“Meredith, I have to reschedule you. You HAVE to have that cyst out.”

“I don’t HAVE to do anything, Doc.”

“Remember what I said could happen if it ruptures?” He sat down on my bed and rubbed my leg. “You don’t want that to happen.”

“Doc, I did some reading. Rupture is no big deal, the body just re-absorbs the fluid that was in the cyst. It‘s rare that it would bleed.”

“You consulted Dr Google, eh?” I didn‘t say anything. “Hon, you are talking about a functional cyst. Yours is complex - there’s a higher chance of bleeding if it ruptures.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that, Doc?”

“I didn’t want to worry you, hon. Perhaps I should have told you, it might have got you to consent to surgery a long time ago.”

“Doc, please don’t push me right now. The last week has been very stressful for me and you don’t know what it took for me to force myself to come here today. I can’t deal with thinking about going through this again.” I gave him a pleading look.

“Meredith, how do you think I’ve felt all these months that you refused to have it taken out? Don’t you think that’s been stressful for me?”

“You worry too much.”

“No, I don’t think I do. How would you feel if something happened to me?”

“I’d be devastated, Doc.”

“That’s exactly how I’d feel if something happened to you. This is something that can be avoided if you have the cyst out. How be we do this? I’ll reschedule the procedure, the date would be a few weeks away, and if you are adamant about not doing it, we can cancel closer to then. It will be no problem to fill the spot. This way, if you change your mind in a couple weeks or so, the date will already be set and you won’t have to wait as long as you would if I had to set a date at that time. Does that sound acceptable?”

“Ok, Doc. But don’t count on me changing my mind.”

“We’ll see, hon. You might feel different after you’ve had a chance to cool down. You were wanting it out not so long ago.” He gave me a hug and held me tight. He was wearing blue scrubs, it was the first time I saw him in scrubs. I could see his chest hair above the “V” in the top. Despite the stress I was under, I felt a bit of arousal and made a mental note to ask him to bring a pair home for our private exam room.

“I have to go check on my other patients, hon. I don’t want you to cab it home, I want you to stay here and rest until I’m done for the day, ok?” I nodded. “Do you want to go to the apartment or farm?”

“Farm.”

“Ok, we’ll do that. I think being at home on the farm will be good for you. I was supposed to be off for the next couple weeks to take care of you. I’ll have Ms Jamieson schedule patients starting Monday but I’ll stay off tomorrow and Friday.”

“Can you take this out?” I pointed to my IV.

“Not yet. I’m going to order something to relax you so you can rest. There’s a couple more hours at least before I’m finished here.”

Shortly after Doc left, a nurse came over and injected something into my IV. I soon found myself drifting off.

A couple hours later, Doc was waking me up. He had changed out of his scrubs and back into regular clothes. “Time to go home, hon. I have your clothes here, I’ll help you get dressed.”

After getting me dressed, Doc put me in a wheelchair and took me to the car. I was finally starting to wake up. He drove out to the farm, but wouldn’t let me go to the barn. “You are too unsteady from the sedative, hon. You can see your horses tomorrow.” He insisted I go inside and lie down. I didn’t give him attitude over it, I was too tired to even try to protest.

Doc brought supper up to me in bed. “You spoil me, Doc”, I told him.

“I like spoiling you, hon. Besides, I don’t want you going down the stairs until that sedative has completely worn off.”

The next day was Valentine’s Day. Other than saying “Happy Valentine’s Day” in the morning, Doc acted like it was any other day. Good. I’d told him how I felt about the day. After breakfast, I went to the barn to see the horses. Jack was getting antsy, he hadn’t had a good run in a while. I decided to take him for a ride. Due to all the snow, the only places to ride were the indoor arena or along the road. The gelding hated the arena, which left the road. Being an ex race horse, he was used to loud noises and crowds, so traffic did not bother him. Not that we got a lot of traffic on our road. I saddled him up and texted Doc that I was going for a ride and would be back in a bit.

I took Jack down the road for a good run. An hour later, we were back at the barn. Doc came out. “Meredith, what horse did you take?”

“Jack.”

“Did you run him?”

“Of course I did. You know he needs a regular run.”

“And you know I don’t like you running him on the road.”

“Doc, you know he doesn’t like the arena and there’s no where else to run him this time of year. There’s very little traffic along our road and the locals know to watch for horses being ridden.”

He changed tactics. “There’s also the matter of your cyst.” I sighed. “Riding that hard can aggravate it.”

I tossed him a towel. “Well, Doc - feel free to help me out. You can rub him down while I put his tack away.” I took the saddle off and headed to the tack room with it. When I came back out, Doc was rubbing Jack down and muttering something about “danged women”.

