*~* Chapter 2 *~*
"Hey there, gorgeous! How are you this morning?" Chris said coming up to Karen from behind.
"Great now that you're here…" she replied with a smile.
"How did your dinner go with your dad last night?"
"Not too bad, however this woman came up to him as started railing into him about leaving her when he was in Canada…it was really strange." She explained.
"Wow, that was years ago." He said in disbelief.
"I know, apparently she is in town for some reason, and when she ran into him, she just went off."
"Only your dad," he said shaking his head as Monica Quartermaine approached Chris and Karen at the desk.
"Good morning, doctors," Monica announced. "I would like to meet Dr. Kayla Preston. She will be here for a few months working with me in a clinic."
Karen turned around and her jaw dropped when she saw Kayla. She quickly regained her composure and smile to greet Kayla.
"Kayla, this is Dr. Karen Wexler and Dr. Chris Ramsey. They are residents here at GH." Monica introduced.
Karen held out her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Preston" she said trying not to let onto her surprise.
"You too," Kayla replied turning to Chris. "Dr. Ramsey, it's a pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine," he said holding out his hand. "I hope you enjoy your stay here at GH and Port Charles."
"Thank you. I'm sure we'll meet again."
As Monica and Kayla walked away, Chris turned to see Karen just staring at Kayla as she walked down the hall. "Karen, you can pick your jaw up off of the floor…what's going on with you?"
"That's her, Chris."
"That's who?"
"Her…the woman that laid into my Dad at Mario's…" she explained.
Chris shook his head as he picked up some charts, "I can see this is going to be a fun couple of months. I guess now we know why she is in town."
"That's funny, my Dad didn't say that she was a doctor."
"Maybe she wasn't at the time. Maybe she was just in Med School when they were dating. She is here to study under Monica." Chris tried to reason.
"I don't know…this is getting stranger by the minute."
"Oh, speaking of your strange family…your grandmother was looking for you. Something about your Aunt and Uncle in Pennsylvania won't be able to make it to the wedding."
"Oh…okay…I'll stop in her office after rounds." Karen said as she walked away with her charts in hand.
Chris shook his head, "And I'm going to marry into this family…" he said to himself as he began his rounds as well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kayla rounded the corner of the hospital toward the nurse's station, when she saw John standing there leaning on the counter.
"John, hey, what are you doing here, I thought you had a job interview today?" she asked announcing her presence.
"Oh, hey Kayla. Yeah I had the interview this morning. I should know tonight whether I got the job or not. I stopped by to take my sister to lunch. She is a nurse here. How is your first day going?" He asked.
Kayla frowned and looked down at the floor. "About as well as yesterday," she confessed.
"Oh, why? What happened?"
"Remember my ex-fiancée's girlfriend I told you about?"
"Yeah, what about her?"
"Well I just found out that she is a doctor here. Talk about adding insult to injury."
"You won't be working directly with her? Will you?" he asked.
"No, not that I know of."
"Ah…then don't worry about it. Just ignore her…Say, my sister isn't answering her page, why don't we go to lunch." He offered.
"You know, I would like that. Thank you." She accepted.
"My pleasure…" He took her arm and headed for the hospital exit.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Karen knocked on her grandmother's office door as she looked at the light at the top of the doorjamb to see if she was with a patient. When she heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door, she opened it slowly and popped her head through the crack before moving completely into the office.
"Karen, hi…" Gail said getting up to give her oldest granddaughter a hug. "How are you?"
"Hi Gail," Karen said hugging her back. "I'm fine, Chris said that you wanted to see me."
"Oh, you didn't have to make a special trip down here. I just wanted to tell you that I spoke with Aunt Ilene last night. She wanted to call you personally but she didn't know when you would be working…She wanted to send her regrets that her and Uncle Tony can't make the wedding. They're afraid to make the trip with Uncle Tony's health the way it is."
"Oh, that's okay. I understand."
"She said that she sent out a gift for you and Chris. She didn't have your new address, so she sent it to your Dad's."
"Okay, I'll get it from him when it comes. I think I have her address somewhere so that I can send her a Thank You note and a picture."
"Oh, that would be nice, I'm sure she would enjoy that." Gail said.
