Amelia
Snow was softly falling as I carried my hot chocolate and wandered around the small holiday market. It was a beautiful morning, and I’d taken advantage of my day off to do some Christmas shopping.
I took a sip of my hot chocolate and stopped at a fudge stand, choosing my flavours just as my phone rang. I quickly selected the last two flavours and handed the vendor the cash while I answered my phone. I hoped it wasn’t work. I’d already put in the allowable amount of overtime for this month, and if it was, I’d have to turn down the shift. It wasn’t something I liked to do, but it would be something I’d have to do, unless Connie would approve the overtime.
“Hello!” I sang into the receiver.
I heard a throat clear and then a cough. “?”
“This is she,” I said, not recognizing the voice.
I heard whispering, followed by a throat clearing, followed by more whispering.
“Um, it’s Dalton. I mean Doctor Frost. I mean Dalton.”
I frowned. He sounded nervous and unsure of himself, which wasn’t like him. I worried I’d missed a meeting or something because I couldn’t figure out why else he’d be calling. It was his day off as well, so I knew it couldn’t be work related.
“Yes? Is there something I can help you with?” I questioned.
“I’m so sorry to bother you on your day off…but I needed to ask you something.”
“It’s okay, but I will, um, have to get you the answers tomorrow once I’m in the office,” I answered. “I’m not much good without my notes and the client files in front of me, I’m afraid.”
“It’s not work related,” he said, his voice shaking. “I guess you could say it’s more of a personal issue.”
I frowned. A personal issue. Dalton didn’t seem to be the type of person to need help in his personal life. I listened, curious to find out what he could want.
It was then I heard Claire in the background and then a muffled response from Dalton.
“I see. Well, what is it you need?” I questioned, frowning as I listened to muffled voices again, certain Claire must need something.
“Sorry about the interruption. I have a favour to ask. I’m wondering if you could spare a little time today to come and see Claire. She has a bit of a problem and would like to speak with another woman, as she puts it.”
I softly smiled. Claire was a sweet girl, and if she needed someone, there was no way I’d turn her down. I’d hold up my promise.
“Sure, I can. I just need the address,” I said, glancing at my watch.
“75 Sycamore,” Dalton replied.
“Okay, um, I should be able to be there within the next couple of hours,” I answered.
“Great, thank you, .”
“No problem.”
I’d taken my time finishing up at the holiday market before heading home to get ready. I showered, pulled my hair back in a bun, and quickly did my makeup before I hopped into my car and made my way over. I pulled up outside the two-story home, put my car in park, and cut the engine. Grabbing my purse, I made my way to the front door, careful not to slip on the snow-covered walkway.
I was about to knock when the door opened abruptly, and there stood Dalton. At first, I thought I was at the wrong house and looked up to make sure it was the right place. I barely recognized him. He wore blue jeans and a T-shirt, and I couldn’t help but notice he was barefoot. He looked so different dressed in casual clothing.
“, thank you so much for coming over,” he said, an actual smile on his face.
Where is Dalton Frost and what have you done with him, I thought to myself as I stared at this incredibly sexy man. That was the only thing running through my mind as I stepped into his house and he closed the door behind me.
“I hope you didn’t mind me calling you. Claire has been having a terrible morning. Mrs. Jenkins would normally deal with her, but she is on her weekend off and, well, I didn’t want to call her, but I didn’t know what to do. She insisted she couldn’t talk to me about it. She claimed it was a woman’s issue.”
I smiled, almost laughed. It sounded funny that she wouldn’t talk to her father about a woman’s issue, considering he was a gynecologist.
“What’s so funny?’ he questioned.
“I think you know what is funny,” I added as I followed behind him, glancing into the living room as we walked through into the kitchen where I found Claire sitting at the kitchen table, her cheeks flushed, her eyes red. Had she been crying?
“Hey, Claire,” I said, smiling down at her.
“, you came!” she said, jumping up and running over to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“What’s going on?” I questioned, giving her a one-armed hug.
I glanced over at Dalton, who stood there, coffee mug in his hand, watching us. He leaned up against the counter, and for the first time, I noticed how his muscles flexed in his forearms and how strong his hands were. I’d worked with this man daily for a year and had noticed none of this before. When I looked back down at Claire, I noticed she glanced over to Dalton and then back at me.
“Can we go talk in private?” she whispered.
I looked back over to Dalton, who cleared his throat. I was expecting him to force her to talk to me here, but he surprised me.
“You can use the backyard if you like.” He nodded, gently smiling at Claire.
“Thanks.” I looked down at Claire, who slipped her hand into mine and led me to the backdoor.
Once outside, Claire nodded to four empty chairs in the middle of the backyard. I followed her over, and we both took a seat.
“So, what is going on that you can’t talk to your dad about?” I questioned.
Her cheeks flushed, and she shook her head. “It’s embarrassing,” she mumbled.
