A Heart Healed

“Why?” he teased with a lilt in his voice that made her face warm again.

“Oh, forget it. I was just curious.”

“If you really want to know,” he laughed, “he’s thirty-four. Practically an old man, right?”

So, there wasn’t much of an age difference. Five years wasn’t that bad, right? “Ancient, and I’m not that far behind so I suppose that makes me old too.”

“Nah. He’s an old man on the inside too.” Ezra grinned at her again. “You’re still cool.”

Well, bless his heart. Someone four years younger than her thinks she’s cool. Naomi wanted to laugh at the idea since every other young person she’d ever encountered thought she was boring. “I’m happy someone still thinks so. I apparently work too much.”

“You do. But so does my brother and he’s not that bad sometimes either.” Only sometimes? She raised a brow. Here she thought that he was at least not as bad around family.

A sudden knock at the door echoed, reminding her that they had to move. “Well, thank you for indulging my curiosity. Let’s head back to your room.” She moved to open the doors for a couple of porters who came to move Ezra from the examination table into a wheelchair they had brought in.

“Doctor,” Ezra said, looking back at her. “I’m pretty sure he likes you as well. He’s just not very good at expressing his emotions.”

*****

When they had gotten Ezra back to his room, Naomi was greeted by a pleasantly unexpected sight. Marc had already arrived for his daily visit with Ezra and he looked really good. He had styled his hair and dressed up in the same suit that he had worn the day she had first seen him, a grey three piece that seemed to be especially well tailored for him. The material hugging across his chest made for a really good view, she had to say, and as much as she wasn’t going to ask for it out loud, she kind of wanted to see what it looked like from the back.

“Ez, Naomi.” He greeted each of them with a smile that kind of reduced the oxygen in the room for a moment as the statement Ezra made before they left the radiology department came back.

Was it possible? This man was romantically interested in her? It’s not like she didn’t have confidence in her ability to get a date if she wanted to. Her schedule usually didn’t allow for it, but the thing was, did she actually want to now?

She felt a nudge against her left leg and found herself looking down at Ezra who had what she could only describe as the “I told you so” face. Naomi just huffed before she spotted the elder Hewitt brother looking between the two of them, confused at what was going on here.

No way was she going to mention the conversation that she and Ezra just had. It was much too embarrassing.

“I have good news!” she blurted out, gaining the stares of the two brothers. “Ezra’s condition is well enough that he should be able to be discharged soon.”

If there was any moment where the two looked like one another again, it was definitely when they received good news. Except there was just something about Marc’s version that actually seemed rather infectious to Naomi. She even found herself smiling as he approached his brother to wrap the younger Hewitt in a hug. “That is very good news. So, he can come home then?” he asked, looking up at Naomi.

“Give it until the end of the week. He’ll need someone to act as a full-time nurse for a little while.”

“Understood. I’ll have my assistant get on that.” Naomi nodded, ready to say her goodbyes for now before Marc straightened himself in front of her. “Naomi. I can’t thank you and Dr. Adamson enough for taking care of Ezra. Since he’s the youngest of the family and the only one who still lives nearby, my mother left me responsible for him.”

“I’m still a legal adult, you know,” Ezra piped in with a huff.

“And look where you are.”

Ezra didn’t seem to want to respond to that, leaving Marc with a victorious look in his eyes. “Anyway, back to what I was saying. Naomi, would you allow me to take you out for a proper dinner to express my thanks?”

There it was again. Her cheeks felt like a new fire was starting underneath her skin. It was becoming a thing lately when it came to this man and to say the least, it was becoming incredibly embarrassing. Where was the cool, unaffected by anything, Naomi Bennett that she had been trying to build since her internship?

It was as if that version of her had vanished into thin air whenever this man was around. Should she say yes? Should she say no?

It wasn’t technically a date. He didn’t say the word date. If dinner together was considered a date, they’d have already had a first date, right? Then why did this seem so much more nerve wrecking?

It was probably because he had asked her in front of Ezra. His brother. Who had told her that Marc liked her a few minutes ago.

“Naomi? Are you all right?” Marc asked before she realized that she had spaced out. Great. She did it again.

“Yes,” was all she said.

“Yes, you’re all right or yes to dinner?”

Ezra cleared his throat next to them, looking exasperated at the conversation. “Just assume it’s both and put me back on the bed already! I swear, it’s like watching high school kids again!”

The both of them couldn’t contain the laughter that slipped out of their mouths.

“Tomorrow after your shift?” Marc asked her once he calmed down.

“Sounds great.”

“It’s a date then.”

*****

For the remainder of her shift, Naomi felt as if she could accomplish anything. She had a date. One that she actually wanted to go on. It was like a strangely fluttery feeling in her abdomen and she didn’t know how to make it stop.

Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted it to. The feeling wasn’t unpleasant altogether, but she couldn’t remember having something like this before. The idea of being excited to go on a date wasn’t a thing that crossed her mind since her first year of medical school.

There was someone in the year above of her who she had had a crush on who had asked her on a date. She had been excited for it just like this, but unfortunately, the evening they were supposed to go, Naomi was stood up.

She had borrowed a dress from Olivia that her best friend had insisted looked good on her. Yet, she was left sitting on her bed in their dorm room, staring out of the window until Olivia came home from doing assignments in the library.

Needless to say, Naomi didn’t go on many dates after that. Then again, maybe this time would be different. She and Marc weren’t college students. Each could acknowledge when the other was busy with work, especially since Naomi’s job was often calling her in and Marc was an executive for a billion-dollar company that required constant supervision.