For a moment, I couldn’t move. Did Doc just propose to me? So many things went through my head all at once. I knew Curt Wilcox had told me that Julian wanted to ask me to marry him, but was afraid to for fear I’d say no. But that was a few months ago. I’d assumed that he had changed his mind.

He obviously had not changed his mind. How did I want to answer? I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but wasn’t sure I wanted to get married again. What would it do to our relationship if I said no? I feared that it would irreparably harm it. Doc obviously wanted to be married, not just live together as if we were.

“Meredith? I‘ll get down on my knee if you want me to.” He looked so worried.

And in that split second, I had my answer. I loved Doc with all my heart. I wanted to be with him forever, and not just cohabiting. “Yes, Julian! I will marry you!”

Doc’s expression changed to one of relief mixed with pure joy, if such a look were possible. He smiled from ear to ear. “Will you allow me to put a ring on your finger? Providing you like it, of course.”

“I’m sure I will love it, Doc.” He took a ring box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside was a beautiful set of rings. I gasped.

“I had them made just for you, hon.”

“They are beautiful, Doc.”

“Let me have your hand.” I took the ring he’d given me for Christmas last year off my finger and held my hand out. He took the engagement ring out of the box and placed it on my ring finger. Then he took the ring out of my other hand and placed it on its fourth finger. He held my face in his hands and leaned over and kissed me. “You’ve made me a very happy man, Ms Hottie.”

“Oh, Doc, you’ve made me a very happy woman!”

“Is it too soon to set a date, hon?”

“Wow, you move fast!”

“Or at least figure out what time of year we want. Here’s my line of thinking, hon: I know you’ve said if you were to get married again, you’d want a fall wedding.” I nodded. “It’s a little late to plan for this fall, and we are going to be dealing with other things.” I knew he meant the court cases for Jane and Watters, but did not want to voice their names on such a happy evening. “I don’t want to wait over a year. Do you?”

“No, I don’t, honey.”

So, if you couldn’t have a fall wedding, what would be your second pick for time of year?”

“December, with a Christmas theme.”

“Would you be able to plan one for this December? It doesn’t have to be a big affair. We can keep it small and just have an open house instead of a reception.”

“Julian, I know you’ve always wanted a big wedding.”

“The size doesn’t matter anymore, Meredith. I’d rather have a small one before New Year’s than wait over a year for a big one.”

“I’m pretty sure I could put together a small one, depending on availability of facilities. Where do you want to have it? If it were any time of year but winter, I’d want it here, outdoors. But that isn’t possible if we are going to do it in December.”

“I’d like a church wedding, hon.”

“Okay, I’ll see if ours is available. What date should we look at?”

Doc got his phone out and pulled up a calendar app. “The hospital’s party is Nov. 30 because of Dec starting on a Sunday - they like to have it as close to the 1st as possible. Before or after Christmas?”

“Before. That way we can just relax after the holiday.” I looked over his arm at the calendar. “I think either the 7th or 14th - the 21st is too close to Christmas Day. Are we going to have an open house again this year?”

“I’d like to but will understand if you don’t want to.”

“No, let’s do it. We can rest after Christmas. How about the 7th for the wedding and the 14th for the open house? Provided we can get the church and facilities?”

“Sounds good to me, hon.”

“Let’s work on a guest list tomorrow, then I will make calls on Monday while you are at work.”

“Let me make a call now, hon.” He called up his contact list and tapped to dial a number.”

“Who are you calling?” He held his index finger up to indicate he’d answer in a minute.

“Rick? It’s Julian Richards.” A pause. “I’m fine, thank you. How are you?” Another pause. “Meredith is good, she’s getting stronger all the time.” Another pause. “I’ll tell her. I need to ask you about your facilities. I’d like to have an open house Dec 7th or if that’s not available, the 14th. I don’t have a rough estimate of number of guests but will soon. Let’s say around 50 people, maybe a bit more.” A short pause. “It’s for a wedding. Meredith said yes!” I could hear excited chatter on the other end. “Here, I’ll put it on speaker phone so she can hear.”

“Hi Rick”, I said.

“Congratulations, Meredith! Dr Richards is one lucky man!”

“I’m one very lucky woman, Rick!”

