Learning To Trust Again

Rebecca found a chance to speak to Doctor Ian Nichols towards the end of her shift. Most of the backlog of patients had been cleared and while they waited for one to return from x-ray she said sounding as casual as she could ‘so Ian, I didn’t know you knew Jake?’

He smiled and raising an eyebrow countered ‘I didn’t know you knew him either.’

Rebecca smiled too, ‘I met him a few days ago. He helped me out of a tricky situation.’

‘Really, care to elaborate’ he asked with obvious interest.

‘Ah no’ Rebecca said ‘let’s just say he has excellent timing.’ After her brother’s reaction when she’d told him what happened she wasn’t interested in hearing anyone else tell her how stupid she was being. Changing the subject she then added ‘I’ve never seen him in here though.’

‘He’s been in a few times’ Ian said ‘I got chatting to him the first time I patched him up and found out he knew my brother Eric. They’re not in the same unit but they have worked together on different assignments over the years. They socialise a bit too and I’ve seen Jake at a few of Eric’s gatherings. My brother has a great deal of respect for Jake as a cop and a person and from what I’ve seen, so do I. He’s a good guy.’

‘That’s what I thought’ Rebecca said, not looking at him, a little distracted with her own thoughts.

But feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden, her focus moved back to the doctor, as she became aware of his eyes resting on her. Rebecca raised her own to look at him and seeing the curious look he was giving her, she looked away again and tried to think of something to say to deflect his attention. She was worried he was going to ask her questions she didn’t want to answer at present. After a second she blurted out ‘sounds like we’re all of the same opinion.’

She could feel Ian continuing to give her a speculative look as he muttered ‘hmm, seems like it.’ Then after a pause he said ‘Jake’s not an easy guy to get to know.’

Rebecca looked up.

‘Like any of us, he’s known his fair share of suffering’ Ian continued ‘but he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. He keeps to himself.’

Rebecca studied him. She could tell from his words that Ian had guessed her interest wasn’t just professional in nature and she grimaced on the inside, hating that she had given herself away so easily. But that concern was of secondary importance to what Ian had said. She got the distinct impression he was trying to tell her something, without actually telling her.

And as he stopped speaking she was thoughtful. She nodded ‘okay, good to know, thanks Ian.’

‘Sure’ he said then jumped off his perch on the reception desk. Indicating over her shoulder that the patient they had been waiting for was being wheeled back into their department he said, ‘let’s get this guy away and then we can finish up.’

Rebecca smiled ‘sounds good to me, this shift seems to have gone on forever.’

‘I know what you mean’ Ian said.