Karen came out of a stall she’d been mucking and said “Come on, you two. Kiss and make up.”

“Works for me”, I said and stood on my tiptoes to give Doc a kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear “We’ll finish making up inside.”

“Mmmmmmm…..I look forward to it.”

“Karen”, Doc said, “Chey can ride, right?”

“Yes, she’s an accomplished rider.”

“Would you be okay with her taking Jack down the road?”

“If she wants to, yes. I have no problem with it.”

“I will speak to her about it. See if she will do it at least until Meredith has that cyst out. I will be happy to pay her to do it.”

“Don’t I get a say in any of this?” I asked innocently.

“NO!!” they replied in unison.

When we went in the house, Doc insisted on both of us having a shower. “Meredith, you went for a long ride at a gallop. You need to rest after lunch, but I don’t want you getting into *our* bed without bathing.”

“Ok, Doc. You put up with me and my stubbornness so I can indulge you with this.”

“Thank you, hon. Come shower with me. We’ll save water and enjoy ourselves at the same time.”

After lunch, Doc and I lay down for a rest. “I called Ms Jamieson while you were out riding and asked her to put you in the first available slot for surgery”, he said as I snuggled up to him and lay my head on his chest. “That’s not until March 20, so I asked her to also put you down as a priority if there’s a cancellation before then.”

“Doc…”

“I know you have been very stressed and the last week was hard on you, Meredith. It’s not your fault it got cancelled last minute. But you need to get that cyst out, the sooner the better. Remember what I said about if it ruptures and how that would affect me?”

“I know, Doc. That’s why I was starting to say I will try my hardest to do it.”

“You will?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so relieved, hon.”

When I woke up, Doc was not in the bedroom. I could smell something cooking downstairs. I put on some clothes and went down. He was in the kitchen . “I can’t believe I slept so long”, I said.

“You must have needed it.”

“I’m going to go out and do the supper feeding a bit early, be back in a bit.”

Back in the house, Doc steered me away from the dining room. “Go upstairs and shower and put something nice on, hon.”

“Doc, I’ve already showered today. You are not planning something for Valentine’s, are you? I said I did not want to do anything.”

“Hon, will you please indulge me? I know you don’t like the day, but I haven’t had someone to celebrate it with since Jane. I’m not asking you to go out, and I didn’t do anything all day, can we have a small celebration tonight?”

“Okay, Doc. Nothing elaborate though, please.”

“I don’t have anything elaborate planned. Will you please shower? You were in the barn.”

“All I did was bring them in and feed them their grain.” He gave me a pleading look. “Ok, I’ll shower. Glad my - well, our - well is a good one and has never run out of water.”

“Thank you, hon. I know I’m really anal retentive about it. I’m sorry, I can’t help it.”

“I know, Doc. I’d give you a hug , but I was just in the barn in these clothes.”

“You could always take them off …”

“Haha , Doc. You want me to shower, so I doubt you want a hug right now even if I were naked.”

“I’ll take a rain check on that, then.”

I went upstairs. Damnit, I did not want to do anything for Valentines, even here at home. But how could I say no when Doc pretty much pleaded with me? I love him and will do almost anything for him.

A while later, I went downstairs, freshly showered and wearing a skirt and blouse. I wasn’t feeling great, my cyst was hurting, though not really bad. More so, my arthritis was bothering me. I didn’t want to say anything to Doc and ruin his evening, so I’d taken a couple of my pain pills. I hoped they would kick in soon.

He was just coming out of the kitchen. I gave him a big hug and he said he was going upstairs to change clothes, that supper was almost ready. “Go sit in the dining room, hon. I’ll be down in a few minutes to serve dinner to you. And no, you are not helping, I will get it.”

I went into the dining room. There was a bouquet of red roses in a vase on the table. How the hell did he get those? I wondered. He’s been home all day. Beside my place setting was a small gift wrapped box and card.

I just *knew* he was going to do something despite me saying I didn’t want to celebrate the day. Fortunately, I had prepared for this. I went to my computer room, opened a desk drawer and took out Doc’s gift and card. Back in the dining room, I set them beside his plate and sat down to wait for him.

Doc came down a couple minutes later. He’d changed his clothes and put on a tie. “Doc”, I said as he sat down. “You didn’t need to do all this.”

“I wanted to. Please open your card.”

I took the card out of the envelope. There was a sappy verse inside, and a piece of paper on which Doc had written:

Meredith,

I know you did not want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but I could not let the day go by without letting you know what you mean to me. You have brought such joy to me and have taught me there’s more to life than my job. I’ve told you before you frustrate me to no end at times, and you do - but I wouldn’t trade you for the world. You are worth every ounce of frustration. I love you, Meredith. More than I could ever say in this note.