“I had a cancellation this morning for a banquet room on December 7. But what’s this ‘open house’ nonsense? You need a full dinner and dance!”

“There’s no time to plan that”, Doc said to him.

“Of course there is. You’ve got 5 months. Leave it to me, I will make sure everything runs smoothly here at Chez Rick. I can meet with you next week to figure out a menu. And I will give you a discount since you are regular diners here.”

“That’s not necessary, Rick”, I said.

“Maybe not, but I want to do it. I’ll call you and let you know when I have a block of time available.”

“Rick?” Doc asked. “Can this just be between us for now? We haven’t announced our engagement yet, so we’d appreciate discretion until we do.”

“My lips are sealed, Dr Richards.” We said goodbye and Doc put his phone away.

“Oh, wow”, I said as I lay back against the back of the sofa.

“Rick would have been insulted if we’d insisted on an open house.”

“Rick is sweet. I guess we’re having dinner and a dance.”

“The advantage of being the bride and groom is we can leave early, if you are worried about being too tired and sore.”

I smiled at him. He leaned over and kissed me.

“So, how do we tell everyone, Doc?”

“I have an idea, hon. Our summer bash is coming up. Let’s make an announcement then!”

“I love that idea! Lets! But there’s no way I can wait that long to tell Karen.”

“You can tell her, hon. I’ll probably tell Curt and maybe the people at work. It might be hard to hide it from them.”

“Let’s keep it to just them, then.”

“It’s not fair to you, hon. I’d be telling more people than you.”

“If I tell Karen, she’s going to tell Kevin and maybe the kids. She will not be able to keep quiet around them!” He laughed. “I’m going to ask her to be my Best Woman, of course. I trust you will be asking Curt to be your Best Man?”

“Yes, of course. But hon, what’s this ‘Best Woman’?”

“It’s the modern form of Maid/Matron of Honour.”

“I don’t like it, Meredith. Of course, it’s your choice what to call her, though.”

“You would rather I call her my Matron of Honour?”

“To be honest, yes.”

I thought a moment. “Ok, Doc I will.”

“That was easy.” I laughed.

“Doc, you’ve done so much for me and made so many concessions for me in the past year, I can let you have it your way for our wedding.”

He leaned back into the sofa and put his arm around me. “I’d say something mushy, but you’ve probably had enough mush for the night.” I laughed. “Ready to head upstairs?” I nodded. We got up and made sure the fire was out, then turned out the lights. Doc had asked Karen to take Jessie for the night so we could have the night to ourselves without worrying about letting her out.

Up in our bedroom, I kicked my shoes off. Doc glared at me, so I picked them up and put them in my closet. He came up behind me and undid the zipper on my dress. He slid the spaghetti straps off my shoulders, then reached in from the back and caressed my breasts before undoing my strapless bra and sliding his hands inside the cups. I could feel his breath on my neck. He took his hand off my right breast and gently pulled my hair aside before kissing my neck. Then he put his hand back on my breast and pushed into me as he continued kissing my neck. I could feel his arousal just above the small of my back. Since he’s taller than me, that’s where his anatomy lands on mine when we are standing without shoes on.

“Doc”, I said with a bit of a fake tone of wonder, “I think I’m wet.”

“I’ll have to check that out, hon.” He moved his right hand down to between my legs. “Oh my, Ms Hottie doesn’t have panties on.” I was wearing stay up stockings. “Let’s get on the bed, I have to do a very close examination.”

Later, I lay with his arm around me, enjoying the afterglow. “Let me see your hand, hon.” I held my left hand up. “That ring looks so good on you.”

“It sure does, Doc. You have good taste.”

“I chose you, didn’t I?”

“Haha, Doc.”

“I can’t wait until December 7.”

“Me either, honey.”

The next day, after we did the dishes from the previous night, we sat down with a cup of coffee and made out a tentative guest list. We came up with 50 people, exactly the number Doc had given Rick. Of course, they might not all be able to make it.

“I’d like to have little Julie Anne be flower girl, but I doubt she will be able to walk down the aisle. She’ll be a week under a year old.”

“Doc, we could have her in a stroller decorated with flowers, with Charlotte pushing it. I was going to ask her to be a bridesmaid anyway.”

“That’s a great idea, hon!”

“Maybe her brothers would like to be ring bearers - one for each ring.” The twin boys did *everything* together.

