The Doctor's In Love (Pathway Series) (6 page)

“Marisol, can I see you
please?” Clare asked.  Marisol smiled politely and followed Clare to her office
where Dr. Pate was also waiting.  Marisol took a seat and Clare closed the door
to her office.

“Yes ma’am?” Marisol
asked.

“I specifically asked
you the other week if you had the security code to the office.” Clare stated.

“Yes ma’am and I told
you that I don’t.  I told you to talk with Ralph if you didn’t believe me.”
Marisol replied.

“I also asked if you
were talking with a board member after hours.  I’ve been told by a staff member
that you’ve been conspiring to have me fired and this upsets me greatly.” Clare
said.  Marisol looked at her in disbelief.

“You’re joking, right? 
I haven’t been doing anything of the kind.  I’ve been doing my job.” Marisol
defended.

“Well the board and I
have decided that we no longer need your services.  So we’ve decided that you
can either resign, which we’ve written up a resignation letter for you to sign
or you can be terminated.” Clare said.  Dr. Pate stood behind Clare and didn’t
say anything.

“So all of the board
voted?  Based on one person’s accusation?” Marisol questioned.

“We really don’t have
to go into all of this.  Either sign the letter or be terminated.  If you
resign, I can tell potential employers that you were really good at your job. 
You were good at your job and no one disputes that, but we just feel that your
time here is up.” Clare said.  Marisol sat there and looked at her like she had
lost her mind.  Was this lady crazy?  She had done nothing, but be friends with
a board member and this is what happens. Sure, in the beginning she had made
mistakes, but she had quit doing that.  She knew the nurse that had lied
because the only one who would out and out tell that kind of lie was Lily.  She
was one of the oldest nurses there and she had lied before.  She hadn’t wanted
Clare fired, if anything she had covered up some of the things that had been
going on.  Marisol had kept quiet about a lot of things that had been going
on.  She just looked at the resignation letter on the desk and then looked at
Clare who sat there with her arms crossed.  Marisol didn’t feel anything at
that moment, but free.  She leaned over and signed the resignation letter and
then she got up and walked out.  She didn’t say a word because she didn’t have
anything to say. 

“Do you need a bag for
your stuff?” Clare asked sweetly and offered her a bag.

“No I don’t.  Thank
you.” Marisol said.  She started getting her stuff together and quietly dropped
what she had been working on in the trash.  She didn’t really have anybody that
she worked with that she wanted to say goodbye to, so after she was done
packing her stuff she left through the back door.  She got into her car and
shut the door.  Marisol’s thoughts were swirling in her head.  What was she
going to do?  How was she going to pay her bills?  She started to
hyperventilate just a little and then she called her mother to let her know
what was going on.  When she hung up, her mother was on the warpath.  She was
calling Dr. Rowe to find out if she knew anything about what was going on. 
Marisol didn’t really want to talk to the Dr. Rowe right now.  They were
friends, but the thought of her betraying her made Marisol sick.  Marisol
pulled out of the parking lot and the rest of the drive home was a blur.  She
walked in to her mother and father telling her that everything would be okay. 
Her mother had called Dr. Rowe and she was in a meeting, but would call her
back.  Marisol needed to call Josh and tell him what was going on.

“Hi honey, how’s your
Friday going?” Josh asked softly.

“It’s been better.  I
got called into the boss’s office and Clare told me to resign or be fired.” She
said trying to hold it together.

“On what grounds?”

“Apparently, they don’t
really need any.” Marisol said.

“How are you doing?”
Josh asked.

“I’m doing surprisingly
okay.  I thought I’d be heartbroken, but I’ve been miserable for months.  I’ll
bounce back.” She answered truthfully.

“Can I see you this
afternoon?” Josh asked.

“You know, I could
really use that.” Marisol said.  She heard her mother on the house phone and
then her mother interrupted her.  “Josh, I have to go.  I have another call on
the house phone.  I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“Alright baby.  I’ll
see you in a few.” Josh said.  Marisol hung up and her mother said:

“Dr. R is on the phone
and she is not happy.” Her mother handed her the phone and Marisol took a deep
breath.

