Chapter Nine

Evil Friends

Unknown to Dr. John, and Chloe one of Mairenn's friends had heard Chloe's conversation that ended with Dr. John asking Chloe for a date. They did not waste any time in finding their friend Mairenn McClellan to tell her the news. When Mairenn heard the news, she purposed in her heart that she would make sure that date never happened. She wanted Dr. John for herself. Mairenn had plans for Chloe, and it did not include her having Dr. John. Mairenn had a past that involved many unsavory characters for many years and she would have her way. The next morning Mairenn made it her business to go to Dr. Rassin who was Dr. John's supervisor and told him that she had seen and heard Dr. John asking Chloe, the girl from the Cessna airplane out on a date. Mairenn very slyly queried Dr.Rassin if that was appropriate because Dr. John had been her attending physician and that was not ethical. Dr. Rassin under the rules of the hospital facility had to take into consideration the complaint brought to him by Mairenn. Dr. Rassin found it difficult to notice Mairenn's thoughts and they made him suspicious of her intentions. Were there ulterior motives and furthermore, Dr. John was no longer Chloe's attending physician, he had only been her physician during her brief stay at the hospital facility. Nevertheless, Dr. Rassin told Mairenn that he would investigate, and would get back to her. Mairenn began to spread rumors around the hospital about John and Chloe. The next day was a casual day for Chloe; Liz helped her to understand a few more of the intricacies of finding her way around in the apartment complex. Chloe had not realized how very large and beautiful the apartment complex where she lived was. Time had passed quickly and when Chloe went to get dressed for her evening with Dr. John, she said to Liz, "Are you aware that I'm going out with Dr. John?" Liz smiled and said that she was aware of it and that she hoped she would have a good time and she was sure that she would learn a lot about the city as well. While Chloe was getting dressed she thought to herself being able to read Liz's mind right about now would probably be very interesting, and then she dismissed it and finish getting dressed. It took her a while because of the similar but oddities in the clothing that she had. Dr. John showed up as scheduled, and he was grinning and had a single rose in his hand, handed it to Chloe, and said, "This is for you." Chloe blushed, thanked him, stepped back in to her apartment, and placed the rose on the table after smelling it, and it did not smell like the roses she had smelt. Liz stepped into the room and spoke to Dr. John and she told them to have a good time and that she would put the rose in a vase with some water. They made their way out of the apartment complex, and Chloe expected that they would get into a car or some kind of vehicle belonging to Dr. John, but they got into what appeared to be a glass bubble that was very comfortable. It was as if you were on display with all the glass. Chloe's thoughts were racing, and she was aware that Dr. John knew what she was thinking but he just sat there and smiled as the glass bubble that they had sat down in closed. Chloe felt like her feet were only inches off the ground and then in a split second they left the apartment complex and were high over the city and then it abruptly stopped. Chloe wondered why she did not feel nauseous, and then she began to relax and she realized that they were stationary hovering over the city and the city was breathtaking, the buildings towered into the sky and Chloe looked at all of the sights. She noticed many similar vehicles like had brought her from the hospital to her apartment dancing through the sky in the distance. Occasionally she saw another bubble like the one they were sitting in go by, "Sheesh," Chloe could hardly take it all in, this was amazing, and the world that she found herself in advanced way beyond anything that she had left behind. Dr. John began to point out various points of interest, Chloe once again had the feeling that he was reading her thoughts as sometimes he elaborated on a point of interest that she had formulated a question in her mind about. The building seemed to tower into the sky out of sight. They were a jungle of mammoth skyscrapers and everywhere in the distance were little blips of light almost like stars. John pointed out that they were vehicles similar too and like they were travelling in. There are hundreds of them darting about in the sky. Chloe wandered what kept them from crashing into one another. John probably noticed that thought and out of the corner of her eye, she could see him smiling. After about 30 minutes of small talk during Dr. John's tour of the city from the sky he looked at Chloe and said, "Now if you don't mind I would like to learn a little bit more about what it was like where you were living. How long did you live where you were living, and did you have a boyfriend?" Chloe began to fill Dr. John in with details of how she had been living with her aunt and uncle in Nassau. She told him that she did not currently have a boyfriend. Chloe continued with leaving Nassau with her Aunt Jessica to pick up a part in San Andros, and we were on the way back to Nassau. Chloe said, "Remember I told you the priest had begged us not to leave, and to spend the night, but we had felt like we needed to get back to Nassau. We left San Andros and very early in the flight the instruments began to do weird things and then there was a cloud with lights dancing in the cloud, and then there was a