Chapter 3: Elizabeth
A smirk tugged on the man's lips which slowly spread into a big smile. Hello dimples. I guess he remembered me too. "Let me help you with this," he stated as he helped me gather my things.
I had been so flustered at the coffee shop the last time I ran into this guy that I didn't get that good of a look at him. But now as he helped me pick up all my belongings that were covering the floor, I was able to take a better look. Chestnut brown hair, not too long but not short either. It was styled nice but you could tell he had run his hands through it a time or two throughout the day. A strong jaw line with light scruff. Brown eyes that seemed to sparkle with kindness along with a little bit of innocent mischief sprinkled in. And after literally running into him twice now I could safely confirm there were some definite muscles under that doctor's coat he was wearing.
We finished picking up all my papers and he handed me a stack. "I'm sorry again about that. It really was all my fault."
"Well I guess now we are even," I laughed while standing up. "Honestly, I was a little turned on." Wait what did I just say? "AROUND" I shouted, my cheeks flaming red with embarrassment. "I mean I was a little turned around while trying to find my way in these hallways that I was a little distracted." I said at a more normal level. He just laughed, his eyes shimmering with amusement.
"Understandable. Hospitals can feel like a giant maze. Can I help you find something?" He said smiling, clearly still amused by my blunder.
"I was trying to find the oncology floor?" I half stated, half asked as a question still embarrassed by my mix up of words.
"Well you were pretty close. I can show you the rest of the way."
"Are you sure? I don't want to take up too much of your time. I'm sure you're busy."
"No trouble at all." He said with a smile, showing off those dimples again.
"Ok thanks. I'd appreciate that." I quickly looked down to try to hide my blush and smile. He held out his arm showing the way we needed to head. Ok so not only was this guy hot, he was kind as well. Keep it together Elizabeth.
"So.. Jake was it?" I asked and immediately regretted it. What kind of crazy person remembered a random guy's name from a coffee shop days ago.
"Jake?" He looked at me confused.
"Uhh." I stammered. "I thought that's what the barista called you the other day?" Geez this was not embarrassing at all.
He shook his head and laughed. "No, it's Jack actually. The barista, Ned, finds amusement calling me random names when calling out my order."
I laughed as well.
"Nice to know you remembered my 'name' though" he said while slightly nudging me with his elbow as we continued down the hall. I could feel my cheeks heating up again. "You know.. You ran out before I could catch your name."
He grinned at me and I smiled in return, finally feeling more relaxed and less embarrassed. "Elizabeth."
"Elizabeth" he repeated back. "Do you mind if I ask what is bringing you to the oncology department?"
"I'm here to visit one of my students. The rest of the kids in my class made him cards since he's here in the hospital so I came to drop them off" I patted to the stack of colorful papers that he had helped pick up.
"Oh nice. I'm sure he will love them." He smiled again. His smile was so warm and genuine. I couldn't help but smile back again. I probably looked like a smiling fool at this point. "So do you know what room you're looking for?" He asked as we passed through the sign marking the oncology unit.
"552."
"Wait." He stopped walking and looked at me. "Are you here to see Philip Cantrell?"
"Yes? Why? Is he ok?" I couldn't help but start to panic. My mind couldn't help but immediately jump to the worst case scenario. His mom had told me he wasn't doing well initially, but this morning had told me he was doing better and would be a good day to come by.
Jack placed a comforting hand on my arm. "He's fine. He's fine. I'm sorry if I worried you." He gently squeezed my arm. My concern for Philip eased, but my heart now raced with his close proximity. My arm tingled where his hand still held me. Seriously pull yourself together Elizabeth.
"I actually just came from his room." He paused, thinking for a brief moment. "So wait. You're his teacher?" He must have finally realized he was still holding my arm and let go, starting to walk again down the hallway.
I nodded. "Yep! Philip is in my third grade class this year."
"So you are the famous Miss Thatcher? I just heard all about the upcoming Third Grade Olympics." he said with a grin.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, our Olympic games are a big highlight every year."
