Cherry On Top (chapters 1-3)

Chapter 1

Cherry slammed her car door of her old, usually reliable, black, Chevy. She muttered to herself, while pulling her rolling suitcase from the trunk.

“Shoot,” she exclaimed. Smoke had started to plume around the creases of the hood.

A nice vacation was all she had wanted. Somewhere remote, quiet, with fresh air, no internet, and limited cell service.

Lately, work had been getting to her. She was a meter maid, or a member of the parking authority, as was more politically correct. While she liked the physical aspect of walking all day, the city noise, grimy air, and the fact everyone she encountered during her day hated her, she’d had enough. Time to get away and rest. No drivers, no illegally parked cars, no horns, no city streets.

Growing up, she spent every summer at her Lola’s house. Her grandparents had emigrated to North America long ago, but tried to keep some of the old traditions alive. They had a small farm where they grew most of their own produce, chickens, and pigs. The smell of chicken adobo still took her back to that farm. Running around and playing with the chickens, collecting eggs every morning, picking raspberries and trying to avoid the brambles. Then quiet nights on the veranda working on a puzzle or a craft project. Now, Cherry didn’t have much family to speak of, no one who lived nearby, anyway. She spoke to a few cousins who live in the Philippines, on a semi regular basis. Otherwise, she spent time with a couple good friends at work, but mostly it was just her, wandering a big, lonely city, every day.

Cherry grabbed her overly large purse, one she’d made from an old shirt of her father’s, and then threw on some runners, tossing her cute sandals in the back seat. Stowing her glass water bottle and bag of trail mix in her bag, she slammed the car door, locking it for some reason, and lifted the hood, in case a kind passer by, passed. The problem with getting away from it all was that she also got away from phoning for help.

A few minutes back up the road, she’d spotted a sign for the town where she was headed. Little Spring, “peace, in a piece of heaven”, was what their tourist website had touted. The road sign claimed that she was less that two miles away. She adjusted her bag and stepped cautiously along the gravel road. She was used to pavement, and the uneven rocks made her feel unsettled.

Cherry managed to make it all the way to town, even though the air was hot and dusty and the sun was beating down upon her. She also had eaten her snack and drank her water. The walk was kind of pleasant anyway. She passed fields and fields of corn that reached higher than her head, the late August weather making them stretch taller than ever before. The dirt road bore blue chicory and Queen Anne’s lace. There were birds, butterflies, and crickets chirping despite the heat.

When she came upon the centre of town she saw a sign for a café and thought about the empty water bottle in her bag. She really wanted a big glass of super cold and refreshing ice tea. The sign for the café read Cup of Joes, and Cherry made a beeline for the door, only to completely miss the edge of the sidewalk. Her long black hair flew everywhere and she tumbled to the ground, her purse spreading items right out into the street. Feeling rattled and majorly embarrassed, Cherry attempted to gather up her belongings, only to discover her palms were bleeding, as well as her knees, and forehead. Her favourite lipstick was crushed by a car pulling up to the light.

A man hollered, “You alright, Miss?”

A woman responded before Cherry could even find her voice. “Of course she ain’t alright Charlie. Go fetch the Doc would ya, please.” The first thing Cherry saw of the woman was her bright yellow sneakers. This was accompanied by bright yellow pants, a ruffled and flowered apron that almost touched the ground as the woman crouched. A yellow blouse completed the ensemble.

“Sweet heart, let me help you up.” Cherry grasped the woman’s hand. Soft and dark brown in colour, it was just starting to show signs of aging. When Cherry was standing she was face to face with a grandmotherly presence, dressed up just like a spring daffodil.

“There we go,” the woman held Cherry steady. You take my arm now, come have a seat in the diner. We’ll wait for the Doc there.” The woman had a round face, pinkish cheeks, and big curly hair flying free behind a yellow hair band. “Oh dear.” The woman sucked her teeth. “Your pretty summer romper is all covered in dirt and blood. Pay no mind. I can get that fixed right up for you. My sister Myrtle is a wizard at getting out stains.” The woman patted Cherry’s hand. Cherry examined her clothes. She wore an olive coloured romper, tank top in style. It brought out the tan in Cherry’s complexion and highlighted her deep brown eyes. It was stained and actually ripped a little. Cherry felt blood flowing down her forehead and onto her eyebrow. That made her flinch a little.

