Saving the Doctor

Pt. 04: The Illusion of Innocence.

On Monday morning, it struck Jon that he was actually glad to go to work. He still wasn't loving the clinic by any means, but he had gotten used to it, and more importantly it meant getting away from Elaina. It meant getting out of their house and out of her overbearing reach.

Beth's face and smile were like a breath of fresh air. The roster of patients looked like a nice do-able challenge to take his mind away from the rest of his life. He focused on his work and stayed in the moment, at least for most of the day.

Whenever his mind slipped away it kept dwelling on the downward spiral his relationship seemed to be in. They kept arguing more, getting fed up with each other again and again, and attempting to address it only made Elaina try to assert more control. This was supposed to be the time when you were most in love, and most excited about your future, and they were already like an old bickering couple. How much worse could he let it become before he did something? Could he even bring himself to do something?

He thought back to the night before and shook his head at himself. The sex always felt good, and a part of him did enjoy being dominated to some degree, but it was getting out of hand. It wasn't just bedroom play, she really was trying to control his behavior and even his thoughts, with her body. There was no trust, there was no reassurance that it was just a game. It WAS a game he supposed, but a very real one that she was playing more and more.

He couldn't help doubting how legit his concerns were though. He knew men would die to spend a night with a woman as beautiful as her, and so what if she had a control kink...

"Jon!"

He suddenly broke from his daydreaming to look over at Beth.

She giggled at his startled surprise, "Phone call, line 3....I'll grab you a coffee K?" she said, and smiled endearingly as she walked away.

He picked up the phone.

"Hello, Dr. Davidson here."

"Hi Jon," Carly's voice replied. It was just two words, but he felt that he sensed a nervous friendliness to her voice. Two words and he was suddenly in a different world entirely.

"Hi... How are you doing Carly?" he replied, reflecting the same nervous friendliness back at her, despite himself.

"I'm good," she said, and gave a tiny cough. "How about you?"

"Oh, busy enough, but nothing I can't handle," he said, trying to sound casual, then worried it sounded cocky.

"Well look how far you've come," she said more playfully. "Guess you don't need me to reassure you these days, hey?"

He laughed, "I mean, I wouldn't mind a bit every now and then."

She laughed back, "K. Well don't let this erode that confidence, I kinda like it... but, um, today I gotta give you some awkward news that one of your patients hasn't been exactly forthcoming with you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah Mrs Foster has only been taking her thyroid pills 'as needed' whenever she starts to feel 'down'. Yeah... I know. She said she didn't want to tell you cause she likes you so much and she didn't want to upset you."

Jon chuckled, "Damn, I guess a good rapport can backfire."

"Yep, you're just too damn lovable," she giggled. "I only found out by accident, cause I asked why she didn't want more dispensed at once, and she suggested it would last her way longer than a month and... yeah, I eventually got it out of her."

"Well thanks for catching that," he said. "Did you explain to her she needs to take it daily?"

"Oh yeah, I think I got through to her eventually, that it's not cool to just take it whenever like that, and her body doesn't work that way, and she agreed to follow your instructions now, though she still insisted she could 'feel' her levels like, down to the hour, so she had this tea she was drinking that she thought would help and only took the pill if she didn't feel better after a little while and..."

Jon chuckled again, "Honestly, that kind of thing doesn't even surprise me at this point, I'm just glad you caught it and talked to her."

"Yeah no worries, but I wanted to hold off on the dose increase you just wrote, since she hasn't really been taking it," Carly said.

"Oh yeah of course. Thanks Carly. I don't think we had gotten up that high on it yet thankfully, so I don't think I'll lower it further, but we'll check her labs again after a while," Jon said.

"Okay. I warned her about the actual symptoms to watch out for if she's suddenly getting too much of it."

"Perfect."

A few seconds of silence.

"That album you linked to me was killer by the way," Jon finally said.

"I KNOW right?!" Carly said excitedly.

"Yeah the trumpet being in there threw me off a bit at first, cause it's not usually my thing, but it just works. It adds a punch, it's funky. I love it," Jon said, leaning back in his chair with a wide smile and tapping his pen on his knee.

"Aaahh exactly! Actually my first listen I wasn't completely sold cause it was pretty different from their other stuff, but now I can't stop playing it."

