They Never Expected

Chapter 14

The day before the competition dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. I spent the first three hours of it organizing aspects of my plan for Tara, but then my parents thought it best to sit in my room expressing their endless list of concerns over my marching the next day. Luckily for me, Tara knew I was up to something and relished the thought of helping me despite the fact that she had no idea what I was up to. She herded them out in a matter of minutes, claiming the doctors needed to perform a mandatory check-up before releasing me.

"So why did you leave so fast yesterday?" Tara asked once she was sure my parents weren't lurking outside the door.

"Oh... My ribs were bothering me. I came back to take some pain medicine." I have to admit, I didn't feel all that guilty since my excuse was half true, but it was hard to keep my plan from Tara. After all, she had been the one to help me find the drive to be back on the field with the band again.

"You realize you're talking to the nurse that administers your medication, right?" A smile I'd seen playing on her face during her encounter with Dr. Groves the night before danced on her face again as she spoke.

I realized then that I had to take advantage of her good mood to start weaving the threads into my master plan, "You'll be at tomorrow's competition with us, right?" I asked.

"That's the plan. Someone has to be certified to take care of you if you go south. Dr. Groves arranged it." that same smile made another appearance while I recovered from the aftershock of her bluntness.

She saw my expression before I caught myself and slapped her hand over her mouth, "Too soon?"

I laughed, "So what's up with this crazy good mood you're in?" her smile faded almost immediately. "Wait..." I paused, putting a few pieces together, "No... It can't be..." This time the whole picture fell into place. I stopped to stare accusingly at her. I held my gaze on her for a handful of seconds, making her squirm. Finally, she caved, "What!?" she glanced frantically around the room, looking for some hastey escape plan.

I measured my next words carefully before letting them fly, "Are you having relations with my doctor?"

Tara's mouth said "no", but the glow emanating from her said she had a dinner date later that evening. "You've got to be kidding! Of course not!"

"How old is he anyway? Like, forty?" I poked the angry lion.

"He's thirty!" Tara realized I'd caught her, "Crap..."

"Isn't something about that illegal?" I asked, scratching my head.

She slumped down into the ugly green chair by the bed and twiddled her thumbs, stopping ocasionally to chew on her nails, "It's no big deal. We'd just never really had the chance to meet and get to know each other until you came around. After you were admitted, we just kept seeing more and more of each other."

My mind jumped back to the seemingly innocet conversation I'd overheard between them the night before. Dr. Groves must have been measuring his words so I wouldn't catch on. Still, they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces, "Wow. I guess they should fire Cupid and hire me then, huh?"

"If you ever shoot me with anything, especially a heart-shaped arrow, you can count on another visit to the ICU." she grinned.

"So how did he manage to become a successful thirty-year-old physician?" I felt bad about doubting him considering the fact that he was responsible for the fact that I was breathing right then, but thirty seemed a little young to me. It also seemed a little old for Tara in my opinion. then again, she was twenty-seven...

"He's been in the field for a few years now. He's passionate about what he does. It made college relatively easy for him. It didn't take long for this place to pick him up as one of their own."