My cyst, which had been really good for quite a while, was now starting to hurt. I’m sure it was the running that did it. I was bound and determined to not say anything to Doc. He would probably make a big deal out of it being my fault for running from him. I took my pills when he wasn’t looking and hoped they would keep the pain level down.

Doc isn’t stupid, though, and he always seems to know when I’m hurting. Usually, he will comment on it and make me admit to it. This time, he didn’t. In fact, he asked me to make supper, which he never does when he knows I’m in pain.

“Can you do it, Doc? I have to bring the horses in and feed them.” Karen was no longer coming over to do the supper feeding. She was still doing the morning one and cleaning stalls, Doc wouldn’t let me do it. He wanted me to make an arrangement to pay Karen to do it on an ongoing basis or find someone who was willing and able to. He didn’t like me doing it with my arthritis. He even said he’d cover the cost, which was not necessary as I was quite able to. I didn't fight him on the idea of hiring someone to do morning chores – it had been getting hard to get through them myself, especially when all 10 stalls were filled. Karen was thinking it over, she had been considering taking a part time job, this would be perfect as she enjoyed being around horses and it was right next door to her.

“You can make supper after you do that. I’m not hungry yet, so you have plenty of time.”

I knew darn well what he was doing. He was trying to get me to admit that I was in pain and not up to cooking. Well, it wasn’t going to happen if I could help it.

He came into the barn as I was giving the horses their grain. They already had their hay. This was a first. The only two times he’d been in the barn were when Copper was sick and earlier that day when he had chased me.

“Wow, Doc - twice in one day”, I said when he came through the door.

“Twice what?”

“You’ve come to the barn twice in one day.”

“The first time wasn’t exactly voluntary.”

“Sure it was, Doc. You chose to chase me.”

“You’re walking a little oddly”, he said as he followed me down the aisle of the barn. I was pushing a cart that had a tin can with grain in it for each horse. It made it much easier than feeding one or two horses, then going back to the grain bin for more.

“Nice change of subject, Doc.”

“What’s your pain level, Meredith?”

“It is fine, Doc.”

“Number?” I didn’t answer. “Meredith, answer me. What is your number?”

“3”

“Bullshit.” Doc doesn’t swear often. When he does, it's a good idea to pay attention.

“It really is, Doc. I took a couple pain pills.”

“For your leg or your cyst?”

“Both.”

“Which is the 3?”

“Leg.”

“What’s the cyst?”

“5”

“What was it?”

“7”

“I thought so. Want a pain shot later?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t need one. I’m fine.” I finished feeding the horses and wheeled the cart back to the grain bin to refill the tin cans for morning (they are old coffee cans with lids). The grain in the bin was getting low so I had to lean in to get a scoop. Doc slapped me on the butt as I was leaning in. “What was that for?” I asked when I stood up.

“For lying about your pain being ‘fine‘.”

I bent down for another scoop and got another slap. The next time I came back up, I pulled my pants down and said “If you are going to slap my butt, make sure it’s bare first”, and I bent over again.

“Hmmmmm….let me look at that beautiful ass of yours. It is still very red, Meredith.”

“Gee, I wonder why, Doc!” I said when I stood up.

“If you ever figure it out, let me know, hon.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind and hugged me tight. “Let me give you a shot for the pain, I know running made it come back. But I want you to ask me for it.”

“Why, Doc?”

“You never ask me for anything such as pain meds. It’s almost like you would rather suffer than admit that you can’t handle the pain. I want you to work on that and be comfortable asking.”

“This isn’t a punishment for running from you?”

“No, hon. The spanking was your punishment.”

When I was finished getting the grain ready for tomorrow, I swept the aisle, then Doc and I walked back to the house. I put my arm around him. “You okay, hon?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. I need to lean on you a bit, though.”

“5, my butt, hon. Those pills didn‘t help much, did they?”

“They helped.”

“By how much?” Doc stepped in front of me and put a hand on each side of my head. I looked up at him. “It’s okay to admit you are in a lot of pain, hon.”

