Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

TO SAY AUbrIE was surprised with Bran last night would be an understatement. When he peeled off the facade and finally started being real, there was a relatable person in there. They were both highly-trained doctors in difficult specialties, and shared similar experiences. But most of all, he made her laugh. They joked with each other, and he could take the jabbing. He wasn’t that into himself that it hurt his ego, which contradicted her judgment when they first met.

Although they had agreed to start over yesterday morning, today felt like the actual reboot. She arrived early again for work—too curious about what would keep them busy—to wait out the extra half hour she had after getting ready in the apartment. Even though Edith brushed off Aubrie’s offers of help, Aubrie helped out anyway, making sure the rooms were tidy while Edith made copies of a form.

When Bran showed up before Doc Bernie, her heart skipped a beat. “Ah, so you can show up on time.”

“Excuse me. I’m not on time. I’m early.” He grinned slyly. “And I brought some pastries from Crescent Cafe.”

“Oh, don’t mind if I do.” Edith checked out the flaky, buttery goodies in the white box. “Thank you, Bran.”

“Yes, thank you,” Aubrie conceded. She couldn’t help but indulge in a chocolate chip croissant, using her other hand to catch the flaky crumbs before they landed on her blouse.

The windows afforded a view of Doc Bernie hustling down the sidewalk toward the office.

“He’s in a hurry.” Aubrie looked at Bran, again anxious about what was in store for them.

Doc walked through the front door. “Morning.” He eyed them eating the pastries. “Oh, good to see you eating. You’ll need that energy.”

Bran crossed glances with Aubrie again. “About that, Doc. What exactly are we doing today?”

Doc shook the raindrops off his coat and folded it in half, hanging it over one arm for the time being. “We’ve got two crews lined up for their annual physicals.”

“Two?” Bran’s shocked face worried Aubrie.

“Crews?” Aubrie was confused.

“Fishing crews.” Bran stuffed his hands in his pants pockets.

“That’s right,” Doc Bernie said. “It’s hard to get them to come in for checkups throughout the year due to their schedules. So, when they know they’ll be in town, I just go ahead and make it a day.”

“But two?” Bran asked. “I’m hoping the smaller boats?”

“Harpeth Rose and—” Doc clicked his fingers, as if the sound activated his memory. Aubrie caught a slight shake in them. Perhaps he was anxious for the busy day ahead. “Midnight Gully.”

Aubrie shook her head almost in sync with Bran’s reaction.

“Why are you shaking your head?” Bran asked.

“I’ve heard the name Harpeth Rose a lot since arriving. I met one of the crew members, Cynthia, at Doc’s party.” She grabbed a napkin to wipe the butter off her hands. “Why were you shaking your head?”

“You’ve heard about Harpeth Rose because it’s the most famous fishing vessel in Maiden’s Bay. And I was shaking my head because it’s one of the longest, with the largest crew.”

“Shouldn’t be too bad. Twenty or so patients today.”

“Twenty?” Aubrie calculated the time in her head. Depending on the extent of the physical, and if any of them had underlying conditions to go over, each one could take twenty minutes or more. That was nearly seven hours of work right there.

Edith waved the stack of papers in her hand. “I made twenty-five copies of our standard physical form, just in case.”

“I can’t imagine it’ll be worse than a busy night in Seattle, Bran. Or full day’s work in Dallas.” He looked at Aubrie.

“No, I guess not,” Aubrie agreed. “But the earlier they get here, the better.”

As if on cue, three people entered the practice. The oldest wore a purple UW cap, his unshaven face sporting stubble a few days old. The man beside him had lighter hair, but a thick beard, and wore boots over his sweatpants. The third was none other than the woman Aubrie had met Saturday night.

Aubrie approached her. “Cynthia, you didn’t tell me you’d be in this week.”

Cynthia smiled. “I didn’t know myself. Captain told me last night that since we’re all here, we need to have our physicals.”

“Personal policy,” the older one said. “I like to make sure everyone stepping on my ship has the okay from Doc, here.”

Doc Bernie shook hands with the man. “I hope you’ll entrust your crew with my two proteges.”

“If you trust them, that’s good enough for me.”

