The Fine Line Book One Between Worlds Series (2 page)

“
I think so. But, as you
can tell, third base got the best of me tonight,” she continued
gesturing toward her ankle.

He laughed. “You should probably be a little
more careful next time.”

Once safely delivered to the radiology
department, Robin expected Dr. Gregory to leave, but he didn’t. In
fact, he stayed with her. She thought the situation strange, but
she didn’t mind his company. The sound of his voice reassured
her.

As they talked, they found that they shared
many things in common. The conversation with Dr. Gregory was
informative.

Robin had been trained to be observant and
detail-oriented. As an investigator, she had been taught to mind
her surroundings and listen to what people said as well as what was
unsaid. One of the first things she noticed was the absence of a
wedding band on Dr. Gregory’s finger. There wasn’t even evidence
that one may have been there. Because he was so charming and good
looking, she felt he must have a girlfriend. Oddly, he didn’t
mention one.

He seemed confident, but not arrogant. Robin
found him to be personable and kind, in fact. This surprised her
based on her past experience with doctors. But, in spite of how
great he seemed, Robin’s natural instinct to be suspicious of
everyone plagued her. Still, it wasn’t common practice for a doctor
to do a nurse’s job.

After the X-ray, he wheeled her back to her
cubical and then carefully helped Robin back onto the gurney. He
left, pulling the curtain closed behind him. Strolling to the
nurse’s station, he saw a close friend and colleague, Avery
Walters, signing a chart.

“
That didn’t take long,”
Avery said.

“
X-ray wasn’t that busy.”
He paused in thought for a brief moment.

“
So is it unethical for me
to ask her out?”

With a confident head shake, Avery eyed
Matt. “I don’t think so.” He shrugged. “What are the chances you’ll
see her in here again? It’s not like she’s going to be a consistent
patient. But I have to ask, why this girl? Why not the last two?
”

He shrugged. “I can’t really explain it.
She’s very likeable. There’s just something different about
her.”

“
So you don’t think it has
anything to do with sex? Or should I say, the lack thereof for you
lately?”

“
Seriously, Avery, you
know me. I’m not like that.” He paused looking over at her drawn
curtain. “What if she thinks I’m some crazy stalker or something
though?”

“
She probably will,” he
laughed continuing to write in a chart.

“
Thanks a lot,” he replied
as he rolled his eyes.

“
Oh come on Matt,” he
continued, “the worst she can say is ‘no.’”

“
But I just met her. Won’t
she think that’s weird?”

“
Probably,” Avery joked
again.

Matt rolled his eyes again and looked over
the next patient’s chart still pondering possibilities.

“
How long has it been
since you actually asked someone out on a date, Matt?” Avery asked
curiously.

He shrugged and thought hard. “I can’t even
remember the last time.”

“
And when was the last
time you had sex with anyone other than yourself?” Avery asked
smartly.

Matt glared at him, shook his head, and kept
writing.

Robin rested on the gurney looking up at the
ceiling. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind; all thoughts
of Dr. Gregory. His smile, his eyes; she felt her face warm.

“
So what did he say?”
Wendy asked.

Robin, startled by Wendy’s voice, collected
herself quickly and then smiled. “We just talked.”

“
Honey, have you not
noticed how beautiful that man is? If you haven’t then they need to
check your pulse because you might just be dead.”

“
He is cute isn’t
he?”

“
Cute is an understatement
girl.”

Interrupted by the sliding curtain, both
glanced over so see Matt standing there. Robin hoped their
conversation wasn’t overheard. As he walked in with a black x-ray
film, he grinned at Robin and, once again, their eyes locked. He
stuck the film on the light board.

“
Just as I suspected, your
ankle is twisted. Your blood work is perfect,” he said pointing at
the image. “No fractures. I suggest you stay off the ankle for a
day and take some pain reliever. Keep it iced and elevated tomorrow
and you should be okay by Thursday for sure. You should be running
the bases by next week. Drink lots of fluids, too. That helps with
the swelling.”

Relief swept over her. “Good. No breaks. I
can’t afford to be off work very long.”

“
I want you to take
tomorrow off, but after that you need to decide whether the pain is
tolerable. If it still hurts, don’t go to work. Please. It’s better
if you let yourself heal. Work will wait.”

“
Can you write me off, Dr.
Gregory?”

“
That’s no problem. In
fact, I’ll probably write you off for the rest of the week. And
please, call me Matt.”

She smiled. “Matt.” The words fell from her
lips quite naturally.

“
I’m going to wrap your
ankle in a bandage just to be on the safe side. The less you can
move it, the better off you’ll be. You can take this off when
you’re sitting, but when you’re up moving around or sleeping, keep
it wrapped and put very little weight on it.”

Robin watched him walk to drawer and pull
out an ace bandage and walk back to the gurney. He put the bandage
on the gurney and then walked to a nearby closet where he pulled
out a pair of crutches, propping them against the wall. “These are
going to be your best friends for the next week.”

She frowned.

He walked to the end of the gurney and
started wrapping her foot with the bandage, his touch tender and
careful. He smiled a lot as they made small talk.

Wendy walked out to respect their
privacy.

He grinned sweetly as he helped Robin stand
with the crutches.

“
Thanks, doctor… I mean,
Matt.”

He smirked. “Listen, you’ll probably think
I’m crazy or something, but I was wondering if maybe sometime you’d
like to go out for coffee or something.”

“
I don’t drink coffee.”
Robin said with a vague smile.

“
Oh.” His eyes dropped as
the rejection registered.

“
But, I could handle a
meal sometime,” she said invitingly.

