Make Time For Me

The residents nodded again, and they were immediately put to work. Olivia was left to work at the outpatient clinic under the keen eye of the general surgeon, Dr. Homer Benedict. She soon found that the town had its own rhythm and pace. People with chronic conditions came to the outpatient clinic and were treated, and the doctors put the patients’ welfare above the fine print, as she discovered when she tried to untangle a woman’s arthritis prescriptions.

“I think…”

“Never mind about that, Olivia. We have a system here. I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly enough. Roberta is our administrator and she has her own specialization – not billing patients high enough to get them in debt. You just get the information and pass it on, and Roberta will handle it.”

Olivia blinked.

“Oh.”

“Shocked?”

“A little, but pleasantly.”

Dr. Benedict chuckled.

“We’re in the business of saving lives, Olivia. Or at least, that’s what we tell ourselves when we’re feeling a little too grand. We’re really in the business of making lives as comfortable as possible. How can we heal the body when the mind is worried about keeping body and soul together? Don’t worry about it.”

Olivia grinned at Dr. Benedict, deciding that she was going to like this place after all.

“I won’t.”

“Good. Well then, there are four patients left out there. They’re yours.”

“Mine?”

“Why not? You can handle them, can’t you?”

Olivia nodded eagerly. Of course she could handle them, and she did, putting on her most charming and comfortable face as she let them talk, listened to their symptoms and their worries, tried to make them as easy in their minds as possible. She hesitated for only a moment before ordering tests for one of them. When Dr. Benedict bestowed a benevolent smile on her, she knew she’d made the right call.

“Good work, Dr. Leggett. This is your first day?”

Olivia nodded.

“Excellent. Well, barring any disasters, you should be able to leave after your shift, go home and freshen up. We’re not as busy as most city hospitals, so your shifts won’t kill you. But it won’t be easy, either.”

Olivia nodded again.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I’m sure that will be enough.”

Olivia did manage to get through her shift, met the famous Roberta and got her paperwork, and was about ready to leave after eight hours. She’d been at her new hospital for eight hours, and she would get to leave. That was astounding. She’d expected far more grueling shifts.

“Don’t get your hopes up. I hear that tourist season starts next week and we’re going to be running ragged then. I hear 24-hour shifts are not unheard of.”

“That’s dangerous.”

Olivia turned to him – Jason South worth, she reminded herself. Up close, he seemed very tall, but then anybody over 5’6” seemed like a giant to Olivia. She had her pride and her vanity, but it wasn’t suicidal enough to make her wear heels to work. Jason was probably at least a few inches over that. She put him at about, say, 5’10” – about one and a half Subway sandwiches taller than she was.

“That’s what caffeine is for. And if not caffeine…”

Olivia drew herself up to her full height immediately.

“Dr. South worth, if you are suggesting that…”

He laughed, and despite herself, she felt her annoyance and her stiffness recede.

“I’m not. You haven’t had a chance to get to know the place, have you? Did you bring a car?”

“I… Actually I drove up this morning and came straight in. I got held up and then I missed the ferry, so I didn’t get to go to the accommodation and set up at all.”

“Well then, you’re in luck! I can show you the way.”

Olivia frowned.

“I have directions.”

“You’re staying with Ellie, aren’t you? You’re just ten minutes away from the hospital if you know the shortcut. I helped Ellie move in.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I… If it won’t take you out of your way.”

“It will, so you can thank me by getting me something cold to drink, and then I’ll be on my way home. Unless you feel up to going out for dinner with me?”

He said that so casually that she almost said yes. He said it the way somebody would ask if you could grab a brew for them while you’re already at the fridge. It took her a second to cotton on.

“Excuse me, but are you asking me out?”

“You knock my faith in my own ways if you can’t even tell. I should get better. Yes, I am. Do you have a boyfriend? A partner? “

Olivia shook her head.

“Look, thank you, but I’m not looking to get involved with anybody. I’m here to get my residency done and get my specialization started, not to find a guy.”

“Sure, that’s a very smart and sensible way to go about it. But since you’ve already found a guy, and you do have to eat…”

Olivia shook her head again, more firmly.

“Thank you, but that’s a no.”

“All right, then! No dinner tonight. I’ll still show you the shortcut and you can give me one of those nice sparkling juices that Ellie keeps in the fridge. I got here early. You have a really nice place, you and Ellie – apparently, Roberta the Admirable keeps that cottage on tap for the hospital. I didn’t know that or I might have tried to get it myself.”

“You snooze you lose, I suppose.”

“I guess so. Angela, Paul, and I decided to go for apartments. It’s more convenient, the apartments have cleaning services.”

“So you’re all living in the same building?”

“Goodness, no. We’re all within driving distance, but we’re spread out a bit. It’s only you and Ellie living together.”

“Oh.”

“Why, don’t you get along with roommates?”

Olivia didn’t quite know when she fell into step beside him. She didn’t have to trot to keep up. Even with her ways, keeping up with Jason’s long legs should have been difficult, but he didn’t hurry. In fact, he didn’t seem like he hurried anything.

“Sure I do.”

“When was the last time you had a roommate?”

Olivia crinkled her nose up at him.

“Two years ago, if you must know. I shared an apartment with my friend until she decided to move away.”

“Move away?”

“She’s a florist. She’s the most amazing florist in the whole world. She got the chance to work with this person who is, I guess, a really great artist, who wanted to do a project with flowers and things that could be made to look like flowers and things that definitely did not look like flowers, and… Well, that sounds like everything now, doesn’t it? It makes a lot more sense the way Cara explains it. Anyway, it turned into an apprenticeship and now Cara is a real artist. She has a regular shop and she does all the regular stuff, too, but she also does these shows that are really incredible.”