Doc turned around. “Nick Campbell, this is my grandson, Doctor Bran Jackson, whom you may already know.”

Nick touched the brim of his cap briefly in greeting. “I believe we’ve crossed paths here and there.”

Bran nodded in agreement.

“And this is Doctor Aubrie Turnbridge.”

Aubrie reached out a hand and shook the rough, strong hand of Nick Campbell.

“This is my brother Ben, and it sounds like you know our greenhorn, Cynthia, already.”

The greetings ended, and they stood in awkward silence. Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “We thought it best if we arrived in smaller shifts instead of all at once. My crewmembers don’t particularly like waiting around.”

“Which is ironic,” Ben said, “since that’s most of what we do on the ship.”

“Yeah, when you’ve chosen where to set pots,” Cynthia chimed in. She lightly elbowed Ben, who sneered at her in jest.

“All right, let’s not keep our patients waiting,” Doc Bernie said. “Nick, I can see you in my office. Ben and Cynthia, go ahead and pick a room.”

Aubrie was about to offer to take Cynthia when Doc spoke up. “Aubrie, go with Cynthia. Bran, Ben.”

Aubrie was certain Cynthia wouldn’t have cared who performed the physical. She had to live with a group of men for days on a ship, after all. The things Cynthia had to see or hear were outside of Aubrie’s imagination. But when there’s a woman doctor available, why not make her a little more comfortable? At least Doc Bernie had the same idea, which made Aubrie feel better.

The first round of physicals took about as long as Aubrie had anticipated. Another five men were in the waiting room when Aubrie and Bran finished around the same time. They each took another, and as the day went on, it seemed like the crewmembers multiplied.

She worked as fast as she could while remaining thorough. Some of the men explained the physicality of their jobs, and the extent wasn’t lost on Aubrie. She agreed with Captain Nick. No one should be out on the boat doing that kind of work if they had any major issues to worry about.

By one o’clock, Aubrie’s stomach growled. The pastries Bran had brought were long gone, which Aubrie guessed were consumed by the waiting patients. She went out to the lobby for the next patient, catching Bran in the middle of a conversation with one of them.

“We just want to be able to see all of you today. I know you won’t want to have to reschedule.”

“Take one of these others.” The young man pointed to the other three waiting.

“What’s going on?” Aubrie asked.

The young man’s hostility melted into a smile.

Bran huffed, turning to Aubrie. “This fine gentleman insists on being your patient.”

Aubrie eyed Bran. For a second her stomach turned. It wouldn’t be the first time a creepy man tried to get close to her. Being in med school, especially at that younger age, there were men who made snide remarks and even tried to touch her during rounds. She appreciated Bran’s effort to talk the patient into being seen by him.

Aubrie looked over the patient. Nothing screamed ax murderer or creep externally. In fact, his five o’clock shadow gave him a handsome ruggedness, and he glanced at her with a little embarrassment.

“It’s fine,” Aubrie said. “I can take him.”

“Are you sure?” Bran raised his eyebrows, genuinely concerned.

She leaned closer, whispering in his ear. “I’ll knock on the wall if I’m in any trouble.”

Bran hesitantly nodded and accepted the next patient to volunteer.

Aubrie signaled for the young man to follow. “Your name?”

“Garrett Philhouse.”

“Doctor Turnbridge. But you can call me Aubrie.”

He nodded and smiled as they entered the exam room. Garrett took off his worn ball cap. He sported a longer cut, a few locks having escaped the confinement of the hat before taking it off. He ruffled his hands through it. Indeed a handsome man.

But Aubrie needed to get through this. She instructed him to change into the gown and returned a few minutes later. She nearly broke in laughter at the site of the man—handsome eyes, gorgeous hair, and at the bottom of his legs, green socks with a pattern of brown fish on them.

“Those are some socks.” She inspected them closer. “Bass?”

“Trout. I go fishing on my off-time, too.”

“Hmm. I’ve never been good at identifying fish.”

“I can teach you.” He gave a smile again, and Aubrie refocused on the task at hand. “I’m sorry,” he said. “If I made you feel uncomfortable. That wasn’t my intention. It’s just that—well, when I saw you, you kinda took my breath away.”

