Chapter 4

Leaving his office in the afternoon, Seth was on the way to the store to pick up a few items before joining Jessica for dinner tonight. He was looking forward to it. From behind him, he heard two women voices beckoning him.

"Yoo hooooo, Seth!"

"Wait up, Doctor Hazlitt!"

Seth momentarily closed his eyes in frustration. Jessica had already warned him about run-ins with the town gossip makers.

Eve Simpson and Phyllis Grant immediately flanked him on each side.

Of course, Eve was the first to speak out.

"Doc Seth," she was saying, "a fine day to bump into you! We haven't seen much of you since...you know..."

She nodded knowingly to which Seth gave her a blank stare.

"I assure you, Eve, I DON'T know!"

"Oh, come on, Doc," Phyllis said excitedly, from his other side, "it's no secret that you and Jessica have been..."

"...hanging out together, shall we say," Eve finished in a naughty- sounding tone.

Seth responded, "I believe we've been doing that for years!"

"Oh of course," agreed Eve, now sounded overly sweet, "but now, I would've thought you would have wanted to shout out to the world that you have captured Jessica's heart! She IS after all, quite a catch!"

"So is striped bass!" Seth remarked.

"Oh, Doc!" giggled Phyllis, "okay, we understand if you want to remain tight-lipped about certain things, but at least tell us what kind of plans you two lovebirds have cooked up for tonight!"

Seth stopped walking, causing the two ladies to also halt their steps.

"Alright, I suppose I can do that," he told them, which had the ladies exchanging gleeful looks, "tonight, I plan to share a delicious meal over at Jessica's, which will include her superb broiled lobster and fresh corn on the cob..."

"Oh!" gushed Phyllis, "it sounds divine!"

"And if you add candles, it'll be quite romantic!" added Eve excitedly.

"Ayuh," Seth acknowledged, "and as we dine over our scrumptious meal..."

Eve leaned in knowingly, "Yesssss?"

"I plan..." Seth continued, "to discuss bodily fluids!"

There was a gasp from one woman and two shocked looks.

"Excuse me?" Phyllis blinked quickly.

"Did you say...bodily fluids?" Eve was actually starting to look ill.

"Indeed I did, Ladies," Seth smiled, "and now, I really MUST get my errands done, so I hope you two have a most pleasant day!"

He gave them a gallant bow and as he walked away, a smile peeked out from his face that they did not see.

#

The lobster dinner had turned out perfectly. Seth and Jessica had mainly laughed throughout the dinner, especially when Seth related the story of bumping into Eve and Phyllis. Both of them had cleared off the table and now they had coffee and a piece of fresh apple pie in front of them.

"Bodily fluids!" Jessica said with a chuckle, "I can't believe you said that in front of those two women!"

"That's the great thing about bein' a doctor!" Seth noted, "we can say whatever we dang well please regardin' the human body and get away with it!"

"Oh you!" Jessica lightly berated him.

"It's true you know...about me wantin' to discuss bodily fluids," Seth looked serious, "'cuz this mornin' I did an autopsy on my dear friend, Bert, may he rest in peace."

"Seth!" Jessica was saddened, "was it necessary for you to be the one who performed it?"

"It was if I wanted accurate results as quickly as possible," Seth glumly stated.

"So what did you find out?" Jessica asked him.

Seth heaved a big sigh, "despite the embalming fluids and all other postmortem indignities, I was able to isolate enough tissue and blood samples to determine that Bert had indeed been poisoned!"

Jessica's mouth dropped as her eyes widened, "Dear me! And what kind of poison was it?"

"It turned out to be thallium," Seth told her, "in my day, thallium had commonly been used in rat poisons and ant killers. However, it is no longer used for that due to its toxicity. Despite that, thallium is still fairly easy to get, if you know where to look."

Jessica shook her head, "How many doses did Bert take of the poison?"

"I can't rightly say," Seth told her, "but the initial dose had been large, probably given shortly before Bert went out on that walk. And then, I assume, other doses had been administered at later times."

"And the poison probably weakened the poor man's heart, so that his heart could not have survived a cardiac arrest," Jessica stated.

"Ayuh," concurred Seth, "no one could blame the hospital staff for the misdiagnosis since Bert's symptoms had been similar to having dengue fever; nausea, seizures, headaches and severe joint pain."

