Part 3

"Hello Nahla, I'm Dr. Jamison," he said, extending a hand in greeting. Taking notice of her black eye, he was surprised to feel a surge of anger at the possibility that someone might have hit her. And even more than that, the feeling of wanting to protect her from other possible harm

"Hello." Nahla replied, shaking his hand in return. Her first impression of him was how gorgeous he was! Even more than that, he fit her image of the ideal guy … tall, dark hair, light blue eyes, and a great smile. It was all she could do not to blush and burst out in a fit of giggles like a teenager.

"Get a grip girl!" Nahla thought silently to herself, the last thing you need to do today is embarrass yourself further in front of him!

Standing behind Nahla and the doctor, Brenna looked at Xavier with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

"Uh oh", Xavier thought, she's gonna try and play matchmaker. He sent her a frown in return, but Brenna just shrugged her shoulders and grinned at him in response.

As Dr. Jamison began his evaluation, asking Nahla the cause of her injuries, Nahla yet again had to explain her clumsiness.

"Don't feel so bad, Nahla, we all have our bad days," he said, smiling to try and make her feel more at ease, sensing her nervousness and embarrassment. But the relief was his own in finding out that she had not been hit after all.

Taking Nahla's chin in a firm but gentle grip, Dr. Jamison bent forward to look at her black eye and assess any damage to the eye itself. Beneath his thumb he felt her heartrate increase, and found his own increasing in response. Seeing no serious damage to her eye, he quickly proceeded to her ankle and toe before he embarrassed himself, and her.

As he bent down to take her foot in hand, Nahla released the breath she had been holding while he examined her eye. He must have heard because he glanced up, a hint of amusement showing in his bright blue eyes. Shifting her attention to Brenna over his head, Nahla saw the grin that lit her friend's face. That meant trouble, althoughNahla knew Brenna wouldn't do anything to totally embarrass her.

Returning her attention back to her ankle and foot, Nahla jumped as Dr. Jamison touched a particular spot.

"A little ticklish are we?" he said.

Nahla gave in to the urge to giggle, "um, just a little."

"Well, I don't believe anything is broken, just badly sprained. I recommend you stay off that ankle for at least the next day or so," he said.

"But I'm scheduled for duty tomorrow," Nahla replied.

"No need to worry, I'll contact Madeline, I'm sure something can be arranged. But for now let's bind that ankle and get you a set of crutches."

Once that was settled, Dr. Jamison turned to Brenna and Xavier, who had been quietly conversing in the background during the examiniation.

"Would you two mind taking Nahla home? " he asked.

"No problem, we were just getting ready to head out ourselves," Xavier replied.

From behind Dr. Jamison, another tecnician came running, requiring his attention on another patient.

"I have to run. Nahla, you stay off that ankle," he said smiling yet again, " and you two get her home and get her settled." Indicating to Brenna and Xavier.

"Yes, sir" Brenna said, saluting to Dr. Jamison as he followed behind the technician.

Turning back to Nahla, "Ok gal, let's get you home."

Part 4/End

This next morning, Nahla sat outside enjoying the warm morning sunshine. She still had to laugh at Brenna's antics yesterday after leaving Medbay. She loved her friend, but the woman was trying just a little too hard at playing matchmaker. What Nahla didn't know was that Brenna was making plans behind her back to get Dr. Jamison involved the contest that the other single men of Section were participating in.

Glancing back in her apartment, she took in the various gifts she had received from the guys. Initially she hadn't known who they were from, but one by one, the guys had made themselves known. As delicately as she could, not wanted to wound any egos, she had turned each of them down. It for sure wasn't because of their looks, they were all beautiful, but she just wasn't interested in any of them.

That is, until meeting Dr. Jamison. However, Nahla realized that chances were good that an attractive man like that had to be taken, and therefore out of her reach. That thought dismayed her more than she thought should have, given her dating history. Usually she became a total bundle of nerves when meeting an attractive men, but Dr. Jamison had somehow managed to put her at total ease.

Still lost in her thoughts, it took Nahla a moment to realize that someone was knocking at her front door.

"Hey Nahla, you home?" Nahla heard Brenna holler from the other room.