Aubrie felt her face reddening by the second.

“I just thought, I have to talk to her. I couldn’t leave here thinking I didn’t even bother to introduce myself.”

Aubrie exhaled, her nerves feeling a little more at ease. The patient, however, remained quiet, perhaps embarrassed with his words.

She performed the exam, listening to his chest, checking his ears and throat, pulse and blood pressure.

“Well, looks like you’re a healthy twenty-eight-year-old. Let Nick know you’ve got the okay from me.”

He nodded.

“You can change back and leave whenever you’re ready.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Aubrie filled out the rest of the physical form and handed it to Edith to enter into the system. Garrett walked out of the room and headed for the lobby, Aubrie not far behind to call back the next patient.

“Okay,” she said to the three men waiting.

Bran arrived at her side, giving her a nod. She knew it was a question—asking if she was okay.

“It was fine,” she said.

“I’m sorry.” Garrett turned away from the front door. “I’m usually not this forward, but… I was wondering….” He took off his hat again, ran his hand through his hair. “Would it be too much to maybe go out for some coffee or a drink or something some time?”

One waiting patient whistled, while another let out an “ooo.”

“Come on, give the guy a chance,” the whistler said.

“He’s a good one, that Garrett,” said the other.

Aubrie was flattered, staring at her feet before looking up at Garrett again.

“You’re not actually considering this?” Bran said, out of the corner of his mouth.

Aubrie wondered if his expression was that of being appalled or… was it jealousy?

“You’re new in town, right?” Garrett asked. “Maybe we can go for a walk, show you the town?”

Aubrie bit her bottom lip. Dating was not something she anticipated doing here. Nor was competing with another doctor for the position. But she didn’t know many people. And despite the initial awkwardness, Garrett had only been polite and sincere. It didn’t hurt how good looking he was.

“Okay.”

The men waiting cheered, and Garrett stood there with a grin.

“Call Edith, she’ll give you my number.”

Garrett nodded and left with an extra bounce in his step.

“I can’t believe you agreed to that,” Bran said.

“Why not? Am I not allowed to meet people? Go on a date here and there?”

Bran’s chest swelled with his deep breath.

“Besides, aren’t you supposed to call… Macy, is it?”

Bran held up a hand. “That’s an entirely different situation.”

Aubrie chuckled. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Bran’s expression turned scornful, though he didn’t hold it for long. “It’s different because she’s not my patient.”

“Neither is Garrett. For all I know, this was just a one-time exam.”

Bran huffed a few seconds more before calming down. “All right. Do what you want. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Warn me? About what?”

He leaned in closer to her, his whispering breath tickling her neck. “These fishermen. They’re different. Yeah, they’re tough, but fishing will always come first with them.”

“Several of the men were wearing wedding bands. Including Ben and Nick. Cynthia even told me Nick is married to that news lady I met, Josie.”

“So, you were scoping out Captain Nick, then, too?”

Aubrie’s jaw dropped, and she let out a scoff. “No, I was not . I’m observant, that’s all. My point is, many of these guys are married, and it works out for them.”

“Well, just be prepared to hear more than you want to know about crabs and squid and fish. Pretty gross if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you, did I?”

The men waiting eyed the two of them. Aubrie wondered if they heard every word.

“I just want you to be aware. They’re not here all year.”

“That can be a good thing.”

“They come and go on their own schedule, and you’ll have no say.” He shrugged.

“Where is this coming from?” Her voice grew louder than a whisper.

“Just someone I knew.”

Aubrie’s eyes grew wide. “I think I see now. This is about you, isn’t it? Let me guess. You dated someone, or wanted to, but they ended up dating a fisherman. Am I close?”

Bran cleared his throat, adjusting his lab coat around his collar. “That’s silly. It was a high school into college thing. Went our separate ways. You know, why am I telling you this? It doesn’t matter.”

Aubrie bit her tongue, but her grin wasn’t so easily concealed. Bran had been hurt. Who knew he had it in him? But this wasn’t all about him. He was concerned for her wellbeing. He had enough respect for her that he didn’t want to see her hurt.

And no matter what her past thoughts on Bran were, she had to admit that she was flattered.

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