Page 11 of Capricorn Blessed

“The sex,” I say with a wince. I knew this would be an awkward conversation, but it was worse than I imagined. “I typically am not a fuck on the first date type of girl, but I couldn’t control myself last night. It felt so right and like we are meant to be together.”

“I’m not either,” he answers. “But I’m also not a stick around until the next morning type of guy either, so it looks like we are both breaking our norms. But I felt so comfortable here and with you. It’s like I can’t walk away and go back to being casual work friends. I need you in my life more than I’ve ever needed anyone… God, now I sound like a stalker.”

I shake my head. “Normally, yes, but I think there is more at play here, and neither of us realized. At the risk of sounding insane, I think we are destined to be together whether we want to or not.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we like each other than, isn’t it?” he asks, stepping out of the room so I can finish getting ready. “I’ll wait out here until you’re ready to head to work.”

We walk through the main doors side by side. The subway ride to work had flown by. If I had any doubts that he was made for me, they were quickly fading.

Getting on the elevator, we each push our separate floors for the morning shift. When the elevator dings for my floor, we part with a quick peck.

I go to the doctor’s lounge, open my locker, and pull out a clean pair of scrubs to change into.

“Did I see you coming in with Dr. Hayes this morning?”

I startle at the sound of Cynthia’s voice, not having seen her in here.

“Yep,” I answer.

“Was it on purpose?” she persists.

I pull on my top and turn to her. “Yes,” I answer quickly, turning back around.

“Girl, you need to share the deets!” Her voice rises as she speaks.

“It’s still new,” I respond. “But we went on a date last night that lasted until this morning. It was nice.”

“Did you do the deed?” she presses. “You had to for it to have lasted until the morning.”

“I’m not talking about this at work.” I shake my head. “I like my job too much and don’t intend to get fired.” I slip on my Sketchers and hastily exit the room.

I walk to the central desk and look at the stacks of files ready and waiting for today. I grab the top three and slump into a chair, opening them to review who I’m about to see. Not too bad. Two patients recovering from surgery and one trying to prevent surgery. I close the files and carry them with me toward the waiting room.

The morning passes with patients coming and doing a variety of exercises to try to continue building strength.

I finally reach my last patient before lunch, a four-year-old who needs to strengthen his hips and legs to be able to walk up and down stairs.

I find him and his mom in the waiting room.

“Mrs. Jones. You and Sam can come on back.” I hold the door open as she grabs his hand and they shuffle back to the therapy room.

“How are you today, Sam? Learn anything new at school?”

He nods.

“Use your words,” his mom reminds him.

“We learned about the rip in the sky,” he answers.

“Rip in the sky?” I ask, leading them to the corner of the room.

“Stars are going away. My teacher says we may lose planets too!” he continues.

“That sounds scary,” I tell him. “Let’s start with moving from sitting to standing without our hands.”

He moves to the bench and plops onto it.

“Remember, we are working on controlling going up and down.”

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