Doc

I had a tear in my eye as I got up and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, Doc. Those words mean a lot to me. Please read my card to you.”

“I thought you didn’t want to do anything for Valentine’s, hon?”

“I didn’t, but I figured you would do something.”

Doc sat down and opened his card. I had written a note to him:

Julian,

I know I didn’t want to do anything for Valentine’s, but I wanted to tell you how I feel. I didn’t plan on getting involved with anyone, but I fell in love with you and I fell hard. I know I’m not an easy person to love or care for, but you have held on through the bad times as well as the good. We haven’t been together all that long, but on the other hand, it seems like it’s been forever and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I just forget what life was like without you here with me. And I hope we are together for many years. I’m not good with words, but please know that I love you so very much.

Meredith

“Hon, you say you aren’t good with words - those words you wrote are just fine.” He leaned over to give me a kiss. “Open your gift, hon.”

Inside the box was a necklace with a heart locket. I opened it to find a picture of Doc on one side and a picture of me on the other. “I love it, Doc! Thank you. Open yours.”

Doc opened his gift to find a pair of cufflinks with a caduceus on them. “Hon, these are great. And I can wear them without embarrassment.” He winked, referring to the speculum tie tack I’d given him for Christmas as a bit of a gag gift.

We had a lovely meal, which Doc served and would not let me help clean up after. “I’ll join you in the tv room with coffee when I’m done”, he said. Later, we talked over our decaf.

“Doc, remember that day when you came out after I ducked your calls about going in to the clinic?”

“Yes, hon.”

“I was so pissed off to see you but little did I realize how things would change in the next few months!”

He laughed. “I could see it in your face that you were not happy to see me. I’m glad you didn’t order me off your property.”

“I am too, Doc. Hey, why did you come out? Surely, you don‘t do that with other patients?”

“No, I don’t. And Ms Jamieson told me I shouldn’t do it with you. I couldn’t help myself, though. I cared about you so much, I had to do everything I could to try to get you to let me check that pain out.”

“I’m glad I agreed to, Doc. If I hadn’t, we’d not be together now.”

“I’m glad too, hon.”

Doc was on call all weekend, which meant he would stay at the apartment. Normally, I would stay with him, but this time I had a new horse I wanted to work with to get an idea of her temperament, so I stayed at the farm. I never sleep well when Doc isn’t with me, and this weekend was no different.

By Saturday afternoon, I was horny as hell. I called Doc to see if he was at the hospital or apartment, intending to go in to see him if he wasn’t busy. There was no answer, so I left him a message. When he didn’t call back, I figured he was busy with a patient, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I got my keys and went upstairs to our exam room. Jessie was outside in the yard, so I left the door open. I undressed and put on a gown, then got up on the table and strapped my feet into the stirrups. Then I lay down and began to enjoy myself.

I was so wrapped up in what I was doing that I didn’t hear footsteps down the hall. “Need some help with that, Ms Hottie?”

I was so startled, I scrambled to get up off the table, forgetting that I’d put my feet in the restraints. Somehow, I ended up with my head and body hanging over the edge of the table, with my feet still in the stirrups. I felt a godawful pain go through my left ankle. Doc was standing there laughing.

“Geez, Doc, do you have to sneak up on a girl like that?”

“I didn’t sneak up on you, hon. You were just so caught up in what you were doing that you didn’t hear me coming down the hall. Here, let me help you get up.” He helped me get back up on the table. My ankle was hurting really bad. “Shall I leave you in those restraints and take advantage of you, hon?”

“Any other time, I’d say yes, Doc. But my ankle is killing me, I think I did something to it.”

Doc looked at my feet. “Left one, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s starting to swell. Here, let me get you out of the restraints.” He undid the straps. “I’m going to check your foot out.” He felt around my foot and ankle, and asked me to move it and my toes. “I don’t think it’s broken, I think it’s just sprained, but I’m going to take you to the hospital for an X-ray to be sure.”

“Doc, I can’t go to the hospital!” I exclaimed, wide-eyed. What will I tell them about how I hurt it?”

“You don’t want to tell them the truth?” he replied, feigning surprise.

“Do YOU want me to, Doc? Most of the doctors in the ER know you. Do you want them to know about our exam room?”

“I guess not, then. We’ll have to think of something to say.”

I thought a moment. “I could say I fell off my horse and my foot caught in the stirrup.”

“They’d expect more injuries from that, even if just some scrapes and scratches.”

“I’ll say it was in the indoor arena, which has a good layer of sand in it.” Normally, I do not like lying, but no way was I going to tell them what I was really doing when I hurt my foot.

“Okay, let’s get you dressed.” Doc helped me into my clothes and down the stairs. I felt so embarrassed.