“I like that idea. This is coming together really fast.”

“Well, Doc - we don’t have a lot of time and September is going to be busy and stressful, as is November. Though, to be honest, I’m thinking of only going to court to testify and not sitting in on the rest of the hearing and trials.”

“Hon, you do what you are most comfortable with. That might be a good idea for both of us. No use sitting there hearing about everything we’ve been through in detail. Plus the cross examination of Crown witnesses might be too much stress.”

After lunch, I called Karen and asked her if she was busy. She said she was home alone, so she jumped at the chance to come over for coffee. I put the pot on and Doc and I waited.

She came in the back door about ten minutes later. Karen rarely knocks before coming in when I am home alone but when Doc’s Beemer is in the laneway, she usually does, though it was only recently - after the time she came upstairs when Doc and I had been “playing” and I was in the school uniform - that she took to knocking in the daytime. I guess she learned that we didn’t stick to evenings only!

I was sitting on Doc’s lap at the kitchen table. He’d turned his chair to face the counter area. I’m sure we were both grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Got any plans for December 7?” I asked her.

“I don’t think so”, she replied, a little hesitantly. “Why?”

“I’m in need of a Matron of Honour and wanted to know if you want the job.”

The look on her face was priceless. “Did….?”

“Yes, I proposed”, Doc replied. “And Meredith said yes!”

“It’s about time, Julian! What took you so long?”

“I was afraid she’d say no.”

“That would never have happened. Meredith is so in love with you. And yes, Mer, I will be happy to be your MOH!”

Doc gently pushed me off his lap. “You two have coffee, I need to get going.” He had called Curt while we were waiting for Karen and asked his bestie if he’d meet him for a drink at an upscale bar in the city. Doc won’t go ‘slumming’ at a run of the mill bar. He was going to ask him to be his best man.

When he’d gone, I told Karen of our plans so far. “Wow, you two aren’t wasting any time!”

“It was either December or next fall and we didn’t want to wait that long. It’s going to be a busy fall but I think we can do it. Do you want to come with me this week to try on bridal gowns?”

“I’d love to, Mer. Do you have any idea what you want?”

“Yes. Something with long sleeves to hide the scar on my arm.”

“Julian doesn’t care about your scars.”

“I know but I don’t want it showing on my wedding day. At least the others will be hidden no matter what style of dress I choose.”

“You could always hide it with concealer.”

“True, but it will be long sleeve season anyway. By the way, Karen, we aren‘t going to announce our engagement to anyone else but Doc‘s clinic staff until the bash in a couple weeks.”

“That’s a good idea to do it at that time.”

“It beats making a bunch of calls! So, please don’t say anything to anyone but Kevin and the kids and ask them to keep it a secret.”

“I better not tell the kids, Mer. They couldn’t keep a secret if their lives depended on it.”

“Understood.”

Later, at supper, I told Doc I was going to pick some of the cherries the next day from the two cherry trees in the back of the very large back yard. There are also a couple apple trees and a peach tree.

“As long as both of your feet stay on the ground”, was his response.

“Doc, how do you expect me to get the ones at the top?”

“Leave them for the birds.”

“Pffffttt. The birds get the ones that fall on the ground.”

“Meredith, please tell me you are not going to climb one of the trees.”

“No, Doc, I’m not. I’m going to climb two trees.”

He looked like he was going to have a coronary. “Meredith, at least wait until I’m home from the clinic. I’m only there for the morning tomorrow. If I’m home, at least I can tend to you if you fall out and hurt yourself.”

I sighed. “Okay, Doc.”

“I swear, if I wasn’t giving you your Ativan by injection, I’d think you weren’t taking it.”

“Haha, Doc.”

Changing the subject, he said “We haven't discussed where to go for our honeymoon.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Doc. December is going to be so busy, how about we take it in January?”

“I agree, let’s. Where would you like to go?”

“I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”

“I’d like to rent a cabin for a couple weeks.”

“You sure, Doc? I figured you’d want to go somewhere exotic.”

“You hate flying and besides, I want you all to myself. If we go somewhere ‘exotic‘, we‘d go sightseeing, shopping etc.”

“Julian, I’ll fly for our honeymoon. I flew to Toronto and back with you.”