high-pitched sound, and then that was pretty much all that Chloe said she could remember." Chloe got quiet and she looked at Dr. John and said, "I do miss my family, I miss Aunt Jessica most of all and I wish I could see her again, or at least talk to her." Dr. John placed his hand on hers and showed empathy, and then he made a statement that later puzzled Chloe. He said, "That sometimes there are forces that are at work that we do not understand." In addition, the next moment without Dr. John, touching or saying anything the glass bubble began to move and then it moved very rapidly. Chloe had the slightest feeling of disorientation, but it passed quickly and then the vehicle was settling down on what appeared to be a beach. It was amazing, and it was as they had gone back to the world that Chloe had left behind, and she was at one of the beaches in Nassau. The bubble opened up, they were exposed to the fresh air, and it gave Chloe a wonderful feeling of being relaxed. And then there came a gentleman in a tux and a bowtie walking on top of the water and he came up to their bubble and spoke to them each by name, and said that he would be there waiter and what could he get for them to drink. He recommended a few names of drinks that Chloe was not familiar with and Dr. John leaned over to Chloe and asked, "May I order for you?" Chloe nodded and he turned to the waiter and ordered for the both of them. Chloe amused herself looking all around the place, and it was beautiful and she looked at Dr. John and asked, "Where is this place, what is this place?" He replied, "It's a restaurant that has been fabricated from the information and knowledge that's been generated from those as yourself that have come from your world. I chose this venue because I had done some research, and I knew that Nassau is an island, and that you probably went to the beach. I have included in this venue certain dishes that I believe you will be familiar with and you will like. Chloe thought to herself, "This is amazing, I wonder how many girls ever had a date were a restaurant was created just for her." The waiter came back with the drinks, they sat back and talked, Dr. John talked about his family and said that he had one sister who worked at the hospital, and one brother that worked for a university. Chloe was very interested in all that Dr. John revealed to her about himself, but she did not ask any questions and just listened. The waiter appeared again, and asked if they were ready to order and Dr. John spoke up and said, "Yes, the young lady will have the grouper entre', peas and rice, macaroni and cheese and also would like an appetizer of Conch fritters. The waiter said, "Yes sir, and what would you like sir." Dr. John said, "I'm not familiar with the menu that was created for Chloe, but I will try the baked grouper and a side salad." The waiter smiled and bowed his head slightly said, "Thank you," and he was gone. Dr. John's face changed abruptly and Chloe wondered what was wrong, he looked at Chloe and said, "Dr. Rassin just sent a message that he has to meet with me at eight thirty in the morning, and it's a matter concerning my assistant Mairenn." Dr. John looked at Chloe and said, "I find it very strange, this message, and what could this meeting be concerning?" They enjoyed their meal and Dr. John said he was not entirely sure of the baked grouper because he was not a big fish eater as most of the time he preferred a good steak. The waiter came by and asked if they were ready for dessert and Chloe quickly shook her head and said, "I am very full and I can't hold another thing, but it was very good." Dr. John said, "Thank you," to the waiter and he disappeared again. After a few minutes looking at the large aquarium they made their way back to where they had first arrived. Chloe was about to ask Dr. John if he knew where the restrooms was when their bubble floated down from about twenty feet from where they stood. Dr. John took Chloe's hand and said, "Let's go!" In a minute, they were seated in the bubble and the vehicle closed up, lifted up, and moved very rapidly away from their beach. Chloe thought to herself, "Wow that was amazing!" Chloe caught Dr. John smiling at her out of the corner of his eye. In a couple of minutes, they were at her apartment complex. When they arrived back, at Chloe's apartment they found that Liz had put the rose in the vase and sat it on the table and from all appearances, Liz was not there. There was just a little bit of ambient light and there was soft music playing in the background. Chloe thought that the room had a romantic atmosphere about it and wondered if Liz had planned it that way. Dr. John stayed at the door and Chloe smiled and asked him if he would like to come in, which he immediately replied, "Yes that would be nice." She told him to make himself comfortable and that she would be back shortly. Chloe headed off to the bathroom and on her way, she found herself thinking what she should talk about, and then under her breath said, "Darn it," and he probably heard that. When Chloe came back into the main room, she found that Dr. John had made himself comfortable on the couch, and had increased the lights just a little bit and appeared to be ending a conversation on the phone. As she approached the couch and Dr. John, she heard him say, "Ok I'll see you in the morning, in your office." Chloe could not hear the other side of the conversation. Chloe then assumed that the person told him that they were available and at that point had ended the conversation. Chloe realized Dr. John was not entirely pleased with