“Have a seat right here.” The woman installed Cherry at a table for two near the counter, then handed her a wad of serviettes.” I’m Miss Ivy, this is my diner. You put those on your forehead and press hard. Gotta get some pressure on that cut.”

Cherry used the tips of her fingers to hold and press as instructed. Her palms were scraped up badly and filled with grit.

“Lionel, grab the first aid will you please,” Miss Ivy called. Then to Cherry, “what’s your name, honey?”

“Cherry Salez.” She didn’t offer more information. By this time, Lionel appeared with the kit.

“Lionel, would you get this nice lady, Cherry, a cold drink, please.” Miss Ivy busied herself with dabbing at the wounds on Cherry’s knees with some gauze and saline. Lionel returned with a glass of ice tea. At least that much was working out for her.

“Thank you,” Cherry offered him. Lionel appeared to be a line cook. He was tall, lanky, with an awkwardly geeky, but cute face. His complexion was a bit pale, but otherwise, Cherry thought he was nice looking.

“You’re welcome, Miss.”

Cherry lifted the glass of tea to her lips with a shaky hand. “Mmm,” she made the noise in spite of herself. “This is delicious iced tea, Miss, Ivy.”

“Thank you,” Miss Ivy replied with a smile. “It’s my grandmama’s recipe. She winked at Cherry, as if to say, it was her grandmama’s magic that made it so delicious.

The bell above the door rang out as the man Cherry recognized as Charlie came on through. Behind him was a man so tall he had to duck to avoid bumping the top of his head on the bell.

“Here’s the Doc,” Charlie addressed Miss. Ivy.

“Thanks honey.” Miss. Ivy replied.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Miller. Charlie tells me you took a nasty spill.” The doctor pulled a chair up in front of Cherry, wiping his hands with a moist towelette, then putting on some blue gloves.

“Oh she sure did take a spill, Doc. Oh my, oh my!” Charlie offered up his opinion enthusiastically, completely missing the fact he should move away and let Doc get on with things.

Doc gave a nod to Miss. Ivy. “Come on Charlie, I’ll get you a cup of coffee.” She motioned for the old farmer to follow her down to the other end of the diner and to take a seat at the counter. Doc continued on with his examination. He was not what Cherry was expecting. He wore his hair in an interesting style. It was longish, shoulder length and combed back from his face. It was a light brown, except for the shaved portion on one side of his head that was dyed bright yellow and orange. His complexion was somewhat ruddy around the cheeks, with light freckles on any visible skin.

“First of all, let’s start with your name, then you can tell me what happened. “ Doc examined her as she spoke.

“My name is Cherry Salez, and I’m here on vacation.”

“Not off to such a good start?” Doc asked her, pausing the examination to look into her eyes. His eyes were a startlingly bright green, surprisingly complimented by the yellow hair dye.

“Um, no.” Cherry said, then cleared her throat. “It started out with my car breaking down a couple miles out of town, and so I walked. Then, just as I reached the sidewalk in front of the diner, I tripped and did a full face plant.” She shrugged, looking sheepish. “Believe it or not, I walk all day at my job, I’m a parking enforcement officer in the city. But having to walk on that lumpy dirt road threw me off, I think.”

“I would certainly believe that you are very fit, Ms. Salez. Your legs are remarkably toned.” Doc admired her tanned and shapely legs. Despite himself, he blushed a little when he looked up at Cherry’s oval face and dark brown eyes. “I think, Ms. Salez, I’d like you to come back to surgery with me. You’ll need some stitches in your forehead and I’ll need to irrigate your hands and knees. That gravel is imbedded under the skin and we don’t want you getting an infection.”

