Doctor Clause (Doctors of Eastport General)

Chapter Eighteen

Stephen

Christmas Eve.

It was a crisis no one was prepared for. The Santa hired for the children’s ward party cancelled at the last minute and kept the already-paid fee. With only a few hours’ notice, finding another suitable Saint Nick was impossible. There were no options to explore.

“Who was in charge of hiring Santa?” Leeona bellowed. She wasn’t the same meek gal who crocheted items while being belittled just a few weeks ago. Now, her voice was heard. Her opinions mattered. She was a strong, independent woman and everyone knew it.

“I was,” Menerva admitted. “He came recommended by a trusted source. I have no idea what happened.”

“We got scammed,” Gerty, a new mom in the group, hissed. “That’s what happened. You should have checked him out before paying him.”

“Or paid him after the job was done!” Leeona exclaimed.

“He needed the money to buy Christmas gifts for his kids,” Menerva argued. “He was in the same bind as we are. Of course, I believed him. Who goes around thinking everyone is out to get them?”

“Normal people,” Gerty huffed.

He slipped away while the women were squabbling, heading to the dreaded basement and the room of useless items, or mostly useless since one piece of the hoarded garbage was actually needed.

The bear stared him down, unwilling to give up its treasure quite so easily. It leaned to the left. He went the opposite way, grabbing a still sealed package right out from under its nose.

Timber!

The race was on. The bear toppled over, hitting a rather large pile of sequined lab coats. What they were for was anyone’s guess. After that, the domino effect came into play.

He ducked right, narrowly missing being hit by flying rubber bats. The course changed, veering left at the mountain of what he hoped were fake spiders, but who knew? They might have been the real deal, nesting among the mess.

It was hard to ascertain the truth about anything once the dust was disturbed. Tiny particles floated down in no hurry to return to the spots from whence they came. Individually, they were almost invisible to the naked eye. In large quantities, however, they obscured not just vision, but all of the senses.

“Achoo.”

His nose wasn’t running fast enough. It had been caught. The rest of him still had a chance. The exit was in reach—only a few more steps.

Both arms rose over his head. “Goal!” He made it, barely, but he escaped the wrath of the giant teddy bear unscathed for the most part and with the treasure.

Ding!

The elevator doors were slow to open.

“Where have you been?” Leeona gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. “Where did you find that get up?”

“Gag gifts,” he replied, fixing the white beard and moustache. “Is it straight? How does it look? I didn’t have a mirror.”

“It looks fine,” Leeona replied. “I thought you hated the whole Santa thing.”

“I do,” Stephen admitted “Or, I did. I figure I might as well go with the flow. I have a feeling that calendar picture is going to be around for a lot longer than a year.”

“Oh, yeah,” two voices said at the same time, Lenny and Jordan exchanging glances.

“Did you two come to pick up your orders?” Leeona asked. “I am curious. You both ordered more than one copy.”

“One for the basement, while watching movies,” Lenny said.

“One for the bathroom, one for the bedroom,” Jordan added.

“One to ruin on the very first night,” Lenny chuckled.

“So, they aren’t gifts?” Leeona’s brow arched.

“Oh, they are,” Jordan said, fingers snapping. “These are gifts for myself. The money goes to a good cause. I’m happy. The kids are happy.” One finger extended toward the man with whom the passion was shared. “Are you happy? I think you are, but I’ll ask anyway.”

“I’m pretty happy,” Lenny agreed.

“Lenny is the photographer,” Leeona explained.

“Really!” Jordan exclaimed. “I would’ve just kept a few pictures for myself.”

“I can’t do that,” Lenny said. “There are contracts in place to stop me from exploiting the models. The job is a thrill though.”

“I would love to hear all about it,” Jordan said, intertwining their arms. “Maybe I could book a shoot some time.”

The two strolled off down the hall to the designated party room. She heard them entering from down the hall.

“Yoo-hoo,” Jordan whistled, joining the party as if it were thrown for him in classic Jordan style. “I just wanted to drop in and say hello.” He strutted in, motioning for Lenny to follow. “I’m normally stuck down in emergency, but have a small break, so I thought I’d come see you all.” Everyone knew him, the orderly with flair, always searching for love, but never finding the right man.

“I hope that works out for them,” Leeona said, cracking a grin. “And thank you for being our Santa. You look oddly sexy with a big belly and a white beard.”

“Thanks, I think,” he said. “A guy who eats billions of cookies in a single night probably shouldn’t be a role model for kids everywhere.”

“Don’t spoil the mood.”

He jumped. The smack on his ass wasn’t anticipated. “Hey, now. I have to sit on that tush for an entire night in a cold sleigh. Don’t make things any worse.”

“Go spread some joy,” she chuckled. “The kids are waiting.”

He slung a big red sack over one shoulder. “Afterward, how about we spread some joy together?” He added a suggestive wink.

“Do a good job and I’ll throw in something much better than milk and cookies,” she replied. “I might even let you unwrap your present early.”

Laughter filled the halls for the next hour. The kids were happy. The visitors were happy. Leeona was happy.

And for once, on Christmas, he was happy.