Falling Snow (13 page)

“I knew I forgot something this morning, son of a bitch.” Gordy said. He was sitting in the snow next to her. She opened her jacket pocket and pulled another bar out and handed it to him. “What would I do without you?”

“Starve.” She said between bites. He laughed. “My lawyer called this morning.”

“Oh yeah, how’s that going?” He asked.

She sighed and looked at the sun burning down on them. It was ironic how hot the sun seemed to be in the summer, but during the winter, no matter where you were the sun just wasn’t warm at all. “My divorce was final a couple of days ago.”

“Wow.” He said. He wasn’t sure if he should say he was sorry or cheer for her. Adler Troy was a very closed off person when it came to her personal life. When she got married most people didn’t even know she was dating anyone. He wondered how long it would take the world to realize she was divorced. “My offer still stands, if you ever want to talk about it.”

“Thanks. I’m good.” The only person she had ever talked to about her marriage in general was Cason. Hell, she hadn’t even told her mother the full story. She wondered if she ever would. She wondered why she even told Cason. What made her air her dirty laundry to a stranger? What made her want to be comforted by that same stranger right this very moment? And what the hell was causing her to want something she’d never had? She was haunted by the fraction of intimacy they had shared in one unguarded moment. Her mind had finished that scenario many times over in her dreams. At first, it scared her to death waking up in the middle of the night with a very detailed picture of a very naked Cason in her bed, on top of her, inside of her. She was terrified. Now, she welcomed the comfort of the dreams when they invaded her sleep. From the time she was a small child she had very real dreams. Many times she would dream of snowboarding all night and wake up exhausted the next morning from her body and mind going through the motions in her sleep. Lately, she was waking up covered in sweat with her body urging her to finish what the dream started.

“I’m ready when you are.” He shoved the wrapper for the snack into his pocket and zipped it up.

“I’m leaving tomorrow.” She said as she stood and snapped her boots into the bindings.

“Seriously?” He looked at her and stood up. “I thought we all planned to be here a few more weeks.”

“I’m just ready to go home.” She shrugged. “Besides, have you even asked Amy out?”

“Well, no, but what does that have to do with you leaving?” He asked.

“Go after what you want Gordy. Go after it and never look back.”

He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “When did you get so philosophical? Did you finally read those books I gave you?”

She smiled. “I’ve been reading them. It just finally sunk in I guess.” She turned to the side and pointed her board down the mountain. She was gone before he could blink. He quickly took off behind her.

***

Cason was about to leave the hospital when the chief of trauma paged her to his office. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She was only summoned when it was serious. She hoped she wasn’t being sued over the patient she lost two weeks ago. The woman DOA, she tried to revive her, but the situation was just out of her hands. Her family was so distraught they thought Cason should have brought her back to life like she had the hands of an angel or something. She felt bad for the family, but in the world of medicine you played the game with the cards you are dealt and she had a folded hand on that round before she even looked at it.

Dr. Anthony Frank was sitting at his desk reading something inside a manila envelope when she knocked on the door. His head was balding and what hair was left was salt and pepper colored and shaved very short. He was a short, slender guy. He picked up his glasses from the desk and waved her inside. “Dr. Macauley.”

“Good morning.” She said and sat down across from him.

“We haven’t talked much recently. I must apologize for that. I get great doctors on my staff and sometimes I forget I still need to communicate and not wait for a mistake or negative issue to arise.” He smiled. “How was your rotation at AGH this winter?”

Cason froze. Had Adler complained to the hospital about their encounter? Would she try to ruin Cason’s career? She swallowed a lump down a suddenly dry throat. “It was fine. Why? Did you hear different?”

“No. Is there something I should be concerned about?”

“No. I mean we lost a couple of people, which was very rare, but my rotation was fairly routine.”

“Good. They speak very highly of you. I think if they ever found the money in their budget to hire a trauma surgeon they would be making you an offer.” He put his hands together in the middle of desk to form a small teepee. “Dr. Harris is suppose to start his rotation in a few days and I just found out his father has fallen suddenly very ill. In fact, he may not survive much past the next couple of weeks. I obviously can’t go into details, but I need to send a doctor for the rotation and you are the only other doctor on the Interim Team. I can call one of the other hospitals to see if one of their doctors wants to double back, but if no one is available, I’m afraid Dr. Harris would have to step down from the team so that someone new could be appointed.”

“I’ll go. If he wants to step down he can do it down the road when he is thinking with a clear head. I don’t want him to be forced into making a decision like that right now. He needs to be with his family.”

“Spoken like a true team member, and a true friend Cason. It’s a privilege to have you on my staff, and it’s a pleasure to know you as something other than an employee.” He smiled. “Get out of here. I know your shift ended two hours ago.”

She shook his hand and left his office. If anyone on the hospital staff ever dug through her family tree they would find out her great-grandmother had a sister who lived in Boulder and raised her family there. She had a son, who had a son named Anthony Frank. Cason had been working at the hospital a few months when she found out her boss was her very distant cousin. He never treated her like anything other than an employee even though he knew they were related. In fact, he knew who she was the day he hired her, he just hadn’t seen her since his grandmother died when Cason was five or six. When she interviewed for the position he could see the fire in her eyes, he knew she was going to be a hell of a doctor. One day, after working together on critical patient he asked her about her family and in turn he explained how they were related. She was pretty shocked and confused at first. She wondered if that was why she got the job, but he reassured her it had nothing to do with her blood, only her medical skills. She didn’t know the Frank family because there had been a falling out when she was a small child and it was still going on to this day. Neither side of the family knew they were working together, so their secret worked out nicely.