"And the killer knew that," Jessica supposed, "he or she was probably aware that Bert had recently come back from vacation in a foreign country and hoped his death would be blamed on an exotic ailment," she then looked with admiration at Seth, "and the killer would have succeeded, if it weren't for you."

"Well, I'm just glad it was discovered before he was committed to the ground!" Seth stated modestly.

"Did you pass on this information to Detective McIntosh?" Jessica asked.

"You mean Detective Pill?" Seth sardonically asked, "no, I plan to visit him tomorrow to let him know."

"Oh, I'd like to also come with you!" Jessica announced.

"I hope it's not due to his sparkling personality," Seth noted, "because he has none. Unless he eats diamonds for breakfast!"

Jessica lightly smiled.

"No, not to see the detective," she explained, "I thought you might have time to take me to Bert's house afterwards. You said Beth, his daughter, is staying his house for now, right?"

"Ayuh, at least until Bert's financial matters are cleared up. Are you thinkin' that the high dose of poison had been administered in the house?"

"We won't know until we check it out," Jessica said.

"There goes that 'we' nonsense again!" Seth grumbled.

"It'll be a short visit, I promise," Jessica next got up and started to clear the dessert dishes, but Seth immediately got up, too.

"Here, let me get that," he volunteered, as he took away the dishes that were in her hand "you've worked so hard on the dinner, the least I could do is wash the dishes!"

"Oh, I'll hear none of that!" she told him.

But he was already at the sink and had begun rinsing the dishes. When Jessica tried to get to the sink, he would shift his body over to block her way. She'd go the other way, and he would slide that way.

"Seth!" she berated him, "this is MY house and I am going to help wash the dishes!"

"Stubborn woman!" he complained, as he gave her some space.

She went to that spot but Seth was tricky and went for the same place.

"Ow!" Jessica complained.

Seth looked concerned.

"Ahh, Jessie, did my big dinosaur foot smash yours? I'm sorry."

"No," she admitted, "I just wanted some attention."

They were now facing one another.

A sweet heavy ache filled Seth's heart. His gaze flickered over her, causing prickles of hot and cold to run up and down her body. He brought his hand up to lightly caress her cheek.

"Jessica," there was yearning in his voice when he spoke her name, "I've missed you."

Jessica's heart was beating so fast, it made her dizzy.

"Oh, Seth," she berated him, "you see me every day!"

Her cheeks were flushed.

"Ayuh, but I've been so wrapped up in this murder case that I haven't appreciated you like I should," he admitted, "however just know, Woman, that you are always in my thoughts! And have I told you recently that I love you?"

"No, not lately," she almost whispered, "but you can show me."

He smiled, "Gladly."

Seth intuitively reached over as Jessica's heart quickened.

At first his lips were gentle. He used only his lips, not touching her anywhere else on her body, for the intension was to merely sample a taste of hers. But sensations quickly flared inside of him when their lips touched and he kissed it full and hard.

Jessica seemed to wilt from the immediate heat as her pulse raced. She knew she was not a young girl who had never been kissed before, but with Seth it felt like that; and included in that came yearnings, madness and desires, all rolled up into one.

When they separated, they were staring at each other in searing wonderment.

"I'd like to continue this magical night," Seth spoke, his voice sounding a bit rough, "but I'm afraid I won't be able to stop. And Jess, for you, for us, I want to court you the old-fashioned way. It won't be easy to wait, but I know it will be worth it," he looked intently in her eyes,"Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Jessica nodded.

"I do, Seth," she almost whispered, "everything makes sense when I'm with you."

Seth's heart melted and he reached out to wrap her in his arms. She could feel his heart beating rapidly as one of his hands traversed her back, up and down. A tremor passed through her body and she closed her eyes to feel Seth's love for her.

"I do love you, Jess," he spoke with conviction.

Still in the embrace so it seemed as though she was talking to his chest, "Do you want to know how I feel?" she asked.

He held onto her, wishing to never let her go, "Go on, my dearest, I'm listenin'."

"I feel," she said, her head still leaning on his chest, "that you should wash while I rinse and dry."

She felt Seth's chest shaking as he chuckled.

They separated, and he smiled at her joyfully.

"My dear, sweet Jess," he declared, the words sounding warm and welcoming.

Jessica smiled back at him.

"I love you, too, Seth."

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