“I need surgery?” Cherry asked, feeling confused.

Miss. Ivy piped up from behind the counter where she just happened to be putting some fresh pies into the rotating pie rack. “Surgery is just an old fashioned word for the Doc’s office.”

“Oh, okay then.” Cherry began to stand, a little unsteady on her feet. Her head was starting to throb and her scrapes burned.

Doc watched her with concern. “Here, take my arm, we don’t need you doing something silly like getting dizzy and falling down again.”

She reached out and took his arm. He’d placed a bandage on her palm, which made the shake of her hand even more obvious. They took a couple steps, then Cherry turned back, apparently having forgotten something.

“Oh, one sec,” Cherry took a wobbly step back to the table, dug in her purse, pulling out the empty water bottle. “This iced tea is too good to waste.” Doc chuckled to himself. She was right. Miss. Ivy’s iced tea was the best he’d ever tasted.

“Thank you, Missy Ivy.” Cherry waved weakly to her.

“You’re most welcome, sweetheart. Now you do what Doc tells you and we’ll be seeing you again soon.” Miss. Ivy waved back.

Cherry took Doc’s arm again and they made their way to his pick up. He helped her up into the front seat, basically lifting her small framed body to prevent her having to bend her knees too much. He moved around the front end of the cab and climbed into the driver’s seat. As they drove off toward the surgery, Doc took a quick glance at Cherry, who had her eyes closed, and the straw of her bottle in her mouth, taking intermittent sips of her tea.

Chapter 2

The surgery was located in a big, old, blue house. There was white gingerbread cut along the eaves, a long front porch, and climbing pale pink roses on a trellis near the big front door. Not exactly what Cherry had been picturing, but, apparently Little Spring was going to be full of surprises. A low addition, done in a similar blue board and batten style as the house jutted out and back along the property. A sign hung out front declaring this Dr. Gilbert M. Miller‘s office.

Surgery Hours:

Monday- Friday: 9am- 4pm

Saturday and Sunday: The Doc goes fishing. Phone him 555-2023. In case of an emergency, phone 911, then phone Doc!

Considering the sign was visible from the truck, Cherry supposed people around here needed very clear instructions about things.

They parked in front of a sign with a big-mouth bass painted on it and “Gill” painted underneath.

“Funny,” Cherry gestured to the sign as Dr. Miller helped her out of the truck.

“Yeah,” he replied, focusing on holding her arm at the wrist and supporting her so she wouldn’t fall.

“You like fishing?” Cherry stepped gingerly, noticing the Driveway made of gravel under her feet. It wasn’t the gravel that made you fall, silly, it was the curb.

“I like getting away to a quiet place now and then. People like it if I go fishing. I let them think I do.”

They walked through the door to the clinic. A young woman with blond ponytailed hair and white teeth greeted them.

“Katie, would you take Ms. Salez to an exam room and get her vitals and information. I’m just going to wash up and I’ll be right in.”

“Right this way Ms. Salez.” The young woman held out her arm to Cherry. “I am Katie, the nurse here at the surgery.”

“You can call me Cherry,” Cherry responded.

“Alright, Cherry, let me take your bag for you and you just focus on walking down the hall with me.”

They walked only a short distance to an exam room. Cherry counted four of them down the hallway, and another door at the end, which presumably led to the big blue house. Katie placed her in a plastic chair, and took down some information. Moments later, Dr. Miller returned, having changed into blue scrubs, and Katie stepped out.

“Alright. First thing we need to take a look at is the cut on your head. The doctor carefully cleaned the wound. “Okay, I’m going to numb the area. You’re going to need some stitches.” He readied the needle with numbing medicine. Cherry looked away, not wanting to see what was happening, though from the corner of her eye she could see Dr. Miller draw up the syringe and thread a curved needle. She closed her eyes.

“Are you feeling alright?” Cherry could hear the concern in Gill’s voice.

“Yes, just don’t want to see what you’re doing,” Cherry replied, attempting to sound relaxed when she really just felt extremely rattled inside.

