LOVE DOESN'T HURT.
BY PHOENIX FURY.
A new doctor joins the team. Weary of love, determined to stand alone. Steve slowly falls in love, but is the love returned?
CHAPTER 1 : PERFECT START - PART II.
The six-foot blonde LAPD Lt Steve Sloan walked up to his father. "Where is this new ME. You'd think the guy would be on time."
"He is."
"Steve I'd like you to meet Dr Hunter." His father said trying not to laugh as he did the introductions. "The new ME and ER doctor. Max - meet my son Steve." Dr Mark Sloan's blue eyes twinkled.
Steve was speechless as he looked over the new doctor smiled at Steve looking up at him from under dark eyelashes. Her dark blue eyes were lit up and aimed at him. She had long dark hair pinned back from her face. She wore a blue sweater and black trousers with her white lab coat over the top.
"WOOF!"
"What the…?" Steve jumped and looked down.
"Meet Jinx and Vexed my dogs." She introduced the Akita and Husky who sat at her feet.
"Dogs in a hospital, is that allowed?"
"Yep. They have a special licence." She smiled as she stroked one of the heads. "You wanted me for something."
(Want… WHAT! Snap out of it Steve!) Steve shook his head and said, "I wanted to meet you."
"Nice to meet you then, but a little hint, Max is short for Maxine not Maxwell. I'm going to decorate my office or I might die from sterile, non-personal environmental disease." She smiled and walked away the dogs be her side.
Steve couldn't help but watch her. "I didn't make a good impression did I?"
Mark just whistled as he skated off on his rounds.
"What are they doing here?" Steve said pointing at two dogs who were lounging on his chair in the lounge as he got home from work.
"Well I invited Max for dinner. Jesse's on a date and Max is new so I thought it would be welcoming. She's out on the deck setting the table. Go get washed." Mark said as he cut onions.
"Going going." Steve grinned at his father's order.
Steve walked back in after washing up and changing clothes to see Max leaning on the island talking to his father. "Hi and I'm sorry about earlier Dr -"
"It's Max and no sweat I get it a lot." Max smiled at the blushing Lieutenant.
"So tell us about yourself." Steve said pouring wine as they waited for the food to get ready.
"Not much to tell. I'm single, twenty-eight; I live in Amanda's condo and have two dogs and one cat. I work as ME and in the ER and I love it. Oh and I happen to be female." She took her glass and shrugged.
Steve blushed and changed the subject. "Amanda's condo, you know Amanda?"
"I should do, her dad was my mother's brother. Her family helped bring me up. She was the one who suggested moving here. Came to visit and couldn't leave."
"What about the rest of your family?" Mark asked as he led the way out onto the deck with the food: Salad, lasagne, bread and cake.
"Amanda and her side of the family and my aunt Izzy are the only ones I keep contact with. After I left my girls boarding school at seventeen I had a two gap year travelling over the world and then med school, after that I had six months in Africa doing med work and then worked in DC and New York."
"And then you came here?" Mark asked.
She nodded as she sipped her wine.
"You finished at seventeen school?" Steve repeated slightly stunned.
"Fast learning curve. Year or two ahead of everyone else and I knew that I wanted to become a doctor but I needed a break so I went on the gap year, which was heaven. I loved it."
"Never married."
"Nope I'm smart remember." She winked.
"You don't want to get married?" Mark asked.
She shrugged. "I'm no good at relationships, I steer clear. My work and having friends and the family I like are enough for me."
"What about if you met the right guy?" Steve asked curiously, most women he knew looked for marriage and commitment.
"I wouldn't know the right guy if he came up and danced in front of me naked. I'm happy with what I have and I've worked hard for it."
Over next two hours they discussed past cases and the routine when her autopsy cases were tied with police investigations. She told them stories about her and Amanda as kids while they told her stories about Amanda. In all it was a great evening for the three. And for the dogs they got a long walk after dinner with the three humans throwing sticks for them.
Steve knocked and heard a soft, "come in." He pushed open the door and entered pathology. "Max?"
"In here." Steve went to the Head ME's office.
"Hi." Steve said carefully as he pushed open the door. It was much like his fathers office but smaller. A big cardboard box sat on the desk filled with stationary and stuff.
"Hey." Max looked over her shoulder as she stood on a chair hanging up a picture. She smiled warmly at him. "You can stop hovering by the door and come in you know."
Steve's eyes widened as she stretched up making her blue shirt ride up showingthe tanned skin of her spine. Her black slacks were loose on her body so they didn't really show of her figure but Steve could imagine.
She stepped down and came towards him. "You're big and strong you can help me move my desk. I need it sideways so I can see out the window but still see the door." Max pulled him over and put the box on her chair.
Steve smiled and helped her move the desk, which was corner one, so one side was put to the window wall the other facing the other doorway wall. It had shelves and drawers so it had a lot of storage. She placed her flat screen monitor on a shelf and started hooking up her computer. She had a big filing cabinet and cupboard to lock away files and such. "Did you already do the Hanagan case?" Steve asked as he looked around.
