Doctor of the Heart

Chapter 7: In The Dark

Cameron was sitting on the couch reading a book when James came in just after 6 in the evening. She was surprised he was home relatively on time for a normal workday. Marking her page with an old receipt she didn't bother to change out for a proper bookmark, she turned her attention to James, who hadn't greeted her yet. "H-How was your day?" She asked cautiously.

"It was fine, sweetheart," James replied to her in a tone that was a little too pleasant to be genuine.

"Yeah? No big issues to deal with today?" Cameron c****d her head at James.

"They stuck me in the clinic today," James mumbled as he took off his coat to hang by the door.

It was odd, they hardly ever put James in the clinic anymore. Why now? "How did that go?"

James sighed exasperatedly, giving Cameron her answer without him even having to tell her. "A bunch of whiny, grown-ass adults complaining about a tummy ache or a sore throat while there are people dying upstairs."

Cameron didn't like the edge in James' tone. He wasn't giving an explanation as to why he was in the clinic instead of upstairs voluntarily, and she was almost too afraid to ask. "I'm sorry, that sounds like it was horrid."

"Porter is just being an asshole, thinks I need to take a step back from my research and trials to, 'get back in touch with humanity,' or whatever. He's lucky I didn't fire him too after everything that went on today," James snorted. "Not that I could."

"Oh? Who did you let go? You must have found something out?"

"Caleb Maxwell, and good riddance." James poured himself a scotch before he elaborated, "You've never met him. He's a skeevy little nerd from the community college. Thought he was hot s**t because he was 'optimizing' the server, but was actually getting his harry hands all over confidential patient information, as well as the personal information from staff. Depending on what the investigation digs up, he might be facing criminal charges."

"Wow," Cameron didn't know it was more than just a targeted breach of one person's personal data, "I wouldn't have expected that."

James took a sip of his drink, "Call it what you want, but it's a blessing in disguise that what happened, so we could find that little fucker before he was able to leak more data."

"I'm glad something came of it, I suppose," Cameron's voice was small.

"How did your meeting go, by the way? Do you still have a job after this debacle?"

Cameron didn't know how to tell James she would be starring in an adult film involving fake s*x, and an even more fake doctor. "It went as well as one could expect. A lot of bargaining, begging, pleading, and yelling, I suppose."

"You know we would be fine if you got fired. We aren't hurting for money, if that's what you're worried about, Dove." James sat down next to her on the couch.

Looking off to the side, she was almost regretting not walking out on Jason and Anna, "I know we would, but I want to contribute too if we're going to look for a house closer to the city."

"And," James hesitated, "start our family?"

"Is that something we want in this economy?" She was trying to justify putting off having children. Cameron was terrified of bringing another life into the world, especially if it meant giving up her body. Not because she was vain, but had struggled with her body image for years, and was plagued with disordered eating for nearly 20 years of her life. Cameron didn't know if she could stand the sight of her middle expanding, even if it was to gestate a human life, without having a nervous break. She didn't know how to tell James this either, as he would justify it from a medical standpoint, completely disregarding her fragile psyche.

"We have excellent insurance, if you're worried about medical costs." James had polished off his drink.

"It's not...that I'm worried about, necessarily. I just don't know if I'm ready for that sort of thing," Cameron's voice was small.

"Cami, you're 32, if not soon, when?"

Cameron dropped her gaze to her hands. "I don't know."