Road to Redemption (5 page)

On Monday morning Cori turned at the sound of her name being called as she watched the Scheduling Supervisor waddle toward her.  Clare Simmons was overweight with short legs and short arms, which were pumping rather fast while she made her way towards Cori in the parking garage.

“I’m so glad I saw you.” Clare’s eyes took in Cori from head to toe. “Well, I saw the yellow scrubs under your orange jacket and the matching bow and thought it was you,” she clarified.

“Anyway,”—Clare waved her hand—“I just got off the phone with Janice. It seems one of her children vomited on her while she was walking out the door and she can’t get a sitter on this short notice.  This is your last week in Urology, right?”

“Aw, poor Janice.  And yes, last week in Urology.”

“Perfect.  They are slow anyway so they can be down staff for a bit while I find a replacement. Janice was filling in for Ann while she cared for her mother, so I’m going to send you to the Orthopedic Department now. At least for the week, in case Janice is out longer than today. Then I won’t have to rearrange things for a third time. That should give her time.” She paused when Cori started bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sure.  Orthopedics. Great. Thanks. I’ll head there right now,” Cori said, turning to leave.

“OK, thanks. I’ll let Urology know,” Clare yelled, since Cori had disappeared around the corner in a mad rush.

***

Cori couldn’t believe her luck.  Maybe all that wishing on stars was finally paying off.  She dashed through the entrance doors and got her usual extra large coffee and jelly donut—which she ate on the way to the Orthopedic Department. 

Her excitement grew after she reported to the Office Manager to find out she was actually being assigned to Jack. Dr. Reynolds, she corrected herself.  As laid back as she was, she took her job very seriously. So that meant it was Dr. Reynolds in the office.

Unfortunately, Dr. Reynolds was in surgery for several hours this morning, so she wouldn’t see him until later on. For now she was going to be checking charts and organizing supplies that would be needed when he arrived.

A few hours later, walking with her third patient to the last empty exam room, Cori noticed Jack sitting at his desk reading a file. With a quick word, she settled the patient in the exam room and said she would return shortly.

She rushed back to Jack’s office. “Dr. Reynolds, your first two patients are ready for you. I’ve taken all their vitals, logged them into the computer and updated any changes in meds, along with any concerns they are having today.”

Jack slowly tore his eyes way from the computer. “Cori, right?” he asked, mildly confused. 

Cori didn’t get shocked often, but right now she was shocked to the core. When he looked up and she saw he had on glasses—black horn rims—she swore her heart leapt out of her chest.  Who knew glasses were so sexy? She didn’t think it was possible for him to get any sexier. But she was wrong.

“Yes, it’s Cori. Brooke’s friend. And Lucas’s and Ryan’s,” she added, her smile never fading.  She took a guess at his confusion. “Janice is out with a sick kid. I’ll be filling in for her for the rest of week. Maybe longer,” she added while she crossed her fingers behind her back.

“Oh, OK. Thanks. I’ll be out in a second,” he said slowly, then looked back at the computer.

“Great.”

***

What a stupid thing to say, asking her name, Jack thought, cursing himself. Of course he knew her name.  He couldn’t forget her name, any more than he could forget her smile. Or her body. Or that damn pink bikini.

He couldn’t believe his bad luck.  He had finally convinced himself that he could stay away from her. That he would try to wipe any thoughts of her out of his mind, and there she was, standing in his office, being assigned to him for the week. 

He had always had an abundance of willpower, and it looked like he was going to have to put it to the test. He could do it. He
had
to do it.  There was no choice. He wasn’t willing to get involved with anyone.

But…did she
skip
out of his doorway? He shook his head.  It seemed like everywhere he went lately he saw her. Or maybe it was more that he couldn’t help
not
seeing her with the way she dressed.  The first thing he saw when she stood in his office just now was a pair of yellow-colored scrubs. He had glanced up further and then squinted. She had monkeys and bananas dancing around on her top. Curious George? When his eyes moved to her face, she was smiling brightly, big green eyes dancing with laughter, a matching yellow headband in her red hair.

And she always laughed. If she wasn’t laughing, then she was smiling. 

Jack didn’t know what it was like to be that happy. Even in the happier times of his life he didn’t think he ever laughed or smiled as much as she did in an hour. 

Pushing the crazy thoughts from his head, he finished looking at the chart in front of him and then pulled up the next patient on his computer. He was pleased to see that Cori was completely thorough with his first patient.  If she were like this with all of his patients, then maybe he would actually be able to stay on schedule this week.

Jack was pleasantly surprised when at five o’clock on the dot he walked out of the exam room of his last patient for the day.  That hadn’t happened once since he started here. He was happy if he was done seeing patients within thirty minutes of their scheduled appointments. But finishing on time? Never. 

