(7/10/2018)

CHAPTER 21

Recap …

"Good luck, Jack. I'm so proud of you and I will be thinking of you."

"Thanks Elizabeth. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you."

"Bye. Love you too."

Jack hung up, already feeling much better at his decision to call her. He vowed, from that moment on he would tell her exactly what was going on. Frank had been right.

Continued …

Jack walked into the hospital for his first day of work the next morning. It had taken him 25 minutes to get there from Frank and Abigail's which was a bit longer than normal but a nice easy ride with little traffic. He waited outside Professor Dennis Thompson's office as organised.

"Jack! Great to see you here" Dennis called out.

"Hi Dennis."

He was an older man, probably close to Frank's age but seemed to have a youthful personality about him.

"Let me just put my things down and I will take you downstairs and hand you over to our Director of Emergency. He will show you the ropes."

Dennis led him down the lift to the emergency department. The facilities were all brand new and seemed to have been really well planned when the area was being built. It was all open plan down the middle with the treatment bays off to both sides.

"Bill!" Dennis called to a greying man in a white doctors coat.

The man in question, Bill, turned around.

"Dennis. This is our fresh blood, hey?"

"Yes. Dr Bill Avery this Dr Jack Thornton. Bill is our medical Director down here."

"Pleasure, Jack" Bill put out his hand and Jack shook it.

Jack was surprised to see someone that old. Considering it was a new department he had anticipated all the staff would be a bit younger, especially in emergency. It was known to be a department where you had to think quickly on your feet and generally the turnover was quite high.

"I will leave you in Bill's very capable hands, Jack."

"Thank you, Dennis."

For the rest of the morning, Jack followed Bill around as he introduced him to all the other staff. Jack could see a few people staring as he passed, mainly young women, but he did his best to smile and appear friendly. He knew that was the best way to get people to help him out and it had worked well for him at Hope Valley Memorial.

"So Jack, you will have a team of nurses that you work with. We try and keep them similar as we have found it improves efficiencies once you've been working together for a while."

Bill led him over to three nurses who were standing nearby.

"Trish, Pippa and Jess. This is Dr Jack Thornton."

They all smiled.

"They can show you the ropes today. It's not too busy so you should be okay to dive in, right?"

"Yes. There's no better way than by just getting in there. Thanks Bill."

"No problems. Give me a yell if you need anything."

"Thank you."

Once he left, Trish stepped up straight away. She was an older nurse who seemed to take him under her wing. They went to the triage desk, called in the next patient. Trish led the young man to the first bay, explaining things quietly as they went.

By lunchtime, Jack had seen three patients and felt like he was back at his old hospital. The computer system was the same and with Trish beside him, she found everything he needed and he was quickly learning himself where everything was.

The younger nurse, Pippa, came up to him as he was heading off for a break.

"Jack, did you want me to show you where the tearoom is?"

"Yeah, that would be good thanks."

Pippa lead him down a hallway to a tearoom that had a small outdoor courtyard off it. Jack saw the coffee machine in the corner which would become his best friend very quickly.

"Right, well thanks for showing me. I will just go and grab some food" he went to leave but she followed.

"I'm heading to the cafeteria now. Let's go" she said, without giving him a chance to say no.

Pippa babbled all the way to the cafeteria, talking about herself and how long she had worked there for. He ended up having lunch with her and she filled him in on everything, basically who was who within the department.

As they headed back from their break, she changed the subject off herself for a moment.

"We usually go out for drinks once a week, usually Friday or Saturday night. Since you're new this week, you must come so that you can meet everyone."

"Maybe."

"Don't worry if you have a girlfriend to get home to …"

"No, I-"

"Hey, I'm just joking. It's very casual."

"Sure. I'm just not sure what shifts I'm on for the rest of the week."

"Oh don't worry about that. You're only on day shifts this week. Newbies don't start night shift until at least they're third week once they know where everything is."

"Right. Thanks."

"How about I grab your number and I can text you where will be and you can decide whether you come or not?"

"Okay." Jack gave her his number. "I better get back to work. Thanks for showing me around Pippa."

"You're welcome, Jack."

