Quote of the Week from "Bad Day"

I like the initial meeting of male & female leads in my stories. Sometimes the meetings are happy, funny, embarrassing or downright awful. The following is from "Bad Day", a work in progress. Reva Kelly is a wedding planner. One day, nothing is going right at all. Coming back from lunch, her shoe breaks, hurling her to the ground, breaking her leg. While at the hospital, her assistant & friend, Jane, waits with her in the ER cubicle. Her boss, Mr. Perrine, sends his "personal physician" (his nephew) to check on her.

There was some fumbling with the curtain and a young doctor poked his head in with a grin. "Am I in the right place? I'm looking for Reva Kelly?"

I waved, smirking sardonically. "You've found what's left of me," I grinned shyly.

He eyed me in a more than professional fashion, lingering on my broken ankle. Then his gaze drifted back up to my eyes, focusing there. "Red hair," he murmured.

"And green eyes," I countered. "And you are?"

A brown haired, sun bronzed love god, by the look of him. His eyes were a amber brown with little flecks of gold.

"Sorry, I'm Mr. Perrine's personal physician," he smirked and winked.

"You are really a doctor, aren't you?" This was from Jane. I guess she felt like I did that he looked really young.

"Of course. Doctor Hal Perrine at your service."

"You're related to Mr. Perrine?" Jane was jumping in with all the right questions before I could even formulate them.

"Yes, that's right. His great nephew. My grandfather is his older brother."

"But you are a real doctor?" Jane couldn't let that drop.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name?" He held out his hand to her, artificial smile on his face.

"Jane Mercer, her assistant."

"Ms. Mercer, I promise, I'm a bonafide doctor. See? It even says so on my coat." He pointed to his name tag.

"How much experience do you have?"

"Is this a job interview? I came by to be polite and see if Miss Kelly needed anything."

"And I'm very grateful," I interjected.

I don't blame him for being annoyed. I have people think I'm too young for my job too.

"Jane's concerned for my welfare, Dr. Perrine. She takes a sisterly interest in me. We've worked together nearly five years and we're very close."

I smiled sweetly at the doctor and flashed Jane a warning look. Her lips clamped shut on whatever comments she had, but her eyes spoke volumes.

Hal picked up my chart and read through it quickly, nodding and making non-committal noises as he did so. His smile was distracted as he put the file back down.

"Miss Kelly, Uncle Jake is really concerned about you. I've never seen him take such interest in one of his people before. You must be very special."

I shrugged. "No more so than anyone else, I'm sure. Though what use I'll be in a cast, I can't imagine."

"It won't slow you down that much. A little at first until you get used to it. The pain meds will make you groggy though."

"Have you had a broken leg, Doctor?" This from Jane.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I've broken both legs at different times. Both arms within six months of each other, three ribs, my nose, one wrist and an odd assortment of toes. It's why I became an orthopedic man. After all my fractures, I had a pretty good working knowledge and thought I'd put it to use."

"Were you in car accidents or something?" Jane was amazed at the doctor's list of breaks.

"Mostly clumsy, but also I like extreme sports. I've been sky diving, wind surfing, bungee jumping, snow boarding from helicopters and I like to race dirt bikes."

"Is that how you broke your leg?" I asked, figuring dirt bikes were pretty dangerous.

He glanced away, rubbing his nose distractedly before answering. "Actually, I broke my leg once playing golf and the other time falling out of bed." He blushed, looking more than a little embarrassed. "What? It was a high bed!"

He looked so innocent, I had to laugh. Hal laughed heartily at himself as well. I liked Dr. Hal Perrine. He was handsome, funny and intelligent. Everything I look for in a man. Could I be so brazen as to ask him out? He wasn't wearing a wedding ring. What the hell, I had enough drugs in me to stop a truck.

"Hal," before I lost my nerve. "Maybe some day after I get used to the cast, we could go for a cup of coffee or bungee jumping?"

"No bungee for awhile," he tried to frown and couldn't. "But coffee sounds pretty safe. I haven't broken anything drinking coffee - yet."