“I see,” Doc responded in a caring voice. “I’m going to begin numbing the area. Your job is to take deep breaths.”

“Alright.” Cherry responded, clenching her eyes closed a bit more. She started breathing deeply, in a rhythmic way that seemed to come naturally to her. Dr. Miller administered the numbing agent, waited a few moments, then tested the area with the tip of his stitching needle. No response. Great. He began to sew, deftly, but quickly. He was finished in a couple minutes and the cut was bandaged.

“Finished,” he told Cherry, touching her arm lightly.

“That wasn’t too bad.” Cherry smiled a cautious smile and could feel that her face was now numb around her right eye into her cheek. She must have had a strange look on her face because Doc said,

“That freezing will wear off in about four hours.” Then he handed her a couple tablets, “for the headache.” She did have a headache and was happy to take something to help her feel better.

“Now, to clean up your knees and hands,” Doc said in a reassuring way.

Removing the gravel took quite a while. First, the scrapes were cleaned and flushed out for a long while with water. Then, Dr. Miller donned rectangular magnifying glasses and employed tweezers to pluck out all the gravel bits he could see. Cherry had laid back on the exam table by this point and found herself drifting off a bit. The two were comfortable in the silence, despite being near strangers.

“All done,” Doc announced, lifting the glasses off his face.

“Oh good,” Cherry sat up, carefully. “Whoa,” she said, grasping onto the bed with one hand, and her head with the other. “Dizzy”.

“Just one or two more tests I’d like to do to ensure you’re alright. This dizziness has me concerned.” He flicked off the lights in the room, a dim glow came from the crack under the door. He held up a light that looked like a pen. “Look straight ahead, please,” he instructed. Cherry complied, wincing as the light passed over her eyes. Pain shot into her head. Doc. Miller flipped the exam room lights back on.

“Ouch,” Cherry winced.

“My apologies.” The Doc said, looking truly apologetic. “I’m afraid you have a concussion, Ms. Salaz. Are you travelling with anyone for your vacation, or staying with anyone you know?”

“I do,” Cherry stated, stuck on the concussion part of the conversation. “I mean, I do have a concussion, but I’m not staying with, or travelling with anyone in particular.”

“I’d like to keep you here for observation.” The doctor was serious in his tone.

“Oh,” Cherry suddenly became concerned. Up until then, she felt as though everything would be fine. But now, she was going to spend her vacation in some uncomfortable hospital bed. Great.

Dr.Miller left the room for a moment and reappeared with Katie, who carried Cherry’s things. “This way, Ms. Salez”. He held out an arm for her, which she reluctantly took. He led her down the hallway toward the door at the end of the hall. They entered the first room on the right. Cherry expected a stuffy and sterile looking hospital room. Instead, it looked more like a room in an elegant b&b. Yes, there was some of the standard hospital gear, like a heart monitor, oxygen hookup, and a tray to go over the bed, but the room was decorated like a home, instead of a hospital. A cozy quilt in creams and whites laid across the queen size bed. Many pillows piled at the top looked inviting. The room was done in a grey-blue and the tile floor made less cold with a woven area rug. There was a large window overlooking the yard, and the room even had an en suite bathroom.

“You lie down and rest a bit. Someone will be in to check on you, shortly.” Katie helped Cherry change into a pale yellow hospital gown, and then helped her get situated in the bed. She shut the blackout curtains and turned on a fan to circulate the air.

Doc stood in the hall and waited. He would phone to get her car towed to the shop, then call around to anywhere there was to stay in town to see if Ms. Cherry was expected there. He’d also phone Nurse Gertie to come in for some of the night shift to watch over this unexpected patient. He didn’t believe Cherry’s concussion was bad, but it was always better to be on the cautious side with things like this.

Katie joined him in the hall and they made their way back to the front office. There was a baby monitor on in the room so they’d be able to hear if Cherry needed anything. For now, she was resting, just about asleep when Katie left.

“We don’t often see new people around here, do we Doc?” Katie seemed a bit excited to have a new face in town.

