The Doctor's In Love (Pathway Series)

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this
book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any
resemblance to actual events, organizations, or person, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Even after all these
years he still looked the same.  Yes, he had gotten older and there was some
grey in his hair, but he had changed for the better.  He had the same twinkly
brown eyes that he had always had.  Marisol Matthews looked at him from under
her lowered lashes.  He was simply a beautiful person inside and out and always
had been.  It had been 5 years since she had seen him and the years had
definitely been better to him than to her.  She, on the other hand had never
considered herself a beautiful or even pretty woman.  She weighed too much to
be considered beautiful.  She had green eyes, reddish brown hair with highlights
that weren’t natural by any means and a great complexion, thanks to the help of
cosmetics.  The cosmetic counter at her local department store was definitely
her friend.  Even though she was rocking and rolling towards thirty-five she
didn’t really look a day over thirty.  She was blessed on that account.  Josh,
on the other hand or Dr. Maddox as he was known was nearing forty-four by now
and he didn’t look a day over thirty-five.  Some men had it so easy.  He was a
very handsome man and in Marisol’s opinion he was the one that not only got
away, but the one that she had never really had. 

They had worked
together for 5 years before he had left and took a position as a hospitalist at
a local hospital.  To say Marisol’s heart had been broken was an
understatement.  However, it had been for the best.  Even though, they had been
the best of friends he had been married and no matter what, Marisol had never
considered crossing that line.  Well, that wasn’t exactly true and she knew it.
  She had considered it and right when she was going to do something about it,
he had decided to leave.  Marisol guessed that was God’s way of nipping that in
the bud.  They had been so close that if he had stayed - there would have been
no doubt that something would have happened.  Marisol would have made a fool of
herself, because as beautiful as his wife was, Marisol was the complete
opposite.  She had been frumpy, overweight and had worn glasses.  She hadn’t
really had that much going for her.  She would have wound up making a play for
him and then when she had been rejected, she would have felt even worse for the
fact that their friendship was over.  He had always spoken highly of her to her
family and they had been his patients.  Marisol had worked for the 4 physician
practice from the time she was twenty-one until she had been thirty-three.  He
had practically watched her grow up. 

Dr. Maddox had told her
mother that Marisol should have been a doctor.  That she’d had the potential to
be a great physician and Marisol had secretly fallen in love with him after
hearing how he talked about her to her family.  He had always talked her up and
made her sound like she was the most awesome person in the world.  That’s when
her parents had started to realize that she had some talent for the medical
field.  She had went on to major in Health Information Technology at the local
college and had gotten her Associates online and taken a job at another
practice almost a year ago.  Marisol knew that Dr. Maddox worked at the
hospitalist program, but she knew she wouldn’t see him since he never came in
the office.

Now looking at him, she
couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.  He was handsome and not just because Marisol
was hard up, but because he looked really good.  She smiled to herself and
thought about what a goofball she was being.  Josh was still lean and athletic
looking and he still had that lopsided grin that she’d always loved.  Marisol
just stared at him with wide-eyed fascination until he suddenly looked up and
stared straight at her.   They both broke into smiles at the same time and he
walked towards her with a strong, confident stride.  Marisol took a deep breath
and tried to hold it in, but then felt herself getting a little dizzy.

“I will not pass out. 
I will not pass out.” She kept repeating under her breath.

“Hey there green eyes. 
I never thought I’d see you here.” Dr. Josh Maddox said smiling broadly.

“Hi there, Doc, it’s
good to see you.”  Couldn’t Marisol come up with anything more original than that? 
She could crawl into a hole.  She held out her hand and he enveloped it with
his.  She shook vigorously and then suddenly stopped,  thinking that she was
treating his hand like a dog with a chew toy, shaking it back and forth.  She
flushed and withdrew her hand.

“When did you start
working here?  I know I would have seen you here before.  I can pick you out of
a crowd.” He said winking.  He was a charmer; he could charm a snake out of its
skin.

“About a year ago, but
I worked in the satellite office in Tree Lane.  I just moved to this office at
the end of October.   Almost 5 months here and my one year will be coming up in
March.” Marisol said rambling.  At her diarrhea of the mouth, Josh just laughed
and shook his head.

“You should try
breathing in between some of those sentences.” At Marisol’s slightly embarrassed
look he said, “I’m just pulling your leg.  You always were a talker, but then
so am I - takes one to know one.   I was just dropping off charges from the
weekend admits.  You look good Marisol, really good.” She didn’t have glasses
any longer thanks to LASIK and she had lost at least fifty pounds.  She still
weighed about one hundred and fifty so she wasn’t wafer thin, but she had still
changed quite a lot.

Marisol stared at him
in mute adoration before realizing that her mouth was hanging open and she
might be drooling a little.  She snapped it shut and said, “You look really
good too.  It’s been a long time.”

“Too long.” Josh said
sadly.  “Look, I have to get back to the hospital, but are you doing anything
after work tonight?”