“Doc, it’s not in my nature. I don’t want to be seen as a wuss.”

“Nobody will think you’re a wuss. Anyone who does can just bugger off, as you would say.”

When we got back to the house, I went upstairs to shower. It was all I could do to climb the stairs. Afterwards, I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep because next thing I remembered was Doc putting a blanket over me. “Have a nap, Ms Hottie. I will bring supper up to you.”

Doc did bring supper up and he ate in our bedroom with me. Yes, I thought of my bedroom as “ours” now, even though we still maintained separate residences.

He would not let me go downstairs and help him with the dishes and clean up. I turned on the bedroom TV and looked for something to watch. I had had satellite installed a couple years ago as I’d gotten tired of only getting a couple stations.

By the time Doc came back upstairs, my pain was worse. I was ready to give in. “Doc, can you please give me a pain shot?”

“Bad, eh?” I nodded. “How bad?”

“7”

“You mean 8 or maybe 9.” I nodded. “Ok, hon, let me get my bag.”

As he was getting everything ready, he said “I’m going to give you a Gravol shot, too. I know you get nauseous when you are in so much pain. You don‘t need to be throwing up your dinner.”

When he had given me the injections, Doc disposed of the waste, then lay down on the bed. I snuggled up to him and he put his arm around me. “I‘m going to give this some time to work, then I want to feel the cyst to see if it‘s bigger.”

“Please, no, Doc. I think I’ll throw up if you push on it.”

“That’s why I am going to wait for both shots to work, hon.”

A half hour later, he was palpating my pelvic area. It hurt like a bugger, even after having pain medication. “I don’t think it’s gotten any bigger, but you are overdue for your 3 month ultrasound, so I’ll get a requisition faxed over on Monday.” In the meantime, you are on bed rest for the remainder of the weekend. I was too sore to argue. “I really wish you’d let me take that thing out, hon.”

I sighed. “Doc….” I knew I should tell him the real reason I didn't want the surgery, but I was afraid he would think I was a wimp for being afraid of it. It was easier to say I didn't want the six weeks of down time.

“I know, I know”, he replied. “I’m going to keep trying, though.” He lay down beside me and I snuggled up to him. The pain medication was making me drowsy. Some time later, Doc woke me up to get undressed and get under the covers, but I was so out of it, he had to help. I went back to sleep feeling very lucky to have him in my life.

That Monday, Dr Beckett did another xray and gave me the okay to ditch the air cast (and take the wrappings off my wrist) as long as I used a cane for a couple weeks. Neither Doc nor I told him about the run to the hay mow. Of course, Doc would have to admit to chasing me and why if he had said anything to Dr Beckett.

I was healing well, but worried about the scars left from the surgeries and the cuts that had to be stitched. I thought it would make me less desirable to Doc. I guess I hadn’t really thought of it until I was walking around without anything covering them. “They don’t bother me, hon”, he reassured me. “You are beautiful just the way you are. Your scars do not reduce my desire for you.”

By now, he was spending some weeknights at his place, but more often than not, he’d come out to the farm after work. He had brought some clothes to leave here so that he would not have to worry about bringing something for the next day each night he came out. I had cleared out a dresser for him and given him half of the walk-in closet.

It was early October and Thanksgiving was approaching. For my non-Canadian readers, our Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. We had not made plans yet.

“You okay with inviting Karen and her family over, Doc?”

“Sure, hon. But I have never cooked a turkey before.”

“Say what?”

“Seriously, I never had reason to.”

“Well, I can do the turkey, I’ve cooked lots of them.”

“I’ll do the side dishes.”

“We make a good team, Doc.”

“That we do, hon.”

Doc finally got to experience my wood stove and toast done over an open flame. “You are so right hon, this doesn’t compare to an electrical toaster!” After that, he had to have toast over the wood stove fire every morning during the winter, and he still does.

