A Scarred Heart

Chapter 3

Exiting the room, she was in, Melissa seen that Nathan was still there waiting on her to finish her exam. She smiled at him waving her hand to tell him to follow along with her as she walked down the corridor towards the nurse's station to grab her discharge paperwork from Dr. Johnson.

" What was the ultrasound for? Are you ok?" Nathan asked while they waited in front of the nurse's station.

Melissa turned to him and nodded her head, " I'm ok I promise, and the ultrasound was because he wanted to check something's out internally." Melissa felt bad for lying, but she couldn't ruin the evening for Nathan. He was so happy she had agreed to go out with him. How would finding this out affect him and his feelings? She did not know but she did know she didn't want to ruin his happy mood atm.

" Oh ok, I'm glad you’re ok, I'll walk you to your car once you’re done in here." Nathan replied as his face fell, He got the feeling that she was not going to be open and honest about it just yet. That bothered him, because she had hidden something once before, which ended up devastating her almost ruining her life. He never wanted her to feel that way again, but if she wasn't going to tell him, he couldn't push his luck either.

As soon as Dr. Johnson gave her the discharge paperwork, she stuffed it into her pocket without examining it in front of Nathan. They walked back out to the employee parking lot quietly, the awkward silence between them was uncomfortable for Nathan, playing in his scrub pockets, finally decided to speak up.

" So, how is your family doing?" 

" The ones I still talk to are doing fine, if this was your way of asking me how my mother is doing, I still have not talked to her since I walked out of her house that day." Melissa replied.

Nathan shook his head letting out a long sigh " That's not what I was asking, I know you won’t give her a chance again after what all she allowed you to go through, but she's your mom you should at least explain to her you graduated even if she didn't want to show up to our graduation from medical school two years ago."

" Nathan, she didn't come, because she wanted me to sit at home and play the doting housewife to someone while I let my dreams slip by me. You know that has always been what she wants is me sitting at home with kids raising them while I rely on a man to support me. You see the way she acted when she seen you that day. She thought of all things we would end up married, and even tried to push it on to us. I think me not talking to her is finally making her see, she can't push me around." She said.

Nodding his head, he thought back to that day, when he went to her mother's house. She was right, her mother attempted to push them together. Nathan had managed to talk her mother out of it, denying his feelings for Melissa. He wanted Melissa to find her way to him not because her mother pushed them together trying to arrange a marriage between them. Being pushed towards the woman he loved didn't set right with him, he had wanted things to happen naturally. The ending fight of Melissa yelling at her mother loud enough that the neighbors could hear, which in their small town, would cause rumors to start. Which happened not too shortly after that, which had led Melissa to distancing herself from Nathan to avoid too many rumors being spread around. In a small town like this they didn't need it affecting their careers.

Nathan made sure that she was all settled into her car, and that she was ok to drive herself to her apartment's before turning to walk towards his car. Still thinking about the fact that he was being left out of something important that would have to wait until she was ready to share it with him.

Making her way through the silent streets of town, she couldn't help, but think back to that day as she stormed out of her mother's house. The silent drive always made her think, and due to the conversation with Nathan earlier, it was back to that day.

Flashback....

"Mom?" Melissa shouted as she entered her mother's house on the outskirts of town.

" In the kitchen Melissa darling." Her mother called out.

Melissa followed her mother's voice to the kitchen where her mother was putting together a puzzle at the dining room table. Something she enjoyed doing with her, sitting down at the table Melissa began to help her mother work the puzzle of a litter of puppies in a basket with purple, pink, and yellow flowers surrounding them.

" How are you doing today dear?" Her mother asked.

" Doing, good. Hey mom there is something I want to talk to you about, if that is ok with you." Melissa responded.

" Sure, talk away. I may have an answer for you after all these years of life" Her mother joked.

Melissa looked at her mother and laughed, her mother was only forty-eight, but enjoyed the small cracks of jokes she could make about her years of experience being her mother.

" I wanted to invite you to my graduation for medical school momma." Melissa began. " I know it’s not what you wanted me to do, but it’s what I want to do, and it would mean everything if you were there."

Rose sat and pondered about what her daughter was asking her to do, as she worked the puzzle, she began thinking of how to answer her daughter without causing a fight. Every time they talked about her being in medical school, it always caused a fight. Rose wanted her daughter to find a nice young man to settle down with and enjoy life with instead of being married to a career in which she would never find love with being busy all the time.

" Darling, why haven't you found a nice young boy? What about Nathan? He's handsome and he's graduating medical school with you is he not?" Rose asked her daughter.

" Momma, I don't want to settle down, you know this. I would rather help people and find love afterwards." Melissa responded to her mother while placing another piece of the puzzle in.

" You won't have forever to find someone. You really should ask Nathan for a date. He would make an excellent partner and would take care of you and the children you provide him. You will be married to your career if you don't get married now. You're young and beautiful, your childbearing age is passing you by with no children to show for it." Rose said, placing the piece of puzzle she had been staring at for a while now back on the table looking at her daughter, before patting her daughter’s arm. Just then they heard a car pull up, they both got up to see who had just pulled up. Standing on the front porch Melissa could clearly see who was in the driver's seat of the old beat-up Ford that had pulled up. It was Nathan, he had come to pick her up to take her out for the day with their group of friends.

