A Heart Healed

Naomi… What could have caused this kind of emotional response from her? Marc knew that her job was emotionally demanding, but this seemed like something more than losing a patient that she cared for. He knew that she loved her work, especially when it came to treating those patients she was looking after personally, but there was something involved here that was starting to change this.

That man who had helped Marc find her had said that she had been having problems the entire week and the moment he had personally stepped into the hospital earlier that day, he felt something was wrong. Especially with the way most of the staff was looking at him. “You ready to tell me what happened?” he tried slowly.

“Where do I even start?” she croaked against the fabric of his shirt. “There was good news and then bad news.”

“The beginning is always a good place.”

She pulled away from him, the red puffiness in her eyes making her look older than she already was, especially with the way her hair was standing in a mess on top of her head. Despite all of this, Marc still saw his beautiful Naomi sitting in front of him.

“It started shortly before we started dating actually. Ever since people saw us together, there were a few comments here and there about us. It only got worse after we had gone to that celebration dinner for Ezra’s discharge. There were talks about how I was starting to become a social climber, especially since I usually saved my visits to your brother’s room for last whenever I was on shift.”

She sniffed again, looking around for tissues or something. “Hold on a second,” Marc said as he got up to retrieve the box she kept next to her bed, handing it to her before he sat down again. He watched as she blew her nose and dabbed the tears from her eyes with a few of them before letting the box just settle next to her on the couch.

“Where was I? Oh, right,” she said with a slight nod. “They had usually kept their snide comments about us to themselves, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t hear them, you know? The final straw was what they had said earlier today.”

Naomi just shook her head, grabbing another tissue from the box and blowing her nose.

“You know, it’s one thing to comment on someone’s relationships like that, but when you start degrading the work they do just because they have something good coming their way, it just hurts.”

Marc could see the hurt in her expression as she twisted the tissue in her hands before she just dropped it onto her lap with a sigh. When she looked up at him, it was if she was suddenly the other one between the two of them. “Marc, there’s something we have to talk about. I’ve been avoiding the topic, but it’s a big part of what happened today.”

This was it. He could feel the same sense of foreboding that he had felt earlier that day broiling in his gut. “What is it?”

“The application I had mentioned that one time when I was headed into an interview with the director of the hospital?” She dropped her gaze, clasping her hands shut in her lap. “It was for a permanent position that Dr. Adamson was helping me apply for, with his recommendation, in return for taking over Ezra’s case. He had promised that it would be good for my career.”

A permanent position? Didn’t that usually mean a higher paying job for doctors and a specific hospital that would serve as a sort of headquarters in its own right? It wasn’t an executive position by any means, but she would be able to do what she loved without as much work. “This was the something good you were talking about, right?”

She nodded, but the solemn look on her face said that it wasn’t as good as they had originally thought. “I don’t think I can do this if I take it, Marc.” His heart clenched in his chest. Wait, what was she referring to? If it was a promotion within the hospital, then what was it that she referring to?

“Do what?”

“The position is on the other side of the country,” she said simply before she looked up at him, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes once again. “Marc, I can’t be with you if I take this. It would be too much.”

At that moment, it would have felt better if she had struck him in the chest with a bat. She was considering leaving? To the other side of the country, no less. As much as there was a chance where he could beg her to stay, there was no guarantee that there weren’t going to be more days like today, let alone any future regret that would arise.

Marc felt as if there was no true victory at the end of this situation, no matter what he said. If he told her to go, she would likely be able to progress in her career. Become the kind of doctor that performed surgical miracles like the one her mentor had done on his brother. She would be happier.

However, it would be without him and that option was unacceptable in his book right now.

“Naomi, we could make this work. I would happily to fly out to you every day if it were necessary. You know, money isn’t a problem.”

Her face at that next moment told him that that was the wrong thing to say as her expression transformed into something that he could only describe as frustration. Her eyes staring daggers into him for a few seconds before she turned them away with a huff.

“You say that and yet you and I are the only ones who know that money was never the problem when it came to us at all. It was always distance. Marc, I can’t do anymore distance. Not when it comes to a relationship.”

“What if I said I could move out there with you?” he tried to reason. “My company has other branches, so it wouldn’t matter which one I went to.” Marc knew how pathetic he was beginning to sound, but how else was he going to fix this? It was as if whatever he said only made things worse.

She let out a sigh, the emotion in her eyes turning to pity as she reached out and placed a hand on his cheek. Her skin was still cold, but it was better than earlier. Despite the temperature difference, he couldn’t find it in him to shy away from it. “Marc, listen to yourself. You and I both know that no matter how much we try to spin this, our schedules were the main thing that was always keeping the two of us apart. It was always a matter of timing.”

He raised a hand and placed it over hers. She was right. It was a matter of time.

There was always going to be no time for each other if they had tried to continue like this, whether she moved away or not, but at least she had a chance of a happier work environment if she moved away from that hospital.

“I don’t want to say goodbye to you, Naomi Bennett,” Marc said.