Page 34 of My Heart Before You

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Esteemed colleagues. Our newest member of CTSB, Colin Abernan and I have a long history. We attended medical school together and have been the best of friends ever since. In those good old days, we used to sing and play this song, and I’d love it if you’d all join us tonight.” Max arrived at the piano as he finished his last sentence.

Colin flexed his fingers over the keys and pressed into the familiar ebb and flow of the entrance as Max hummed the part of the song traditionally played by the harmonica. When his friend’s warm baritone voice sang the first of the lyrics several whoops went up from the group. Colin rocked with the cadence, relaxing into the song he hadn’t played in years. Max finished the first verse and swung his arms up to encourage everyone to join in, and the room reverberated with the well-known words.

He smiled to himself, sneaking a quick look around the room. Kate was staring awestruck at her husband, who was obviously relishing in his long since discarded limelight. The rest of his friends and colleagues were swaying and singing along, some with drinks raised shouting out the chorus as it came. They went back and forth finishing the second and third verses before coming to his favorite part. He thundered the keys along to Max’s strong voice as the song closed toward the end.

Everyone joined in the last repeat and once he’d played the last chord, the room erupted to screams and cheers. Max took a deep bow, winking at his wife, and then pointed to Colin. He put up a humble hand, standing and moving from behind the piano bench. Max grabbed his arm and held it up like he was a champion boxer who’d just won a match, and Colin couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s theatrics.

Eventually, the cheers died down and the DJ started playing a dance mashup of Christmas songs. The three of them retreated to the bar for another round. En route they were given hearty praise from their alcohol emboldened peers.

He turned to his friend after they gathered their drinks and raised his glass. “Well done, Max. That was fun.”

“Just like old times.” Max returned the toast.

Kitty and a man her age stopped by the bar. “I knew you both could perform in the OR, but that was a surprising delight.” She made introductions for her husband in the tweed suit and hands were clasped all around.

“Do you guys know any more songs?” her husband inquired.

Before Max could get a word in, he answered for him. “We had a few more, but those have long since been retired.”

Kitty tutted, “Too bad.”

The conversation switched to work, and the residents’ holiday attire. Kitty gushed over baby pictures of Owen on Kate's phone, brimming with excitement about becoming a grandmother herself in a few short months. Letting his attention wane from the discussion, Colin looked out around the crowded room.

Over in the far corner, a small dance area had been designated and a good crush of people were on it. Towards the windows on the edge of the dance floor, he saw the backs of two of the male residents in their ornate holiday suits. Facing them were two women.

He could see the first easily; she was nearly taller than the men in her high heels. Colin recognized her as one of the nurses from upstairs, Ashley. The space between the men’s shoulders widened as they moved around, and he caught a glimpse of the woman standing next to her. His breath caught in his throat, and he resisted the urge to cough.

Emilie was wearing an off the shoulder emerald green mermaid dress that hugged her body before flaring just above her knees. Her exposed collarbone was unadorned, but she wore long sparkling earrings surrounded by soft, undulating curls. A large strand of her mid-back length hair draped over her left shoulder and bounced lightly as she turned her head to address either man as they spoke.

He’d never seen it fully down, the closest was the half ponytail when they’d been in the elevator. It seemed unreasonable for something as simple as hair to be so mesmerizing.

Colin rose like a man possessed. “I’ll be right back,” he offered to the group before him, setting his drink down and pressing across the room.

Other colleagues stopped him a few times on his passage over, but he kept visual tabs on her while he politely made his excuses from each conversation. After what seemed like an eternity, he arrived at the foursome clasping a hand on each of the men’s shoulders.

“Barnes. Shulze. Everyone loves the suits.”

“Thanks Dr. Abernan!” The resident in the candy cane striped suit grinned widely. “It was Brian’s idea.”

Shulze, in the reindeer suit, bowed his recognition in an exaggerated way, obviously inebriated.

“Ladies.” He nodded to both of them, trying hard to evenly spread his eye contact between the two in a casual way. “Good to see you outside the hospital.”

All he wanted to do was stare at the gorgeous miniscule freckles fanning Emilie’s delicate shoulders and dotting their way to her cleavage. With a quick glance to the side, he noticed Shulze losing his battle with the same issue.

“Colin.” Emilie smiled at him at the same time Ashley replied, “Dr. Abernan.”

Hearing his name through those lips was its own kind of pleasure. Their blissful formation of vowels and consonants seemed heightened since they were painted a bright holiday red.

Ashley slightly arched a golden eyebrow when Emilie spoke his name instead of his professional title. “Enjoying the evening? That was quite the performance earlier.”

He controlled the speed of his eyes as they bounced between the women, silently gauging Emilie’s reaction, before waving his hand dismissively. “Max likes to have fun.”

Shulze slurred, “Dr. Campbell’s the best. He always has the funniest jokes. Like the one . . .”

The resident lurched towards the women raising his hand to tell the joke before suddenly losing his footing. He took a few rapid, exaggerated steps forward before face planting into the thick pane window, nearly taking Ashley down with him. Luckily, she sidestepped him just in time before he hit the glass with a loud thunk.

Barnes quickly recovered his friend, taking him by his shoulders. “Excuse us. I think it’s time for a glass of water.”

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