Chapter 17

Life felt slower since Callum started working at Doctor Clark's clinic. But it was a very refreshing and comforting feeling to have. Callum felt like he had the time to enjoy the little things a bit more. He enjoyed his coffee breaks with the other doctors and nurses; he enjoyed the empty moments in his schedule where he could appreciate the silence and breath. He looked forward to going to work every day. There wasn't so much pressure anymore. The dread he felt after dealing with Wendy's case was almost gone. The one thing that was bothering him was Faith. How much he missed having her around. How much he missed bantering with her and seeing her adorable, flustered face. While working for the Petersons, even when they didn't have time to talk to each other, Callum could still see her. They would still smile and wave at each other as they both went on with their workdays. But lately their schedules didn't seem to match at all. I need to see her... He sighed as filled a prescription for a patient. As Callum said goodbye to his last patient of the morning, he saw Walter and Grace standing by the front desk.

"Good morning, Charlie. Is Dr Clark around?"

"Afraid not, Mrs Peterson. He already left for his lunch break, but nurse Claire is still around."

"Let's go, Grace. I told you I'm fine. We'll book an appointment with Dr Clark and come some other time."

"No, Walter. We should at least have the nurse look at you."

"Mrs and Mr Peterson. How are you?" Callum greeted them with a smile.

"Just Grace and Walter, please." Grace smiled from ear to ear as she greeted him.

"What brings you here? Something I can help you with?"

"We were hoping we could see Dr Clark for an emergency."

"My wife is overreacting. It's not an emergency. I just felt a little faint this morning."

"He had an appointment with Dr Clark last week and started some new medication for his heart and cholesterol. I'm afraid it may have something to do with it," Grace explained, completely ignoring her husband's complaints.

"Well, why don't you come into my office, and I'll take a look at Walter?"

"I'm afraid I'm not a kid anymore, Callum."

Everyone chuckled. "I'm very well aware of that. But we can still check your medication dosage and if perhaps you didn't take it properly. We'll have the nurse take your blood pressure and heart rate while a take a look at your file."

While Walter followed nurse Claire, Grace followed Callum into his office. "How's Faith?" He asked, while scrolling on his computer.

"Are you missing spending some time around the house, Callum?"

Callum cleared his throat and hide his flustered face behind the computer screen. "A little, yes. I was enjoying my work. It was refreshing to be outdoors."

"Oh yes. Your job, of course. The outdoors." Grace smirked. "She's doing fine. But I think she misses having you around, too." Callum felt his cheeks get warmer and Grace smirked again. "And Lydia too, of course. And Kade, even though he doesn't express himself much, I know he was delighted to be able to spend some time with you. You should stop by some more. Have lunch with them. I know they would all like that very much."

"Thank you, Grace. I will."

Callum would certainly take up on that offer since it would allow him to see Faith more often. Although Faith seemed to be extremely busy and more closed off than usual, somewhat distant. I wonder if it has something to do with that prick...

"Walter," Callum looked up as Walter walked into the room, "it seems that I might have found the cause of your dizziness. Your wife told me that you sometimes forget to take some of your medication."

"One or two days. It's no big deal. At home Grace makes sure I take but when I'm at the office I tend to forget."

"Well, you can't. I'm afraid to tell you that you really need to follow the prescription Dr Clark gave you, otherwise you'll keep having side effects such as the ones you're experiencing right now, and you won't get the proper results. Your blood pressure should've already gone down with the dosage you're taking, and we're not seeing any improvements yet."

"See? I told you, Walter."

"Fine. I'll be more careful." Walter sat beside his wife, grabbed her hand, and surrendered.

"I would also recommend some simple dietary changes to help with the cholesterol. I can talk to Lydia about it if you'd like."

"Yes, Callum. Please do. Can you stop by the house tonight? You and I can discuss it with Lydia, and we can all have some dinner."

"Sounds great. Thank you."

"No, we're the ones who should thank you."

"I'll fill in Dr Clark once he gets back. Regardless, you should book a follow up appointment on your way out. And repeat your blood work in a few weeks."

"Thanks, Callum." Walter gave him a headshake as he got up from the chair. "See you tonight."

