Page 10 of Finding Wonderland

“Eh, I’ll deal with that tomorrow.”

Turning to leave again, her eyes fluttered across a chart sitting in a small box on the desk. It was in a pile to be filed, if the label on the box was any indication. The hospital had recently been uploading its files onto a new computer system that would keep track of the records electronically. If it were any other name on the chart, she would have walked away without issue. But it was the name staring up at her that made her pause.

Isla Mackenzie.

Before she had time to second guess what she was doing, Vera sat at the desk, opened the chart, and dialed Isla’s number. It rang once, and Vera nearly hung up the phone.

“Hello?”

Every word in the English vocabulary left Vera’s mind. Whatever Spanish she’d retained from high school went out the door with it.

“Hello?” Isla repeated.

Say something! Vera pleaded with herself.

“Hey.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s, um, Vera. Vera Forsyth. Dr. Forsyth.” Vera smacked her hand against her forehead. She was an absolute idiot for calling Isla. And so late, as it was after seven. “I’m sorry to call so late.”

“It’s okay,” the panic in Isla’s voice indicated it was anything but okay. “Is something wrong? They called last week with my blood work and said everything was fine and I picked up my prescription last week and I…”

“Everything’s fine,” Vera blurted out. Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths, Vera continued. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I called.”

“So,” Isla hesitated, “everything is okay?”

“Yes.”

Isla exhaled in what Vera could only assume was relief. “Good.”

Silence filled the line as they both seemed to think of what to say next. Vera had zero game when it came to dating. Not that she was trying to date Isla. She wasn’t. She was making sure she was okay. Checking up on patients was part of her job, right?

“So,” there was a slight laugh in Isla’s tone, “why did you call?”

“Oh, I, um,” she twirled the phone cord around her finger as she tried to think of an excuse that would be passable, “just wanted to make sure you were settling into the Cove okay.”

She exhaled sharply, suddenly realizing she had been holding her breath.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Vera shrugged, despite the fact Isla couldn’t see her. Then she admitted, “You’ve just been on my mind. And I was thinking of you today and thought you might want to grab a coffee or something. As friends,” she quickly added.

“We’re friends?”

“We could be, I guess.”

“Do you make it a habit to make friends with all your patients?” There was a certain coyness in Isla’s voice that drove Vera wild in the best way.

“Just the ones who leave an impression.”

Isla laughed; or rather, giggled. “I left an impression?”

“Well, it’s not every day that someone like you shows up in my life.”

Okay, that was definitely crossing a line.

Vera had switched into flirting mode, and she knew it violated more than one rule the hospital had in place. Especially since she was making the call on one of the hospital’s phones. She could easily be fired for that; what was she thinking?

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