Thankfully the rest of the week went quickly. Jack spoke to Elizabeth every night, grateful that they were at least able to do that while he was on day shifts. Unfortunately that meant by the time she arrived, his shifts would be all over the place.

Friday drinks went ahead after the end of the normal shift so Jack decided to go for just one drink before heading home. He was practically dragged there by Pippa and Jess and as he walked in to the bar he noticed it was mainly women there. One of the other nurses he had seen around, a short brunette called Maddy, approached them.

"Hi Jack. The guys are over there" she said pointing to three guys in the corner.

"Great. Thanks." He quickly moved away from the young nurses he had come in with and went to say hello to the guys instead. He recognised one of them. Jason or something he thought his name was.

"Hi there" he said as he approached.

"Jack" Jason said, putting his hand out. "This is Trevor and Eric."

Jack shook both of their hands and listened as their conversation directed back towards sport. Jason and Eric went to get some drinks, leaving Trevor and Jack alone.

"You married Jack?"

"No."

"Lucky guy. Maddy is my wife."

"Oh yes. I met Maddy this week. You work at the hospital too?"

"Yes, I'm a ward clerk. I'm trying to work my way up."

"Fair enough."

"Are you new to the area?"

"No, I grew up in Hopetown. I've been working at Hope Valley Memorial back in the city, so I haven't lived here in a few years."

"Have you brought a lady with you?"

"Soon. My girlfriend will be here in 10 days."

"You're not counting or anything?" Trevor said laughing, as he slapped him on the back.

"I miss her like crazy. It can't come soon enough."

On Saturday morning, Elizabeth had her first open house for her apartment. She had been up since dawn scrubbing and cleaning every inch of it. Cindi had taken Belle the night before and Elizabeth had slept with all of the windows open, trying to make sure there was no lingering dog smell inside.

She had been to the corner store and bought a bunch of flowers and some fruit. She set the flowers up in a vase on the table and set the fruit in the basket on the bench. She had just taken some cookies out of the oven hoping that it would make the place smell enticing. She put the cookies in a container and finished cleaning up the kitchen. She glanced around one last time, just as the agent knocked on the door.

"Hello Elizabeth."

"Hi Anthony."

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes, I will just be going now." She picked up the container of cookies and her handbag.

"It smells great in here."

"That was the plan."

"I don't think you will have a problem selling this Elizabeth. It is a highly sought after area."

Elizabeth left him to it. She went and picked up Bell from Cindi's swapping her puppy in exchange for the container of choc chip cookies.

Elizabeth walked Bell down to the park where she and Jack had their first date and she sat under the tree watching everyone moving around the park. After ten minutes of her thoughts constantly on Jack, she knew she had to call him.

"Hi beautiful" he answered the phone, which made her grin.

"Do you answer the phone to everyone like that?"

"No, of course not. Just you and Lee."

Elizabeth burst out laughing.

"What are you up to?"

"Just waiting for the agent to call me about the open house."

"You had one this morning already?"

"Yes. Hopefully someone is interested quickly. I'm exhausted from cleaning all morning."

She lay back on the grass and Bell sat down beside her.

"Your place was already clean."

"Yes, but now its spotless."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"I miss you" they both said at the same time and laughed.

"Nine more days" Jack said.

"I can't wait."

"Me either."

They talked about Jack's work a bit longer and the drinks the night before.

"Where are you?" Jack said suddenly.

"At the park. In our spot."

"I thought I heard people in the background. It's raining here today."

"Well you probably wish you were here because its nice and sunny. I'm even wearing a sundress."

"No! Not the blue and white one."

Elizabeth was actually wearing a green one but she played along with him. "Yes, the blue and white one. Why? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing is wrong with that but I should be there with you, fending off all the guys that are lining up for you."

Elizabeth laughed. "Oh yes. There are hoards of guys here just waiting until I hang up the phone with my boyfriend and then they will make their move. I have been lonely without you though …" she said biting her lip, waiting for his reaction.

"Don't even think about it."

"Think about what Jack?"

"Becoming un-lonely with any of them. You need to stay lonely, do you hear me?"