He noticed a few more exam room doors closed. More patients waiting for his colleagues, but he continued on to his office to finish up his notes.  He actually had time for a long run in the gym tonight.

Seated behind his desk, he heard the squeaking of rubber soled shoes but chose to ignore the common sound.  Just then bright yellow flashed out of the corner of his eye and then reappeared.

“Night. See you tomorrow.” Cori waved with a big smile, then disappeared from sight once again.

***

“You’re here earlier than I thought,” Brooke commented when Cori walked into the locker room. “I expected you later. Or not at all once I got your text saying you were in Orthopedics. I figured you would be stuck there for a bit.”  She bent over to tie her sneakers and continued, “Sorry I didn’t get to text you back, but I was in meetings all day.”

Ripping her scrubs off in a rush, then hopping up and down, trying to yank her bike shorts on, Cori said excitedly, “Can you believe it? I was so excited when Clare stopped me and said she was reassigning me. I’ve got the whole week with Jack.”

Shorts in place, Cori yanked her head though her pink top, twisted and turned to get her arms through, then turned and beamed at Brooke. “Did you know he wore glasses? Oh my God, Brooke, horn rims! Seriously, I thought I was going to start drooling right in his office doorway.”

With a roll of her eyes, Brooke stood up and watched Cori wiggling her feet into her already-tied sneakers. “No, I didn’t know he wore glasses. Or that you had a fetish for them.”

“Neither did I. But boy, what a fetish to have.” She giggled.  “I’ll never look at another pair of horn rims the same again.”

As they were walking out of the locker room Brooke reminded her, “Remember, I’m going straight home after work tomorrow. It’s Lucas’s birthday.”

“I remember,” Cori said with a pout. “You’ll be getting your workout after dinner. Or maybe before, and then after again.”

On cue the blush rose up Brooke’s neck. “I swear you say those things on purpose to see how fast I can blush.”

“Of course I do.”

They were positioned side by side on weight machines and had begun their reps when Brooke asked, “So how did it go? I know you are dying to tell me. I’m surprised that you waited this long to talk about your day with Jack.”

“Well, since you twisted my arm.” Cori grinned at Brooke’s eye roll. “You know if you keep doing that your eyes are going to start to do funky things on their own. Just saying,” she added when Brooke glared at her. “Anyway. It went well, pretty non-eventful to be honest.  We didn’t see much of each other. Only a few passes in the halls. Though I did stop in to say hi when he first got there.  That’s when I noticed the horn rims.”

“So how was he to work with?”

“Good. Very professional and cordial like you said. At least with his patients.  But the rest of the time he was the same as he was any other time I’ve seen him—quiet. Though,” Cori added more thoughtfully, “when he did answer me, if I had a question, he didn’t seem to stumble over his words.  He actually carried on a conversation, of sorts.”

“Oh,” Cori added a minute later. “I think I confuse him.”

“You think?” Brooke answered dryly.

“Ha, ha. No, seriously. I was hungry, and in between patients. So I was off to the side munching on M&M’s and he walked by and saw me. He stopped for a second to stare, so I offered him some. He mumbled no thanks and moved on.”

“He probably thought it was odd you were standing in a corner eating candy like a child hiding so you wouldn’t be caught.” Cori had a fondness for snacking during the day.  And she didn’t like to share, so she would often find a quiet place where she could scarf down her sugar without anyone seeing her.  That she was willing to share with Jack shouldn’t have surprised Brooke, but it did concern her.

***

During the commercial break of
Top Gear
, Jack went to the kitchen for a snack.  He was doubtful he would find much since he hardly kept any food in the house. Not only did he not know how to cook anything that didn’t go on a grill, but he wasn’t home enough to even worry about it.  He bought most of his meals at work or picked them up on his way home. 

Looking at the nearly bare cabinets and drawers, he discovered he was going to have to suck it up and make a trip to the grocery store soon.  On his second round of opening all the cabinets, he realized he had a sudden craving for chocolate and knew there was absolutely none in his house.

On Wednesday morning Cori rushed out the door earlier than normal.  She always woke at the last minute and hit the snooze button on the alarm clock exactly three times each morning. She knew how much time she needed to get ready. Then she would rush out the door each day, cursing and swearing, but always made it with plenty of time to spare.  Mainly because she always factored in time to grab her usual breakfast at the donut shop before her shift started. 

Today was the exception. When her alarm clock went off the first time she jumped out of bed and rushed around as if she had hit the snooze three times.  Now she was at work twenty minutes earlier than her scheduled shift and running down the hallway. She skidded to a halt in the doorway, grabbing the doorframe to stop her from propelling forward on her face.

“Oh my God,” she squealed. Dashing forward, she pulled Brooke’s seated form out of her desk chair and wrapped her tiny arms around her waist, her chin bumping on Brooke’s shoulder blade. 