“Doing anything?  Nope,
just going home.  I still don’t have much of a life besides work.” Oh God, why
did she just say that?  Was she losing what was left of her mind?  She dealt
with doctors all day and she didn’t just blurt things out to them.  I mean, she
did when it called for it but not like this.  What was she thinking?  Maybe it
was time to schedule that follow-up with her psychologist.

“Great.  How about we
have coffee or something and catch up.  It’s been so long since we’ve seen each
other and I have so many questions.”  Josh looked over her shoulder and
whispered, “I think the dragon-lady is giving us the evil eye.” Marisol didn’t
have to ask who that was.  Her boss was the dragon-lady.  She had about as much
feeling for others as a table lamp.  Marisol glanced over her shoulder and sure
enough, she was being glared at.

“You betcha.  She hates
me, but I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”  Marisol smiled and Josh leaned
over and kissed her on the forehead.

“That’s great.  That
you’ll go out with me - not that she hates you…boy that didn’t come out right. 
So, I’ll see you tonight.  I really have missed this smile.  Let’s give her
something to talk about.” He touched her mouth with his thumb and rubbed her
bottom lip.  Marisol watched in amazement as he walked around her and walked
towards her office manager with purposeful strides.  Never in the 10 years
since she’d known him had he ever done anything that physical towards her
except maybe a hug.  She turned around and watched as he walked down the hall. 
She was in big trouble.  Her office manager glared at her and walked into her
office.  Just one more reason for Marisol not to be liked; not that she needed
one.  Her boss made it her point in life to make Marisol’s life miserable and
that was okay because she could handle it most days.  She just dealt with it
and put in her 8 hours and then went home, but some days were worse than
others.  Marisol could deal with the backstabbing and the pettiness, but sometimes
it hurt that she didn’t have any friends that she worked with.  She always told
herself that she was there to do a job and not make friends, but that really
wasn’t the way to live.  Marisol wished she could quit, but that wasn’t an
option for her.  She sat down and stared at the stack of work on her desk.  She
had a full day ahead of her so keeping busy definitely wouldn’t be a problem
for Marisol.  She blew her hair out of eyes and settled into her office chair.

After her sixth glance
at the clock, Marisol gave up and decided to take a break.  Five o’clock
couldn’t get here soon enough.  Marisol was so nervous that she hadn’t even
been able to eat lunch.  She was excited about tonight.  At the thought of
earlier, she felt her face heat up.  Her boss had been giving her dirty looks
all day long.  Maybe, she should cancel tonight.  She didn’t know if she wanted
to sit there and listen to Josh talk about how great his marriage and family
was; when Marisol didn’t have one waiting for her when she got home.  She just
had her parents and although she loved them to pieces, there was a part of her
that wanted a physical love that only came from having a meaningful physical
relationship. 

Just as she was about
to call the hospital and tell Josh that she was tired and could they just do
coffee some other day, she had a phone call.  She looked up as Mindy said,
“There’s a guy on the phone and he’s rude, I don’t think he knows phone
etiquette at all.”

“Sorry Mindy, it’s
probably my dad and he doesn’t have very much personality on the telephone.”
She pressed the line and spoke into it.  “Hello, this is Marisol.  May I help
you?”

“I hope so beautiful. 
Are you ready to cut out of there?  I was thinking instead of coffee, we could
catch some dinner.  I didn’t get to eat any lunch.  I was a little nervous
about tonight.”  Josh admitted quietly.

“You’re not the only
one.” Marisol laughed softly. “I was getting ready to call and cancel.  I
didn’t think that it would be such a great idea to go out with you.” She said
seriously.

“Why not?  Why can’t
two friends catch up on some much needed friend time?  I’ve really missed you
and you don’t know how much.  We haven’t seen each other in 5 years.  A lot has
happened.  Unless you’re married and your husband would be jealous.” Josh said.

“I’m not married, but
you are and I’m not sure that she would be thrilled about us seeing each
other.  If I remember correctly, she didn’t like me and the feeling was kind of
mutual.” Marisol said honestly. 

“I remember.  She
didn’t like the fact that I talked about you and that it was always - Marisol
this and Marisol that.  Look, go out with me.  There’s a lot to tell you, but
if this will persuade you…” Josh paused “I’m divorced.”

“You’re what?” Marisol
said breathlessly.  She almost fell out of her chair and dropped the telephone
at that one.

“D.I.V.O.R.C.E.D.” Josh
spelled out for her.

“Since when?”

“Since a year and a
half ago.” Josh said.

“Wow that’s great.  I
mean, I’m so sorry.” Marisol said, as an afterthought.  Geez, she could at
least sound a little sympathetic instead of almost gleeful.

“Yeah, wow.  So, I’ll
pick you up at 5?” He asked.

“Okay.  I’ll see you in
a whole hour.” Marisol hung up and leaned back in her chair and whispered out
loud “divorced”.  She hadn’t seen that one coming.  She hadn’t seen any of it
coming.  She wasn’t sure what she was feeling.  She stared at the phone and
realized what he had said.  He was going to pick her up and everyone would see
them together.  How would that look?  Did she really care?  No, she didn’t
think she did.  She looked down at the paperwork she was working on and
realized that she wasn’t going to get anything done at all today.  She hadn’t
really made any progress today anyway.