“I know, hon, and I love you all the more for it. But if we went somewhere exotic, the flight would be a lot longer. I don’t want to put you through that.”

“I’ll be okay, Doc.”

“We’re going somewhere we can drive to. I’m putting my foot down.” The look on his face told me to stop pushing.

“If you really insist, honey.”

“I really insist. What do you think about renting a cabin?”

“I like that, Doc. We were going to buy one.”

“Yes, and then things happened. Perhaps we could keep our eyes out for one?”

“Toward the end of the season would be a great time to get one at a good price.”

“I will take a look online after we do clean-up and see what is available. We don‘t need to make a decision tonight. If we don’t find anything we like, I’m sure we can rent on short notice in the winter.

“By the way, I‘m thinking of taking off work from just before Christmas until either February or March. Nick has an ob/gyn friend who‘s moving here to help take care of his ailing mother. He wants to find part time employment, I may hire him if everything checks out. That would allow me to take time off for court and to help with the wedding planning.”

“Are you sure you want to take all that time off, Doc?”

“Absolutely, Meredith. I’ve been working hard for over 25 years, if you include pre-med and med school, which involves a lot of time studying. I’m ready for a break for a while to just enjoy myself and to spend time with you without it being because you are sick or injured. I’ll probably increase my hours again in the spring. Another benefit to taking a good part of the winter off is that I won‘t have to worry about snowstorms. I can still go in here and there, weather permitting, to do the books and to help out if the other doctors get behind.”

The next morning, I called our church, one of the few Anglican churches in the city, and spoke to Father Michael Stevens. He said that it was available on the date we wanted, so I booked it. “Meredith, I’d like to meet with you and Julian as soon as possible, to discuss what I expect of you beforehand, like attending services.” Doc and I did not go often.

“I know we don’t come very much, Father Michael.”

“Not to worry, Meredith. You have been through a lot lately and I know you are often not feeling well.” He’d come to visit me a couple times in hospital and knew all about Jane and Watters and what had happened. “I’m going to bend the rules for you and just ask that you come when you can. Now, let‘s try and set up a day and time. Do you know when Julian could get time off?”

“He’s only working part time right now, so he won’t need to take any time off, but I don‘t want to make any presumptions about his free time, so it‘s best to talk to him to see when he‘s free.”

“Shall I call back later? What time does he get home today?”

“He’ll be home by 1pm, but it’s best to call his cell this afternoon. I’ll be up a tree picking cherries and he’ll be on the ground yelling at me to ‘get down from there!’”

The priest chuckled. “You be careful, Meredith. You don’t need any more injuries!”

“I will. I do this every summer.” I gave him Doc’s cell number and said goodbye. I felt a bit uneasy about the idea of going to church, then engaging in kinky sex when we got home. But Doc wanted a church wedding, so I’d suck it up and go.

The week went by in a whirlwind of activity. Karen and I went dress shopping and I found a few that I liked. My bestie took pictures of me in each one so I could look at them later and decide. Doc and I met with the priest and also with Rick to go over the menu choices. We took the info home and said we’d get back to him with our decision.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, I had an EKG and Echocardiogram scheduled in advance of an appointment with Dr Hampton, my cardiologist, the next week. He said the tests were just routine, to make sure my MVP wasn’t any worse. Doc went with me and watched as the tests were done. I tried to get him to tell me what he saw, but he said he wasn’t a radiologist and couldn’t tell. I wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not.

He asked me if I wanted to have dinner in the city, but I was so tired from being so busy all week, I said I just wanted to go home. Once back at the farm, I went upstairs and lay down. Doc came up after he let Jessie out and asked if I was okay. “I’m fine, honey, just really tired. Come lie with me.”

“Until you fall asleep. Then I will go downstairs and start supper.” He lay down beside me and stroked my hair until I dozed off.

Later, over supper, I brought up a subject that was on the back burner - solar panels. “We were going to do that this summer”, I said to Doc. “Summer isn’t over, shall we look into it?”

“Good idea, hon. If the power goes out, we’ll at least have some.”

“Hopefully, more than just ‘some’. I’ll get someone out to have a look at that unused area behind the pasture and see how many panels would fit there. And it would be less grass to cut if I put them there.”

