It was both a seachange and a career change for Megan as she moved up the coast to a regional city away from friends and memories. Five years before she had been deliriously happy- wife to Matt, a carpenter who worshipped the ground on which she walked and mother to Ellie, a carefree five-year-old who loved singing and dancing and baby Ted whose smile lit up the room and made everyone smile back in return. She taught violin to a small group of children from the studio Matt had built in their back yard and was contemplating returning to the stage in the city orchestra she had taken indefinite maternity leave from. It all shattered when Matt was driving Ellie to ballet one Saturday morning with Ted also in the backseat and they were t-boned by a drunk driver killing the three of them instantly.
Megan spent six months wallowing in grief before a friend from her orchestra introduced her to a grief counsellor who helped her start seeing light. She returned to the orchestra, but her heart was not in it. Her home was not the same, so she sold up and with the proceeds and Matt's life insurance decided to travel and try and work out how to reinvent herself. At 29 she discovered that travel was not all she had imagined. The men she met all wanted one thing and intimacy was the furthest thing from Megan's mind. It was in a small pub in rural England where Megan met Jill, a nurse from her home state. Jill had taken a holiday while her boyfriend studied for his medical exams. In two weeks they had travelled to the tip of Scotland and Megan had decided that she too would study to become a nurse.
Megan kept in touch with Jill throughout her studies and even travelled to Jill's hometown for a placement. It was no surprise given Megan's nurturing nature she was a natural nurse and was offered several positions once she graduated. With Jill's encouragement she moved upstate to her new life. Jill, and her now husband Brad, were the only two to know about Megan's past and Megan aimed to keep it that way. She yearned for Matt's touch and to play with her children at the park and kiss them as they lay asleep at night, but that life was gone.
Ten months into her graduate year and Megan was gaining a reputation as an inciteful, caring nurse and received commendations from patients and those with whom she worked. There was a fulfilment in her life that had been missing since the accident. She was used to being asked by her older patients if she had a husband and would always reply 'A very handsome gentleman, yes!' however the question always brought a tear to her eye and brought up memories that still caused pain.
Trainee doctors rotated throughout her ward. Some showed immense potential, some got on people's nerves. One such doctor was Will. Will was incredibly smart and had an air of arrogance. He appeared not to acknowledge nurses when they brought concerns about their patients to him and made them feel that they were not being valued when in reality Will's brain was working at a thousand miles per hour. Megan had had a string of stressful shifts with one patient deteriorating shift by shift and no one knowing what the mystery illness was that ailed him. She was holding onto the thought of a weekend off- a concert that evening in the park by a visiting orchestra, the annual medical ball the following night and a day off to recover and prepare herself for her next string of shifts. Towards the end of her shift she confronted Will with her concerns about her patient. As usual he brushed her off. Infuriated she approached her team leader who listened and counselled her that Will would be gone from the ward in a couple of weeks and she would pass these concerns onto Dr Brown, the consultant and Will's boss.
Megan had not tried to make friends in her new hometown. She had Jill and Brad and was not ready to open up to anyone else. She did not mind that she was heading along to a concert by herself and was rather relieved as she did not know how her emotions would play out knowing the final piece on the program was Albinoni's Adagio, the piece she had played at Matt, Ellie and Ted's funeral. Megan was surprised to see the crowd at the concert when she arrived twenty minutes before start time. She had walked down from her apartment with a picnic blanket and some cheese and crackers to enjoy whilst listening to the music. She found a spot under a tree where she laid out her blanket ensuring she was surrounded by singles and couples away from the families who had gathered for the music.
It was a perfect Summer evening and the sun was setting over the amphitheatre as the music was about to start. Megan had laid herself out on her blanket and was reading the program for the evening with her sunglasses on and sunhat covering her face when she heard a slight cough.
"Um, excuse me, Miss, would you mind if I moved your blanket slightly to sit here, it's more crowded than I was expecting?"
Megan recognised the voice and her heart dropped. She looked up and removed her glasses.
"Dr Will," she sighed, "No, that would be fine."
It took Will a few seconds to realise who she was. A sundress, hair down and sunglasses was not how he was used to seeing the nurses from work.
"I'm sorry, but I can't remember your name, but I think you are Brad and Jill's friend." Will stumbled out, his usual charm escaping him.
Fortunately, the orchestra started tuning up so there was no need for further conversation. The sound of the tuning took Megan back to her past life. She began thinking of Matt and a tear escaped down her cheek. A Mozart symphony started the program. Megan was impressed at the interpretation, especially the slow movement. At the interval she had forgotten she was basically sharing a blanket with Will. The murmuring of the crowd brought Megan back to the present.
"I was just going to grab a drink, Megan, can I get you a something?" Will asked.
Megan replied that she was fine thank you and had brought her water. As Will walked away she caught sight of his shapely butt as he brushed grass off it. She scolded herself for thinking anything about another man, let alone one who didn't respect nurses. Studying the program, Megan realised that a former colleague, Russell, was playing with the second violins. She knew she would have to seek him out after the show. She did not notice Will return to the blanket until an ice-cream was placed in front of her face.
"Megan, I owe you an apology and whilst I wouldn't normally talk shop outside of work, I brushed you off this afternoon when you indeed held the missing piece of the puzzle to room 17s illness. Dr Brown has severely chastised me." Will looked as though he had been rehearsing that speech in his head for hours.
"Thank goodness you have some answers for him, Will, I have been worrying for days about him." Megan replied as she accepted the ice-cream.
