CHAPTER 8 - SIMON'S BALLERINA

Whoa…Simon thought the moment she walked into the examination room.

This morning he thought today was going to be like every other day, but it seemed the ‘verse had thrown him a bone. And what a beautiful bone it was.

Her name was Nadine Pryor and just twenty minutes ago she had limped into the emergency room and right into the examination room where he was working.

Even though Simon was studying to be a surgeon, as work experience his resident had put him to the task of applying simple weaves, giving inoculations, stitching up wounds and cuts, and bandaging sprained joints and the like in the emergency room.

“Interact with the patients Simon,” Dr Li had lectured, “It’s very different operating on someone’s whose unconscious, to helping someone who’s awake and very aware of the pain. It’ll help you see your patients as humans…and you’ll make better decisions in surgery.”

He wasn’t particularly happy about it because he had been looking forward to doing some ‘real work’ but the moment he had set eyes on Nadine, with her fiery red hair, and twinkling blue eyes, and the most adorable sprinkling of freckles across her nose, he was ready to sing the praises of whatever deity that had brought her here.

Of course, because Simon was, what his friends kindly referred to him, ‘a total backbirth’ when it came to talking to the opposite sex, he did not manage more than a simple, “Could you please get up on the examination table?” and “I’m going to take a scan of your ankle now. Hold still please,” before he faded into completely (how he justified it) ‘professional’ silence.

Simon set up the scanner, and as he was readying it to begin operation, when his ‘professional silence’ was unceremoniously broken by Nadine.

“So er…Simon,” she said scanning his ID badge, “You’re kinda of young…to be a doctor.”

He looked at her uncertainly, “Oh I…er…I could get someone to verify-“

She let out a tinkling laugh which entranced Simon momentarily, “You’re hila