103) Steve finally meets the girl of his dreams but with one
huge problem. She is accused of murdering her former boyfriend.
Steve is convinced that she is innocent but Mark, Amanda and
Jesse are convinced that she is guilty. Can Steve prove her
innocence before it too late. -- Ofelia Reveles
The Heart Of The Matter
Samantha Bridges
Email: chibikitti2@msn.com
Dr. Sydney Kale stepped out into the bright afternoon sun of
downtown Los Angeles, just having finished her shift at Community
General Hospital. She slipped a pair of sunglasses on and juggled
the stack of papers and books she was carrying out to her car.
Studying materials, for she was going to be working in internal
medicine for a month as part of a teaching trade with Greg
Ostermann. She had laughed when Mark Sloan had handed her the
volumes and research studies. "They all have the same organs
inside, Mark, just the kids have smaller ones." He'd laughed
at her joke, but insisted on her taking the stuff. So now she was
stuck with a precarious load that was trying to escape her small
arms. Halfway across the parking lot, within sight of her car,
the stack escaped. Papers flew out of her arms as the binders and
volumes crashed to the asphalt. A rarely spoken obscenity escaped
Sydney's lips.
"Shit!"
She crouched trying to hold on to the remaining book in her arms
and tried to gather the escaping papers before they blew under a
car.
"Would you like some help?" came a voice from above
her, and Sydney looked up to see a wonderfully handsome man
smiling down at her.
"Actually, yes." She replied, watching the man kneel
down and begin to gather up the papers. A Good Samaritan, she
mused to herself, but I didn't know they were supposed to look
this good. He helped her carry them to her car and set them in
the backseat at her instruction. He threw her a friendly wave
over his shoulder as he headed toward the hospital, and she
started the car. Wheeling the Mustang out of its space, she
suddenly felt bad for not getting his name.
~ ~ ~ ~
The end of the week couldn't have come soon enough for Sydney.
The adult patients were grumpier and whined more than any of the
children she had ever cared for. Mark had been checking up on her
regularly, and sometimes accompanying her on rounds when he had
he time. In all this time, she had not once seen the mysterious
Good Samaritan, as she was calling him, since that day in the
parking lot. That brief meeting had had an effect on her, and she
had found him on her mind more often than a chance encounter with
someone should be. She shook her head, and headed down to the
doctor's lounge, where she found Amanda. Sydney was eternally
grateful to Amanda for taking her under her wing when Syd was a
new doctor at Community General. Amanda smiled broadly as Sydney
entered the lounge.
"Hi Syd. Having fun today?" she asked, pouring herself
a cup of coffee. While Sydney was getting off now, Amanda still
had four hours left to her shift.
"Loads. Everyone always said children are the whiny ones at
the doctor, but I'm finding that my kids take a stick better than
most of these adults." She replied, shrugging off her white
lab coat. She had been forced to leave her electric blue one
upstairs in pedes. "Looking forward to a couple days of
respite from them."
Amanda laughed. "I fortunately don't have that problem. My
patients don't say or do much of anything."
"Sounds nice. Peace and quiet."
Another laugh from Amanda and a grin from Syd. "So what are
you up to this weekend?" asked Amanda, stepping in front of
Sydney's path to the door.
"Nothing that I know of, why?"
"Well, a couple of us were taking a day trip up to Monterey,
and I thought you might like to come."
Sydney debated that for a moment, "Sure. Sounds like fun.
Who all's coming?"
"Me, Jesse, Mark and Steve. We're meeting at Mark's house
tomorrow morning and driving up from there. I'm asking you to
come partially because we need another car."
"Ahhhh, I see, I'm the U-Haul truck." Sydney said
jokingly, "I'll be there, with my truck."
"Great! See ya then!" Amanda replied, and stepped out
of Syd's way. Syd flipped her a wave as she headed out the door.
"Ciao."
~ ~ ~ ~
Sydney pulled up in front of Mark's beachside house at seven the
next morning. She saw Amanda and Jesse's cars out front, and
decided that she wasn't late after all. She grabbed her purse out
of the passenger seat and headed up the driveway. She reached the
porch and rang the doorbell, looking around as she waited for the
door to be opened. When it did open, she found herself looking
straight into the face of her Good Samaritan. She blinked,
thinking she was imaging things.
"Can I help you?" he asked, the sound of his voice
proving that he was not the product of an overactive imagination.
Before she could answer she saw Mark coming up behind the Good
Samaritan and greeting her.
"Glad you could make it! Come in, come in." he hugged
her as she stepped into the foyer, under the scrutiny of the Good
Samaritan. "Sydney, this is my son, Steve." He
continued, nodding at the Good Samaritan. The shock was apparent
on Syd's face as she managed to mumble a hello. "Steve, this
is Sydney Kale, she's a doctor up in pediatrics at Community
General."
"Hello, nice to meet you again." Steve said, reaching
out to shake her hand.
Before Mark could ask, Sydney explained. "I dropped those
books you gave me in the parking lot, and Steve helped me pick
them up, but I never got his name."
"Ahhhh. Well, come back and have some breakfast before we
pull out of here." And with that, Mark led them back to the
kitchen where Amanda and Jesse sat eating breakfast.
~ ~ ~ ~
Sydney had the sneaking suspicion that this had been planned all
along. As soon as they finished packing the vehicles, Mark had
suggested that Syd and Steve ride up together in Syd's Explorer,
and he, Jesse and Amanda would take Amanda's new Cherokee. Before
she or Steve could voice their opinion, the others had decided
that this was a great plan. So now, Syd was stuck behind the
wheel of her truck with Steve sitting in the passenger seat,
staring out the window. They were halfway up the coast, and the
only conversation they'd had was when he offered to drive some
when they stopped for gas, and she had refused. Unfortunately,
the thought of him sitting there in her truck was fighting the
road for her attention. Trying to clear the thought, she reached
down for her soda that sat in the cupholder. Her hand brushed
against his, since he had also decided to go after his soda at
the same time. Syd drew back, knocking her soda all over her.
"Oh no!" she gasped, as the brown, fizzy liquid soaked
her pants. Steve, grabbed the napkins in the bag on the floor,
and tried to mop up the mess.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he apologized as he
wiped at the spill. Syd put ion her blinker
and pulled over to the side of the road. She cut the engine and
flipped on her hazards, and carefully opened her door to get out.
Ice spilled out of her lap she stepped out into the hot
California sun. She started laughing as she watched the cubes
tumble into the roadside dust. Steve had also gotten out and had
come around to see if he could help. He heard her laugh, and
wondered what she found so funny. She was standing there looking
up at the sky just… laughing. She looked at him as he
approached, boots scuffing on the gravel. Her smile was as
contagious as her laughter, and they just stood in the sun on the
side of the road, smiling and laughing.
~ ~ ~ ~
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