“Okay, well, how about you just take a deep breath and tell me?” I smiled.
Claire did as I suggested and, without looking at me, she murmured, “I woke up this morning and there was blood in my bed,” she said, almost near tears.
I gently smiled, remembering when I’d gotten my first period. It was almost identical to what had happened to Claire. The only difference was I had my mother to talk about it with.
“Mrs. Jenkins wasn’t here, and I couldn’t tell my dad.” Tears filled her eyes.
“It’s okay. No need to cry. I can help you with this, no problem.” I smiled, reaching into my purse and pulling out a pad. “You’ve gone over these things in health class, I take it?”
Claire nodded. “I just had nothing in the house, and I didn’t want to ask Dad to take me to the drugstore because I’d rather die. I was going to wait until Monday when Mrs. Jenkins was here, but I wasn’t sure I should.”
“No problem. How about I take you to the drugstore? We can get you some supplies and you can ask me all the questions you’d like to ask in private. Sound good?”
Claire nodded, smiling at me. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Now why don’t you head on up to your room, get ready, and I will take you to the drugstore.”
“Okay,” she said, getting up from the chair and shoving the pad into the pocket of her jeans. “Oh, and, ?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell my dad, okay?”
I flinched a little, not sure I really wanted to keep something like that from her father. I softly smiled. “Honey, don’t you worry. I will talk with your dad, but I’m almost certain he will understand. He deals with this stuff every day at work. There is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I know. I just don’t want him to know.”
I softly smiled. “It’s okay, I will talk with him,” I assured her. “Now go on and get ready.”
I gave her a moment to head into the house and then got up and made my way inside, where I found Dalton still in the kitchen, still barefoot, drinking his coffee.
“Everything okay?” he questioned the moment I came inside.
“Yes, everything is fine,” I answered.
Without asking, he poured me a cup of coffee and placed it down in front of me, which I gladly accepted and took a sip.
“She really had me worried. She’s never refused to speak to me before.”
I walked over beside him and looked out the back window out to the sprawling yard I’d just sat in.
“She doesn’t want you to know, but you need to. She got her period,” I said.
Almost immediately, Dalton’s cheeks flushed as he tore his eyes from mine. “I see. Well, that definitely called for needing another woman.”
I’d never seen him act this way before. “Are you okay?” I questioned.
“Yep, thanks for coming over,” he said, swallowing hard.
“Dalton, are you embarrassed? You deal with these things for a living.”
Dalton met my eyes. “Not embarrassed. Guess I forgot how old she really was. Most days I look at them and still see them as five years old.”
“Gotcha. Well, I told her I’d take her over to the drugstore and get her some supplies.”
Dalton looked at me, relief washing over his face. I was about to ask him if he was okay when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I glanced at him.
“Say nothing.” I whispered.
“My lips are sealed,” he whispered back, gently smiling.
“Ready to go?” I questioned, turning to see Claire standing on the other side of the island.
“Yes,” she answered.
I made my way around the island and began following her to the front door when Dalton cleared his throat and called my name. We both turned to look at him.
“I was wondering if perhaps you might like to join us for dinner tonight?”
“Oh, well, I—”
“Please, !” Claire begged.
I smiled at her and then looked over at Dalton. I really didn’t know how to take this at all. First, he was more human than I’d ever seen, and second, he was inviting me into his home to have dinner with him and his kids.
“I mean, if you already have plans, I understand. I just thought it might be nice…”
“Say no more.” I smiled. “I’ll stay.”
“Yay!” Claire screamed.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I listened to Claire and how excited she was for me to be staying for dinner as I followed her through the house and out to my car.
Dalton had ordered in from The Golden Lotus, a new Thai restaurant in Eastport. During dinner, Claire and Tommy shared stories about their week at school and about some of their favourite hobbies. Once the food was gone, the table cleared and dishes were done, Dalton made us a coffee and left me in the living room while he went to tuck both kids into bed.
I now sat in the living room, sipping on the hot coffee, flipping through a magazine while I waited for him.
“Sorry about that. Tommy wouldn’t stop talking about that one kid at school that invited him for the weekend to the cottage,” Dalton said, coming over and sitting down on the couch beside me.
“Not a problem.” I smiled. “He seemed pretty excited about the invite at dinner, too.”
“Yeah, that is Tommy. I haven’t even given him a yes or no yet.” Dalton chuckled.
“Well, I hope it’s a yes, otherwise I think he is going to be pretty upset,” I said, thinking back to how excited he looked.
Dalton chuckled. I wasn’t sure I’d ever even heard the man laugh before. Dalton was good-looking. I’d always thought so, and he had a really pleasant smile too, and there was a glint in his eyes as he looked at me. Today was the first time I’d seen a personality to match the total package.
The room grew quiet as we looked at one another, and soon his sombre face returned. I swallowed hard as I placed my mug down on the table.