"I'll have to check out their other stuff too. Thanks again for that,"

"Yeah no problem....It's better on vinyl by the way," she said teasingly.

"Psshhh of course you'd say that," he teased back.

"IT IS! I'll have to prove it to you sometime."

"You inviting me over then?" he said, before even realizing what he was saying.

A few more seconds of silence, as his smile turned into a cringe, then he heard her sigh.

"I better get back to work, Mrs. Foster's still waiting." she said, still with a friendly tone, but obviously reigning herself in.

"Yeah no worries. It was great talking to you Carly," Jon said sincerely.

"You too. I'll catch you later."

"Yeah, uh, this Saturday at the Hospital shin-dig I guess right?" he said, hopefully.

"Yeah... I'm looking forward to it. See you there," she said softly

"Bye," he said, and hung up the phone. Suddenly feeling the best he'd felt in a while.

They had still chatted with the occasional polite phone call since their fallout, but since their drive home after Jeff's party and their few friendly texts since, it was like a switch had been flipped. He felt like he suddenly had his old friend back. It was exactly what he had wanted.

...it was, right?

he thought to himself, before turning back to the next chart.

When clinic ended, Beth came in to say goodnight. He figured he should be numb to her looks at this point but her pink dress shirt clung to her skinny torso and stretched its buttons over the bulges of her tits in a way that he had to put effort into not appreciating too intently.

"Hey, it was nice seeing you on Saturday," she said, sitting down gently into the chair next to his desk, and slowly crossing her legs. "It's always nice to see you outside of work when you're more laid back. Although, that night I think you guys seemed to be wound a little tight. I guess it's just one big decision after another, I can only imagine..."

"Yeah, it was good to see you too," he said with a polite smile, ignoring the second part of what she said.

"Thanks for the awesome tip by the way, you didn't have to," she said with a hint of a blush.

"Aw, it's no problem, I honestly kinda feel bad they don't pay you better... at either job to be honest. I know you're saving up for college."

She shrugged and smirked, "I'm doing okay."

"Hey on that note. I'm not sure if the clinic gives you a Christmas bonus or anything, but either way, I was wondering, what are some of your favorite stores to shop at?" he asked, trying to steer onto a different subject. "...like if I were to buy you a Christmas present," he added, when she looked a bit confused.

She suddenly smiled, "Aww, Jon you don't have to."

"I want to. You deserve it, Beth," he insisted. "You've been an amazing help with everything the last few months, I feel like I'd be a mess without you."

She looked genuinely deeply touched by the comment, and placed her hand on her chest.

"Thank you" she said softly and blushed, tracing her fingers along her neckline as her hand fell away again.

"So which stores?" he asked again.

"Okay, well, if it's clothes and stuff I wouldn't want you guessing if it fits me..."

"I was thinking a gift certificate honestly," he said quickly.

"Right. That'd be fine I guess. I mean, it limits you a bit. I always figure you're taking money that's good everywhere and..."

Jon laughed, "True enough. Just cold hard cash then?"

"No!" she laughed back swatting his arm playfully. "God. Sorry, I'm not some materialistic gold-digger I swear," she said. "I mean, I dunno, I guess you could just take me shopping sometime..." she said, as she looked at him hesitantly and bit her lip.

"Oh... I... Well I mean you don't want me hanging around all day watching you try a bunch of stuff on, right?"

She shrugged, "I woudn't mind."

He was starting to get uncomfortable. "Well name some stores anyway."

She sighed, "I dunno there's lots."

"Well what's one you were thinking of going to in the next little while?" he tried.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Victoria Secret actually."

He put all his effort into maintaining as neutral a face as humanly possible, as she looked over and met his eyes in a few seconds of silence.

"I'm kidding!" she laughed finally. "...Sort of. But, whatever, how about I think about it and text you a list."

He sighed in relief, "Sounds great."

She softly placed her hand on top of his on the desk and slid her fingers slowly away.

"Goodnight Jon," she beamed at him, and walked out of the room.

He finished up his notes and walked out to his car. It was a cold day, but there was no wind and the sun had been brightly shining down enough to melt a bit of the snow. He noticed something on the bottom of his windshield and swore when he thought it might be a ticket or a flyer. Then he realized the shape wasn't right.

