Divorced! Now what?

Chapter 31

Theo POV



My time with Dad was always special to me; our family is close, and with Dad now closer to retirement age, he has cut back a little on his work. He, too, is a doctor but not a heart specialist, and his position is now high enough at the local hospital not to be on call on the weekends so that we can have our Sunday sports day. I am looking forward to having them with Bethany's dad in the place. That TV screen of hers is the best.

By the time I woke in the morning and got to the pool, it seemed I was too late to catch Bethany. The water on the floor told me she had already been there for her swim. I did forty slow laps, not needing to rush into today's operation. I had only one surgery scheduled, and the new research doctor would meet and show him around the place. I am looking forward to meeting him. We need someone who knows what they are doing there. I am told this doctor has created a mechanical pump, so we might get to try it out on some of our long-term patients who are running out of time to find a heart if we can get past all the red tape, that is and if this doctor can deliver the goods, like Robson had been crowing about.

The local café is where I stopped next, getting my bacon and egg burger and coffee before heading to work. I was in a perfect mood; our team won over the weekend, and the announcement of the engagement was even better. I think her man, Sam, will fit in well, even though he knows nothing about sports. Humming the tune from the radio that was playing at the café as I continued to walk to work, it seemed to be playing over and over in my head. It was a catchy tune, and I thought it was going to annoy me by the end of the day.

Things were going well after my rounds and letting two patients go home. The surgery was still a few hours away, and the patient had only just arrived and needed to be admitted and settled in the room. Other little things needed to be done before surgery, like shaving his chest, something the nurses enjoyed doing. Did you hear the sarcasm when I said that?

As I was headed to get another coffee, my phone rang. It was Robson calling to ask me to come to the office and meet the new doctor. I grabbed three cups of coffee. Not knowing how the new doctor took them, I went out on a limb and brought three that were all white and had no sugar. If the new doctor did not take them that way, I could keep them and drink them later.

I balanced the coffee on a tray and knocked.

Opening the door, I used my butt to push it open and swung around, taking care not to spill the coffee. I almost dropped the tray when I looked at the new doctor staring back at me. If she had not reacted and taken the tray from me, I am sure the coffee would have hit the floor.

'Hi Theo.' Bethany greeted me with a gentle smile and placed the tray on the table.

'You two know each other?' Robson asked in a shocked voice, but he had a massive smirk on his face.

'Bethany is the new neighbor I was telling you about.' I tried not to blush as I remember telling Robson about Bethany and how she had broken my dry spell and how sexy she was, and oh, I think I want to hide under the table about now.

'All good things, I hope.' Bethany threw back quickly, giving me a smirk and causing Robson to break out laughing. 

'I brought coffee and muffins.' I said, trying to change the subject and feeling the heat rise.

'Yes, you did.' Robson said, taking a cup and a muffin, and continued to smirk as he watched me squirm. Bethany took a cup and muffin and did not look back at me, so she missed my embarrassing moment.

'Theo told me how he bumped into you when you first arrived, how you both got along well, and how relieved he was that you were not like his previous neighbor.'

'Oh, yeah, he told me a little bit about her. It takes all kinds to make the world go round.' Bethany flippantly replied, but not in a bad way.

'Well, as you already know each other, introductions will not be needed.'

'I think you can gloss over some of her credentials.' I threw back at Robson. We talked about a lot of things, but not once did we talk about what we did for a living, and I was floored to find out she was who I had been waiting for to arrive and that it was actually she.

Robson gave me a run-down on Bethany's history, and I was excited to find out she was as skilled as she was. We now have a doctor who can take on the children's side of things. Those little hearts scare me a bit. I have large hands and feel the little hearts are so tiny that I could end up causing more damage than if I had waited for them to grow a little.

Robson then gave Bethany a rundown on my credentials and what I was head of here. We will sometimes overlap, but that will not be an issue. I was getting hard on as I thought of our last time together, and I had to pull myself back a few times and force myself to listen and not reminisce.

That is not a good thing. I need to keep my mind on my job, and there is the downfall of having a relationship with a colleague. We may have to pull it back while we get settled in the new situation. I hope she will understand. It is not that we are not good together; I just think having a girlfriend who is a colleague is not good.

Hang on, what do I mean, Girlfriend? 

She is not my girlfriend but a neighbor with benefits. 

When did I start to think of her any other way?

I need to squash that right now; just because I bedded her does not make her my girlfriend. I am getting ahead of myself; it's definitely time to get my head straight.

I looked down and watched her cross her legs and imagined them wrapped around my waist, and there goes my boner, hard as a rock again, and there went all my arguments about having her as anything but a benefit buddy. I am starting to wonder what is wrong with me. Maybe I need to go and get laid by someone else and get her out of my head. So I can do my job without cracking a boner.

When Robson sounded like he had said enough, he pushed us out the door and suggested I show her the theaters and ICU and introduce Bethany to the other doctors and nurses.

'Bethany, we won't make you start work today. Go and get orientated and meet the staff. You can start tomorrow. All your paperwork is done and has been forwarded to the payroll. Also, your badge will be here in a few days. Theo. Can you have one of the nurses take Bethany through the program we use here?'

'Sure, will Sarah do?' I asked, trying to think of which nurse would best show her the ropes on the computer.

'Perfect, now shoo.' Robson waved his hands at us in a shooing motion, and together, we left, chuckling at his behavior.

'Thank you, Robson.' I said as I closed the door behind us and looked at Bethany, who was staring back at me with an expectant twinkle in her eyes.

'We are in for some trouble, aren't we? A wild ride.' Bethany said as she walked with me, and I could not agree with more; we are going to have to hide that we are together; we don't want to complicate things here at work, and we both have plenty to keep us busy and out of each other's hair.

Chapter 32 - Divorced! Now what?