****

Robin met Matt for breakfast after his grave
yard shift on Saturday. The café near the hospital made for a
convenient meeting spot and Robin preferred a public venue. It took
the pressure off. By accepting his invitation, she trusted her
instincts with high hopes. He seemed like an alright guy. Still,
she had been hurt so badly in the past she proceeded with
caution.

When Robin pushed open the door to the café,
her eyes searched for Matt. The place, busy with customers, seemed
like a living organism with the clattering dishes and the hum of
voices. In the back, she spotted Matt sitting in a booth stirring a
cup of coffee. He waved and stood as she walked toward him.

Her heart pounded as her anxiety heightened,
but she remained outwardly calm. She wondered if she looked pretty
enough or seemed poised enough. Her insecurities wrapped around her
body like chains. But, once again, his smile put her at ease.

Her light colored jeans, red graphic
t-shirt, flip-flops, and her hair in a messy bun conveyed her true
identity. No frills. Average height with a slender build, Robin,
nonetheless, always attracted the attention of the opposite sex no
matter what she wore.

She slid into the seat across from Matt and
their eyes met. A glass of water already waited for her.

“
I take it the ankle is
better. No crutches,” he said.

“
No crutches. I’m still
using the bandage though.”

She picked up the glass of water and took a
drink. After sitting it back on the table, she made eye contact
with Matt again.

“
Rough night?” she asked
thoughtfully. He looked weary, but she also saw the spark of
anticipation.

“
Na. Nothing I’m not used
to.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Robin,” he started, “I’m sorry
if I seemed like such a freak the other night. I don’t normally ask
people out that I’ve just met.”

She smiled, not believing a word he
said.

“
There is just something
about you,” he continued. “I can’t explain it.”

“
Uh huh,” she chuckled and
shook her head slightly.

“
No, seriously, you think
it’s a line, but it’s not.”

“
Really?” Robin
sighed.

Even as he nodded sincerely, she still
wasn’t convinced. She had learned the hard way what type of men to
avoid.

“
Oh come on,” she said
cynically, “You’re a doctor. All doctors seem to have a ‘God
complex’ and most think very highly of themselves.”

“
Now,” he began, “give me
some credit. You need to give me a chance before you
start…”

“
Judging you,” she
finished for him.

“
Well, yeah.” His smile
never disappeared.

“
So, tell me who
you
are… really,” she began. “I know we talked a little bit
the other night, but how much can you really learn from being
around someone for a few hours?”

He cleared his throat and sat up straight as
if she were interviewing him. He folded his hands around his cup of
coffee and started.

“
I’m 36. I went to The
Ohio State University School of medicine. I got married too young
and then got divorced much later than I should have; I guess that’s
because I’m too tolerant. I have a 6 year old daughter who comes to
see me every other weekend and throughout the summer. I haven’t
dated much since my divorce because after my ex-wife and I split
up, I started thinking that perhaps all women are evil.”

He laughed. To acknowledge his attempts to
lighten the mood, she laughed with him.

“
I really don’t like
working nights, but it’s hard to image myself working on any other
shift. I’ve been on that shift since med school. But, I suppose the
upside is that most of the good stuff happens at night. After all,
that’s how we met, right? If I wasn’t assigned to the night shift,
this opportunity could have sailed on by.” He smiled
sincerely.

“
I have an older brother,”
he continued, “and my dad died of cancer two years ago. My mom is
still living and loves to visit me unannounced during the day when
I’m trying to sleep.” Again, they laughed.

“
My brother and I are very
close, but we didn’t used to be.”

She watched him take another sip of his
coffee.

“
When my dad died, my
brother and his wife moved to Middletown to be closer to my mom. It
took my dad dying for my brother and I to realize how much our mom
needed us and how dumb we’d been, so we put our stupidity aside and
realized how futile the rivalry had been.

“
I live in an apartment
here in Oxford. I can walk to work, which I like, because my truck
is a gas hog. Ultimately, I want to move to the country
someday.”

“
You don’t seem like much
of a country boy,” she interjected.

“
Well you just met me and
you act like you know me or something,” he joked.

Robin felt the blood rush to her cheeks and
she covered her embarrassment with laughter.

“
Seriously,” he continued,
“I want to be where it’s quiet. I was raised in the city. I need a
change of scenery. My dad owned a construction company and he
taught me everything, so I could probably build a house with my
bare hands if I wanted to.”

“
Impressive,” she said
with a nod.

“
Well, I mean, I’d need
some help of course,” he added.

After another sip of coffee, he
continued.

“
I love rock-n-roll,
American history, and my daughter is the most important woman in my
life. I couldn’t ask for a better kid.”

“
That’s a good summation
Dr. Gregory,” she said with a grin.

“
Okay, now it’s your
turn.”

He lifted the coffee cup back up to his
perfectly shaped lips. Robin watched as the whiskers of his goatee
touched the sides.

She took in a deep breath and then
sighed.

“
I’m 26. I was born in
May, thus the reason for my middle name. I graduated from the
University of Dayton in 1998. I was enrolled in an accelerated
program in high school, which allowed me to get most of my general
credits out of the way before I even officially started to
undergrad. I went straight through the summers so I graduated with
my bachelors in two years and then I decided to enroll at Wright
State’s social work master’s program. I interned at Miami Valley
Hospital and that really prepared me for my LISW.”

“
Wait… what’s that? An
LISW,” Matt interrupted.

“
Oh, it’s an independent
license for social work,” she explained.

He still looked puzzled.

“
It means that I can do
counseling, work in hospitals, work in nursing homes, or do what
I’m doing right now, which is child welfare work.”

“
Oh, okay. How did you get
into children services work?”

“
I sort of fell into it
really. I was an ongoing case manager for a couple of years and
then a promotion came up for the intake department.”