"Philip was very adamant about making it back to school in time for them." He slowed as we approached a room. "This is his room here." He used his thumb to point towards the room behind him.
We stood there looking at each other. I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye. "Oh.. well.. Thank you for showing me the way."
"It was really no problem at all." He put his hands in his pockets and rocked slightly back on his heels looking like he wasn't quite ready for the conversation to end either.
"I guess I.." he started to say right as I said "You know.." We both laughed.
"You go first" he stated, his brown eyes focusing on me.
"Oh, I was going to say... My students loved making the cards for Philip and came up with an idea to make cards for other people that are admitted to the hospital. Since you obviously work in this area I was going to ask if you think that would be a possibility?"
"I think my patients would love that. I am one of the pediatric oncologists here. I know a lot of the kids struggle emotionally when they are in the hospital and away from their friends and family."
"I thought it was a great idea when they suggested it." We both continued to smile and look at eachother. Finally I added "So.. would I just be able to drop cards off or how would we go about that?"
He turned towards the nurses station and grabbed a business card. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and scribbled something on the card. "Here is my information. I put my cell number on the back as well as my email. If you want to reach out, we can figure out the details."
"That sounds great" Our fingers brushed as I reached for the card, sending goosebumps up my arm. I looked down at the card. Dr. Jack Thornton with a whole lot of letters after this name. I turned it over to see his writing on the back. I looked back up and smiled. "I will be in touch soon then."
"I look forward to it," he said with a wink. Between his gorgeous eyes, the dimples, and now the wink. This guy was doing all kinds of things to me. Things that I had not felt in quite some time.
"So.. umm.. Can I just walk into Philip's room?" I said, glancing at the door.
"Oh yea. Let me walk you in. I know he's going to be excited to see you." He took off towards the room and I followed. "Knock knock" he said while entering the room with me a few steps behind.
"Hey Dr. Thornton! I didn't expect to see you again" I could hear Philip say although he wasn't in view yet.
"Well I was in the hallway and just so happened to run into someone that was looking for you."
Jack stepped out of the way. With a confused look, Philip then turned his head and smiled when he saw me. "Miss Thatcher!" He looked more pale than he usually did but he looked better than I initially expected.
"Hi Philip! It's so good to see you!" I went over to his bed giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better than the last few days. Dr. Thornton has a plan to get me back to school in time for the Olympics!"
I laughed at that. "Yes. I heard you're excited for it!" I looked over my shoulder to see Jack standing with a smile on his face. From our brief time together I could tell he was a great doctor. One who truly cared about his patients. I smiled at him as his eyes met mine.
"I should probably be going. I just wanted to show Miss Thatcher to your room. Rest up Phillip and I will see you tomorrow. And I look forward to hearing from you soon, Miss Thatcher." With a smile and wave he exited the room. I stared at the door for a moment after he left.
"What are all those colorful papers Miss Thatcher" Philip asked, breaking me of my thoughts of Jack's retreating form. I quickly turned back around towards the bed, but not without noticing a small smirk on Philip's mom's face.
"All of your friends are missing you at school. They made you cards to show you just how much!" I said, handing him the stack of cards.
"Oh wow! This is so exciting!" He now had a huge smile on his face as he started to look through the cards.
I sat watching him carefully look at each one. After about 10 minutes of chatting while Philipi went through the cards, I put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to stay too long. You need your rest so you can get to feeling even better. We can't wait for you to join us back at school." I stood from the chair I had been sitting in at the side of the bed.
"Thank you so much for the cards Miss Thatcher! Please tell everyone hi for me!"
"I will Phillip. We will see you soon!" With a gentle squeeze to his shoulder I turned to leave.
"Sweetie, I'm going to see Miss Thatcher out. I will be right back" Philip's mom said.
"Thank you so much for coming by Miss Thatcher. The cards are really going to brighten his day" she softly stated as we exited the room. I could tell by looking at her eyes these past few days had been stressful for her.
"Of course. Is there anything you or Philip need? Anything I can do to help?"
"This visit is exactly what Philip needed."