As he got closer he realized it was a kitten. It looked disheveled, but was sleeping comfortably, obviously absorbing the heat from the surface of his car. He tried a quiet 'here kitty' and got nothing. Then reached out to it. It suddenly bolted away and ran through the parking lot, surprisingly fast. He didn't have any chance of catching it, and lost track of where it went once he got around his car.

Poor thing

he thought. He wasn't sure how it had even survived this long into the winter. He figured it must've been lost or abandoned recently. He thought about searching around, but decided his chances of finding it were low, so he got in his car and drove off, feeling regretful.

The next day as he got to work he thought he saw something tiny dart under a car as he drove up, but couldn't find it when he looked. He sighed and headed into the clinic.

"Good morning Jon," Beth smiled, walking in to his office with a skip in her step. "Did you get my list?"

"Yeah I did, thanks Beth. Sorry it kinda ruins the surprise, but I figured it was better to ask first," he said.

"Oh no for sure, I'd rather get something I want than a surprise disappointment," she giggled.

"Okay good," Jon said. "And don't worry about getting me anything by the way."

"Hey, that's not fair!" she said with a smile, crossing her arms under her breasts.

Jon sighed and smiled back despite himself, "Okay well just something small if you do. I've got enough

stuff

in my life right now."

She set her jaw and leaned her hip to the side, giving him a pondering look. "You know I was serious when I said you could just take me shopping," she said. "We'll both be making trips to the mall anyway, so we might as well go together."

Jon gave a tight smile, "I dunno Beth..."

"Oh come on, we could take

each other

shopping, it'd be fun! If I'm getting something for you anyway... Why not, right? You dress pretty sharp already, but I know I'd love to try a few things on you," she said, as she smiled mischievously at him, and he could feel her eyes running over him.

He stared at her for a second. "Have you gone to the mall with any other docs when you worked with them Beth?" he asked, dryly.

She sighed, "Nooo... but I dunno, you're different. You're... special- oh I dunno they never bought me Christmas presents either!" she said in light-hearted frustration, and blushing slightly.

"I'll think about it, but it's probably best we stick with the standard wrapped presents," he said.

"Fine. You're no fun," she said rolling her eyes but smiling again at him and squeezing his shoulder as she turned to walk away.

"Hey random question, but did you by chance see a kitten in the parking lot?" he asked.

"What?! No it'd be so cold out there, did you see one?!" she exclaimed in sudden concern. She held on to his shoulder and sat back down, grabbing his arm with her other hand and looking at him with a furrowed brow.

"Yeah, yesterday after clinic, but I couldn't catch it. I thought I maybe saw it again this morning, but I couldn't find it. Just wondered if you'd seen it around."

"Oh my God. No! Poor little thing..." she said. She squeezed his shoulder and his bicep with her hands and took a deep breath as she looked at him pleadingly, "You need to find him and save him!"

He chuckled, "I'll try, but he was pretty fast."

"It's not funny Jon! He's gonna die out there. I almost wanna cancel your clinic so we can go look," she pouted cutely.

He chuckled, "I'll look again later, don't worry."

"Okay... I'm totally gonna worry all day now though."

"If I find him will you take him?" he asked.

"No..." she said bitterly "My apartment doesn't allow pets. YOU have to save him. Promise me," she demanded.

He gave her an amused smile, "Okay I promise. IF I can catch him."

She smiled back, then stood halfway up and suddenly pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks," she said with a friendly perkiness, like it was the most normal thing to do, then stood up and let her fingers slide off his arm as she walked away.

The morning went by without incident, but just a little after 12 o'clock Beth walked in with her coat on.

"Almost done your notes?" she asked.

"Uhh, yeah... why?" he looked at her confused.

"Well finish up, we're going kitten hunting," she said, with a dead serious expression.

He laughed in disbelief.

"What?.. You promised me you'd save him Jon," she said, putting her hands on her hips demandingly, but with a smile. "Let's get some food to go, and we can eat while we look."

He sighed, "You know what, why not. Sure. Some fresh air might be nice."

"Aaand a kitten needs saving more importantly," she said. "But yeah, we can enjoy the walk too." She smiled over her shoulder as she left the room.

