Chapter One: Peony
The morning I met the love of my life began just as dully as all the other days. I woke up. Prepared then ate my breakfast. Plain toast, orange juice, and a hardboiled egg (lightly salted and peppered). I drank my coffee as I watched the morning news. It looked like rain later that day. Once done, I took a quick shower, styled my hair, put on little makeup (my eyes), and dressed.
I remembered to grab my umbrella before leaving my flat. I took the train to the nearest stop to Royal Hope, the hospital I was doing my residency. From the underground, it was a fifteen-minute walk to the hospital. Then my quiet, dull day changed.
First, my brother called, then my sister, then mum, and finally dad. They all had a complaint. Leo saying if our parents couldn't get on, they should forget the party they were throwing that night and just give him cash. Tish's complaint was over Dad's girlfriend, Annaliese. Mum complained about dad and dad complained about mum. As always they dumped all their complaints on me and expected me to fix their problems. I hated being always placing me in the middle. They expected my level head to solve everything. To be fair, I did fix a few problems and never pushed my family away when they came to me for help. I wasn't even a doctor yet, and I was always the healer.
The calls darkened my mood and it didn't help that I was nearly ran down by a man who offered no apology and when I got to Royal Hope another man in a black biker get up, he didn't even remove his helmet, brushed me out of his way as he entered the building. He rushed to his friends also dressed like a biker, his helmet was off and he had a broken leg from the look of him.
I made it to my locker and quickly got ready for the day. I was to work from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. Then I had to get ready for Leo's party. I was going to welcome sleep tonight.
I wasn't in the best of moods when Stoker took us from patient to patient commenting on every little thing I or my fellow soon-to-be doctors did wrong. A kid everyone thought was coming down with tonsillitis turned out to be an uprising singer who lost her voice from too much practice. A man with a blocked colon, Swales suggested ate too much dairy, was only eating meats. And a woman who was having dizzy spells had salt-deficiency.
By the time we made it to the last patient in our morning rounds, we were eager for a break.
"Now, there Mr. Smith," Stoker greeted. "A very good morning to you. How are you today?"
"Oh, not so bad, still a bit blah," Mr. Smith answered.
He was a slender man with brown hair and eyes. I remember thinking he was quite handsome.
"John Smith, admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains," Stoker said. "Jones, why don't you see what you can find. Amaze me."
I stepped forward.
"Right," I said as I placed my stethoscope around my neck then the earpieces in my ears. I dutifully checked Mr. Smith's heart and heard nothing abnormal. He gave me a playful wink and I could feel the blush rising to my cheeks.
"So, you're name's John Smith," I asked to ease the tension. "Is that your real name?"
"Yup," Mr. Smith said with a pop on the last 'p'. "Dad thought it would be funny."
I made a small noise of acknowledgment as I pressed down gently on his stomach I made the mistake of staring into his eyes for far too long and I heard Stoker degrade me.
"I weep for future generations." I heard him say and my blush deepened. "Miss Jones, please focus on the task at hand."
Again, I pressed down on Mr. Smith's abdomen and he giggled.
"That tickled," he said smiling at me.
Before I could say anything, Stoker cleared his throat, signaling for me to get the examination over with.
"Um… I don't know? Stomach cramps?" I finally said.
"That is a symptom, not a diagnosis and you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart."
Another blush of embarrassment came over me.
"I thought she did just fine," Mr. Smith said coming to my defense.
Stoker rolled his eyes and directed us away.
I met John Smith again that day in the cafeteria. He had some kind of soup and asked me to join him.
"This is highly inappropriate," I said as I sat across from him.
"Why? you're not my doctor," he said with a shrug.
"A salad, huh?" John said after a pause. "Are you on some kind of a diet? Because it looks like you don't need one."
He stared at me admiringly.
I knew he was right, I didn't really need to watch my figure, but my mum had said something about my waist was looking a little bit big the last time we had lunch together.
"What's your name?" John asked me as we ate.
"Martha," I answered.
"And it was Jones, wasn't it?"
I nodded.
"Is there a balcony on my floor or a veranda?"
"By the patient's lounge, yeah," I answered. "Why?
"I want some fresh air," John said staring into my eyes. "Fancy going out?"
I wasn't expecting the question.
"Ok," I found myself say before I could over think. I assumed he either, didn't want to get lost or, he didn't want to be alone.
"Good, come on."
We cleaned up and went out to the balcony.
"I take it you're feeling much better since you were allowed out of bed," I said as we stared at the overcast sky.
"Yeah," John said. "I'll probably go home today."
There was a pause for a moment.
"So, you know what I do. What do you do for a living?" I asked.
"Architect," John answered.
"Any good?"
"A few contracts this month alone. So, yeah, pretty good. Why a doctor?"
"I like to make people feel better. I like helping and healing." I answered honestly.
"Peony," John whispered.
"Pardon?"
"Peony," he said more clearly. "The flower of healing."
"Oh," I said.
We stood in silence again. Then my phone rang. It was Tish.
"Excuse me," I told John. "I have to take this."
He nodded then boldly kissed my cheek.
"I better get inside anyway, it's starting to rain," he said as he left.
Later that day, I thought it odd how comfortable I was in John's presence and how attractive I found him. I felt kind of silly. Especially since I believed I was never going to see him again.
When I was about to leave Royal Hope that day, the receptionist stopped me and handed me a bouquet of flowers.
The card read:
Peonies for a healer.
Maybe we can meet up sometime.
Give me a ring.
John
His phone number was under his name.
I flushed and exited the building with a huge smile on my face.
END OF CH. 1