***

After lunch, Faith met her dad at his office for their usual weekly meeting. Their new projects were moving forward smoothly so, she decided to reward herself with a quick walk around the town to do some window shopping, and maybe some actually shopping as well. I deserve a new book, don't I? The new romance on the bookstore display seemed adorable and spending the night with a cup of tea and a new book sounded like the perfect plan.

"Fay." Faith froze and clenched the book tightly. She slowly turned around and saw Ronnie looking as perfect as usual. Impeccable suit, hair without a strand out of place, and his piercing blue eyes on her. But there was something is his eyes that made her feel uneasy. "What a coincidence. Heading home?" She nodded. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm good. Thank you. Bye."

"Fay, wait," Ronnie grabbed her arm. "Let me take you out to dinner sometime. Give me a chance."

"It's over, Ronnie. You know that."

"Why won't you give me a chance? Is it because of that guy?"

"Leave him out of this." Faith felt Ronnie's grip on her arm tighten. But she didn't even know what hurt the most, the physical pain or the fact that she didn't even recognize the man standing right in front of her.

Can someone please show up? She cried in her head while looking around for a familiar face. And that's when she saw him. The one person she never expected would be her saviour. Josh. As soon as he glanced at them, Josh knew something was wrong. He knew her well enough to understand how distressed she was. After all, despite Faith denying it, they were friends. They had been friends for over a decade. And no one would hurt her in front of him, not even if that person was Ronnie Harrison. Especially if that person was Ronnie Harrison. He never actually liked the guy and would certainly take all the chances he got to annoy the hell out of him.

"Ronnie. Faith." Josh approached them with his usual annoying and nonchalant charm, and for once, Faith was ecstatic about his presence.

"Nothing for you to write about around here, Joshua."

"That's for me to decide. Ronald. And aren't you a really busy guy? Don't you have somewhere you need to be? Some money to spend? I need to borrow Faith. The school would appreciate a generous donation from Mr Walter Peterson, you see?" Ronnie turned his back to them and angrily walked away.

Faith took a deep breath and realized she had been shaking while hugging her new book. Even though she was too shaken up to utter a word, with just one look, Josh understood how grateful she was. He took her to a coffee shop just around the corner and ordered two caramel lattes and a slice of banana bread with blueberries and white chocolate chips. Faith almost felt like crying seeing how kind Josh was being to her, and how well he knew her. Their bickering was legendary, but the truth was, so was their friendship. Hiding behind all the quarrels there was a unique bond that both cherished deeply.

"Are you going to write about this, too?" She asked after taking a bite of the banana bread.

"No. Believe it or not, even I have some morals and principles." Josh grabbed a fork and took a bite, too. "Have you told anyone? About his behaviour?"

"Sort of." She took a sip of her drink.

"What does that mean?"

"No. I haven't." Faith wondered why she hadn't mentioned it to anyone. Maybe because she was still in utter and complete disbelief. It had never crossed her mind that Ronnie would turn out to be this type of man. She had never imagined she would find herself in such a situation. What if I'm the one who's overreacting? What if I should just hear him out? There were definitely no feelings left for Ronnie, but they shared a past, so Faith couldn't help but to wonder about such things.

"What should we do about him?" Josh wondered, furrowing his brows, and narrowing his eyes.

"We?"

"Of course. I'm the only one who's allowed to harass you." They smiled at each other.

"Thanks, Josh. But we're not doing anything. He'll go back to normal."

"I wouldn't be so sure, my dear. But don't worry. I got your back."

"What does that mean?"

"Don't worry. Trust me." Josh winked.

"That makes me feel like I should definitely worry."

"I mean it, Fay. I've got your back." Josh's face suddenly lost his usual mischievous glare and Faith knew he meant it. "And I definitely think you should talk to someone about him. His eyes had a stalkerish glare to them. I didn't like it one bit. Or at least try to not be alone around him."

Faith nodded and finished her drink, not knowing what to say or what to do. What is going on... What should I do and who do I tell... And what should I even tell...

"Oh, and what donation do you need?" Faith asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Don't worry about it for now. Only excuse I could come up with in the moment. But I'll definitely bring it up again if we don't gather enough money for the school play."

"I know you will." They smirked at each other.

"I have to go now, Fay. Will you be okay?"