“Well, thank you once again for dinner. Really, you didn’t have to,” I said, reaching for my purse.
“It was my way of saying thank you for helping me with Claire.”
“Like I said before, you don’t need to thank me,” I said, feeling annoyed as I dug into my purse for my keys. Finally, I felt them and looked over at Dalton, ready to announce my departure.
“Like I said before, I know you don’t like me very much,” he said. “In fact, I’m almost sure you probably hate me.”
I frowned and sat back, looking over at him. He seemed almost vulnerable.
I placed my keys back down on top of my purse, waiting for him to talk, but he just studied me.
“Like I said before, I don’t hate you. I don’t have room in my heart for hate. I will say I don’t like the way you treat people.”
I could tell from the look on his face he knew how he was treating people was wrong, which if he knew that, then I wondered why he continued.
“I think I’m going to head home,” I said, shifting myself to the edge of the couch to stand when he grabbed my hand. I looked down to where his hand rested on my arm and then over at his face.
“I…I didn’t use to be this way,” he murmured. “So short and cold with people.”
I could tell from the look on his face that whatever he was about to say was serious and that he needed to share whatever it was. I shifted on the couch and turned my hand around so his rested on mine.
“What happened?” I questioned.
“It was November, snowing bad. I was working nights in the emergency. It was a busy night. Claire had called to say good night right as the EMTs brought in two stabbing victims and a car accident. Immediately, I took the accident, saying good night to Claire. I rushed over to the room where they were working to get the patient stable.”
As I watched him, I noticed the colour had drained from his face and knew immediately what he was going to say, but I let him continue, not wanting to stop him. He obviously needed someone to talk to, and if I was that someone he was comfortable sharing with, then I’d be the ear.
“I shoved the curtain to the side and began reading over the extent of the injuries. Broken leg, possible broken pelvis, broken ribs, oxygen levels were low, suggesting maybe a punctured or collapsed lung, possible internal bleeding as well. As I made my way to the head of the stretcher and looked down at the woman who lay there, my world stopped. Every ounce of air that had been in the room was gone, the room spinning out of control as I looked down at my wife.”
I closed my eyes, blinking away the burning feeling that was certain to become tears. I couldn’t imagine how he must have felt at that moment.
“In that moment, the noise of the emergency room fell away and every memory my mind held flashed before me. The first time we met, the first time we kissed, the first time we…our first home, our first baby, our second baby….the trip we’d just taken to Hawaii. Panic filled me and the room continued to spin out of control. That was when I turned and vomited on the floor. I couldn’t ever remember a time that I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think. All I could see was her beautiful face laying on that stretcher as I sunk to my knees in shock. The RN who I normally worked with immediately noticed and she came over and that was when they called the code.”
“Oh, Dalton…” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears as I gripped his hand a little tighter.
“It literally felt like hours as they worked on her, not minutes, as it truly was.”
Dalton fell quiet as we both sat there. The look of heartbreak combined with sadness pulled at my heart. It wasn’t a wonder the man was the way he was. He’d suffered not only a devastating loss, but had seen it with his own eyes. It would cause the warmest, caring person to turn inward.
“When I heard that flatline, I knew my entire world was about to change, only it didn’t just change, it literally stopped.”
My heart hurt for Dalton and for Claire and Tommy.
“Dalton, I’m sorry, I did not know.”
“I wouldn’t have expected you to,” he quietly answered.
Almost immediately, I remembered all those horrible things I’d said to him that afternoon when I’d lost my composure. How horrible he was, how his significant other must hate being around such a grumpy man. Those words were now that bitter pill I had to swallow and made me feel like a fool.
“I think I’m going to get going,” I said, swallowing hard, wishing I’d never said those words to him.
Dalton nodded and whispered, “I understand.”
“Before I do, I want to apologize for all the things—”
He placed his forefinger on my lips, silencing me. “No need. They needed to be said,” he whispered, meeting my eyes.
Embarrassment and anger flooded me. They didn’t need to be said. I should have been fired over those words. I’d overstepped. I’d attacked his personal life, and that wasn’t professional in the slightest.
I grabbed my purse and keys and made my way to the front door where I slipped my shoes on. I could barely breathe at the thought of my words from that night.
When I turned to say goodbye, I didn’t expect Dalton to be right there. His body was so close to me, I could feel the heat pouring off it. His eyes met mine, and I felt him take my hand in his.
I had no idea what was happening inside me at the moment. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to know what his lips would feel like against mine. I wanted him to take me in his arms and pull me against him. I wanted to feel his body against mine, but most of all I wanted to take his pain away, if only for a moment or two.
My heart pounded as I studied his eyes and silence fell between us. The longer I stood there, the warmer I felt, and the realization that I was about to cross a professional line was staring me in the face.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work,” I whispered, as something in my brain forced me to stop thinking that way.
“Good night, .”
“Night, Dalton.”