“Yes, because cutting grass is so hard to do on that riding mower, right?” Doc said sarcastically. My sarcasm was rubbing off on him.

“You are welcome to do it, Doc. I’m surprised you haven’t offered to cut the grass, given it’s a man’s thing.”

“Meredith, you know how I feel about yard work.”

“Yes, I do, Doc - I’m just teasing you. You know I don’t expect you to do any of it, though I love it when you help with the horses.”

We were finished eating and I got up and gave him a big hug. I said into his ear “I’m so sorry about your past, honey. I wish I could take it all away.”

“I know you do, Meredith. And I love you all the more for it.” I started to clear the table and he got up and headed for the sink. I took the dishes from the table over to the sink. He took them from me and said “You go on upstairs and lie down, hon. I know you are still very tired.”

“Thanks, Doc. If you are sure you don’t want help …”

“I’m sure.”

“I don’t know what’s with me”, I said as I headed for the stairs.

“If it continues through the weekend, be sure to tell Oliver, hon”, he directed, referring to my cardiologist.

“I will, Doc.”

Julian came up after finishing the dishes and letting Jessie out for a bit. I was asleep but woke up when my lab leaped onto the bed. He had his bag in his hand. “I’d like to take a listen, hon, since you are awake. Can you turn onto your back for me, please?” I did and he lifted my nightshirt up to my neck, exposing my breasts.

“Not worried about modesty anymore, eh Doc?”

“Meredith, we’ve been intimate for a while now. I didn’t think you’d be embarrassed for me to see your bare chest while I listen to your heart.”

“I’m not, Doc. You’ve always been the more modest one. Maybe I’m rubbing off on you.”

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, yes!”

He shook his head. “Now, quiet while I listen, hon.” He took a long time listening to my heart and then my lungs.

“Doc, what’s up? Either you are getting a thrill out of this or there’s something wrong. Which is it?”

“I’m not getting a ‘thrill’ out of it, Meredith. We’re not playing around right now.”

“So then, what is wrong?”

“I don’t know if anything is wrong. But you are extremely tired when you shouldn’t be. That made me wonder if it was heart related. We’ll have to see what Oliver says next week.”

“It’s been a very busy week, Doc. That’s why I’m so tired.”

“You slept before supper. That should have been enough rest.”

“What did you see on the echo, Doc?”

“As I told you earlier, I’m not qualified to read an echo. Try not to worry about it and wait for your cardiology appointment.”

I slept like a log all through the night and felt better the next day. Doc and I went to the city and did a good deal of the shopping for the bash next weekend. He would do a final shop of perishables on Thursday before he came home. He would be cooking the rest of the day and all day Friday.

I selected three dresses from the ones Karen had taken pictures of, and we went back to the store where I tried them on again and then made my choice. I chose a full length white dress with long lace sleeves that had flowery appliqués on the outside of the arms. They would cover my scar. The front was low cut and almost off the shoulder. But not so low cut that it revealed my upper scar from the defibrillator paddles. A lace “apron”, for lack of a better word, hung from the waist. It had a medium length train and long veil, which I would *not* cover my face with at all. Ugh, I hate that. I hoped Doc would like it, but he would not see it until I walked down the aisle. We had decided to follow that tradition, even though he is not superstitious at all and I’m not always, but sometimes am. Like, I avoid the number 13 if I can.

The clerk pinned the dress where she needed to for alterations, but she said the seamstress wouldn’t do them until closer to the wedding, in case I gained or lost weight between now and then. Doc was trying to get me to put some on, he said I was too thin. I didn’t think I was and it was nice to be a ‘normal’ weight again. I was beginning to think that Doc likes women with some extra weight on them. Nothing wrong with that, everyone has their preferences, but I’d thought doctors would prefer women not overweight, given the health issues they are always yapping about. To be fair to Doc, he’s never done that.

I saw Dr Hampton. Doc went with me. “Your test results show a bit of a worsening of the MVP”, he told me. “It’s nothing to get worried about at this time, but I am going to make an adjustment to your medication.”

“Would that cause her to tire easily, Oliver?” Doc asked.

“Yes, it absolutely could. Especially with lots of activity and not enough rest in between.” Doc gave me an “I told you so” look. Dr Hampton caught it. “Have you been busy lately, Meredith?”

“I - we - had a busy week last week.”