“You’re right, we don’t much, do we?” Gill replied, smiling at himself a bit for the unexpected turn in his day. He instantly liked Cherry. He wondered why that was, exactly. No matter, he supposed. She was a temporary guest, and a temporary patient. No sense in getting attached.

Chapter 3

Sometime later, Cherry awoke to an unfamiliar face at her bedside.

“You must be the night nurse,” Cherry said groggily.

“Gertie, yes I am,” The woman replied. She wore pink scrubs, with her burgundy hair tied up on top of her head. Younger than someone who’d first come to mind when you imagine a woman named Gertie. Her arms had several brightly coloured tattoos of flowers that were visible, even in the dim lighting, and her face was oval and smiling. Her pale complexion made the tattoos very striking.

“Dr. Miller’s orders are to get you sitting up, to have a snack, and when you’re ready, a bit of a stroll to see how steady you are.”

Cherry nodded, noticed that motion hurt, then pushed herself up in bed, and was reminded of the bandages on her palms. She winced. “What time is it?”

“Careful of those hands.” Gertie warned. Then continued, “it’s nearly ten at night.” Cherry nodded. She’d been asleep for several hours. Truth be told, she felt a little beaten up by the spill she’d taken. Maybe being at the surgery was a good thing, in the end.

The light was soft in the room, with blackout curtains drawn. A night light shone from an outlet near the door, another out in the hall. “You’re our only patient staying the night tonight, so I’m not in any hurry to rush off.”

Cherry smiled. They didn’t talk much, since the quiet felt better to Cherry. She ate her snack of some preserved peaches and a hot tea. It went down okay. So far, she didn’t feel queasy, just sore.

“Let’s try a couple laps of the hall, what do you think?” Gertie asked.

“Okay,” Cherry rose from her bed, and felt steady enough, she thought. Staying here overnight was probably not really necessary, she thought, changing her mind. “I think I’m not feeling too bad.” She said, then took a few steps around the end of the bed and out in the hall.

“Well, I’m sure this will just be a precaution, but I’ll just be holding your elbow, you know, just in case you should wobble.” Nurse Gertie grasped onto Cherry’s right elbow and forearm, giving her a solid support, in case her patient should need it.

They looped down and up the hall three times. Things were going well. The hallway was nearly dark, with just enough light to make out door frames and corners. On the fourth time round, a light flipped on from behind some opaque French doors, which served to mark the ending of the surgery and the beginning of Dr. Gill Miller’s personal apartment.

“Oh,” Cherry exclaimed.

“Looks like Doc is home from practice,” Gertie offered. “He coaches high school soccer. That’s why his hair is all coloured and funky like that. They just had a fundraiser, with the grand prize being picking out a new look for the Doc. He’s usually much handsomer than this.

“I see,” Cherry replied, but thought he looked handsome enough as he was. Even with yellow and orange hair, in an asymmetrical style.

“The senior class all chipped in and won the prize. They donated two thousand dollars, all by themselves. Did his hair in the school colours, of course.” Gertie continued.

“It’s sweet he offered to do it,” Cherry replied.

“The kids love Doc, and he loves them,” Gertie said.

Behind the French doors, Cherry watched the handsome and finely sculpted silhouette of Doctor Gill Miller strip off what must have been sweaty work out clothes, and then disappear into a darkened room. Maybe the bathroom, to shower? Cherry let her mind drift a little to what he might look like under some steamy water and soap suds. She felt her blood rise and she lost her footing.

“Whoop,” Gertie gripped her arm to steady her. Apparently she’d not noticed or cared about the Doc getting undressed behind those doors. “I think you’ve had enough for now.” She steered her back to her bed, where Cherry climbed in and closed her eyes. A little fantasy man while she was on vacation couldn’t hurt. She wasn’t going to be his patient forever, after all.

Getting all hot and bothered was making her dizzier than she already felt. She decided to put images of sexy sudsy men on the back burner and rest while it was peaceful. Staying here for the night was turning out better than expected.