Faith nodded and gave Josh a quick hug. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Fay. As I said, I'm the only one who's allowed to harass you." He winked and he's mischievous smile was back.

***

After the eventful afternoon she had, Faith went downstairs, ready to eat dinner, then immediately go back to her room, take a bubble bath and hide from the world while getting lost in her book, but instead, she found Lydia and Callum chitchatting in the kitchen. It smelled delicious, and it looked like Lydia had been preparing a feast, even though she shouldn't be working at that hour.

"Oh, hey there Rapunzel. I see that you left your tower in time for dinner."

Faith rolled her eyes and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Having dinner."

"What?" Faith couldn't understand what was going on, and it only got more confusing when her parents walked into the kitchen.

"Grace. Walter." Callum greeted as they walked.

"Callum. Glad you could make it." Walter shook Callum's hand. "I see you're already talking to Lydia about making me some flavourless, boring food."

"I can assure you that Lydia will still be able to keep her food as delicious as ever."

"I hope so," Walter said while his wife dragged him to the dining room.

"Walter? Grace? Since when are you so chummy with my parents? First Lydia. Now my parents. You are infiltrating into my life way too easily, Dr Grant."

He chuckled. "They stopped by the clinic the today. Dr Clark was out, so I took a look at them."

"Are they okay? They didn't tell me anything."

"Don't worry, princess. It was just a routine checkup."

After dinner, Callum and Faith were left alone in the kitchen. They forced Lydia to go home and rest, assuring her they would be the ones taking care of the cleaning, and Kade drove her home. Once the cleaning was done, Callum brewed some tea, and they sat by the kitchen island.

"Something's up with you, princess." Callum placed a cup of tea in front of her and Faith noticed that instead of his usual cup of coffee, he had poured some tea for himself too. "Everything, okay? Something I can help you with?"

"Actually..." While holding her mug with both hands, Faith quickly recapped the events with Ronnie as well as her conversation with Josh and how he had come to her rescue.

"Have you talked with Mira?" Callum didn't know if he was the best person to help Faith, when the only thing he wanted to do was to punch that smug look off Ronnie's face. And even though Callum thought that would be a very appropriate way to deal with the situation, he didn't think that it would help Faith. "She's your best friend. You're like sisters."

Faith shook her head. "She's so happy living her happily ever after. I don't want to bother her with this. Not right now."

"What if it was the other way around?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if it was Mira in your shoes right now? Would you want her to go to you?"

"Of course."

"Then why are you having such a hard asking for help when you're willing to give it to everyone else?"

Faith nodded and showed him a sad smile. "Smart move, doc. I'll give her a call. I miss her."

"But Josh is right. Please, don't be around him alone."

"I won't."

"I also don't mind beat him to pulp. Just say the word."

Faith chuckled, but when she looked up at Callum, she saw how serious his face was and understood that he meant it. There was something in the way Callum was looking at her... It was such an intense gaze, his fists clenched... "Callum..." she muttered.

Callum couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't endure the idea of not being around her, or the idea of someone else with her, and he especially could not stand the idea of anyone laying a single finger on her. He leaned forward, gently touching Faith's chin, raising it towards him. She parted her lips, and he brushed them with his thumb. Her lips were so soft, and he wanted them all for himself. Faith's heart was beating like crazy, the butterflies in her stomach were causing a storm and as Callum leaned forward and kissed her, she could've sworn that the world stopped spinning, that time stopped moving forward, and that for a single moment, it was just the two of them, as if nothing else existed besides them, besides that soft and tender kiss.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," Callum said, moving away from her. It hadn't been the right moment. Faith was fragile and had just opened up to him, and he couldn't help but to feel guilty for taking the opportunity to kiss her.

"Don't apologize." A tear fell down her face. She didn't even realize she was crying or why. Maybe it was simply all the emotions she had been trying to keep hidden away and couldn't hold in anymore. Or maybe it was the fact that Callum seemed to regret their kiss. Why did he apologize?

As Callum cleaned Faith's tears, he wondered if, maybe, they were both still too broken to make it work. Wondered if they had the unfortunate luck of meeting each other at the wrong time. Wondered about how it would've been if they had met later in life... Or maybe a lot earlier in life... What if they had met when they were still whole and not shattered versions of themselves?