He stared at her, mouth slightly agape.
"Sir?" She tilted her head, using her grip on the cello in her hand to maneuver her body. "Are you alright?"
"It's… it's just xerosis."
"I'm sorry?"
"Xerosis." He cleared his throat, "Temporary, in this case. It evidences as an abnormal dryness."
"Like your mouth, just now?"
"Just like that."
"And what causes it?"
"Nervousness, sometimes. It can be medically related."
Her face brightened and he could swear he died in that moment and journeyed to the realm of angels. "I hope it's not a serious medical issue."
"In this case it's just nerves."
She smiled, "Are you nervous?"
"Very."
"No need for that." She moved her bow to her left hand to hold with the neck of her cello while extending her right. "I'm Anna Smith, visiting musician."
"John Bates, not-so-happily-visiting cardiologist."
"You look happy to me."
"Because I saw you." He coughed, "I'm sorry, that was forward and probably awkward for you. Forgive me."
"Why?" She tried to suppress her grin, "I rather enjoyed it."
"You did?"
"Of course." Anna tipped her head toward the room, "Best not miss this one. She likes when I play."
"She's heard you before?"
"Rosie?" Anna smiled, "She's my biggest fan. Tells me so every time I visit."
"And how often is that?"
"Why?"
"If I want to run into you again I'd like to know how I could do it without seeming like I'm following you."
"I don't know if I'd mind that." She moved toward the door, "Every Thursday from three to five."
"I'll remember."
"I should hope so." She ducked into the room and John heard an excited squeal from the little girl inside. "Are you ready for some music?"
"Yes!" The distinctive hiss on the 's' left no doubt as the sincerity of the girl.
As tempted as John was to stay and hear what she sounded like, though if he had to guess he would hazard she could compete with the angels in Heaven, the beeping at his belt urged him to make his way elsewhere. He could not keep the grin from his face as he returned the nurse's station, setting the clipboard he almost forget he held on the counter there before filing through patient charts. A dark-haired girl behind the desk, checking something off on a clipboard of her own, stopped.
"You're awfully cheerful today Doctor Bates."
"Aren't I usually?"
"No," She shook her head, "You tend toward the dour and sour not the bright and light."
"Well today I'm bright and light." John paused, "And why shouldn't I be Sybil? It's a beautiful day outside and we're alive."
"Usually you look a bit down after a trip around the children's wing." Sybil held her clipboard close to her chest, "I like the smile though. It suits your features."
"Does it?"
"Lets your eyes crinkle a bit so people think your wrinkles are smile lines and not age taking its toll on you."
"Back to work Nurse Crawley."
She smiled to herself, taking her clipboard and a few other things to a cart before pushing away.
John turned back to the files, ordering them in his hands before turning down another hallway. A woman came out of a room holding a box of personal effects and they both stopped, facing one another in the hallway. She fiddled with her things and John tried to look anywhere but at her.
"Good morning John."
"Vera." He kept his reply short, biting it on her tongue to stop from saying anything rude. "I hope you signed those papers."
"They're in your solicitor's hands by now. I had mine deliver them this morning." She adjusted the box in her arms. "I think they'll call you when it's all done and dusted."
"Vera…" John raised a hand, clenching it into a fist before dropping it. "I'm not here to go ten rounds with you."
"Good because I've got a taxi outside and I need to get to it before he charges me more than I can afford."
John sighed, "I-"
"Please spare me the apologies or the moans about how you wish it could all be different." Vera shook her head, "I've not got time for your bullshit. The papers are signed, they'll be filed by the end of the day, and we'll be rid of each other by the end of the month. It's what you wanted."
"I wanted us to work it out."
"No you didn't, not after you knew."
"About which part, Vera? Richard or the contraception?" John closed his eyes, shaking his head. "This is stupid. We'll just run the same circle over and over again."
"Then I'll leave, before we make another scene in this hospital." Vera passed him, pausing for a moment. "It wasn't always bad, John. I hope you remember that."
"I do." John sighed, "It's what hurts the worst. If it'd all been bad then I wouldn't ache."
"I guess that's what they say love is. Pain you allow someone else to cause you." Vera moved the box and raised a hand as if she might touch his shoulder but stopped herself. "Take care of yourself John. Whatever that means to you now, take care of yourself."
"You too Vera."
John watched her leave down the hallway before noting the first name on the files. He sighed, working out the room number, and walked away. The rooms offered him an escape and at each one he put on a smile before opening the door to greet the children inside.
"My name's Dr. John and I'll be helping you get better."
He finished his rounds, noting something with a pen in the folder, and only looked up in time to avoid colliding with a cello. John held out a hand, to stop it falling to floor, and felt something smooth under his fingers. Looking up he knew the rush in his cheeks was the blush as Anna smiled at him.
"We meet again Mr. Bates." The sparkle in her eyes left him impossibly captivated. "I guess you couldn't wait until next Thursday then?"
"I-" He stuttered, pointing aimlessly at the corridor behind him. "I wasn't paying any attention at all and I'm sorry I almost broke your instrument."
"As much as I agree that would be a real shame," Anna adjusted it in her hands, taking a better grip. "I think it'd actually be a boon for me."
"Why's that?"
"You'd have to find some means of compensation and then I'd have to hem and haw about it for all of two seconds before telling you that the best repayment would be dinner." Anna shrugged, "I guess we can't get everything we want though, can we?"
John blinked, "Dinner?"
"I'm free this evening, since you were kind enough to ask." Anna waited a moment, "I've a few places in mind if you're struggling to think of ideas."
"I am, actually." John managed a nervous laugh, "I've got to be honest, I haven't been on a date in a long time."
"Really? Attractive man like yourself's not been out on the town?" Anna snorted, "I find that hard to believe."
"You shouldn't." John rubbed at his left hand and noticed her eyes flick there.
"How recently?"
"Papers filed today." John shook his head, "I'm sorry, that's not what you wanted to hear and-"
"Mr. Bates," She paused, "Or Doctor Bates, I guess, I'd like you to take one moment and stop tripping over yourself in a hurry to worry about what I want to hear and please just say what you want to say."
John swallowed and extended his hand. "I'm John Bates, the cardiologist for the children's ward."
She grinned, giving him her hand. "Anna Smith, first chair cellist with the London Metropolian Symphony."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Smith."
"And you, Doctor Bates."
He took his hand back, slipping his fingers along hers for as long as he could justify the action and then some. "Would you find it too forward if I asked you to dinner?"
"I'm feeling a bit peckish actually, so no, I wouldn't mind."
"Give me twenty minutes to finish up some paperwork and I could drive us somewhere."
"I think I'd rather meet you somewhere." Anna cocked her head toward her cello. "It'd be a bit of a third-wheel to bring Vincenzo on our date."
"Vincenzo?"
"It's made from an Italian wood and plays the loveliest music." Anna lowered her voice to a whisper, "He gets very jealous."
"Ah," John nodded, "Yes, best let him be to himself then."
"I'll meet you at the Italian bistro over by the Symphony. Unless," Anna bit her lip, "Unless you had something else in mind."
"Italian sounds perfect." John nodded at the cello, "As long as Vincenzo doesn't mind."
"He'd recommend it." Anna hefted the cello, "So I'll see you there in twenty minutes?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Good."
John thought his heart might beat out of his chest with the speed it thundered blood through his body. But he pulled his arm up to check his watch and then dashed to his office. Twenty minutes and he would be at that restaurant.