“What kept you so busy?”

“Uh….the bash we’re having this weekend.”

“Is that all?” Neither of us said a word. Dr Hampton didn’t know about the engagement. We hadn’t planned on telling him until the bash on Saturday. “What are you two hiding from me? Meredith, is that an engagement ring on your finger?” We were busted.

“Yes, it is.”

“Congratulations to you both! But why so secretive about it?”

“We haven’t told a lot of people, we’re planning on announcing it on Saturday. You are coming to the bash, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

“I might as well ask you now, Oliver”, Doc said. “I’d like you to be one of my groomsmen, if you will accept. The date is December 7.”

“I will happily accept, Julian. I don’t think I have anything on that date, but if I do, I can change it to another day. Does the engagement have anything to do with you being so busy last week?”

“Yes, Dr Hampton”, I replied. “We’ve been making arrangements, I had to look at dresses, we met with the banquet owner to discuss the menu etc. There’s not a lot of time, as we are going to be busy in September and November with court.”

“Perhaps the wedding could be held at a later date?”

“No!” Doc and I said in unison.

“Oliver, we decided on that date because we don’t want to wait a long time, and all the court stuff *should* be done by then. But I will make sure Meredith does not overdo it and gets plenty of rest.” I gave him an “Oh, really?” look.

“I saw that look, Meredith”, the cardiologist said. “Julian, my hat’s off to you if you can do that. You have a feisty one there.”

“I have ways, Oliver.”

“Meredith, I’m not restricting your activity. You can do anything you want to do. Just pace yourself and listen to your body. If it says to rest, then rest.”

“So I can still ride?”

“Yes, of course.”

I turned to Doc. “You heard it, Julian. I can ride.” He looked disappointed.

“Oliver, she has a former racehorse that needs to be run on a regular basis. You sure that’s okay for her?”

“As long as she can handle it. If it tires her too much, then maybe get someone else to ride the horse, if possible.”

“It’s possible. The teen girl next door did it from the winter until recently.”

“Meredith will know if it’s too much for her to do. If it is, then get the girl to do it.”

“Dr Hampton, we will have to set up that trail ride one of these days.”

“Yes, we will, Meredith. Let’s talk about it on Saturday.”

Before we went home, we dropped off the order for the invitations at the printer’s. Doc and I had designed them on the weekend. I did an image up on the computer and printed it out to take in.

On the way home, Doc told me I had to rest for the remainder of the week. It was Wednesday afternoon. He’d quit work a couple hours early to go with me to the appointment with Dr Hampton. He’d driven me in in the morning and I stayed at the apartment. It was the first time I’d been there since getting in the fight with Jane. It felt weird to be there, but not as freaky as I’d thought. Doc had changed the furniture around in the living room and there was new carpet of a different colour. That helped a lot.

“Meredith”, he said as he turned onto the highway leading out of the city, “Please take it easy for the rest of the week. Saturday is going to be a big day and you’ve had a busy week and a half.”

“I need to help you with the cooking and getting things ready, Doc.”

“I can do the cooking, hon. Karen’s kids are coming over tomorrow morning to help peel potatoes. That’s the biggest job.”

“Tell you what, Doc. Give me an exam tonight and I will do whatever you tell me to do tomorrow and Friday.”

“That’s blackmail, Meredith.”

“Take it or leave it, Doc.”

“You drive a hard bargain, hon.”

“I like hard things, Doc.”

“Meredith, what am I going to do with you?”

“You could spank me, honey.” He just shook his head.

Doc started to give me an amazing exam after supper. He wore one of the pairs of scrubs he’d taken from the hospital to the safe house. Since he had paid the hospital for them and my gowns when we had to leave them behind, we figured we’d just keep them when the police shipped our belongings to us. It certainly made the exams even more hot, I think he looks so yummy in scrubs.

Partway through the exam, Jessie went nuts downstairs. We thought we heard a knocking, but couldn’t be sure with all the barking going on. If it was Karen, she would know that we were “busy” if neither of us answered. Finally, the barking stopped and we continued with it. A minute later, Doc’s cell rang. It was sitting on the desk in the exam room. Mine was in our bedroom. He looked at the display. “It’s Karen”, he said.

“If she’s calling after getting no answer from knocking, something’s wrong.”

