A Heart Healed

They were mature enough to make something like this work. She had faith in this, and even though she wasn’t sure why, she wanted to have the same level of faith in him.

“Something’s got you in a good mood,” a voice next to her commented. She turned to see Olivia standing next to her with a bottle of water in her hand. Naomi remembered now that she was still standing by the nurses’ station for the medical ward on the third floor.

To be honest, she had long tuned out the usual noise of the machines and patients in favor of remaining within her own thoughts.

“How did you know?” she asked.

Olivia took a drink from her bottle before leaving against the desk next to Naomi. “You were actually humming and smiling as you were looking over patient files. So, either this hospital has finally killed off your sanity or something good happened.” She wasn’t wrong. Olivia had become able to read her mood better than most people, her older brother being the exception to the rule.

The part concerning the hospital wasn’t entirely off either. With these shifts and the amount of work the specialists tended to dump on the residents and interns, it was a wonder they stayed sane in the first place.

“So, which is it? Spill.”

“Something good happened.”

Olivia turned to grin at her. “I knew it. Tell me everything.”

If it weren’t for this woman’s position in her life, Naomi would definitely say she was much too close. “I think I have a date tomorrow.”

The other woman let out a happy squeal and grabbed onto Naomi’s upper arms, practically bouncing on the spot in a kind of weird fusion of a victory dance and a jack in a box.

“Tell me what happened from start to finish! Who is it? What does he look like? Does he like cats? Because you know that you can’t have someone with allergies because of Iris…”

The questions could have gone as far as his family’s medical history if Naomi didn’t literally place her hand over Olivia’s mouth to make her stop. How did she honestly end up with this level of extrovert as a best friend?

“Can you calm down? We’re still in public.” Naomi looked around to see that all of the nursing staff were busy with patients at the moment and thanked her lucky stars. The ones in this ward were the real gossipers, all genders alike.

A second later, she felt something wet against her hand and Naomi pulled back, clutching her wrist as if she’d been violated or something. “Woman, you licked me! What the hell? Are you a third grader?”

Olivia shrugged. “I couldn’t breathe. Besides, I still want those details.”

Naomi reluctantly scanned the nurses’ station for a bottle of sanitizer, having to apply a new dose with a wrinkle of her nose as the smell hit her once again.

Olivia just laughed. “That’s what you get for trying to silence me. Now come on, we can talk in the bathroom.” The woman grabbed her by the elbow and with an unreal amount of death, pulled her into the staff bathrooms. After a quick check to make sure that the stalls were empty, she cornered Naomi up against the sinks. “Now, spill.”

“Must you be so extra about it? This isn’t high school.”

“Yes, now spill.”

Naomi couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “You remember the hot guy the nurses were telling about who comes to visit his brother everyday…”

“Shut up! He finally made a move!” Olivia slapped her arm a little too hard in surprise, making Naomi flinch and cover the tender spot. “Sorry about that. I’m just so happy for you!”

“I never would’ve guessed. Say, can I ask you something?” Olivia stopped her celebrating for a second, waiting for Naomi’s question. “Do you think it’s a problem that we’re different, you know, races? I know people tend to get a lot of sh*t about it nowadays.”

Olivia creased her brow, folding her arms across her chest with a sigh. “I know what you’re getting at and I don’t find it a problem. I mean, I’m white. Plus, from a small town in the middle of nowhere where these kinds of things would have gotten you shunned before you could even say how nice of a person they are.” They both just sighed at that one. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d have probably questioned it like those bunch of conservatives I call my relatives.

“Look, it’s not like you’re breaking some sort of code here. He’s not your patient, his brother is, so in my opinion, just as long as you’re not screwing in the middle of a surgical theater in front of Adamson, you did nothing wrong, okay?”

Naomi threw her arms around Olivia, trapping the woman in a bear hug. “I knew I could always count on you, Liv. One more thing though.”.

“What is it?”

Naomi’s gaze wavered. She wasn’t sure if she should be a little ashamed to ask or not. “Do you have an extra set of clothes I can borrow? He’s supposed to pick me up after shift end tomorrow and I don’t have anything for this kind of thing.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Ah, the reliability of Olivia Faraday as a best friend. “I owe you one.”

“For all the ones you owe me, I’m entitled to your first-born child by now,” Olivia huffed, a smirk on her face as she thought of something that made Naomi a little nervous actually.

The mental image of what it took to even make that happen came to mind and Naomi felt more than a little flustered to say the least. It would have gotten worse if their phones didn’t go off at the same time.

Duty calls.

“Let’s go.” Olivia left the bathroom first, allowing Naomi a few minutes to splash some water on her face. She had to at least pull herself together to make it till she got home, then she could freak out.

By the time Naomi stepped out of the bathroom, she encountered Dr. Adamson walking next to the director and another businessman she didn’t recognize. He had that certain face that looked like he could easily blend into a crowd with fine brown hair styled just above his ears that reminded her of what the boys in the private school of her hometown used to have.

“Dr. Bennett, a quick word if you please,” the director said before she could flee. She could give the excuse that she had patients to attend to, but she didn’t want to come across as rude.

She gingerly stepped towards the group. “Yes, sir?”

“Mr. Randolph,” he said to the man next to him before indicating to Naomi, “this is Dr. Naomi Bennett, she has been caring for young Mr. Hewitt in Dallas’ stead. Dr. Bennett, this is Lawrence Randolph, the executive assistant to Mr. Hewitt’s brother. Would you kindly show him to the correct room?”

This was Marc’s assistant? He looked so stiff compared to the man himself. Besides, why was he here? And why was he looking at her like that?

“Will do, sir.”

Lawrence turned to the director and extended a hand. “Thank you for your assistance and our CEO will be touch to discuss some things.” The three men shook hands before the director and her superior left her alone with Lawrence. He looked like they could be the same age, but the way he carried himself reminded her of her first impression of Marc. Cold, calculating, and stiff. “Are you ready, Dr. Bennett? I believe we also have some things to discuss on our way.”