A week. A whole week. Seven days since she'd last seen Gordon, spoken to Gordon. And how she missed him. She'd tried to tell herself it was ridiculous, pathetic, to yearn after a man, but she couldn't help the pang she felt when she heard him mentioned, saw his name on a patient file, thought about him. He'd elected to keep the children off school for a while following the progress of the previous week, and had thus taken companionate leave from work to spend some much needed time with them. He was due back on Monday, five whole days away.
She glanced over at the phone on her desk, her fingers itching to reach towards it yet she kept her hands firmly occupied with writing up patient notes. Many times her hand had hovered over the phone. But she never picked it up. No phone call ever materialised. Her hesitation was for the simple fact that she didn't know how a call from her would be received; he was spending much needed time with his family, she didn't want to intrude. She didn't want to risk her call being unwanted.
A sharp knock came upon her dark wood door, providing a welcome distraction from the burning in her chest. She bid the person entry, and the door opened to reveal the receptionist. "Sorry Doctor Weatherill, but I thought you'll like to know, the Christmas and New Year's rosters are up."
"Great, thank you Mrs Clay." She smiled, genuinely. She always enjoyed the holiday season, though perhaps for the wrong reasons. Working in such a large hospital, she only worked as a general practitioner, except for those rare occasions when extra staff were needed. And so, Jill eagerly signed up for to be on emergency call-out for the night of Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, she put her name down for any minor and gynaecological emergency surgeries. And the night of New Year's Eve was to be spent in the casualty department. During the rest of the festive period, she would carry out her normal GP duties, albeit with a higher workload due to the staff shortage the time of year always brought about.
It wasn't only for the extra medical experience that she signed up for the work. Christmas spent with her parents was certainly off the agenda, and she has no family of her own, so it was only fair she let the doctors with children and spouses have the time off.
That thought inevitably brought Gordon to the fore of her mind, and as she returned to her office and closed her door, she released an involuntary and heavy sigh. He'd mentioned a while ago that he had booked Christmas Eve to New Year's Day off for the children. Another whole week apart…
She cursed their situation, not for the first time wishing their relationship were simpler, yet knowing she wouldn't change a minute of the time they'd spent together.