"Gail, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, honey, you can ask me anything…you know that."
"How much do you know about Scott's life when he was living in Canada?"
"Oh…not too much more than you, I'm afraid. We didn't have any contact with him the whole time that he was there. Why do you ask?"
"No reason, really. I was just wondering. Have you met the new doctor working with Monica yet? Kayla Preston, I think is her name." Karen asked
"Yes I have, Monica brought her by this morning. She seems very nice. I look forward to seeing her around the hospital."
"And other places…" Karen mumbled looking away.
"What was that?"
"Oh…nothing. I have to get going. If you talk to Aunt Ilene again, tell her I hope Uncle Tony is feeling better soon."
"I will honey…but you know your Grandpa's Brothers. You can't keep a stubborn Baldwin down." Gail said.
"You got that right." Karen said laughing and hugging her grandmother. "I'll talk to you later."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kayla and John sat at table in the Recovery Room, eating the sandwiches that they had ordered for lunch.
"So," Kayla started " we did a lot of talking about me last night, so what about you? What's your story?"
"There isn't too much of a story. I grew up in Port Charles, I moved away for a while but then decided to move back. That pretty much covers it." He replied.
"That's it? Oh come on, there has to be more to you than that. You've already told me that you're divorced. How long have been divorced?" she asked.
"A couple of years. Our marriage just didn't work out the way that we thought it would. I think our expectations of each other were too high," he explained. "She wanted one thing out of life and I wanted something else."
"Any children?" Kayla asked.
"No, we never had any. She always wanted them, but I never felt that I was ready. I think if we would've had children, it would've just been an attempt to make a failing marriage work and that's not good for the kids or the parents. My priorities were messed up at the time."
"Is this regret that I hear?" Kayla asked sensing that there was more to this man's sensitive side.
"Yeah, I think it is. It's like that old saying goes, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. I'm sorry that I ever let her go. But she's moved on with her life. I'm just a distant memory now."
Kayla looked down at her watch noticing that she had to be back in five minutes. "Thank you for lunch. It was delicious. Lucky for me, you sister was busy," she said with a smile.
"No, thank you for the company. I'll see you again soon I hope."
"Hey there, gorgeous! How are you this morning?" Chris said coming up to Karen from behind.
"Great now that you're here…" she replied with a smile.
"How did your dinner go with your dad last night?"
"Not too bad, however this woman came up to him as started railing into him about leaving her when he was in Canada…it was really strange." She explained.
"Wow, that was years ago." He said in disbelief.
"I know, apparently she is in town for some reason, and when she ran into him, she just went off."
"Only your dad," he said shaking his head as Monica Quartermaine approached Chris and Karen at the desk.
"Good morning, doctors," Monica announced. "I would like to meet Dr. Kayla Preston. She will be here for a few months working with me in a clinic."
Karen turned around and her jaw dropped when she saw Kayla. She quickly regained her composure and smile to greet Kayla.
"Kayla, this is Dr. Karen Wexler and Dr. Chris Ramsey. They are residents here at GH." Monica introduced.
Karen held out her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Preston" she said trying not to let onto her surprise.
"You too," Kayla replied turning to Chris. "Dr. Ramsey, it's a pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine," he said holding out his hand. "I hope you enjoy your stay here at GH and Port Charles."
"Thank you. I'm sure we'll meet again."
As Monica and Kayla walked away, Chris turned to see Karen just staring at Kayla as she walked down the hall. "Karen, you can pick your jaw up off of the floor…what's going on with you?"
"That's her, Chris."
"That's who?"
"Her…the woman that laid into my Dad at Mario's…" she explained.
Chris shook his head as he picked up some charts, "I can see this is going to be a fun couple of months. I guess now we know why she is in town."
"That's funny, my Dad didn't say that she was a doctor."
"Maybe she wasn't at the time. Maybe she was just in Med School when they were dating. She is here to study under Monica." Chris tried to reason.
"I don't know…this is getting stranger by the minute."
"Oh, speaking of your strange family…your grandmother was looking for you. Something about your Aunt and Uncle in Pennsylvania won't be able to make it to the wedding."
"Oh…okay…I'll stop in her office after rounds." Karen said as she walked away with her charts in hand.