"Yeah. Here ya go." She handed the file to him.
Steve quickly read through the papers. "So he was murdered."
"Yep. Shot of poison. The needle mark is at the back of his neck so someone was behind them when they did it. So he either he knew them or snuck up behind them."
Steve nodded. "Your good."
"Yes I am. I've worked with the FBI on quite a few cases." Max said as rummaged through the box pulling out a pot off pen and pencils, pads of plain and lined paper, tape-recorder, CD wallet, CD/Tape/Radio player, and CD lock case. She then put the rest, which were books and folders of her notes onto the bookcase. "Well I'm done for the day."
"Well I was going to see my father wanna come?"
She nodded and locked her office door and followed him down the corridors.
"Hanagan was murdered." Steve said as he walked into his father office.
"Ah." Mark said and lent back in his chair thinking.
"Ok by who?" Jesse asked standing beside him.
"Well who are the suspects?" Max asked perching herself on the edge of the desk.
"Hanagan wife Allison and step daughter Georgia. Allison would get the hotel business and Georgia hated her stepfather for breaking up her parent's marriage. Her father committed suicide after the divorce when he heard Allison was remarrying." Mark said softly.
"Clues at the crime scene?" Max asked.
"Well he was found at his hotel, and there was soil on the ground but no plants."
"So the soil came off the murderer." Max said.
"Well both Mother and daughter run a gardening shop together." Jesse said.
"The poison that killed him comes from a fertilizer." Max said.
"Go check out the garden centre while me and Jess check their house. Max why don't you go with him." Mark suggested at seeing Max's interested expression. (Maybe she can join our little team.)
"You sure?" Max asked looking at Steve.
Steve nodded and followed her out glancing over his shoulder to glare at his father who chuckled in answer.
"Steve, come here." Max called to Steve as he wandered around the garden canter belonging the Allison and Georgia Hanagan. Around her were rows of tables filled with plants. She could faintly smell honeysuckle in the air.
Steve hurried over to where she stood next to an iron shed. "This is the poison." Max said pointing out the tubs of fertilizer.
Steve said crouching down to look around. "They should keep it locked up."
"They did."
"You unlocked it?" Steve asked surprised. Max looked so innocent except right then when she was smiling mischievously.
"I had a very good education. At my boarding school, ladies always carry tweezers and in med school doctors always carry scalpels and penknife's." She shrugged.
"A new Jack." Steve muttered. He wasn't particularly comfortable with Max coming along but he could hardly say no. He never had, not to his Dad, Jack and Amanda or Jesse. (It looks like she's joining the team.) He thought grimly not happy with the idea. They always seemed to get into a lot of trouble. (But what's different about her compared to Amanda?)
"No need to insult me…" She paused looking around. "Steve… we're not alone." She hissed.
Steve pulled her down around to hide behind a table full of flowers. He pulled out his gun. "Where did you see?"
"By the tress but whoever moved too quickly for me to see who."
"Don't move. Stay here." Steve ordered as he went around the table.
She watched as he ran across to another table and from there to another using them as cover. Shots rang out aimed at where Steve was hiding.
Max bit her lip wincing at the sound. (Stay here safe and sound while Steve gets shot at or get the shooters attention so he can take them down? Dilemma, dilemma. Ha, yeah right.) She got up and ran across to another table in sight of the shooter who turned their sights to her. (Next time stay safe and let him get shot at because he can shoot back.) Max told herself as a pot exploded above her head.
"Steve its Allison." Mark called out from somewhere.
Shots rang out.
"Need to use up her ammunition." Max muttered as she moved to another table. "Bad day, Bad day, Bad day." She dived for cover again as shots came close to her.
She looked under the table to see feet not far from her. Small feet in trainers with pink socks. Female feet. Allison's feet. She could also see Steve's feet. Allison was making her way to him around behind.
She lifted up her hand and took some pots from the table. She crept round silently and then stood up. "Hiya." Max said cheerfully as she started throwing the pots at Allison who held a riffle in her hand. One hit her full in the face, which gave Steve enough time to turn and grab the gun out of her hands.
(He does not look happy.) Max thought as she looked at Steve murderous glare, which was aimed at her. (Not happy at all.)
They watched the police car drive away with Allison in the back.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!" Steve turned and started shouting at the female doctor.
"Steve I'm sorry but …" Max tried to apologize.
"Sorry isn't good enough. You almost got yourself killed. From now on stay away from my cases. You aren't Amanda; she had enough sense to do as she was told. Stick to medicine, you aren't a cop and I don't what you messing up my work." Steve snapped and turned on his heel storming off to his car.
Max stood pale and her eyes wide.
Mark was astounded at the way Steve had yelled at her. "Max he didn't mean it." He patted her shoulder.
"Yes he did Mark." Max sighed. Max walked away with one thought going round her head. (What a perfect start.)
END OF CHAPTER 1.
Poor Max and bad Steve. Should I have him grovel on his knees for forgiveness?
Thanks for reading, hope you liked it.
PHOENIX FURY.