Page 13 of Paging Dr. VanRyan

I sent her the occasional text, and she was always quick to respond. I enjoyed receiving ones from her—simple little words that made me smile.

Hope your day is going well.

You never told me—was the white or the chocolate part of the cake your favorite?

Wednesday is casual, right? I’m really a no-fuss kind of girl.

That one made me laugh. I liked that about her. No fuss, no bother. I had the feeling what I saw was what I got. It was refreshing.

Wednesday promised to be a nice evening, so I called her the night before with an idea. She answered, her voice a gentle hum in my ear.

“Hi, Matthew.”

“Hey. How was your day?”

“Good. Busy. Yours?”

I laughed. “We sat around giving each other manicures.”

She chuckled. “I bet you did.”

“We were slammed. It was nice weather, so kids were out on skateboards and playing football in the park. I set a lot of bones and stitched up a bunch of cuts.” I sighed. “It doesn’t matter how often we give the safety lectures, it happens over and over.”

“I know.”

“There was a car accident as well, which added to the chaos. Surgery was backed up.”

“So tomorrow is off?”

“Absolutely not. I was wondering how you felt about a picnic?”

“A picnic?”

“Yeah. We can drive to a little spot I like and have dinner overlooking the water. Just relax and eat. I can put on some music, and we can dance under the stars.”

“That sounds rather romantic, Dr. VanRyan.”

I grinned into the phone. “I aim to please, Nurse Tate.”

She laughed. “Not quite a nurse yet.”

“Soon.”

She hummed, the sound happy. “I would love a picnic. Can I bring dessert?”

“Perfect. Pick you up about six thirty?”

“Sounds great.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, already looking forward to it.

“Night, Matthew.”

“Sleep well, Maddy.”

“You too.”

I hung up and stared at the phone. I had hated to hang up. I wanted to talk to her longer. Listen to her laughter. Hear about her day. And tell her about mine.