Chapter 44
44
‘Do you believe in love at first sight, ladies? I never thought I did but for the first time in my life, I think I’m head over heels in love.’ Michelle clutched both her hands to her chest and visibly swooned when the doctor she was referring to walked through the accident and emergency department. She was literally all of a dither.
‘I thought you’d sworn off all men forever, Michelle. And anyway, I thought you liked Seamus?’ I questioned. Bearing in mind that Emma and Michelle had recently nicknamed Seamus ‘the best fake-dater’ when he had accompanied her to a work function. Even though there was nothing in it apparently, she’d come back swooning over how wonderful he was. At the time, I thought that she was just clearly braver than me in being more accepting of his possible bisexual status.
‘He was just helping me out by coming along to the do at work. If he hadn’t, I’d have been the only one without a partner. It was really nice of him, but I got a bit fed up of all the Jo this, Jo that. Seriously, Jo. You cannot see what’s in front of you, can you?’ Michelle said.
Puzzled, I could feel myself frowning at her.
‘She’s right, Jo. He was the same when I went out with him recently to that awards ceremony. All he talked about was you. There was me thinking this widow might be going to get her leg over for the first time in ages, and there wasn’t even a sniff of a kiss, let alone any sexy time.’ Emma sniggered. ‘And I literally offered it to him on a plate.’ She lowered her head and sniffed her armpit. ‘Unless it’s just me he wasn’t interested in. Ridiculous as that might be.’ She winked at me.
‘Well… I even slept in the same bed as him and he didn’t so much lay a finger on me. Maybe he’s just not interested in having a partner at all. Of any sex.’ I remembered waking up in the hotel room and he’d already got up, dressed and had gone out for a walk.
‘It’s as clear as day, Jo. He literally never stops talking about you or following you around like a lost lamb. How can you not see what we can see? I’m sorry but I think somewhere down the line you’ve got something very wrong.’
Gulping, I couldn’t bear to believe what they were telling me. I’d told myself that when he offered to take out Emma and then Michelle that he was probably just a serial shagger and that he loved having lots of women fighting over him. What if I was wrong? What if I’d totally misunderstood his intentions towards me? In a bit of a daydream, I heard someone saying my name and looked up to see a nurse rolling her eyes at the fact she’d had to repeat it because no one had responded to her. I stood and she led me through to a cubicle with Michelle and Emma by my side. She took a lot of information from me, despite my friends trying to answer all the questions on my behalf, and then left, telling us that a doctor would be with us as soon as they were free.
‘Anyway, let’s get back to talking about me.’ Michelle was quite excitable considering our location. We were all cramped up in a small cubicle. ‘Imagine if it was Doctor Hottie. Could we ever be that lucky?’
‘It’s actually nice to see you getting excited about someone for a change,’ Emma said. ‘It’s about time you let someone into your life. Not everyone will let you down and you’ll never know if you don’t try. I had so many happy years with my man before he died and there must have been times when Jo and Michael were deeply in love, even though she hates him now.’
‘I don’t hate him, it just makes me sad.’
‘It makes you sad that he’s now trying to screw you over for your inheritance? I’d be fucking livid.’
‘Yes, actually, that’s a very good point and I am fucking livid. I can’t believe he’d do that.’ I could feel the heat rising up my neck.
The nurse who had been in previously popped her head around the curtain.
‘OK, ladies, please calm down and remember why we’re all here, please.’ Michelle pulled a face and Emma flicked her fingers up as she closed the curtain again. Honestly, these pair were like kids sometimes.
‘Why don’t you two go and grab a drink or something?’ I suggested. ‘There was a vending machine in the foyer. I’m fine, honestly. The pains seem to have subsided now.’
Reluctantly, Michelle left but only on the condition that I allowed Emma to stay so I wasn’t alone. Then she flounced off, dramatically closing the curtain behind her.
Predictably, Doctor Hottie appeared the moment she must have turned the corner and Emma and I exchanged a grin as he approached me. Softly spoken, he introduced himself as Dimitri and he had the hint of a soft Greek accent. He was very thorough in his questions and said he’d like to run a few tests just to be sure that all was OK, but also said that he was pretty confident that it might have been a panic attack given the circumstances. He must have thought me ridiculous, bothering a busy accident and emergency department with something so silly, but he was very kind and said that we absolutely did the right thing by getting me checked out. His big brown eyes bored into me as he talked and even I felt like I could get lost in them. He raised a hand and ran it through his messy, curly dark brown hair and stood to leave.
The next scene unfolded as if in slow motion. Footsteps approached the cubicle and Michelle very loudly said, ‘I’ve looked everywhere for Doctor Hottie but I think he must have gone off shift. Just my bloody luck. The first gorgeous man I’ve seen in months and he’s disappeared.’
The curtains were flung open and she and Dimitri just stood and looked at each other. It was almost as if time stood still. They both flushed the colour of beetroot and continued to stare at each other. Even Emma and I exchanged a glance. Michelle then suddenly turned on her feet and left as quickly as she had arrived.
‘I’m so sorry about our friend. She doesn’t get out much.’
He laughed. ‘Well, if she was talking about me, then I’m flattered.’