Doc answered. When he hung up, he said “There’s an accident with injuries on the road outside their place. I’m going to go out and help.” He loosened the restraint on one of my hands. “Can you get out of them yourself, hon? I’ve got to get dressed before I go. On second thought, I’ll just go. If anyone asks, I like to lounge around in scrubs in the evenings, they’re very comfortable.” I knew Karen wouldn’t buy that, she knew Doc wore slacks and a button down shirt all the time. She probably wouldn’t say anything though.

I wiggled my hand out of the restraint and reached over my body and undid the one on the other hand, then the ones on my ankles. I put my clothes back on and sprinted down the hall. I heard my cell ring as I ran by our bedroom. It was Doc. “Hi, hon”, he said. “I need you to do me a favour. Can you get our big first aid kit and bring it to me? I don’t have enough bandaging material in my car.”

“Sure, Doc.”

My minivan was blocked in by my pickup truck, which I couldn't start. I'd been meaning to get it towed to my mechanic's garage in a town close by. I ran as best as I could with my hands full. When I got there, I asked Julian if there was anything I could do to help. He got two gloves from his bag. “Put these on and wrap Jenny’s leg. I’ll get you a gauze pad and a roll of gauze.” As he looked through our kit that I’d brought, he continued “Wrap it firm enough to keep it from bleeding again, but not too tight. Her leg is broken.”

Karen and Kevin were there, holding flashlights up so Doc could see what he was doing. Karen trained hers on Jenny while I wrapped her leg. Part of the bone was sticking out, it was a compound fracture. Poor Jenny was very distraught - and in a lot of pain. “Julian, can you give her something for the pain?” I asked Doc.

“No, hon, I can’t. I’m not here in an official capacity and the hospital has to approve any medication before it’s given. When the paramedics get here, they will give her something.”

“I’m sorry, Jenny”, I said.

“It’s okay, I understand.”

After I wrapped her leg, Doc looked at it and said “You did a great job, Meredith!”

“Thanks, Doc. I wrap horses’ legs all the time, this isn’t much different in the way it’s done.”

He had me wrap some more wounds - it was a crash between a mini van and an SUV with 8 people total in the vehicles. Pretty much everyone had some cuts and scrapes, and one was critically injured. Doc was tending to him while I bandaged the others up. “Hon, can you hold this for me? I want to check vitals on the others.” He indicated his hand on the man’s abdomen. ’

“Sure, Doc.”

“Get fresh gloves, hon. There’s a box in my bag.” I took my gloves off and put clean ones on. “Now, get some clean gauze pads, get a few.” I did as asked. “I’m going to take my hand off, you put yours right on the wound, just like mine is now, okay?” I nodded. He took his hand off and I put mine down right away. I got a glimpse of the wound - it looked real nasty.

“The bleeding is slowing down, but I need to get it to stop.” He changed his gloves and began taking vitals on the other victims. The man who’s wound I had my hand on was unconscious but breathing - obviously.

Chey came out and talked to the ones who were feeling distressed and helped calm them down.

Finally, we heard sirens in the distance. “I told 911 that there multiple victims, so I hope they send multiple ambulances”, Karen said. She needn’t have worried, they sent four. That was enough stretchers for the ones who couldn’t walk, and they put the others in the cabs of the vehicles. Doc went with the severely injured man in case he got into respiratory distress. He gave me the keys to his Beemer and asked me to follow in order to give him a ride home.

“Doc, I’ll be there as soon as possible. I have to change clothes and clean up. I’m a mess.”

“Don’t worry about that, hon. There’s a blanket in the trunk, put that on the seat. And if you get the car dirty, I’ll get it cleaned.” Doc loves his car and treats it like a baby, but he’s first and foremost a doctor. People in medical need take precedence, even if that means getting the interior of his “baby” dirty.

An hour later, Doc came out to the car. I’d been waiting for him in an empty doctor’s parking slot by the emergency entrance. “I’ll drive, hon.”

I took one look at him and said “No way, Doc. You are too tired. I’ll drive us home.” Fortunately, he didn’t give me any attitude over it.

When we got home, we put our clothes in the laundry room - his scrubs had blood on them so I filled a laundry tub with cold water and soaked them for the night. Then we went upstairs to shower. Neither of us were up to finishing the exam we started earlier. We fell into bed right after our shower. Doc put his arm around me and said “You were a big help to me tonight, hon. Thank you.”

