Disclaimers:

We don't own any characters although it would be nice to borrow them sometime.

This is not really a science fiction, so the effects of any future technological advances are minimized - for all we know, Katie could have cloned Jessie.

Rating: A couple of love scenes, but nothing really smutty

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CHAPTER 13: My Girlfriend Dr. Katie Singer

MASS. GENERAL HOSPITAL

Boston, MA

The Following Monday

"Welcome back, Dr. Sammler, are you doing okay?" Ruth greeted her as she made her way into her office after agreeing to stay home all of the previous week to recover from everything she had been through. Her boss had insisted, so she really didn't have a say in the matter.

"Thanks Ruth and yes, I'm doing great." She really was. She could have come back to work right away but she certainly did enjoy all the attention she was getting from Katie and her mother. Who could have guessed Katie could be so domesticated. Jessie was shocked when Katie managed to actually cook breakfast for her one morning! Things were good.

However, she still needed to deal with the reality of telling her hospital family about her relationship with Katie. It's not that she was scared of what people would think, like she was in high school. But being in such a public profession, she knew there would be criticism. If only people could just overcome their insecurities, she thought, as she decided it was time to have a talk with Dr. Garrett, her boss and Chief of Pediatrics.

"Ruth, is Dr. Garrett in yet?" she asked.

"Yes. He's already been in here asking about you," Ruth informed her.

"Well, I'd better check in with him. I'll be back shortly," she said as she put her backpack down, but not before noticing that Katie had been at it with the flowers again. Jeez, the pollen in there was enough to choke her computer.

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DR. GARRETT'S OFFICE

Jessie stood outside Dr. Garrett's door not sure if she was ready to do this. She had been fine until the moment she got to his door, but then she froze. Dr. Garrett had been her teacher and mentor and she looked up to him with such respect and authority and even considered him her pseudo father. She thought back to having to have that talk with her own Dad. She still had that fear of disappointing those that cared for her, even though she knew that was ridiculous. Everyone she cared about had been more than accepting of Katie, so why should Ted be any different. She knocked on the door.

"Come in" she heard him yell out from inside.

He looked up to see who had interrupted his morning notes. When he saw it was Jessie, he dropped everything and crossed the room to give her a hug.

"Jessie, how are you?" He stood back and looked her over. "You look good. How's your head?" he said as he ran his fingers over the bruise and knot that were the reminders of her brush with death.

"I'm fine," she said, "you made me stay home all week, even though I was perfectly capable of coming back to work," she added.

"You work too hard and you need to think more about yourself," he lectured her.

This was her opening. "Ted, I need to talk to you a minute."

"Sure, have a seat," he offered, as he sat down beside her. "What's on your mind?"

"I think it's time you know about my secret admirer," Jessie started.

"So you're finally going to tell me. Who is he?" he questioned.

"Well, he is actually a she," she waited for his reaction.

"Oh," was all the shocked man could utter. Homosexuality didn't bother him but he never would have believed Jessie's heart was all a flutter because of a woman.

"Katie and I have known each other since high school and we realized then that we had a special connection. Time and circumstances split us apart, but after 20 years, we've found our way back to each other," she continued. "I wanted you to know, first of all, because you are my friend and second of all, because I need to know that you, as my boss, will accept me for who I am and won't judge me based on who I chose to love."

"Jessie, how could you ever think I would be judgmental? Your personal life is your business and I would never base any decisions on anything other than your work. I'm happy for you because for the first time since I've known you, you've seemed so happy and at peace," he told her. "So, when do I get to meet her?"

"She had to go back to New York to catch up on some work, but she will be back on Friday. You're really okay with this." She felt like she had asked that question a million times. Every time she told someone close to her about Katie, she always seemed to think they wouldn't understand, but surprisingly, they all did.

"Jess, it doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks except for you," he said, imparting his sage psychological advice.

"Thanks," she said smiling.

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MASS GENERAL

Friday

Jessie had been running around all day. She was at work at 6am and had seen patients non-stop. She hadn't even had a chance to grab a bite for lunch. She managed a quick stop by her desk around 2:00 to check phone messages in between rounds. She was eagerly awaiting a call from Katie to see when she was getting in. She hadn't heard from her since Wednesday night, but they had both been so busy, who had time to pick up a phone. To her disappointment there was no message from Katie waiting for her. She called out to her secretary, "Ruth, did Katie call?" She put Ruth's inquisitive mind at ease earlier in the week when she told her all about Katie and how she was the one responsible for the abundance of flowers that had overtaken Jessie's office. And she knew that by telling Ruth, she was essentially telling the rest of the staff. That woman could spread gossip faster than Bill Clinton could hit on an intern. That was fine with her. She figured they would find out soon enough anyway.