Chris shook his head, "And I'm going to marry into this family…" he said to himself as he began his rounds as well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kayla rounded the corner of the hospital toward the nurse's station, when she saw John standing there leaning on the counter.
"John, hey, what are you doing here, I thought you had a job interview today?" she asked announcing her presence.
"Oh, hey Kayla. Yeah I had the interview this morning. I should know tonight whether I got the job or not. I stopped by to take my sister to lunch. She is a nurse here. How is your first day going?" He asked.
Kayla frowned and looked down at the floor. "About as well as yesterday," she confessed.
"Oh, why? What happened?"
"Remember my ex-fiancée's girlfriend I told you about?"
"Yeah, what about her?"
"Well I just found out that she is a doctor here. Talk about adding insult to injury."
"You won't be working directly with her? Will you?" he asked.
"No, not that I know of."
"Ah…then don't worry about it. Just ignore her…Say, my sister isn't answering her page, why don't we go to lunch." He offered.
"You know, I would like that. Thank you." She accepted.
"My pleasure…" He took her arm and headed for the hospital exit.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Karen knocked on her grandmother's office door as she looked at the light at the top of the doorjamb to see if she was with a patient. When she heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door, she opened it slowly and popped her head through the crack before moving completely into the office.
"Karen, hi…" Gail said getting up to give her oldest granddaughter a hug. "How are you?"
"Hi Gail," Karen said hugging her back. "I'm fine, Chris said that you wanted to see me."
"Oh, you didn't have to make a special trip down here. I just wanted to tell you that I spoke with Aunt Ilene last night. She wanted to call you personally but she didn't know when you would be working…She wanted to send her regrets that her and Uncle Tony can't make the wedding. They're afraid to make the trip with Uncle Tony's health the way it is."
"Oh, that's okay. I understand."
"She said that she sent out a gift for you and Chris. She didn't have your new address, so she sent it to your Dad's."
"Okay, I'll get it from him when it comes. I think I have her address somewhere so that I can send her a Thank You note and a picture."
"Oh, that would be nice, I'm sure she would enjoy that." Gail said.
"Gail, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, honey, you can ask me anything…you know that."
"How much do you know about Scott's life when he was living in Canada?"
"Oh…not too much more than you, I'm afraid. We didn't have any contact with him the whole time that he was there. Why do you ask?"
"No reason, really. I was just wondering. Have you met the new doctor working with Monica yet? Kayla Preston, I think is her name." Karen asked
"Yes I have, Monica brought her by this morning. She seems very nice. I look forward to seeing her around the hospital."
"And other places…" Karen mumbled looking away.
"What was that?"
"Oh…nothing. I have to get going. If you talk to Aunt Ilene again, tell her I hope Uncle Tony is feeling better soon."
"I will honey…but you know your Grandpa's Brothers. You can't keep a stubborn Baldwin down." Gail said.
"You got that right." Karen said laughing and hugging her grandmother. "I'll talk to you later."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kayla and John sat at table in the Recovery Room, eating the sandwiches that they had ordered for lunch.
"So," Kayla started " we did a lot of talking about me last night, so what about you? What's your story?"
"There isn't too much of a story. I grew up in Port Charles, I moved away for a while but then decided to move back. That pretty much covers it." He replied.
"That's it? Oh come on, there has to be more to you than that. You've already told me that you're divorced. How long have been divorced?" she asked.
"A couple of years. Our marriage just didn't work out the way that we thought it would. I think our expectations of each other were too high," he explained. "She wanted one thing out of life and I wanted something else."
"Any children?" Kayla asked.
"No, we never had any. She always wanted them, but I never felt that I was ready. I think if we would've had children, it would've just been an attempt to make a failing marriage work and that's not good for the kids or the parents. My priorities were messed up at the time."
"Is this regret that I hear?" Kayla asked sensing that there was more to this man's sensitive side.
"Yeah, I think it is. It's like that old saying goes, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone. I'm sorry that I ever let her go. But she's moved on with her life. I'm just a distant memory now."
Kayla looked down at her watch noticing that she had to be back in five minutes. "Thank you for lunch. It was delicious. Lucky for me, you sister was busy," she said with a smile.
"No, thank you for the company. I'll see you again soon I hope."