“Hey Dr. R.” She said.

“I want to tell you
that I had nothing to do with what happened today and that I knew nothing about
it.” She said angrily.

“I know.” Marisol
replied.  She really didn’t know, but she had been her friend for 3 years and
she trusted her.  There had to be one person she could trust.

“I mean it.  I just had
one of the partners come over here to basically break the news to me.  They
didn’t even think to have me included in this vote.” She stated. 

“Really it’s okay.  I
know you would have told me and they knew it.  So, I’m okay.  What does that
tell you?  Look, I have to go because I have to be somewhere.  I hate to cut
this short.” Marisol said.

“I don’t want this to
affect our friendship.” Dr. Rowe said, but Marisol wondered if it would. 

“Of course not.  We
weren’t friends because we worked together.” She said.  They said goodbye and
Marisol wondered if she would hear from her friend again.  She hoped that she
would.  She counted her as one of her closest friends.  She had been one of the
first people other than Josh who truly thought she was smart and had potential.

“Mom, I’m going to see
Josh.  He wants to make sure I’m okay.” Marisol said.

“Okay honey.  Be
careful and we love you.” Her mother kissed and gave her a hug.  “Don’t worry
about anything.  Your grandparents want to help you if you need anything.”

“You’ve already talked
to grandma?”

“Yeah and they want to
help any way they can.” Her mother replied.

“Thanks mom.  I’ll be
home later.” Marisol grabbed her keys and purse and ran for the car.

Josh let Marisol in the
house and wondered how she was going to take his news.  He was just a little
worried about it.  He took her sweater and gave her a hug and held her for a couple
of minutes.

“How are you really
doing?” Josh asked.  He leaned back and looked at her intently.

“I’m okay.  Really. 
I’m a lot better than I thought.  Dr. Rowe called and told me that she didn’t
know anything about it and that made me feel a lot better.” She said softly.

“Come on and have a
seat.  There’s something I need to talk to you about.” He led her over to the
sofa.  Marisol looked at him and noticed for the first time that he looked
worried.

“Are you okay?” Marisol
asked.

“I will be after I tell
you what I need to.” Josh said.  He fidgeted in the chair and he actually
started to make Marisol nervous and she voiced it.

“Now you’re making me
nervous.”

“I’m just going to say
it.  They made me a partner in the practice.” Josh rushed out and Marisol burst
out laughing.  She looked at Josh and realized that he was serious and wasn’t
kidding. 

“You’re not kidding. 
When did that happen?” Marisol asked.

“Last month the papers
were signed, but it’s not official till next week.  I was going to take you out
and tell you this weekend.” Josh said.  He waited to see what she would do and
she just sat there and stared at her lap.  She looked up and gave him a small
smile.

“I guess Clare didn’t
quite get rid of me the way she had planned.” Marisol said quirking her
eyebrow.  Josh laughed and leaned over and kissed her lightly.

“Does this mean that
you’re not dumping me?” He said.

“I wouldn’t dump you
over that.”

“Good because I really
love you.  I’ve loved you for a long time green eyes.” Josh said, cupping her
chin in his hand.

“I love you too.” She
replied.  He kissed her lightly and pulled back slightly.

“You know, there’s a
dinner that their having for me to welcome me as partner next week.  You
wouldn’t want to go as my date, would you?” Josh asked slyly.

“Yes I think I would
actually.” Marisol said and leaned in to give him another kiss.  “I can’t think
of anything that I would like to do more.”

CJ Butcher is originally from Baltimore, Maryland,
but moved to Pikeville North Carolina.  She is thirty-five years old and lives
with her 2 cocker spaniels Shelby and Molly.  She is involved in her church The
Bridge and actively enjoys reading, writing and running.  She has been in the
medical field for 18 years.