"No, she hasn't," Ruth called out from her desk. At that moment her phone rang. Jessie jumped to pick it up.

"Dr. Sammler"

"Hey you," replied Katie. "I've been thinking about you all day."

"Well, now that's not very productive," Jessie taunted.

"Sure it is. It kept me focused on what I needed to do here."

"Okay. Whatever you say. So when do you think you will be here?"

"I'm on the road now. I wasn't able to call you until now because of a few calls I was finishing up, but I should be there in about 2 hours. Will you still be at work?"

"Yeah. I have lots of paper work to finish up. Plus, I'd like you to meet a few people," Jessie said proudly.

"Okay. I'll see you when I get there. Love you," Katie finished.

"I love you too."

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HOSPITAL

4:30

Katie found her way up to Pediatrics and made her way towards Jessie's office. She had never met Ruth but she knew her from Jessie's description. "Hi, is Dr. Sammler in?"

"Can I tell her who's here to see her?" Ruth asked, looking up to see a beautiful tall blonde woman standing in front of her holding a small bouquet of flowers. Then the realization hit her. "You must be Katie?"

"Yes. Oh, and these are for you," she said as she placed the flowers on her desk. "I guess you were the one who got to deal with my flower fetish. Sorry about that," she smiled. Katie was charming the pants off her.

"Well thank you so much and it was no trouble at all, such pretty flowers they were. I'll tell Dr. Sammler you're here. On second thought, why don't you go on in," Ruth told her.

Katie walked in to Jessie's office to see her working hard on some charts. She didn't want to disturb her so she just stood there at the door, watching her. Jessie sensed her presence in the room, without even looking up. "Are you just going to stand over there or are you coming in?" she said, startling Katie.

"Jeez, give me a heart attack will you?" she replied. "How did you know I was here?"

"I just knew," Jessie said, standing up and making her way across the room to Katie give her a quick hug and a kiss before taking her hand and dragging her out into the office.

"Ruth, this is Katie," she said oblivious to the fact that she knew Katie had to have come through Ruth to get to her office. She was getting on that high feeling that she felt whenever she was around Katie and all logic and reason had begun to escape her.

"Yes, sweetie, I know. We met already," Ruth helped her out.

"Oh yeah, how stupid of me. Is Dr. Garrett still here?" Jessie asked.

"I think he's in his office with Dr. Ribizi," offered Ruth.

Jessie still had a hold of Katie's hand and dragged her off the other way. Katie kind of enjoyed being Jessie's show and tell. It was so amusing for her to see Jessie like this. She could still get all giddy like that teenager she first fell in love with.

They could hear the men's voices as they made their way closer to the office. It sounded like they were having a disagreement but as they got closer, Jessie realized it was another testosterone filled sports debate. She knocked on the door as she and Katie walked into the office.

"Jessie, come join us," invited Ted. "Jim and I were talking about the Red Sox's chances at the pennant this year. Any thoughts?" Jessie could usually talk sports with the guys, as she liked to catch the occasional game at Fenway when she had the time, but today she could care less about sports. However, before she could say anything, Katie decided to add her two cents.

"Well, I don't know about that. Gonzalez is on the disabled list and the pitching could certainly use some help. I'd say the Yankees are the team to beat, but hey, what do I know, I'm just a girl," she said.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," Jim Ribizi said as he moved closer to try out his best moves on this attractive blond that had come in with Jessie.

"Easy boy, she's taken," Jessie piped in. "Jim, Ted, this is my girlfriend, Dr. Katie Singer."

Ted extended his hand, "It's so nice to finally meet you Katie. I've heard quite a lot about you this week. You'll have to join me sometime at Fenway so we can discuss this pennant issue further," he added as he looked over to see Jim's mouth still wide open. Obviously, the gossip mill hadn't made it to his inner circle yet. "Jim, you might want to shut your mouth before you catch some flies in there."

Realizing he'd been gawking, he quickly regrouped and extended his hand as well. "Nice to meet you."

"We'll let you boys get back to your baseball talk. Have a nice weekend," she yelled over her shoulder as she grabbed Katie's hand to lead her away.

"Wow, she's hot," was all Jim could say.

"And she's with Jessie," Ted added matter of factly.

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