Patt Marr - Promise Of Forever

If there was a God, he would get to raise Kendi himself, but he hadn’t seen much reason to count on help from above. Merrilee had, and look where it got her.

Sometimes he missed the feeling that God was in control. If he were still a praying man, he would pray that things would go better today than he feared they would. Keith Crabtree’s sudden departure had been a shock to the staff, but a terrible blow to Mona Fitz, the senior nurse in the office. The doc and Mona worked together for over thirty years.

They’d all known Keith would be gone, but not for good. A couple of weeks before, he’d said he was taking the first week in October to go fishing. That wasn’t unusual. Keith often went fishing.

When Keith gave them all the same week off—with pay—Noah should have realized something was up. Keith had called it an early Christmas gift, but he’d never made such a generous gesture.

On that last day, Keith’s face had been void of emotion when he told them he’d just seen his last patient…ever. Beth Brennan was back in town and would be his replacement. He shook their hands and was gone.

Mona fell apart, sobbing and threatening retribution against the Brennans and their “spoiled princess” for forcing Keith out of a job. She wouldn’t be consoled by Vanessa, their young receptionist, or listen to reason from himself. The Brennans weren’t to blame because Keith wanted to retire. Anyone could see he’d lost his zest for the job.

This past week, Noah had spent a lot of time worrying about Mona’s attitude and whether Beth Brennan would know her stuff. Had she gotten her position because of her name? Would she be a powder puff and let Mona run the show, or would the two of them lock horns and he’d have to referee?

In all this time, would Beth have changed as much as he had? He’d worked through the stages of grieving, and it seemed like he had his sense of humor back.

Thinking, worrying, wondering what Mona would do today, Noah opened the stairwell door and stopped in his tracks. Stepping out of the elevator was Dr. Beth Brennan. Would she remember him?

The new doc smiled as if seeing him just made her day. It was no doubt mere friendliness, but Noah’s heart rate picked up as if it were more. Of course, he had also just run up a double flight of stairs.

“You’re Noah, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t think you would remember me.” He was unreasonably pleased that she had.

“Remember you?” A frown crossed her pretty face.

“We met…” If she didn’t remember, maybe he shouldn’t remind her of that bad day. “It was a while ago.”

“But I usually have a very good memory for names and faces.” She studied his face intently.

“Don’t worry about it. We barely met. But how did you know my name?” He sounded like a single guy talking to a single woman. That wasn’t like him. He never thought of himself as single.

“The scrubs,” she answered, glancing at his work attire. “Since you’re in scrubs, and I’ve learned that BMC only has one male nurse, you must be Noah.”

That was him all right. Around here, he was one of a kind. Some men might have liked that, but not him. If the regular hours of this job weren’t better for Kendi, he would be back, doing the job he loved in a hospital ER.

“I’ve lived in scrubs for so long,” she said, “that it seems strange to show up for work in street clothes.”

Just then he noticed what she was wearing, right down to the yellow sneakers that matched her yellow shirt. Her khaki pants fit just right, and her only jewelry was a practical watch. There was nothing about the doc that shouted “spoiled princess.”

If Mona had anything to complain about, it would be how young Beth Brennan looked. Without her long lab coat, no one would believe she was the doctor.

“I’m Beth Brennan, in case you’re as bad at remembering names as I am,” she said, setting down a couple of gift bags and extending her hand. “We’ll be working together.”

“I know,” he said, surprised at how his shortness of breath lingered on. He hadn’t realized he was this out of shape. “Can I carry those bags for you, Dr. Brennan?” he asked, trying to sound natural.

“Thank you, but, please, call me Beth.”

Walking side by side toward the office, he noticed that the top of her head was level with his chin, though the length of her stride matched his. Just guessing, he would say she ran or jogged regularly. Whatever she did to workout was working just fine. She was in great shape.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re part of my staff, Noah,” she said with a secretive smile. “Without you, our office just wouldn’t be complete.”

Oh, no. Here he was, ready to like and respect Beth Brennan, and she had to come on to him? That stuff started soon after Merrilee’s death, and it still turned him off.

They rounded a corner, and their lobby came into sight. Noah stopped dead. A week ago the lobby had looked as impersonal as every other waiting area in the clinic. The only way a person would have known it was a pediatrician’s office was the presence of a little table-and-chair set and some kiddy magazines.

This morning, sunshine poured in on a child-friendly play area with pairs of elephants, tigers and zebras as chairs for the kids. Bright-colored fish darted about in a big aquarium, and on the wall was a really cute mural of Noah’s ark and a big rainbow.

Okay, he got it, and he owed the doc an apology for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Grinning, he said, “I take it I’m to play the part of Noah.”

“For the record,” she said, looking anxious, “the decorator had placed custom orders before I realized I had a Noah on my staff. I hope you don’t mind.”

Her earnest explanation said a lot. Only a really good person would care about such a little thing. “How can I mind? It’s not like I had to build the ark. How did you get all this done so fast?”

“Obviously, I had a lot of help. Do you like it?”

She shouldn’t have had to ask. “Of course I like it! It’s great!” Kendi would love it, especially that rainbow.

“There’s more,” Beth said, her face happy with anticipation as she unlocked the door to the office.

Noah braced himself for disaster. If she’d changed Mona’s kingdom as much as she’d changed the lobby, Mona would have a fit.

But the front office was exactly as they’d left it. He almost sighed in relief.

Her soft laugh said she’d caught that. “I thought I’d better leave the front office alone.”

“Good call.” That was twice that she’d shown she cared about how others felt. How could Mona find fault with that?

“There are other changes, though.” Beth set the flowers on the counter. He set the bags there, too, and followed her down the hall.

Opening the doors of the three exam rooms, she flipped on the lights for him to see that each room had received a quick facelift. Caricatures of a pair of happy monkeys covered the back wall of Exam Room One. Room Two hosted a pair of silly zebras, and Three had a pair of giraffes with such goofy expressions he had to laugh.

“Good! You’re laughing,” she said, sounding relieved.

“This is just…great!” He couldn’t help being impressed. Beth Brennan had known what she wanted in her new practice and wasted no time putting it into motion.

She walked over to a brand-new stand-alone cabinet and opened it, the better for him to see inside.

The shelves were stocked with an assortment of the silliest hats and headgear he’d ever seen. They looked adult size. “Are these for Mona and me to wear?” he asked, knowing Mona Fitz would burn the place down before she learned how to have fun.

“Actually, the hats are for me, but I might share. I got the idea from our family’s New Year’s Eve parties where everyone wears a crazy hat.”