Brooke tried to steady herself, which was hard with Cori holding on to her for dear life as she bounced up and down. “I figured you would be here early.  Geez, Cori, let go. You’re going to take us both to the ground,” she said laughing.

“Oh, sorry.” Cori giggled and immediately let go.  Then she grabbed Brooke’s left hand. “Let me see it.” The brilliant two-carat solitaire diamond set in a thick platinum band sparkled bright. Simple, classic and stunning, exactly Brooke’s style.  “That is gorgeous,” she said in awe.

“I know,” Brooke replied getting all choked up.

Cori was shocked to see the tears glinting in Brooke’s eyes. Brooke, who never showed much emotion and who was always calm, cool and composed, now stood in front of Cori with tears in her eyes. Tears of joy.  Lucas really had been good for her.

“I’m so happy for you,” Cori said, her own tears forming.  Thankfully Brooke’s phone rang, or the two of them would have had a big weep fest right there in her office.

“Sorry,” Brooke said, glancing over at the name that came across her phone. “I need to take this.”

“No problem. I think I have enough time for one more stop if I run.”

“Is he in?” Cori asked Rhonda, Lucas’s executive assistant, stopping in front of the desk three minutes later.

Rhonda glanced up from her computer where she was concentrating on the document she was typing.  She tilted her head down to peer over her glasses at the baby blue snowflakes dancing on the top half of the Cori’s scrubs.  Baby blue pants on the bottom and a snowflake perched on a headband completed the look. Cori thought she looked cute today, but it seemed Rhonda didn’t like it. “Excuse me?”

“Lucas,” Cori clarified. “Is he in?”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Ah, no.” Cori was trying not to show her impatience, but she really needed to see Lucas and she was afraid she was going to be late if she spent any more time standing outside of his office. “Do I need one?”

“Rhonda,” Lucas said, appearing in his doorway after hearing Cori’s voice. “It’s fine. Cori’s a friend.”

Rhonda raised her eyebrows, shrugged and went back to typing. 

Lucas let out a grunt when Cori slammed into him with a fierce hug. “I see you heard,” he stated, laughing.

Cori was running again.  She
really
didn’t want to be late.  The snowflake on her head waved in the wind as she carefully weaved in and out of people in the hall. Through the office door, around the corner she dashed, and ran smack dab into the solid wall of a man.

The second grunt she caused a man that morning. “Whoa there. What’s the rush?” Jack asked, wrapping his large hands around Cori’s upper arms to stop her from falling after she literally bounced off his chest.

She froze and looked up into his deep brown eyes, which were looking down at her in confusion.  Her breath was labored from the short run, her chest rising and falling as all thoughts ran out of her mind. For once in her life, she didn’t speak a word, only heard the rushing in her ears.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked in concern.

“What?” Cori finally tore her eyes away and shook her head. “Oh, did you hear the news?” she asked, suddenly remembering why she was rushing.

She was so excited again that she started to bounce up and down. Only she didn’t get very far.  That was when Jack seemed to realize he was still holding her upper arms.

He dropped his hands as if they had been burned. “No,” he replied simply.

Cori smiled brightly, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Jack was staring at her concerned and confused. She was happy, but he didn’t seem to get it.

“Are you OK?” he asked again. “Why are you crying?”

“These are happy tears.” Geez, how could he not know that?  “Lucas and Brooke got engaged last night,” she said, grabbing his hands in her own and bouncing excitedly on her toes, the snowflake on her head swishing around.

“That’s nice.”  

“Aren’t you happy for them?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

“Sure.”

She giggled when she saw him frowning at the snowflake on her head. “Well, you don’t look like you’re happy about it,” she said, dropping her hands and placing them on her hips.

“How does happy look?”

“Well,” she said, exasperated. “Normally people smile when they are happy.”

His lips twitched. “Is that right?”

“Yes, it is.” Then she smiled bright to prove it. “See. Smile.” She pointed to her own grin. “Happy.”

He raised one eyebrow. She saw his lips twitch again but never completely lift up.  “I’ll remember that next time,” he said.

“Dr. Reynolds.” His name was paged. “Call on line two.”

“Excuse me,” he said, walking past her toward his office.

Cori stood there a moment and shook her hands out. “I can still feel the tingling where he touched me,” she whispered to herself with a smile. “Wow, he sure has special hands.” She did a little shoulder wiggle and rushed to her station.  Heartburn my butt.  That was a five-alarm fire.

***

Saturday morning was one of the two days a week Cori indulged by sleeping late.  She rolled over and saw that the clock read noontime.  After hearing the wind hollowing out of her bedroom window, she wanted to snuggle deeper under the covers and lie there all day. 

