop laughing I have bad news," she said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you um. You really fucked up. It's... pretty bad Jon," she said seriously.

"Oh. Shit what is it?" Jon asked, his smile vanishing.

"God, just when I was starting to think you were such a good doctor too. Like, fuck I dunno, you might not bounce back from this, they might kick you out of the clinic."

Jon was silent, but starting to be suspicious of her tone.

"You... forgot to indicate the number of refills on Frank McLean's Ramipril..." she said solemnly.

Jon smiled and gave a short laugh before shouting "NOOOO!!!"

"I know! Like, what were you THINKING?!" she asked dramatically.

"I don't know. I... I'll relinquish my license immediately," he said in mock sorrow.

"I think that would be for the best," she said.

"Wait!" Jon said. "I've got it! I can fix this."

"But how?!" Carly asked in mock disbelief.

"Maybe if you... just match it to the fucking refills I just wrote on all his other meds too!" he said in sarcastic excitement.

Carly broke and laughed for a few seconds, then resumed her serious tone "Good God... That just might work!"

"Guess I still got it," he said, his voice dripping with excessive cocky tongue-in-cheek confidence.

"Hahaha," Carly laughed huskily, finally dropping the gag.

Their laughter died down.

"Did you really need to call me about that?"

"Hey, just don't go thinking you don't still need me to look out for you anymore," she said.

"Never considered it."

She giggled cutely, "Good. Well there's also an album you need to listen to."

"Need?"

"Yes. It's mandatory."

Jon chuckled, "Do I need to write you an essay about it afterward?"

"I mean could you?"

"Probably not a good one,"

"Well I'll text you the link and um, how about instead we discuss it over a coffee tomorrow?"

"Caaan, we make it the day after? I took the on-call surgical assist shift tomorrow evening."

"Uhhh, fucking saving lives instead of hanging out with me? Laaame."

"I know. You're way more fun. But does that work?"

"Yeah," she said more reassuringly. "Thanks. I just... really want to catch up, and chat, and... yeah. If that's okay?"

"Of course," he said, excitedly tapping his pen on his leg. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Park? After work?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, sounds good," he said casually, as his mind raced and his heart pounded.

"Awesome. See you then," she said with a soft excitement.

"Bye Carly,"

"Bye Jon,"

Jon closed his eyes and smiled thinking how that conversation had seemed to throw him back in time, and fill him with an intensity of life that he had forgotten how to feel. He hoped today was the same.

**********

Carly walked along the park path, her legs feeling like jelly from the excitement. Part of her wanted to chicken out and run away and the other wanted to run full steam ahead and jump his bones on the park bench, and she felt like the two opposing forces kept her walking at a normal pace.

She had broken up with Sean last weekend. It had been hard, and painful, but she knew she had to. The longer she waited the more unfair it had been to him. He was a good man. He should've been enough. She had expected him to run away after she had broke the news that she was pregnant on their second date, but he somehow was even more into her. He was kind, caring, great in bed, which had been amazing at first, with her hormones sending her sex drive into orbit sometimes. After seeing Jon on her doorstep and the devastation in his eyes, knowing he had broken up with Beth and what he had wanted to say with that gift... she had felt dirty sleeping Sean afterwards that night, but thought she could still get over it.

Then, a few weeks later, hearing him sing that gorgeous fucking song at the open mic, had been the final nail in the coffin. She was imagining him every night, and felt hopeless. She still felt that way, but now, it was a better kind of hopeless. In a perfect world she would wait, and give them both more time, but she had been burned by that before. She knew she was in love with him and that wouldn't change. She would say it to him. Today. Loud and clear. She had promised herself that. She would make him understand it if she had to pin him to the ground and shout it into his face.

*****

Jon kept looking up from his phone as he waited, sitting up every time someone's head came into view walking up the hill, but so far none of them were her. Finally a head of blonde hair started to come into view and he took an excited breath in and smiled. He didn't notice someone walking up to him from the side.

"Hey. Stand up."

Jon looked to his left to see a wirey looking young man with soiled jeans and a stained track-jacket with the hood pulled up over his pock-marked face.

"I'm sorry I don't know y-"

"I said stand the fuck up!" he muttered harshly looking around with paranoid eyes.

"Okay, okay, I don't want any trouble just st- JESUS!" Jon exclaimed seeing a long hunting knife in the man's hand, and backing away a step.

"Don't FUCKING move!"

"Okay. Just stay calm man, I-"

"YOU Stay calm. Wallet. Now," he demanded, with the knife shaking in his hand.

"Okay. I'm... just gonna reach behind, okay?"

"Slowly!"

"Yeah, just... here okay."

"Jon?!" Carly's voice called from the trail. "Is something wrong?"

The man's crazy eyes darted towards her, "Back off!"

Jon suddenly panicked and turned spastically in pure instinct to protect her "NO! Carly don't-..."

His voice broke to silence as the knife sunk into him.

He looked in wide-eyed disbelief at the mugger, who looked back at him with the same shock at what he had done.

A bizarre sickening pain shot deeply through his body and a warm wet feeling started to spread over his skin. He looked down to see the knife-handle sticking out and realization started to wash over him along with a dizzy feeling.

Carly screamed.

The mugger broke out of his shock and snatched the wallet from his hand and bolted away.

Jon staggered back, starting to shake. The day was getting darker all of a sudden. The park was starting to spin.

"JON!!!" Carly's voice screamed again as he felt soft warm arms clasp around him, the spinning slowed a bit as he leaned into her and she lowered his failing body down on to the ground.

"Jon! Oh my GOD! NO! JON!!!"

"Carly..." Jon whispered, his vision turning dark.

"Hello? I need an ambulance at Lion's Head Park, someone just got stabbed. There's a ton of blood, he's dying please!"

"Carly I..." Jon tried to make his lips work but they wouldn't.

He felt her hands on his shoulders, but couldn't sense much else, and it was distant and faint but thought he heard her shouting "I love you".

He tried to make himself scream the words back, that he needed her to hear, but instead of 'I love you', he only managed a painful soft moan as he lost hold of consciousness.