On the way to the city, he asked “Missed me, eh?”

“I always miss you when we’re apart, Doc.”

“So much so, that you took matters into your own hands, so to speak.”

“I tried calling you to see if you were busy and was going to go in to see you if you weren’t, but there was no answer and I left a message but you didn’t call back.”

“The battery in my phone died. It’s on the charger at the apartment. I have the pager as backup.”

“Why did you come home? You never come out to the farm when you’re on call.”

“It’s been very quiet all weekend. I thought I’d sneak in a surprise visit with you, hon.”

“It was a surprise all right.” We both laughed.

At the hospital, Doc got a wheelchair and took me to the registration desk. After registering, they took me straight to a room. The ER was empty, it must have been a quiet weekend city-wide. A nurse took my vitals, then said the doctor would be right in.

A couple minutes later, a man in scrubs walked in. “Hi Meredith, I’m Dr Jeff Bartlett”, he introduced himself.

“Hi, Dr Bartlett.”

“Hi, Julian”, he said to Doc. “I take it this is the Meredith you talk non stop about?”

I blushed.

“Oh, nothing bad”, Dr Bartlett said. “Only good. He thinks the world of you. Now, I hear you hurt your foot.”

“Yes”, I replied.

“Let me see it.” Left foot? I nodded. He started feeling around it like Doc had done at home. I gasped from the pain. “Pretty sore, eh?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to send you for an X-ray. How did you hurt it?”

“I was riding one of my horses, and fell off. My foot got hung up in the stirrup.”

“Oh, my goodness! Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No, I was riding in my indoor arena and it has a good layer of sand in it. It was a soft landing.”

“Good. I’ll go arrange for the X-ray. Someone will be in to take you there shortly.”

Soon, a porter came to take me to x-ray. Doc came along. By the time we got back to the ER, Dr Bartlett had the results. “It’s sprained”, he said. “Nothing broken - I’ll wrap it for you and you need to stay off of it for a few weeks. I’ll write you a prescription for some pain medication and get you a pair of crutches. Keep it up as much as possible and ice it tonight. Julian knows how to treat it, so listen to him.”

“I have crutches at home and pain pills. But I’m having surgery in a few weeks, does this affect it?”

“Only if you are having surgery on that foot.”

“Meredith, take the script”, Doc said to me. “We’re not going to the farm, we’ll stay here in town.”

“Ok, Doc.”

“Nice try, Meredith”, Doc said as he wheeled me to the door.

“Can’t blame a gal for trying”, I replied.

“I hope you aren’t planning on weaselling out of having that cyst out.”

“I’m not, Doc.”

“You wait here”, he said at the door. “I’ll get the car.”

“I think we should go to the apartment”, Doc said as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m still on call so I need to stay in the city and you can’t fend for yourself. Give Karen a call and see if she can feed the critters. I‘ll stop at your pharmacy and get this filled.”

“Ok, Doc.”

“Well, that was easy.”

“I want to spend time with you. I’ve missed you the last couple days.”

“Yes, I saw that.”

“Haha, Doc.”

Doc went in to get my pain meds so that I would not have to walk around on the crutches. “Anything else you need, hon?” he asked when he got back in the car. “I’m going to take you to the apartment, then I’m going to zip out for a few things to make supper with.”

“Maybe a magazine to read, thanks, sweetheart.”

I lay down while Doc went out to do his shopping. I must have been tired as I fell asleep quite quickly. Next thing I knew, I was hearing Doc coming in. “I’m in here, Doc”, I called.

He came into the bedroom and kissed me, then sat down on the bed. I sat up and gave him a big hug. “How are you feeling, hon?”

“A bit better, those pills are working.”

“Good. I would have given you the inject-able, but I would have to stay with you and I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to with me being on call.”

“It’s okay, Doc. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you want to come out to the kitchen while I get supper?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll bring a pillow and you can prop your foot up on a chair. I got some ice for it.”

After supper, Doc did the dishes and we went to the living room with our coffee. We sat on the sofa. He put the pillow on the coffee table and told me to put my foot on it.

“Doc, you must be cringing at this.”

“At what, hon?”

“Me putting my foot up on your good coffee table.”

“No, hon. You need to have that foot up and you can’t drink your coffee lying down.”

“You must really love me, Doc”, I said, teasing him.

“I do hon. A lot. Now, kiss me.” He put a fresh ice pack on my ankle, then sat down beside me.

“This feels familiar”, I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Remember when I broke my leg and lay on your sofa after supper?”

“Yes.”

“That was the night you told me I’m Ms Hottie.”

“I remember, hon. I was so scared to tell you.”

“I’m so glad you did, Doc.”

“Me too, hon.”