He grabbed his coat and they headed outside. It was another calm sunny day, but still cold enough to know it was winter. They got burritos from the Mexican place at the other end of the strip mall. He insisted on paying for hers and she put her arm around him and squeezed into him, saying thanks.

They walked side by side and she got him to describe what the kitten looked like. She said she loved cats but it was hard to find apartments that allowed them. She talked about the ones she had growing up, and how much she missed them. As they chatted he eventually noted that she was as much interested in walking and talking with him as she was in looking around for the kitten.

He was getting more and more sure that she had an ulterior motive with all of this. It was technically possible she was just trying to get to know him better, but he felt like he was getting into dangerous territory with her again. This time though, he somehow didn't feel as worried. He was so demoralized with Elaina and their screwed up relationship he almost didn't care. A part of him almost wanted something to happen, so he'd actually have the guts to leave her....Almost. Because thinking about it made him concerned about himself, and he made a mental note that he had potentially more at risk than just his relationship, if anything happened between him and Beth and word got out about it in the clinic.

They never found the kitten. He learned a lot about Beth though as they chatted. She had been big into volleyball in high school, and still played in a rec league. She also apparently had been quite an accomplished dancer. She had been getting really serious into ballet, but she insisted that after she went through puberty she didn't have the figure for it anymore. He hadn't quite been sure of the specifics of that, but didn't want to start a conversation about her body. He had been impressed nonetheless. She liked sci-fi movies as well, but for different reasons, getting more out of the gross-outs and jump-scares of aliens and monsters, though seeming to at least pretend to be interested when he talked about the actual scientific theories behind some of the movies and the moral quandaries they posed. He had expected eye-rolling, but got an endearing smile instead.

One o'clock approached, and the kitten didn't appear to be anywhere. She suggested they get some cat treats to put in a dish outside the clinic that she could see through the front window from her desk, so they went into the pharmacy to grab some. After they found the aisle, Jon said he wanted to see if Carly was in. Beth hesitantly agreed and followed him to the back.

Sure enough, she happened to be working right at the counter and waved with a surprised smile when she saw him. She was beautiful, as he knew she would be. She had her hair loose and it cascaded in blonde waves down onto the front of her soft shoulders and onto the skin of the top of her chest. A white frilled top, only showed a hint of cleavage but was fitted well over the contours of her breasts to indicate their enormity, and a thin green wool sweater covered her arms. She looked so hug-able he wanted to jump over the counter and wrap his arms around her.

"Hey! To what do I owe the pleasure?" she said, leaning forward on the counter casually.

"Well, there's a stray kitten hanging around here since yesterday, and we're trying to find it, so we thought we'd try some cat treats to lure it in," he explained.

"We?" she asked, and then looked behind him. "Oh! Hey Beth."

"Hey," Beth smiled politely, and gave a small wave.

"Don't suppose you've seen it?" Jon asked.

"No, unfortunately. Is it super cute?" she asked, scrunching up her nose and looking super-cute herself.

He laughed, "Yeah. I mean he looked like life's been hard on him already, but he's super tiny."

"Awww. Well if I see him I'll let you know. You're such a sweetheart trying to rescue a helpless little thing," she flashed a dimple at him.

He blushed hard. "Thanks. Anyway I just wanted to say hi, I'll let you get back to work."

She sighed, "I guess... See ya Saturday, it's gonna be fun I think." Her eyes twinkled at his.

"Yeah you bet. Later," he grinned widely and turned around.

Beth gave another polite wave and walked with him. There was a bit of an awkward silence and a couple doubtful looks from Beth as they walked back to the till.

"You guys still hang out a lot?" she asked him as they stood in the short line, looking up as if she was trying to read his face.

"Oh, uh Carly? Yeah we hadn't for a while there, but we reconnected at Jeff's party a couple weekends ago actually," he said trying to sound casual.

"Ah," was all she said in reply.

Jon paid for the cat treats and they put it outside the clinic. Beth said a genuine thanks to him for helping her look for the kitten, and that she enjoyed their walk anyway, then squeezed his arm again with a smile and went back to her work.

The afternoon clinic got much busier unfortunately. He got lost in a maze of phone consults trying to sort out one complicated patient, and couldn't catch up afterwards. It ended late and he had a ton of notes and papers to catch up on.