All of a sudden she remembered Brooke’s party later that night and threw the covers back in a flash, then swung her rainbow-sock-covered feet to the floor. 

Grabbing her robe, she dashed into the bathroom and turned the hot water on full blast, letting the steam warm the room up.  Her feet were ice cold even through her socks. 

She loved her little apartment, but it was cold in the winter. Being on the ground floor of the remodeled old Colonial had its perks. Unfortunately, it was drafty and most of her heat rose to the upper level apartments.

Not that she would move for anything.  The four-room apartment was perfect for her. It had a living room, an eat-in kitchen that never got used, her bedroom and a bathroom. All she really needed.

She undressed quickly, stepped under the hot spray, and thought back to the week in Jack’s office.  She was bummed, but she knew all along that yesterday was going to be her last day.  She thought Jack had been warming up to her. He even smiled not once but twice, which was definitely an improvement.  Too bad he never seemed to be able to talk to her unless it involved a patient. And she tried, she really did.

But he was so serious all the time, hardly ever said more than two or three words at a time to anyone other than his patients.  He was always polite, but he didn’t have much to say to her or any of the staff.  She
always
had something to say. 

When she first told him about Brooke and Lucas’s engagement she almost,
almost
got a smile out of him. In that moment his eyes had lightened up a bit, and his lips started to twitch. She really felt if he hadn’t been paged she could have gotten a full smile out of him. So it had become her mission to get him to smile at least once before her week was done.

She almost didn’t make it, either. But somehow she lucked out and got a whole whopping two smiles out of him. Well, one was a grin, but she was counting that as a smile.  Even if she didn’t actually mean to make him grin, he still did it when he was watching her. So she would count it.

Yesterday morning—her last day—she had been in the supply closet restocking while she sang Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” silently in her head.  She didn’t even notice Jack’s approach. The door was slightly ajar and she was swinging her hips to the music in her head while munching on her morning bag of M&M’s.  She caught a movement out of her eye, causing her to jump in the air, throw her arm across her chest and, in the process, send the open bag of M&M’s she was holding all over the floor.  “Hey, you made me spill half my snack,” she accused him with her hands on her hips.

“Sorry,” he grinned ruefully.  “But at least you’re happy.”

“What does that mean?”

“The song. The one you were just singing now,” he replied, then leaned in past her, grabbed some bandages off the shelf and walked back out.

She’d thought she was singing in her head, but obviously not.  But that grin, the one she wasn’t even trying for, when it came, ended up being a shock to her system. And what a shock it was. His face softened, his eyes crinkled a bit, and to her surprise he had dimples. Who would have known? And of course, at the sight of those dimples, the pounding started in her chest, followed quickly by the heat.

The actual smile came when she was in with her last patient before her lunch break. Mrs. Gutler, a feisty grandmother of ten. Cori knew that because she had asked. Seemed Mrs. Gutler liked to come in and dictate what she wanted done, when she wanted it done, and demanded that Dr. Reynolds fix the nagging pain in her hip.

After looking at her chart, Cori could see that Mrs. Gutler had already had hip replacement surgery. She seemed to be recovering well but ended up in the office several times a month.  Cori started to sense that Mrs. Gutler was lonely. 

They were going through her vitals with Cori asking general questions, but also answering all of Mrs. Gutler’s prying questions. How old was she? Was she single? Did she have any grandparents? Did she visit her grandparents? If so, how often? Everything started to add up, so Cori let Mrs. Gutler continue to ask questions while she happily answered each and every one of them.

In Cori’s eyes there was no harm done. Mrs. Gutler was a lonely person who wanted some company.  Going to the doctor’s seemed to be the only way to get any of her grandchildren to come visit her since she couldn’t drive herself.

“You wait, Cori,” Mrs. Gutler said. “I’m going to show my grandkids how we danced in our day, once my hip is completely healed.  All they do now is stand in place and swivel their hips rubbing up against each other like cats in heat.  That’s not dancing. That is like sex on your feet.”

Cori couldn’t have been more shocked to hear that come out of Mrs. Gutler’s mouth. She threw her head back and laughed hysterically.  An image of little old Mrs. Gutler with her new hip, dancing on the floor like she described popped into Cori’s head. Enough for her to wrap an arm around her own waist and laugh until she couldn’t catch her breath. 

Mrs. Gutler joined right in with the laughing. And that was when Jack walked in.  His startled look caused her to bend over and laugh even harder.  He must of have thought she was nuts, but she didn’t care. Because for that one moment, he looked at her and he smiled.

And the heat traveled from her chest right to her face. She was pretty sure he noticed, because almost immediately his smile disappeared. But she was confident now that he did know how to smile. Maybe, just maybe there was a chance he did want to be happy.  He only needed help getting there.  And she was the person to help him with it.