Page 9 of Finding Wonderland

“Yup. So, I need to go to school.” She nodded firmly, sitting up in her seat as if she were ready to have a full-blown discussion with Isla about school. “Tomorrow,” she stated.

Although Isla knew Mason was too young to start kindergarten, she could at least look into pre-K classes for her. If anything, it would make Mason happy and would give Isla the chance to either pick up more hours at the restaurant or find another job. As much as it pained her that her baby was getting old enough for school, she knew it would be good for her.

“Well, I’m not sure you can start tomorrow, but I’ll see if I can get you into school soon, okay?”

“Can you do it before lunchtime so I can get chocolate milk?”

“I’ll do my best,” Isla laughed as she stood, placing a kiss on Mason’s head. “Why don’t you go get ready for a bath, okay? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay, Mommy!”

As Mason bounded off to the bathroom, Isla put the pizza box into the fridge and rinsed out their cups in the sink. She made a mental note to ask Maggie tomorrow when she dropped Mason off if she knew of any pre-K programs she could enroll Mason in.

Or maybe Vera would know.

“Isla, really,” she scolded herself. “She’s a doctor, not a teacher.”

Shaking her head, Isla tried to put the thoughts of Vera out of her head. Which was going to be easier said than done.

Chapter 4

Vera

Aweek had passed since Isla Mackenzie had visited the office and Vera had yet to get her off her mind. There was something so captivating about those dark brown eyes that Vera struggled to focus on her work all week thinking about them. And her one day off had been completely ruined by not-so-subtly wandering around town in the hopes of accidentally running into Isla. Her plan had failed, of course. For all she knew Isla didn’t even leave the house that weekend.

And it wasn’t as if Vera could ask anyone about her. Isla was new to town; the odds of someone knowing her were slim. But even if they did know her, what was Vera supposed to say? She couldn’t say she wanted to meet up with a patient for coffee and make sure she was okay. It went above and beyond the call of duty and way past the inappropriate lines she shouldn’t cross as a physician. Which was why Vera needed to accidentally bump into her somewhere else.

If only Vera’s entire world wasn’t the hospital.

She had friends, sure, but she’d seen more of her coworkers than her friends the last few months. Her hours at the hospital were also all over the place as she often worked eighty-hour weeks to get as much practice under her belt as possible. Most of her meals recently had been taken in the skills lab on the top floor of the hospital as she tried to hone in all the necessary skills she’d need during her career.

But all that was coming at the expense of a life outside of the hospital. Vera knew work wasn’t everything, and she definitely wanted a family someday, but her love life had been so nonexistent that it had been easier to pour herself into work than dating. She knew that was the issue though. At some point, she’d have to cut back at work if she wanted to have a family and cultivate a life outside of the bland hospital walls.

Ugh.

Vera repeatedly pressed the button for her floor on the elevator as she mindlessly ate out of the bag of chips in her hand. Her lunch of leftover spaghetti had been less than filling, but she didn’t have time to go down to the cafeteria for more food. She’d settled for the bag of sour cream and onion chips, and silently prayed she had time to brush her teeth before her next patient.

By the end of her shift, Vera plopped down in an empty seat on the couch in the lounge completely exhausted.

“I helped deliver not one, not two, but three babies today.” Vera rested her head on the back of the chair and yawned. “I’m so tired.”

“Not as tired as those moms are,” Bonnie Taylor yawned beside her. “You did good today, Forsyth. I have no doubt you’ll be one of my best prodigies.”

“My goal is to be the best, not one of the best.”

Bonnie chuckled. “A lofty goal.”

“Yeah well, I’m not one to settle for second place. When I want something, I go for it with everything in me.”

“That’s what will make you a great doctor.” Patting her knee, Bonnie stood and stretched. “I’m going to head home. You should do the same.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Once Bonnie left the lounge, Vera slowly stood and gathered her things out of her locker. She had been upgraded from a cubby under a desk to a locker last month and nearly bounced with joy the whole day. Lockers were reserved for doctors not in a fellowship as a way to distinguish between the two. Vera took it to mean the doctors liked her enough to consider her one of their own. With any luck, she’d have a job at the hospital after her fellowship. Or maybe she could even open her own practice up through the hospital. Either way, Vera could see herself staying in Moonflower Cove forever.

While the maternity wing would be busy all night with staff, the gynecological wing was only staffed during regular business hours. Although the hospital and the town of Moonflower Cove had grown rapidly over the years, they still managed to keep most of the doctor’s offices within one building. This not only made it easier for patients, as they could get a variety of services done at one central location, but it also helped staff from having to travel back and forth for procedures and surgeries. Vera liked the style of it; it felt very small town to her. She also liked that she could have her hands in so many departments at once without ever leaving the fourth floor.

Pushing open the door to the gynecology office, Vera made her way past the exam rooms and nursing station to the exit to the stairs that led to the parking garage. But a flicker of light at the nurse’s station caught her attention. Someone had not only gone against hospital policy and lit a candle, they had left it burning. Vera hurried over to it, blowing it out quickly. She knew she’d need to tell someone about it, but didn’t like the idea of getting anyone in trouble.

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