She could hear the exasperation in his voice.

"For another nine days? I don't know that I can wait that long." She was teasing him and he knew it.

"Just think about what it will be like when we see each other again."

"I have been thinking about that a lot."

"Good."

When Jack finally hung up the phone, he exhaled a frustrated breath just as he heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"Dinner's ready Jack" Abigail said.

Jack left his room, following her down the hall. He sat down at the dinner table with his family, his thoughts on other things … namely Elizabeth in her blue and white sundress.

"Earth to Jack!" Abigail said, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Sorry what?"

"Are you okay? You seem distracted."

"I'm fine."

"Who were you speaking to just before?"

"Elizabeth."

"You really miss her, don't you?"

"I do. I worry about her back in the city without me being there."

"She will be okay. She's managed without you before."

"I know but you know what I mean. It's different now."

Elizabeth was walking home when she practically ran into a woman.

"Oh I'm so sorry."

"Rosie?"

"Elizabeth? What are you doing around here?"

"Walking home."

Rosie looked at her in surprise. "But I thought you were moving?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, but I'm following Jack next weekend. I still have a few things to wrap up here before I leave."

"Of course you do. Lee and I are doing the same thing."

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to be surprised. "Sorry, I've lost you."

"We're going home too."

"Really?"

"Yes. Jack's like my brother. I moved here in the first place to be closer to him and then I met Lee. Now we're going to move back."

"Wow. That's great news."

"Yes, Lee applied for a job last week so we're hoping he gets that. My line of work is a bit more complicated. There's not too many drama positions back home but I've been looking into some sales positions instead. Real estate, car sales, you know."

"That doesn't sound ideal for you."

"No, but our wedding is next year anyway so that's my main focus for the moment. It will all work out. Anyway, enough about me. How's Jack going?"

"He's good. He says he likes the job so far. Everyone is nice and friendly."

"Do you miss him?"

Typical Rosie. Straight to the point. Jack had warned her about that.

"Yes. I feel a bit lost without him to be honest."

"Good" she said matter-of-factly.

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe when we get home we can get to know each other a bit better. I'm a very good shopping partner. I know all of the best places!" Rosie said excitedly.

"I will keep that in mind."

"Give me your phone."

Elizabeth did as she asked and she looked over Rosie's shoulder as she added her number in.

"Give me a call if you need anything. Jack will be working a lot when he gets there so if you need a friend, I should be around."

"Thank you Rosie."

Once Elizabeth walked away, she thought about what Rosie had said. Jack will be working a lot. She had assumed that Jack would be working varied shifts but she thought that she would still see him. But if he wanted to make a good impression and build up his reputation, Elizabeth knew he would end up doing a lot of double shifts again. Which meant when he did get home he would be tired and would sleep before going back to work again. There could be days that they wouldn't see each other again. She had hoped that things would be easier once she moved there but only at that instant did she realise things just got a whole lot more difficult.

The next week, Jack had retreated to the tea room for his afternoon break solely to have a coffee. He hadn't been sleeping so well lately. Thinking about Elizabeth alone more than 600 miles away bothered him.

He walked into the tea room and went straight to the coffee machine.

"You need an afternoon hit, Jack?"

Jack glanced around to see Pippa sitting on the lounge against the wall. "Yeah" he said with a smile.

He put a fresh cup underneath and pressed the buttons to select a double shot of espresso. As the cup began to fill, he felt Pippa's presence beside him.

"How was your weekend?"

"Alright."

"Did you get up to much?"

"No. I just went and had a look at a few places to rent."

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes. I think so."

Jack pulled his coffee cup out from under the spout and took a big sip of the hot black liquid.

"Who are you living with at the moment?" Pippa asked.

"My parents."

"Maddy mentioned you have a girlfriend."

"Yes, she'll be here next week hopefully."

"What does she do?"

"She's studying teaching."

"Still studying? She must be young."

"No, she just went back. She's been working in the business industry for a while."

"Well, if you need company until she arrives …"

"Jack, you're up!" Trish called out to him.

Jack finished off his coffee in a few quick gulps and eagerly left the conversation with Pippa.