They had both moved on with their lives. She had settled into suburban life with the SUV, two kids, a dog, cat, husband and career. He had married, had a family and bought the house with the white picket fence. They HAD moved on with their lives.
She had lived her dream. She graduated medical school, married the 'perfect' guy and watched her brother marry , have children and become an aunt. So what was missing?
He had built his dojo, married a beautiful blonde that made other men drool and became a father. So what was missing?
She was alone. Her husband taken away by a bullet fired from the gun of a felon who didn't want to go back to jail. The bullet had hit his leg, severing the femoral artery. He had bled to death before help could arrive. His blood had spilled on the sidewalk, filling the cracks and staining the concrete.
He was alone. His beautiful, blonde, carefree wife had been killed by a drunk driver. A simple drive to the store had ended her life. Everyday since the accident he kicked himself for not going instead, for not insisting that he felt well enough to get his own medicine. He was told that was crazy talk, but he still thought it.
She went through the motions. Dropping the kids off with their grandparents; the absence of their father stronger during those times. She threw herself into her medical practice, determined to become a success; to not let HIM down.
It was a normal day, like most in southern California. It was warm and sunny. It was the perfect day for a trip to the park. She longed to take her kids to the park, but her duty was to now provide support for her children and be both parents to them. She pulled the first chart off the stack of patients. This was a new patient.
She read the file. The little girl was the only child of her parent's marriage, however her mother had been killed in a car accident a year before. The girl was nearly 4. She felt for this father. Knowing what she did about raising a family single-handily and she knew the loss the girl was experiencing because her son and daughter felt it everyday.
She read the chart some more before exiting her office to start seeing patients. Her new patient wasn't due into the office until after lunch, so her morning was busy seeing sick kids and filing out school physicals.
At 1:30 her nurse told her the afternoon patients were starting to arrive. She closed the file she was looking at and grabbed her lab coat. She didn't know why she wore it. Probably because her husband had purchased it for her when she graduated medical school.
She opened the door to the room, only the be stunned by a face from her past.
"I didn't realize this was your daughter. I should have realized with the last name," she said to the gentleman.
"I didn't realize you would be her pediatrician," he said.
"Guess it's been a while," she said.
"Too long."
She pulled up a stool and sat on it. He remained on the exam table, seated next to his daughter.
"I can't imagine how awful it must have been when her mother died," she said, sympathy in her voice.
"It was, but Katherine was so full of life that she wouldn't want Allyson or myself to be depressed and not enjoying life. She hangs out with Jessica a lot, so she is adjusting," he was shocked. She hadn't had an idea that he had married, much less had a child with her. A child that, as she looked closer, had Katherine's fair coloring and blond hair, but her eyes and smile belonged to her father.
"I didn't realize you'd married Kat," she said.
"We hooked up after Tommy and Kimberly got back together. Happened kind of fast and we married 18 months later. Aly was born a year later. Katherine died just before Aly turned two. I only hope that she has good memories of her mother," he said, brushing a stray hair out of his daughter's face.
"I know how you must have felt. I felt that way. My husband was killed two years ago. He left me with twins that don't have ANY recollection of their dad outside of photos or stories my brother has told them. They're only two and a half, so I don't know how much they actually remember about their dad. Probably nothing," she said, saddened by the admission.
"I didn't know he had been killed. I haven't kept in touch with the gang like I should have and with Katherine's death, I just wanted to hide for a while," he said.
"I know the feeling," she said. "So, how about I give her a physical and you can get back to whatever else you had planned for the day."
"Sounds great," he said.
She started talking to the blond little girl and soon had her at ease enough to examine her and pronounce her healthy.
"I'll fill out the necessary forms for you and you should be good to go," she said, writing a few things on Allyson's chart.
"Thanks. You've become a great doctor, but then again, I always knew you would," he said.
"Thanks. I love doing it," she said.
She handed him the paper and opened the door. "Call me if there are any problems. It was really good to see you," she said.
She turned to walk out the door when he called her name, "Meredith."
The way he said her name was exactly like he had in high school when he wanted to ask her out for the first time.
"Yes," she said, turning back around.
"If this is wrong, I'm sorry, but would you consider having dinner with me one night. We can do something kid friendly if you want," he said, a hopeful smile creeping on his face.
"I would really like that," she said before she really had a chance to think about it. "I can get Tommy to watch the twins if you have someone that can watch Ally. If it works out, then we can introduce the kids to each other," she said.
"That sounds great. I know Adam and Tanya will watch Ally for me. She plays with their daughter, Jessica, almost every day," he said.
"OK. Here's my cell phone. It's the easiest way to get me since I'm always running around doing something," she said. She took out a small pad of paper that she kept in her lab coat and wrote her number on it.
He took the number from her and motioned for the pad. He wrote his cell number on it for her and she took it and the paper and put them in her pocket.
"I'll call you tonight. Ally has dance class, so I can talk while she's in class," he said.
"That sounds great," she said.
He held out his hand to shake hers, but that gesture felt to impersonal. When she reached her hand out, he pulled her into a hug. "I'll call you," he said just before he let go.
Aly waved goodbye to her and walked with her father down the hall.
"Meredith, you're next patient is in their room whenever you're ready," her nurse said.
"Thanks, Carrie," she said.
"Do you know that guy? You seemed pretty chummy for a first-timer," Carrie said.
"Would you believe he's a guy from high school. We dated for a while."
"He's very attractive. Is he married," Carrie asked.
"Not any more. He's widowed, like me," Meredith answered.
Carrie turned around, knowing not to talk any more about the widowed spouse.
Meredith took the number out of her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She plugged the number into her new contacts and went out to finish her day.
When five o'clock came, Meredith was ready to call it a day. Her mom had taken the twins with her for the day and Meredith thought about picking them up.
Meredith was hanging her lab coat, fingering the lettering that said 'Meredith Oliver-Scott, MD' when her cell rang. She glanced at the display and smiled when it said 'Rocky.' "Hey, you," she said, smiling in her voice.