the conversation that he just had. She gave him her attention and he went on to tell that Mairenn had gone to making mischief about him having a date with her, and that was not ethical because he was her attending physician. Chloe did know what to say or think. Fortunately, Dr. John went on to explain that oftentimes doctors may encounter patients that they feel attraction towards, and yes it is unethical to mix a personal date with a patient. He had entertained the idea and asked her recently to go out with him. This was after Chloe was out from his care and that there was nothing wrong with that, they were two consenting adults. Dr. John looked at the ceiling and said, "I'm at loss to think what's going on with Mairenn. I had somebody tell me the other day that they heard that Mairenn was interested in me but I had brushed it off, and we had never had any relationship, and as far as I am concerned, there were no plans of ever having any type of relationship with Mairenn. Chloe did not want to see Dr. John gloomy about his coworker stirring up trouble. Chloe said, "I would call it a refrigerator but it's the thing in the wall that dispenses whatever you want to eat and drink. Would you like something to drink?" Dr. John threw back his head, laughed, and said, "Chloe I can tell you like that, it's neat, and it's been around for a very long time." Chloe smiled and said, "I'm still getting use to operating it, and I would hate to order one thing and end up with something totally different." Dr. John stood up and walked over to Chloe and said, "First of all my dear, what would you like to drink?" Chloe said, "I would like a cold glass of water with a little squeeze of lime juice." Dr. John said, "I have never asked for that before, but I'll ask and see what happens, and with that he said the magic words: "Glass of water and a squeeze of lime juice." Then a voice from the wall said "We do not understand the command, please try again," and at that point Dr. John said, "Make it a cold glass of water with a little lemon." The wall light blinked and then a small opening in the wall opened up and a tray came out and announced the arrival of the cold glass of water with lemon. Dr. John reached over, took the glass, and handed it to Chloe. He then told the wall refrigerator that he would take the same, the wall responded with one glass of cold water with a little lemon. In less than 30 seconds, Dr. John had retrieved their water. They both went back to the couch, Chloe sat down first, and Chloe sat on the end, as she had grown accustomed to leaning on the end of the couch. This left the entire rest of the couch vacant. Dr. John thought to himself, I have a decision to make, I could sit in the middle, or he could sit closer to Chloe. Dr. John was very interested in Chloe and he decided without any hesitation that he would find out tonight if Chloe had any interest in him. Dr. John sat down very close to her. He drank some of his ice-cold water with a squeeze of lemon and then he leaned forward and placed the glass on the small table in front of him on the coaster. Chloe had not noticed that before, and maybe she had but the coaster had a purple light very briefly and then it looked like a regular coaster again. As Dr. John leaned back after setting his glass on the coaster, he put his hand on the back of the couch, but behind Chloe's head. Chloe had reached her limit trying to control her thoughts and she remembered thinking to herself, "Hey, Dr. John you can put your arms all around me," and then she could feel her face flush and was glad that the lighting was subdued in the room and hopefully Dr. John could not see her blushing. Dr. John found it very easy to notice Chloe's thoughts, he did not need a whole lot of encouragement, and he put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. Dr. John said to Chloe, "Quite frankly Chloe, from the moment I first saw you I thought you were absolutely beautiful and I am happy that you accepted my invitation, and I would like to continue seeing you." Chloe shifted her body ever so slightly in the direction of Dr. John, looked into his eyes, and said I feel the same way about you and I will look forward to us getting to know each other and that was about as much as Chloe was able to say. As Dr. John reached over and began to kiss her. Chloe responded appropriately and thought he is a good kisser. Just at that, moment the wall opened up, Liz came in from the outside, and from all appearances, it appeared that she had been out, perhaps on a date herself. Dr. John moved away slightly, Chloe looked over at Liz and asked how she was doing to which she replied that she had a wonderful evening, and I hope you guys on doing well, and I am going straight to my room, I have a busy day tomorrow. "Chloe do not forget that we will be leaving here at about eight o'clock, and we will be going to several places, which you will find very interesting and very important. Goodnight everybody," and with that Liz walked through the wall into her room and was gone. Dr. John leaned back a little closer and began kissing her. Chloe found it very easy to respond to Dr. John. The only thing that bothered her was periodically she would remember the fact that he agreed he could hear her thoughts. Chloe decided to use her thoughts to her advantage, and she began to think in her mind that she was enjoying Dr. John's attention, and she was very interested and very fond of him and would love to see more of him, but she was not ready to carry the kissing any further. Dr. John at that point leaned back smiled, and said, "I