Guest House

*****

Elizabeth spent the day berating the hospital
administrator for allowing a fake physician to get anywhere near one of her
patients.  “He was critically ill,” she
screamed.  The administrator said nothing.  He nodded his head until she was finished and
then quietly told her to leave. 
“What?  Aren’t you going to look
into the situation?”  “I’m in charge
here, Dr. Guest.”  He stood up and showed
Elizabeth to
the door, closed it behind her, and made a quick phone call.

As Elizabeth walked down the
hallway and slowly made her way back to where the real work was done, she felt
betrayed and helpless.  The administrator
had treated her like a nonentity.  He was
new to the hospital, but a number of administrators had come and gone in the
last several years.  Elizabeth did what was expected of her and
left for the day.  It was out of
character for her not to work overtime, but today she didn’t care.

She walked home and unlocked the
door to unfamiliar surroundings. 
“Jeff?”  She looked around at the
expensive furniture that had replaced her comfortable chairs and sofa, and the
light fixtures of crystal that hung from the ceilings.  “Jeff?” 
She took the stairs as fast as she could, trying to locate him.  In her bedroom stood a huge bed.  The spread was new, too, a multicolored
display that she knew she couldn’t afford. 
She turned to see a man in a white robe, his hair wet from the shower,
and a smile formed from wetted lips. 
“What did you do?”

“You deserve only the best, Dr.
Guest.”  With one slow movement, he slid
the ties of his robe apart and let the garment fall to the floor.  He approached her, his breath warm on her neck.  He was strong and sensual, the kind of man
Elizabeth had fantasized about.  He
lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed, the bed he was determined
to share with the doctor.

Waking up in the arms of a man was
new to Elizabeth, and she lay in bed while Jeff put his culinary skills to
work.

“You’re too good to me, young man.”

“Young man, huh?  Does that make you my old lady?”

Elizabeth didn’t respond as she stuffed
her mouth with pancakes.  “I’m off today,
want to take in some of the sights?”

“I have a few things I need to take
care of, doc.  Let’s do the tour of the
city another time.”

“Sure.”

“See you later, sweet one,” he
said.  He grabbed the keys to Elizabeth’s Lexus,
leaving her alone.  She thought little of
it as she went about her day, but as she pulled the spread from the bottom of
the bed, Jeff’s cell phone rolled across the floor.  She picked it up and noticed a text message
lighting up the screen.  ‘Dr. G. in
yesterday.  Meet me soon.’  Elizabeth
stared at the screen.  It was the
hospital administrator, but what was he doing texting Jeff?  She was tempted to text back, but if Jeff was
on his way to meet with the administrator, he would know that she was the one
doing the texting.  She looked for old
texts, but Jeff was smarter than that. 
He had deleted them.  Elizabeth placed the cell
phone on the bedside table and waited for him to return.

Two hours later she heard the front
door open and the familiar sound of Jeff’s hurried steps.  “Elizabeth,
I’m home,” he sang.

“Up here.”  She lay on the bed next to the table, hoping
for some explanation.  “You left your
phone.”

“I noticed that.”  He picked it up and slipped it into his back
pocket.

“Any messages?”

He pulled it out and glanced down
at the message.  “It’s nothing.”  He climbed onto the bed and wrapped himself
around her, hoping she would forget about the message that he was certain she
had read.