“Just call me Nurse Meredith”, I quipped.

He chuckled. “That could put a new twist on play time.”

“Hmmmmm…..”

“But not tonight, we both need to get to sleep.”

The next morning, Doc called the hospital and found out the man with the serious abdominal injury was in ICU and critical, but stable. “I’ll bet you saved his life, Doc.”

“That’s what I’m trained to do, hon. It’s nothing special.”

“Yes, it is, Doc. To him and his family, you are very special.” He blushed.

The next couple days were filled with getting ready for Saturday. Doc let me help, but made me promise him I would let him know if I got tired. I kept that promise on Friday afternoon, when I was feeling a bit dizzy and really tired. He followed me upstairs to our bedroom and insisted on taking my vitals and listening to my heart.

“You sound fine, hon”, he said as he set his stethoscope down on the nightstand. In fact, you sound a bit better than you have been sounding. I think the medication change Oliver gave you is working.”

“Why am I so tired then, Doc?”

“Because even though the meds are working, you still have MVP. Did Oliver tell you that most of the time, people with mild MVP are more symptomatic than those with a severe case?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“He may have been afraid that if he told you that, you’d ignore medical advice. Hon, just do as he said - pace yourself and rest when you need to. In fact, I want you resting for the remainder of the day. We’ll be very busy all day tomorrow so you need to rest up. I’ll stay up here with you until you fall asleep.”

Guests started arriving around noon the next day. Karen, Chey and I had taken the horses to her place for the day. There were only 5, including the filly, Blossom, so it was no big deal to walk them over to her farm. Last year, I’d put them in the barn and I padlocked the doors to keep people from going in. The year before that, some of the children had gone into the pasture even though everyone was told to stay away from it and the horses. Thankfully, nobody got hurt, but I didn’t want to take a chance again, and with Lilly having a month old foal that she was very protective of, I thought it best to remove them from the property as it was too hot this year to put them inside.

Doc and I mingled amongst our guests, chatting with them and making sure they had enough food and drink. I had taken my engagement ring off and put it in my shorts pocket. I didn’t want anyone noticing it before the announcement.

Once it looked like everyone was there, we, with Karen’s help, got everyone to gather in front of the front porch. I discreetly put my ring back on but kept my hand in my pocket as much as I could. Doc and I stood on the porch. He put his arm around me. “First, I would like to welcome you to our bash”, he said to our guests. “This is an annual tradition of Meredith’s, but it’s my first of hopefully many. Which leads me to our announcement.” He paused. “A couple weeks ago, I asked Meredith to marry me.” He paused again. I could hear some gasps from the small crowd. “And she said yes!”

Our guests erupted into cheers. Doc gave them a moment, then put his hand up to ask for silence again. “We have set the date for December 7, and you are all on the guest list, so I hope that day works for you. Now, I hope you don‘t mind if I kiss my bride-to-be!” He leaned down and kissed me before we went down the steps. We were immediately swarmed with people congratulating us and wishing us well. Of course, the women all wanted to see my ring. I told them that Doc had it made for me and they told me what a lucky woman I was. “I know!” I replied. “I’m the luckiest woman on Earth!”

Later, Walt made his way to me. He and his family had taken the day off from farm work to come. “Congratulations, Meredith!” He gave me a big hug. “Who would have thought that Doctor Julian coming to fetch you from the fields that day last year would lead to this?”

“I know, Walt! I’m just as amazed as you! I have a favour to ask of you.”

“What’s that?”

“I’d like you to walk me down the aisle, if you would.”

“Meredith, I’d be honoured. I just wish your Dad were here to do it.”

“Me, too, Walt. But he’s not, so I’d love for you to stand in. I’m sure he would approve.”

“I know he will be looking down on you with pride, Meredith. He couldn’t ask for a better son in law than Julian.” I thought of what happened that day in surgery when I was pulled out of my body and into another realm where I saw my parents. They knew what was going on in my life in regards to Jane and Watters so evidently, they could see me. And Doc's parents, whom I also saw, knew about us. I couldn’t tell Walt that, though.

“I’m sure he will be”, I said with a smile.