"And you?" I asked.
She signed. "I'm fine. Just tired. It will be nice to get home to our own beds hopefully soon."
"I bet. Please let me know if there is anything you need though. There is a whole school that cares about your entire family."
"Thank you. That means a lot." She paused and then looked at me. "There is something I am curious about."
"What's that?" I asked unsure what she was going to say next.
"What will Dr. Thornton 'be hearing' from you about?" she questioned as she broke into a grin.
I chuckled. "The class wants to start a project making cards for patients admitted to the hospital so he offered to help me get that set up."
"Oh." She blew out a breath, clearly a little disappointed with my answer. I was hoping for something a little bit more… interesting than that" she said with a chuckle.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry to disappoint."
"You know, I hate that we have to see him so often, but he is at least nice to look at, don't you think?," she said with a teasing smile.
I shook my head as I headed towards the elevator. "It's those dimples" I said over my shoulder pressing the down button. I could hear her laughing as I got in the elevator to head down to the main floor.
The door closed and I let out a deep breath I didn't even realize I was holding. This visit was nothing like I expected. I put my hand in my coat pocket and felt a rectangular piece of cardstock. I pulled out the business card and looked once again at Jack's handwriting on the back. I couldn't help the giant smile that spread across my face. No, this visit was nothing like I expected.
"Now why are you laughing?" I huffed.
It had been two days since my run in with Jack at the hospital. I had replayed that encounter plus the one at the coffee shop over and over again in my mind, going through every detail. I finally called Rosie today to fill her in on everything.
"I just," she said between fits of laughter. "I just can't get over you saying you were 'a little turned on'."
"Ugh," I groaned. "First off, we have been over this multiple times already. Haven't you laughed enough at my expense? And secondly, it's your fault and I'm mad at you for my embarrassing moment."
Rosie laughed even harder. "First off, I may never let you live this down. And secondly, why is it my fault?!"
"Because Rosie. You sent me that excerpt from your current book and I stupidly read it right before running into Jack. So it's your fault my mind was in the gutter. And you know maybe it's Jack's fault too. I mean honestly. Who looks that good in scrubs and white coat? So yes. You and Jack are completely to blame for my humiliation." I knew what I was rattling on about was total BS, but I was going to stick with that story. Anything to try to ease the mortification of that moment.
Rosie laughed more, and I finally relented and joined in. "Honestly I don't think it's as bad as you're making it out to be Elizabeth. He clearly wasn't put off by it. He gave you his number! It was a funny moment that was part of your meet- cute."
I just rolled my eyes at that. Of course Rosie would spin this into the start of our "love story".
"So… " Rosie dragged out after a moment of silence.
"So…" I mocked back.
"Well?! When are you going to contact him? How are you going to contact him.. Text? Phone call? Email? Don't do email. That's too impersonal."
"I don't know Rosie. Maybe I shouldn't reach ou at allt."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME" Rosie shrieked so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. "Of course you have to reach out to him!" When I didn't say anything back she added "Think of the children and the wonderful project they want to partake in to spread a little joy to those poor, sick, lonely people at the hospital."
"Enough with the guilt trip Rosie. I'm going to contact him. I just don't know what to say or how to contact him as you pointed out."
"Text him saying 'Hey Dr. Hottie with the Body. I could use a check up. You interested?"
"You're ridiculous Rosie."
"I'm kidding Elizabeth. Just send a quick text. Ask if there is a time you can discuss the project idea. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate."
I sighed. "I know. This is just way outside my comfort zone."
With that comment Rosie turned more serious. She was my loud, crazy best friend. But she was also the friend that gave some of the best advice. "I know this is not something you normally do and you may be nervous. But don't put so much pressure on yourself. Keep your focus on the project. That's your main objective in the end. If something more comes of it, great. If not, then you're going to establish a rewarding project for your students that is going to bring people happiness."
"Nothing more is going to happen Rosie. You know I'm not interested in anything."
Rosie signed again, and I could tell she had a lot to say on that topic. Instead she offered a simple "I know."