Rylan
To: Rylan
From: Violet
Okay, there’s something I have to ask…
I’m smiling at my phone like some kind of crazy person. Thankfully I’m in the privacy of my exam room, so no one can see me anyway, but honestly, I’m not sure anything could wipe the smile off my face right now – not even my colleagues thinking I’d lost my mind entirely.
This light-hearted banter has been going on for the past hour or so, and it’s lucky really that I’m here in my spare time again and not on shift, because I’m not sure I’d be able to focus on anything other than Violet and her messages.
My phone beeps indicating another text has arrived, and I smile even bigger as I anticipate her question.
To: Rylan
From: Violet
So you look at… you know… lady parts all day… I mean wouldn’t you get sick of seeing that… like in your personal life?
I laugh out loud at that one.
I can almost see her blushing from here. She’s adorable really.
To: Violet
From: Rylan
You know what; it is just vagina all day around here… it’s really a wonder I haven’t turned gay over it.
I wait for her reply almost anxiously. I’m not sure how she’ll respond to my teasing.
To: Rylan
From: Violet
You just made me spit a mouthful of water across the room, so touché… I’ll give you ten points for that one. I’ll also take that as a no to my question.
I’m thinking about how incredible she is when another text comes through before I have a chance to reply.
To: Rylan
From: Violet
P.s. While I have no issue with gay men, I’m really glad you aren’t one.
She’s funny too.
No one has made me smile like this in years, and here she is, making me laugh without even trying.
I’m dying to see her again; she’s like an addiction I can’t satisfy.
To: Violet
From: Rylan
I like you, Violet Miller.
Her reply is instantaneous.
To: Rylan
From: Violet
I like you too, Rylan Wilder.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
Her eyes are bright and excited and it’s infectious. When she smiles, I smile.
I’ve got a strong suspicion that whatever Violet was feeling, I’d feel it too. It’s like there’s a direct link between her emotions and mine.
It might be invisible to the eye, but I feel it… it’s there, and while it terrifies me, it also excites me like nothing else.
“I’ve got the day off tomorrow actually.”
I don’t know why she’s asking, but it doesn’t matter, if there’s anything on offer, I’ll take it.
I had to work the last two days, and they were the longest days of my life. Knowing I had a date with Violet waiting for me tonight made the hours seem to drag on forever. I can’t recall a time when I was actually more eager for something outside of the hospital, rather than something within it.
“Perfect.” She grins at me as I open the door into the bowling alley – our destination for the evening. “I’ve got somewhere I want to take you.”
She’s so pretty when she smiles. It lights up her whole face and causes those deep dimples in her cheeks that I’m beginning to crave.
“I’m intrigued.”
“I’ll pick you up, okay?”
“Tour guide and chauffer, huh?”
“At your service.” She winks.
She strolls off ahead of me and I find myself following along behind her like a little puppy dog.
“Are you not going to tell me where we’re going?”
She turns back to face me, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“I bet you’re one of those people that hate surprises, am I right?”
She’s exactly right. I thoroughly dislike them, but I’m not about to tell her that.
I like to have a plan. I get enough of the unknown and unexpected with my job, so I tend to avoid it in my personal life – when I actually bother to have a personal life that is, but I already know I’ll make some type of exception for her.
“Me?” I make a show of balking at her statement. “I love surprises.”
She giggles, and I’m filled with warmth. “You’re a terrible liar.”
She’s right about that too. I always have been… my sister always said I couldn’t lie to save my life.
It bothered me as a child, but now I like to think of it as one of my better qualities.
I give the young girl behind the counter the name on the bowling lane I’ve pre-paid for. Violet has been making a good show of insisting that she was going to be treating me to this date but there was no way I was going to let her hand over a cent.
It’s not that I’m stuck in the dark ages, but in my mind, when a man is courting a woman, he should pay for the privilege.
That’s how my grandfather courted my grandmother and how my father courted my mother.
It’s the way I want to do it too.
Violet pouts at me when she realises what I’ve done. “Rylan! I told you I was paying today.”
“You’re going to have to be faster than that then.” I wink at her and she scrunches up her nose in frustration.
She hurriedly hands her credit card to the girl. “I’m paying for the snacks then.”
The girl, ‘Kate’ according to her name badge, grimaces. “Ummm… he’s kind of already ordered and paid for all of that too…”
I watch Violet’s jaw drop as she turns back to me. “You’re impossible… we had a deal.”
I shrug and grin. “You might have thought we had a deal… I never agreed to let you pay, Violet. Call me old fashioned, but I want to take you out – so I pay, okay?”
“Girl, you should just let him… I mean hell, I wouldn’t say no if some cute guy wanted to spoil me.”
I shoot Violet a ‘see’ look.
Violet blushes as she looks between me and Kate, who is now setting our bowling shoes down on the counter.
“Well I can see I’m outnumbered.” She sighs. “Fine, thank you, it’s very sweet – albeit totally unnecessary,” she adds in a grumble.
There’s a small smile playing on the corner of her lips and I know she can’t hold this grudge for long.
“C’mon…” I grab both pairs of shoes before slinging my arm around her. “I’ve got a real deal for you.”
“And what would that be?”
We approach our lane and I look at her, unable to keep the huge smile off my face. “If I win, you have to tell me where we’re going tomorrow.”
She laughs. “And if I win?”
I think about it for a moment. “If you win… I’ll let you pay for our next date.”
She blushes again, and her lips turn up in a coy smile – I know she’s thinking about the fact that I’ve just committed to another date, and while she seems pretty damn happy about it, this deal is still very clearly stacked in my favour.
She holds out her hand for me to shake. “Alright then, deal.”
“You could have told me you were a pro,” I grumble. “I got hustled.”
She giggles gleefully – I think she’s still pretty pleased with herself about her win.
Actually, win doesn’t quite cut it, she whipped my butt good and proper.
“A deal’s a deal, Dr. Wilder. I get to pay for the next date.”
It’s me who’s pouting now.
That’ll teach me for underestimating her – I’d been so sure I was going to win the game and our little bet.
She’s walking backwards so that she’s facing me, as we stroll through the park.
I want so badly to find out about her heart; she’s so radiant and filled with life, I almost wonder if I looked at the wrong patient’s file. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve seen her, frail and extremely unwell with my very own eyes, I’d probably have decided by now that I had made a mistake.
I won’t ask her though. I can’t. Not without revealing I violated hospital policy or that I somehow know her from a hospital corridor years ago.
Neither of those things are something I want to share at the moment, or perhaps ever, so I just have to wait… wait and hope that she’ll trust me enough to tell me when she’s ready. There’s so much more to her than just her heart, and I can’t blame her for wanting to share who she really is as a person before she’s forced to confess the thing that’s probably defined her for her whole life.
Maybe it’s better this way – that I’ll learn about her first and her heart later.
I want to know everything about her – the real her… and this is probably the best chance I’m going to get.
“Hey… do you want to come and have dinner with me?” she asks unexpectedly, breaking me from my thoughts.
“You mean at your house?”
I’m yet to set foot inside Violet’s house, but I want to so badly I have to stop myself from yelling the word ‘yes’ at her.
“Yeah… I’ve got a heap of food; it’s kinda hard to cook the right amount for just me… I mean if you’re not busy…”
She’s rambling, and as soon as I recognise it’s because she’s nervous I’ll say no, I almost do yell the word at her.
“That sounds perfect, Violet,” I interrupt her chatter.
“Yeah?” She looks up at me, her crystal blue eyes filled with hope.
“Yeah.”