Doris English - A Healing Love

“Nevertheless she is expecting me. Please tell her I’m here,” Laura insisted softly but firmly.

“Have a seat, Dr. McBride. It may be a while before Dr. Coleman can see you. She is quite busy you know.”

Scarcely five minutes had passed before a svelte blonde with long shiny locks pulled back in a fashionable chignon entered the room. Thick lashes fringed her large doe-shaped eyes. Perfectly applied makeup accented high cheekbones, and bright-red lipstick emphasized a full, sensuous mouth. The cranberry wooljersey dress she wore caressed her slender, well-contoured figure, and an expensive cameo surrounded by diamonds and seed pearls nestled demurely at her throat.

“Laura, how good to see you,” the blond vision said. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Dar-Darlene?” Laura began hesitantly. “Is that really you?”

Darlene’s laugh was low, melodious. “A new improved version. A change was long past due for me. You, on the other hand, were always disgustingly perfect.”

“You look great!” Laura exclaimed.

“Thank you. I have enjoyed the change. As someone put it—from mousey to peacock.”

“No one would ever dare call you ‘mousey’ again.”

“I hope I’ve put those days long behind me. Now, enough of me. I want to hear about your exciting adventure in that mountain hospital and clinic with your famous dad. Tell me all the details about your work, the hospital, everything, but first give me fifteen minutes to finish seeing my patients and I’m free for the rest of the day.”

“You’re free this afternoon?” Laura cast a questioning glance toward the receptionist.

Darlene chuckled. “I’ve blocked out the rest of the day and weekend for you.”

Laura finished the last bite of her omelet and reached for a steamy cup of tea. Sitting in a sunny nook of Darlene’s kitchen, she relished this last full day in the city. It had been a perfect holiday for her. They’d attended a concert, dined in a fine restaurant and toured the hospital. The highlight of the weekend had been a lecture by Dr. James McNulty, a renowned endocrinologist. Once again, envy tugged her heart at the opportunity Darlene had working here and being exposed to the cutting edge of medicine. She quickly suppressed the thought, feeling somehow disloyal to her father and the choices she had made years ago.

She was about to ask what their plans for the day were, when Darlene interrupted.

“Laura, why did you choose to go home to help your father, when you could have had all this?”

“You captured this job on the basis of your performance,” Laura hedged, ignoring Darlene’s question.

“But why did you go back? I saw your eyes when Dr. McNulty was lecturing. You hung on his every word,” Darlene pressed, refusing to be diverted.

Laura shook her head, her eyes bright, candid. “Can’t deny I enjoyed it, and maybe envied your advantages for a moment, but I chose to go back because it was the right thing to do.”

Darlene narrowed her eyes. “Why do you think that?”

“It was something my dad had looked forward to since I was a little girl.”

“But what about what you wanted to do?”

“I’ve just never considered anything else.”

“What about your skills, your goals? I’ll wager that you live in your father’s shadow.”

Laura winced; her friend had hit too close to home. Having grown up in and around the hospital, she had yet to prove her mettle as a doctor. To most she was still Doc Dave’s little girl, Laura.

Darlene’s keen eyes noted Laura’s reaction and she pushed her advantage. “It’s time to take control of your future. Stop living someone else’s dreams.”

“Easier said than done,” Laura admitted lamely, once again feeling disloyal to her father.

“Why don’t you come to work here with me?”

Laura’s eyes widened; surprise rendered her speechless.

Darlene laughed. “Things are changing here. There is plenty of opportunity for both of us.”

When she found her voice, Laura asked breathlessly, not believing, “You’re offering me a job?”

“Maybe a partnership. As you can gather—” Darlene waved her hand around her well-appointed penthouse “—it doesn’t come without its advantages.”

“I’m overwhelmed,” Laura responded, then after a long moment shook her head, something akin to longing briefly flaring in her eyes. “But I couldn’t.”

“Don’t say no until you’ve met Brad. I’ve told him all about you. You’ll meet him tonight.” A knowing smile twitched one corner of Darlene’s scarlet mouth. “I haven’t met a woman yet who could resist his charms. Even I couldn’t You see—” she hesitated, a flash of uncertainty in her eyes “—we’re engaged.”

Strains of chamber music from a string quartet greeted Darlene and Laura as they entered Dr. Michael Bradford Jeremiah’s lavish apartment perched high above the street facing the river, now a mere ribbon of liquid gold in the departing sun.

People in evening attire gathered in small groups around the large sunken living room. Laura was glad she had worn her new violet crepe. The dress clung gracefully to her slender body, revealing her feminine curves. Above the deep blue, her eyes sparkled like sapphires and excitement flushed her cheeks. Conversation diminished when the two exquisite blond women entered the room. Laura’s hair fell like a cloud in lustrous waves to her shoulders, while Darlene’s was caught up in a French twist, held in place with glittering combs.

A tall man with close-cropped dark hair detached himself from a group in the back of the room and made his way toward them. He moved with the grace of a dancer, his broad shoulders looked wide enough to fill a doorway, yet his torso tapered to slender hips. His evening jacket and trousers were tailored perfectly. When he came nearer, the soft light revealed chiseled features a Greek statue could envy. His generous mouth turned up in a smile of greeting as he reached over to kiss Darlene’s cheek, but his dark, brooding eyes never left Laura.

When he turned to her, having assessed her, he nodded his approval and observed, “This must be the wonder woman I’ve been hearing about.”

Darlene’s smile had a hint of triumph in it as she acknowledged, “The very same.”

Laura handed her hand to the ebony-eyed giant and smiled broadly, her cheek dimpled. “Dr. Jeremiah, I’m pleased to meet you.”

He exuded charm and confidence with almost a touch of arrogance, yet she detected sadness, a wariness in his eyes, as he inquired, “Well, are you?”

“Am I what?” Laura asked, a puzzled wrinkle in her brow.

“Wonder Woman.” He chuckled.

“The last time I looked I was Laura McBride.”

“I know. I’ve heard about you for two years, and of late how much you need to come to Louisville.”

“And what was your response to that?” she challenged, lifting her chin a bit.

He laughed. “Guarded. That is, until I saw you walk through that door. Now, I’d say, you have definite possibilities.”

Dawn streaked the eastern sky just as Laura reached the interstate. Unwelcome emotions buffeted her as she rushed toward home. Like a forbidden fruit, the memory of Darlene’s offer kept playing through her mind. The lure of the city, the opportunities of a modern research hospital, couldn’t be denied.

But then there was her father, the clinic and Mark.

Mark! Yes, there was Mark. Capable, wonderful Dr. Mark Harrod, assistant chief of staff, was Dr. David McBride’s right-hand man and devoted to Laura. She shook her head attempting to dismiss Mark from the equation that plagued her. She frowned as his dear familiar face smiled from the corridor of her memory, only to be pushed aside by the image of a handsome, dark-eyed giant who whispered, “Well, are you Wonder Woman?”