A Heart Healed

Chapter 7

Naomi

            > Naomi: Is he settling in well at home?

            > Marc: He loves it. Especially the idea of a nurse to take care of him.

             Physical therapy starts later this week, so we’ll see how that he feels then.

            > Naomi: Tell Ezra I say hi.

            > Marc: Will do. We can have dinner again this weekend on your day off. I miss you.

            > Naomi: I miss you too.

Naomi stared at the screen of her cellphone with tired eyes as she laid under the covers. She had just gotten home from another sixteen-hour shift at the hospital and just opted to collapse on the couch as soon as she got in the door. Iris had popped in at some point to curl around her leg that dangled off the end of the sofa, but after that, the feline drifted off again.

She seemed to be doing a lot of wandering off these days. Naomi would worry more if the feline didn’t seem to be fed wherever it was that she went to. She seemed to be getting fatter by the day. Definitely wasn’t pregnant since she had Iris fixed a long time ago, so someone had to be feeding her nearby.

Rolling onto her side, she grabbed the television remote off of the coffee table and turned on the news for background noise. Something had changed in her lately. Her apartment had been too empty lately or was it her? As cliché as it sounded, there was something missing in her life lately and she wasn’t sure what. It could be either Olivia since the two of them had virtually no time together with Naomi’s shift change or was it Marc who had to return to work since his brother had been discharged?

It was odd. She hadn’t realized how used to the routine she had built before. Now, with two little changes, Naomi had found herself at a distance from those that surrounded her every day. Even after her date with Marc, their relationship had seemed to hit the wall she expected just after the first date.

Distance.

What had started as a daily encounter face-to-face had now become funny emails, quick phone calls during lunch, and text messages, may even a quick meal. As great as it was to have some sort of connection, it wasn’t the same as that night. Naomi almost felt greedy.

She wanted another night like they had on their first date. It had been almost two weeks since then and as much as they tried, whenever she was free, he was headed into a budget presentation, meeting, another press conference or something to do with the board. And vice versa.

Dr. Adamson had been giving her more assignments with her new shift change. She was often accompanying the man to surgeries or being invited to meet new people who she would meet again at the new hospital. If she ever got around to filling out the forms that is.

There was too much preparation that had to be done for even that. She’d have to search for a new apartment, research the city itself, and start packing up the entire life she had set up here before climbing onto a plane. All that was still the work after the application process itself which still would involve her flying out there for a formal interview.

Naomi just let out a groan. This was too much work for a person. Couldn’t there be an easier way to have it all?

Her cellphone vibrated in her hand. It was Marc again.

            > Marc: Are you watching the news by any chance?

She’d be lying if Naomi said she didn’t look around for a second to check for cameras. How did he know?

            > Naomi: Why? Should I be?

His next response was probably the reason why she turned around to look at the screen.

            > Marc: Just had another press conference.

True to his word, there he was on the business section. They seemed to be getting over the initial problem they were having with their record label, so he actually looked a little less stiff in front of the cameras. Naomi just smiled at the handsome man on screen as he was talking about stuff she didn’t really care about. It was just good to see his face again in some way or another.

            > Naomi: Looks like you’ve been having an easier time at work. I can see it in your face.

It was only after she had sent it that Naomi questioned the way she had phrased that one. It was still true in her opinion. She could see a difference, even if no one else did. Her cellphone dinged again.

            > Marc: It’s not that. It’s because I was talking to you before I had to go on stage.

Her face was warm again. He sometimes said the sweetest things over text that made her heart beat a little faster, even if he never really said them this well in person. It was something that made her happy for the time being anyway. Would she like to hear them in his voice? Of course, but she’d have to be patient.

Naomi curled her legs up against her stomach on the couch, grabbing the extra blanket she left on the top of the couch and threw it over herself as she watched the press conference until the end. Once it was over, she looked down at her cellphone once again to see another message saying that he was heading home and that he’d call her when he got back.

She may have been exhausted, but if she wanted to hear his voice even if it was for a second, she’d wait. Maybe this is what it felt like to have a crush on someone. It wasn’t quite love yet it felt very much like it.

Even the sound of his voice when he said good night made her happy, but she wanted more.

Perhaps she was being greedy after all.

*****

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough for Naomi and Marc.

She had the Saturday virtually off since she was on call and managed to get the same after a lot of shuffling in his schedule so that they could spend the day together. He had promised to let her choose what they did this time since she often sent links to different restaurants and places that she claimed would be something nice to visit together.

Even though they had only been one, maybe two, dates officially, they had never stopped talking in between the quick lunches he sometimes had with her at the hospital before she was usually summoned to the ward or surgery.

So, on Saturday morning, she had woken up earlier than she ever thought she would on a day off. Sure, some of the time after that was some idle searching online for outfits in her pajamas, but it was still true. Naomi was finally getting to see him again for more than fifteen minutes for a change and she was bubbling with excitement, even smiling to herself over her coffee mug as she looked out at the morning scenery on her street.

He said that he would be at her apartment at nine, so they could have breakfast and then see from there, giving her enough time to get ready. She quickly checked the time on her phone. 8:45. Sh*t! Where did the time go?

Naomi practically flew off of the couch and into the bathroom. She had so much to do before he got there! There was showering, shaving her legs, styling her hair, and not to mention at least tidying her room a little since her bedsheet was hanging idly off the end. Even if she did bring him back here, what kind of impression would that leave on anyone?