Twenty Three

Cason looked around at the scenery as she pulled into the hospital parking lot. She had never been to Aspen without the town being covered in snow. It was so different seeing all the colors. She was use to everything being white and various shades of grey. It was actually uplifting, the small town was full of life, and the sun was beating down lighting everything up. The fresh air was thin and clean. This was the complete opposite of the way she felt the last time she stood in this very spot. She felt like she was dying inside that day, now she felt like she was alive again.

“What are you doing back here?” Serena asked when Cason walked through the double doors.

“Dr. Harris had a family emergency. It looks like you’re stuck with me for another eight weeks.” She walked past the shapely brunette towards the other end of the hall where the doctor’s lounge and chief of emergency’s office were.

“Maybe you’ll get your head out of the clouds and see what’s right in front of you.” Serena called back to her as she watched her tight ass in her loose fitting scrubs.

***

Adler walked into her townhouse and flung herself down on her couch. The worst part about traveling was the actual traveling. She wasn’t a fan of flying, and flying around the world just plain sucked. She was glad she was able to come home quietly. She only had to stop and sign a few autographs in the Aspen airport, allowing her to quickly grab her bags and get the hell out of there. It had been a very long seven weeks since she left. Her house was in need of a major dusting and airing out, her two suitcases were full of dirty clothes, she had half a dozen voicemails to return, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She kicked her shoes off and curled on her side. She loved the overstuffed, soft leather couch, when she didn’t feel like going up the stairs it doubled as a very comfortable bed.

Two hours later, her cell phone rang, waking her from a very nice dream. She stretched like a Cheshire cat and stood up. It was dark outside and she had completely missed dinner. She checked the message, along with the other six waiting for her. Her mom wanted to know when she was coming home so they could get together for dinner, two of her local friends were inviting her to a party where some new band was playing, Gordy wanted to know if she made it back, one of her sponsors was calling to schedule a photo shoot, one call was from lawyer saying he mailed the final documents to her, the last call was her PR rep wanting to know when she planned to make a statement regarding her divorce being final. She tossed the phone onto the couch and went into the kitchen in search of food for her growling stomach. She wasn’t in the mood to go to a party or think about her schedule, much less something like writing a ‘news flash people I’m officially divorced’ post on her website. It really wasn’t anyone’s business.

She threw away three half eaten food cartons that looked like science experiments. The vegetables were all mushy and smelled horrible, and the cabinets were practically bare. Finally, she grabbed a takeout menu for the local Italian restaurant and ordered dinner. A Caesar salad and a hearty plate of lasagna would be ready in twenty minutes. She didn’t want to go out for any reason, but she wasn’t keen on giving out her address. She remembered the last time she had eaten at the small mom and pop establishment, Cason was with her. She wondered what she was doing at that same moment, probably saving someone’s life, and definitely not sitting around pinning over her. She wished things had gone differently the last time they were together. Not the kiss, that was an eye opening experience that haunted her like the memory of an old lover, no she wished she hadn’t made the mistake of telling her to go. She missed her so much. They had easily and quickly become very close. Cason knew a side of her most people would never see. When she was sitting up on the mountain in New Zealand she realized she grown closer to a virtual stranger in a few short weeks, than she was with her husband of two years.

Adler was in the middle of her dinner when she realized what she needed was closure. If she ended the chapter in her life that involved Cason maybe she could hopefully put an end to the haunting dreams and uninvited thoughts that occupied her mind.

***

Cason was laying on a hospital bed in one of the empty rooms trying to get some much needed sleep. She was so tired of her dreams being invaded at night since she had returned to Aspen. In the last week she had barely slept enough to make one full night. She was running on adrenaline and coffee. She thought she had finally gotten over Adler and let her go, then she was sent right back into the lion’s den. Thankfully, she hadn’t seen the lion and didn’t plan to. She bought more frozen meals than would fit in the freezer because she had no plans to be out in the public.

When the door creaked she sat up and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark. There was only one single person in that entire hospital that would deliberately sneak quietly into her room. “Serena what do you want?” She sighed and swung her legs to the floor.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She said. “I want you.”

“It’s not going to happen, not here and now, not ever.” Cason said as she reached over and pushed the button to turn the lights on.

“Oh come on. Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on that snow queen.” She sneered.

Cason shook her head. “Serena, you’re a married woman. I’m not interested in you.”

“She’s gone you know.”

“What?” Cason was confused.

“She goes out of the country for the summer. She probably won’t be back until the snow falls again. She’s only here in the winter.” She rolled her eyes and turned to leave the room. “This is the last time I’m offering.”

“That’s fine with me.” Cason said as she laid back down when the door closed behind the headstrong brunette. She felt a wave of sadness wash over at the thought of Adler not being around, then a wave of relief that she wouldn’t have to see her accidently.

Twenty Four

Cason finished her shift just after the sun rose. She was glad her twenty-four was over, she was finally sleeping a little more at night, but she was bored out of her mind. It always took almost two weeks to adjust down to the slower pace of the Aspen atmosphere compared to Denver. The hospitals were like day and night. She planned to spend her free time working on a small editorial that she was asked to write for the state medical journal, a privilege and an honor she didn’t take lightly. Very few doctors were ever asked to write anything for any of the medical journals.

***

Adler didn’t have a home address for Cason, so she drove straight to the hospital in hopes that she would be on shift or someone would know where she lived. When she walked into the ER she noticed immediately that the place was a madhouse. She waited in line at the nurse’s desk behind three different people that were there to see relatives or friends that were being treated. This hospital was set up completely different. The emergency area was completely blocked off and you had to go through security to get to the back where people were being treated, unlike Aspen General Hospital, where you could basically walk right into the ER.