‘She was definitely talking about you. She spotted you ages ago and hasn’t shut up about you since.’ I think once the words left Emma’s mouth she regretted it because she immediately closed up, not wanting to betray her friend.
‘I’m honoured. She is a very beautiful lady.’ With that, he closed the curtain behind him and Emma and I giggled.
‘What the hell happened then? Did we just see Cupid at work?’
We chatted and laughed about how funny it would be to tell the story of how they met, in our little fantasy world. When Michelle returned around ten minutes later, she had a smile as wide as the ocean. She plonked herself down in a chair and crossed her arms.
‘You will never believe what’s just happened to me.’
‘Oh, I love a guessing game,’ Emma replied. ‘Let me see. You just bumped into David Beckham in the corridor.’
‘Ha! I wish. I wouldn’t be sitting here now if I did. I’d have dragged him into a side room and shagged him senseless. That’s what they all do on Grey’s Anatomy .’
‘What? Shag David Beckham? I didn’t know he was in Grey’s .’ Emma laughed. These two, honestly.
‘No, the doctors and nurses in Grey’s all shag in a side room or cupboard.’
A little voice came from the other side of the curtain and a head popped through. It was the nurse who initially brought me in.
‘Hello, my name is Chelsea and I can honestly tell you that none of the doctors and nurses in this hospital, in the twenty years I’ve worked here, have been shagging in a store cupboard. We don’t have the time and if we did, we certainly wouldn’t have the energy.’
We laughed at her. This was the first time she’d cracked her face since we’d met her and I realised that, rather than my assumption that she just had a resting bitch face, she was probably absolutely knackered.
‘On Grey’s , they diagnose everything with iPads too. It’s very clever and I wish we had them but it’s good old-fashioned healthcare here, I’m afraid. The only doctor worth a raised eyebrow is the one you’ve just seen and he’s absolutely not interested in any of us lot. We all thought he was gay to start with but we don’t think he is. He just keeps himself to himself. Shame but it’s nice to have someone to drool over while we’re at work.’
I looked over at Michelle, who was still grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and I knew her well enough now to know that she was bursting to tell us something.
The nurse took some bloods from me and left us alone again.
‘Come on then. You’ve clearly got something to tell us.’ I grinned at her behaving like a schoolgirl.
‘Oh. My. God. I went to the coffee machine after I’d totally and utterly embarrassed myself and who came up and stood right beside me but Doctor Hottie.’
My hands flew to my mouth.
‘I wanted to crawl up my own arse and disappear but unfortunately there was nowhere to hide.’
‘So what happened next?’ Emma moved to the edge of her seat.
‘He nudged my shoulder and said hey.’
‘He did not!’ Emma practically yelled.
‘Did too! And then guess what?’
We waited with bated breath. She was so enjoying the drama of the situation. She should definitely be on the stage.
‘He only asked me for my number.’
‘He did not!’ Emma yelled again.
‘Can you please not piss on my bonfire? He bloody did. He asked me for my number and asked me if he could call me.’
‘What did you say?’ I asked.
‘Well, obviously, I said I’d rather he didn’t and that I wasn’t the type of woman who picked up random men in hospitals.’
‘You did not!’ It was me who yelled this time.
‘Of course I bloody didn’t. At first, I said that I didn’t date. He asked me why and I said that if you don’t date, you don’t end up falling in love, falling out of love and then having to nurse your broken heart.’
‘Michelle, you muppet! What did you say that for?’
‘Because it’s bloody true. But guess what happened next?’
We both looked at her, eagerly waiting for the next line.
‘He said that maybe you date, you fall in love and you stay in love. He also said that if you don’t try, you’ll never know the outcome and surely that once in a lifetime, you should take a gamble and maybe things could work out better than ever before. Maybe soulmates were a real thing.’
‘Oh! My! God!’ I was proper excited for her and really hoped that she would take notice.
Emma raised her eyebrows. ‘So?’
‘He said he was going to ask me again and hoped that this time I might have changed my mind. And then he asked me if I was ready to be asked.’
‘He’s a keeper! I love him already.’ We both laughed at Emma’s enthusiasm. ‘What happened next? God! This is like trying to get blood from a stone. Did he ask you again?’
She nodded. ‘I tried to say OK and act really cool, but I couldn’t stop smiling at him. He took my phone from me and put his number in. He said he’s working for the next few days but wondered if I might like to grab lunch when he’s next free.’
‘Oh, Michelle. How exciting.’ Emma reached across and squeezed her hand.
‘I know. Who’d have thought it? After all this time of not looking for someone, I found them when I least expected it. Thanks, Jo, for having a heart attack. I really appreciate it.’
‘Well, Doctor Hottie said that he thinks it was just a panic attack. Classic symptoms apparently.’
‘But just imagine, if you’d never felt ill, we’d never have come here and I’d never have met my future husband Doctor Hottie.’
We laughed at her getting carried away with herself. It was lovely to see her excited about a man. Maybe this would make her realise that there are some nice men and that you just had to put yourself out there. Make the most of opportunities. And yes, I was totally aware that this was quite ironic coming from me. However, I think I was still processing what they’d said earlier about Seamus really liking me. Just when I had resigned myself to the fact that I’d probably be on my own forever and never have another big love in my life, they threw that at me. Now what did I do with that?