will say goodnight and once again I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Chloe I am very much interested in being with you, learning more about you and you will learn about me. I would like to call you tomorrow evening and talk with you and I'll tell you what happens in my meeting with Dr. Rassin." Chloe stood up and told Dr. John that she had had a special evening and would look forward to his call tomorrow. She would be anxious to hear about what Mairenn was going to say. This reading of thoughts worked very well in that situation. The next morning Dr. John arrived at Dr.Rassin's office about fifteen minutes ahead of time hoping that he would get to speak to Dr.Rassin before the meeting, but that was not to be. At the appointed time Dr.Rassin showed up as did Mairenn, they went into Dr.Rassin's private office and he closed the door. He was not one to waste any time and he said, "The reason for this meeting is because Mairenn," and he looked at Mairenn, "Has requested that I be informed that you, Dr. John had recently dated a new citizen who is your patient. It is the policies set forth under the hospitals in common practices of most doctors and Doctor Facility's that the patient and doctor relationship is one that does not include dating and fraternizing." "Mairenn, I have to inform you that I have looked into this thoroughly and it's come to my attention that there is no evidence of any wrong doing here. There is nothing that indicates Dr. John had in any way fraternized with, or made any advances to Ms. Chloe while she was a patient at this hospital. After discharge from the hospital, she is no longer under Dr. John's personal care. They are both free, consenting adults, and if they choose to date then that is their business. That is no concern of ours. Furthermore, Mairenn it has come to my attention that you have shared this with other staff members, and this is wrong. If you had something of this nature to bring to a director then so be it, but it should be kept between you and the director." "Mairenn what you engaged in was simply gossiping, and spreading rumors and innuendos and I personally have my opinions why you did this but that's neither here nor there. I want to put you on notice that this type of behavior on your part will not be allowed and I want to remind you that you had a similar experience as Ms. Chloe, and you should of all people be if anything lenient and give Ms. Chloe the benefit of the doubt. Once again, I have concluded that my investigation as shown that Dr. John and Ms. Chloe have done nothing wrong. Particularly Dr. John as a hospital employee has done no wrong, I want the subject dropped, and I don't want to hear of it again." At that point, he looked at Mairenn, pulls down his glasses, and said, "Do I make myself clear, Mairenn." Mairenn was red in the face, her voice trembled a little bit, and she said, "Yes sir, Dr. Rassin I understand completely and it won't happen again." Dr. Rassin dismissed them both and said to remember what their purpose is at this hospital. Mairenn and Dr. John left but Mairenn sat in her car and thought that Dr. John and Chloe had not seen or heard the last of her and she would have her away with the both of them, and she knew how to accomplish just that. She made a call to her friends and filled them in about her incident at the hospital. Dr. John left feeling that he had won, but then he wondered how he would be able to work with Mairenn after what he felt like she had done was wrong to him, and to Chloe. What was her problem and what was she thinking could come from this. He would not have to wait long, and worry about that situation because the next day a memo that the hospital sent out said that Mairenn was moving to work in a different part of the hospital system about 50 miles away and due to the urgency of the need at this other facility she would be leaving immediately. Dr. John dismissed Mairenn from his mind and went on about seeing his patients. Dr. John Caldwell that evening called Chloe, told her of his meeting with Dr. Rassin, and said that he felt that he won. He said he was so sorry that Mairenn had created mischief and hoped that it would not have any bearing on the two of them having another date because he in fact would like to see her on Saturday. He had two days off and he would like to spend some time with her. Chloe responded that she would be delighted to spend time with him. Dr. John arranged to pick Chloe up at her apartment on Saturday morning at 11 o'clock. Of course, Chloe was ready and waiting for Dr. John to arrive and had busied herself experimenting with their refrigerator in the wall and Liz had been watching her and had become amused. Chloe said that out of all the interesting and different modern conveniences, beyond her imagination that I have experienced this just fascinate me. Liz said, "It's what I grew up with and I've never known it to be any different. They have made a few improvements and changes, they have added a few menu items, but it is what I have used for years. Sometime Chloe, you have to tell me more about you. I have been reading a few things about your world, but often times the details are not very clear, simply because we do not always have a whole lot of information. However, we will leave that for another time." Mairenn met with her friends and they made plans for kidnapping Chloe and making her apart of their diabolical plan. Chloe fit the profile and because Mairenn wanted Chloe out of the way, so that she might have a chance with Dr. John. Secondly, Chloe's information, Mairenn had access.