" Good morning Mrs. Davine, how is your morning so far?" Nathan asked as he climbed from the truck.

" Nathan, how wonderful to see you! My morning is much better now that you are here. Come sit down with us in the kitchen and talk with us!" Rose excitedly ran back into the kitchen grabbing mugs for them to drink coffee out of. While Melissa and Nathan followed her back inside the house, they looked at each other while Melissa mouthed " I'm sorry." Nathan shrugged his shoulders pulling out Melissa's chair once they got back into the kitchen. Rose handed them their cups of coffee, bringing over a container of sugar and creamer to the table before sitting back down.

"I hear you are graduating from medical school in a couple of weeks." Rose started the conversation up with Nathan as if she completely forgot about the conversation with her daughter.

" Yes ma'am, your daughter is one brilliant woman to be graduating with me." Nathan said.

" Oh, I know even though it's not a woman's place to be working. Wouldn't you love to have a woman at home waiting on you with your kid's fed and bathed and put to bed while your dinner is already cooked, your house clean?" Rose asked Nathan directly.

" Well to be quite honest, I am capable of doing those things myself, although I can't bare my own children, I can fend for myself so I would not be opposed if my wife wanted to work." Nathan replied, trying to defuse the situation he walked in on.

" Oh, come now, you wouldn't need to do any of those things if you had a good woman take care of you Nathan. You would be the man of the house, you would be the bread winner and have someone take care of you, after you take care of everyone else all day!" Rose moved her eyes to cut them at her daughter, before taking a sip of the coffee she had been stirring cream and sugar into.

" Momma, I really don't think this is Nathan's place to be involved in this conversation we were having just you and I." Melissa finally spoke up, after listening to the conversation long enough.

" Melissa, darling, you should settle down and have a family to take care of. Not working to take care of everyone else's." Her mother began to yell at her. " I'm sure Nathan would love to have you as a wife to take care of him and his children! Wouldn't you Nathan?!" Rose turned around to see Nathan bright pink, struggling to swallow his sip of coffee.

" Now Mrs. Davine, Your daughter is a lovely woman, but I have no interest in her romantically. She and I are just friends." Nathan replied as soon as he swallowed the hot bitter liquid he was holding in his mouth.

" Momma!" Melissa shouted, standing to her feet. " I will not allow this conversation to be continued in front of Nathan!" 

" Sit down child, I am trying to find you a good man, and one falls into your lap during medical school, and you can't even notice it!" Rose shouted back at her daughter.

" That's its momma you are trying to interfere with my life again. I have told you I am not ready to get married yet or have grandchildren for you!" Melissa began pacing the kitchen floor furious at her mother’s implications of trying to marry her off to her best friend from medical school.

" I am not trying to interfere I am saying you still don't know what you want at 26 years old. You thought you wanted to be a doctor, so you went off to medical school and left everyone here behind. You need a man in your life to calm you down" Rose said, turning her attention back to Nathan " I apologize about my daughter’s outburst. She can be tough to manage, but once you show her the love, she desire's she will be worth what trouble she put you through"

" Mrs. Davine, again I am only your daughter's best friend if she wants to get married to someone she will. and it will not be me I assure you of that" Nathan replied as he looked down at his hands

" I don't want to get married yet momma so quit pushing me on to Nathan." Melissa replied sitting back down taking her mother's hand in hers." Momma I want to graduate and for you to be proud of me, but all you would be proud of me doing is being a housewife and that is not for me."

" You don't know that it’s for you until you try it out. Every woman is made to eventually become a housewife, raise babies, and love their men fiercely." Rose said to her daughter, pulling her hand back away from her.

" I do know what I want, and those are not things I want just yet." Melissa says raising her hands in the air trying her best to be civil towards her mother despite her growing displeasure of the topic.

" You do not know. you only think you do. Nathan would you be so kind as to take my daughter out and show her what she is missing with men. You can take her out tonight and show her that being someone's partner is better than wanting to save someone's life." Rose turned her attention back to him.

" No ma'am I cannot, I am your daughter's friend and friend only. We should be going through our other friend's will worry if we don't show up soon." Nathan replied standing up taking his empty coffee mug to the sink and washing it out, placing it in the dish rack to dry, before nodding his head and walking back through the kitchen to the living room and out the front door to go wait in his truck.

" He would make a good husband, my darling daughter. He is thoughtful of your feeling's and wants to date you but won't until the time is right." Rose said to her daughter picking up another puzzle piece and placing it in the puzzle.

" Momma, I already told you, I don't want to get married." Melissa said, standing to take her own cup to the sink to wash it out and put it away to dry. As she walks back past her mom, she hears her mother make one last comment which sends her over the edge. 

" Marry him, before someone else does. Once he is off the market you can't change your mind. I'll start your wedding planning as soon as you call me and tell me to. I will not accept a phone call if it’s for you to tell me about your graduation." Rose said.

" Momma, for the last time, I am not, and will not get married just to please you. That is all you think about is what would please you. What about what would please me! Getting married is not something you jump into without figuring out if your life is worth joining with someone else. Do not suggest that I get married again and do not suggest that I am disappointing you." Melissa shouted as she shoved the kitchen chair she was sitting in under the table and stormed out of the kitchen. Stomping through the living room and out the front door letting it slam behind her.