“I’m gonna make a farm boy out of you, Doc.” I was teasing him, I know there is no way Doc would ever be a true farm boy, but I am okay with that. He accepts me as I am and I accept him as he is. And he has never tried to tell me how to run my farm, unlike the country boys I had dated previously. The closest being when he tried to suggest I get rid of my horses back before we were a couple. He has never made that suggestion since.

I had the ultrasound the Friday before Thanksgiving and like the last time, Doc went with me and watched the scan. He talked with the technician and she told him the cyst was now 10.8 cm. A small increase in size, but the way Doc talked, you’d have thought it had doubled. The only way I could get him to settle down and drop the subject was to agree to consider surgery early in the new year.

My pain was a lot better. I had been following Doc’s advice and hadn’t done much except supper feedings, which he let me resume on Tuesday. I hated being idle, but it was so hard to do anything anyway due to the pain.

Friday night Doc and I were sitting in the TV room after supper. I like sitting in there to talk instead of the living room as the big picture window looks out over my front yard. Though this time of year, it was dark by the time supper cleanup was over. I had started a fire in the fireplace. One of these days, I needed to teach Doc how to do that.

“I’d like to take you some place nice for dinner one of these days”, Doc said.

“Sure, Doc. When would you like to go?”

“That was easier than I thought it would be.”

“Really? Why did you think it would be hard?”

“I know it’s not your thing.”

“You have come to a couple country events with me, Doc. It’s only fair that I do things you like to do.”

“How about next weekend? Maybe Saturday?”

“Sounds good.”

“It’s a date, then.” Doc smiled.

Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch. We had it on Sunday so that Doc could have Monday to rest before going back to work on Tuesday. Sitting at the dining room table, I couldn’t help but think of the couple times he had put me on it so that he could insert a speculum and check the damage Eric had done. Of course, he had put one of those absorbent pads under my butt so that no body fluids would get on the table. Still, I thought of it and wondered what my friends would think if they knew they were dining at a table that had been used for such a thing. I had to suppress a giggle. Doc could tell and he winked at me, indicating he knew what I was thinking.

The first time Doc had me up there, I was too upset to think of anything but what had happened at the clinic. The second time was a week or so after, he wanted to check to make sure the cut had healed. I was feeling a lot better, so was more able to relax. Doc touching me to insert the speculum actually turned me on. I had let my mind wander a bit and imagined him doing it for fun instead of in a serious situation. I needed to find a way to find out if he would consider doing it for a non clinical reason. First, though, we had to consummate our relationship. I had a feeling that was going to happen on Saturday night after our dinner out.

On Wednesday, I went shopping for a new dress and shoes to wear on our date. I cannot wear high heels without risking breaking my neck, so chose a pair with a two inch heel. Even those, I wasn’t sure about, but I didn’t want to wear granny shoes. I also bought some lingerie and candles.

Saturday was here. Karen had offered to do the supper feeding and to take Jessie to her place for the night. Doc said he’d let me get dressed first. For some reason, he would not get dressed with me in the room. I got it that he maybe felt self conscious since we’d not had sex yet, but heck, he’d seen *me* naked! He wouldn’t even let me see him bare chested - even when he had pants on. I wanted him to be comfortable, so I didn’t make an issue of it.

Thankfully, my pain issues behaved themselves for our date. We had a lovely dinner at Doc’s favourite upscale restaurant. I was out of my element but I wasn’t a bumbling fool either. I’d been raised to have manners and knew the basics about fine dining. Any time with Doc was time well spent, I enjoyed just being with him.

After dinner, we went to a quiet bar for a drink. There was a rock concert going on in the city, it seemed everyone was there. It (the concert) was neither Doc’s nor my thing. The bar had someone playing piano. He even asked me to dance a couple times on the small dance floor. We left after just one drink as he will not drive after more than two drinks and we had had wine with dinner.

Back at home, I asked Doc to stay downstairs until I called him up. I went up to our bedroom and lit the candles I’d bought a few days ago and put on a CD of soft music. I got into the teddy and panties and called Doc to come up. When he entered the bedroom and saw me, he gasped. “Oh my, you are beautiful, Ms Hottie!”