"Oh gee Einstein, what do you think? It's not like I could just go for a jog or anything!" Nahla hollered back. "If you've got the time, grab something out of the fridge and come on outside, I could stand a little company." She added.

"Oh could you now?" a new voice answered.

Nahla's head whipped around to find none other than Dr. Jamison standing in the doorway. Oh man, he looked even better standing in the sunlight! Nahla was suddenly very glad she had gotten up early that morning and showered and dressed.

"Hi Dr. Jamison, what brings you here?" she inquired.

"Please, call me Jace, and I was .. just in the area and thought I'd stop in and check on you?" He said, sounding suspiciously like he'd just made that up.

"That's awfully kind of you," Nahla said, starting to wonder where Brenna had gone off to. "Do you see where Brenna went?"

"I saw her sneak out the front door a minute ago, do you need me to go get her for something?" Jace asked, turning towards the front door.

"No!" Nahla said quickly, a little too quickly, and they both noticed it. "I mean, she probably has other things to do." She said trying to cover her bumble.

"May I sit down then?" Jace asked, motioning towards the other chaise next to her.

"Oh! Of course, please do. I'm so sorry, I don't know where my manners went!" Nahla gave a nervous laugh.

As he made himself comfortable, Nahla wondered what Jace's real reason was for stopping by, since he had yet to take a look at either of her injuries. He must have thought the same thing when he then asked her how her eye and ankle were feeling.

Over the next hour, Nahla and Jace talked about a multitude of things, finding they had several things in common. In particular their shared passion for the arts, especially the theatre and musicals.

Glancing at his watch, Jace realized he was expected soon in Medbay. " I guess I better get going so I'm not late, but before I go," he said, pulling something from the bag he had brought with him, " I wanted to give you this."

With a puzzled look on her face, Nahla accepted the gift. She opened it to find a "Phantom of the Opera" cd.

"How did you know this was my favorite musical??" Nahla asked in amazement.

"Please don't be mad, but I asked Brenna about you. You see, I had heard about the contest the other guys were having, and I wanted to get you something unique. " Jace replied, even blushing a little after admitting that he had joined in on the contest.

"You're in the contest?? But I thought .. you…" Nahla stammered, a little shocked at what he was implying.

"You thought…?" he hedged, prodding her to complete the thought.

Nahla couldn't help but blush. "I figured you already had a girlfriend." She replied quietly, looking down at the ground. Jace gently placed a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his.

"Well, I don't … yet." She heard him say, but found herself lost in the look of hope in his eyes.

Breaking eye contact first, Jace released Nahla's chin and slowly stood up. "I don't want to pressure you or anything, but will you at least consider me?"

In response to his question, Nahla couldn't help but smile in answer. "I think you should know that I've already turned all the others down. There are no other contestants."

Jace's answering smile took her breath away. "Then would you like to join me for dinner the next night we're both off duty?" he asked.

Desperately trying not to let the excitement get the best of her, Nahla calmly smile and replied "I'd love to."

Just then, Jace's beeper began to go off, reminding him that he needed to get a move on. "Guess I better get going, I'll call you later?" he said.

"Okay. I'd see you to the door, but well… " Nahla said, indicating her bound ankle.

"Not necessary, I can see myself out. Just stay put and let that ankle heal." He said, turning towards the front door to leave. As almost an afterthought, Jace turned around and walked back to Nahla's side. Before she anticipated his next move, Jace leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her temple, his lips lightly caressing the skin, almost as if to ease the discomfort of her black eye.

Standing back up, Jace whispered another "bye" while holding Nahla's gaze. He then turned and made his exit. Nahla's returned "bye" was barely heard about the whisper of the wind. The sound of the front door shutting brought Nahla out of her reverie. She reached a hand up to touch the place where Jace had kissed her. It had been the most tender touch she had ever received, and the memory of it brought a sheen of moisture to her eyes.

Dropping her hand back into her lap, Nahla leaned her head back and rested it on the chair. Just a hint of a smile appeared on her lips as she thought to herself, "maybe Section wasn't so bad after all".

The end

This story ©copyright Nahla, 2000