Dr. Sydney Kale stepped out into the bright afternoon sun of downtown Los Angeles, just having finished her shift at Community General Hospital. She slipped a pair of sunglasses on and juggled the stack of papers and books she was carrying out to her car. Studying materials, for she was going to be working in internal medicine for a month as part of a teaching trade with Greg Ostermann. She had laughed when Mark Sloan had handed her the volumes and research studies. “They all have the same organs inside, Mark, just the kids have smaller ones.” He’d laughed at her joke, but insisted on her taking the stuff. So now she was stuck with a precarious load that was trying to escape her small arms. Halfway across the parking lot, within sight of her car, the stack escaped. Papers flew out of her arms as the binders and volumes crashed to the asphalt. A rarely spoken obscenity escaped Sydney’s lips.

“Shit!”

She crouched trying to hold on to the remaining book in her arms and tried to gather the escaping papers before they blew under a car.

“Would you like some help?” came a voice from above her, and Sydney looked up to see a wonderfully handsome man smiling down at her.

“Actually, yes.” She replied, watching the man kneel down and begin to gather up the papers. A Good Samaritan, she mused to herself, but I didn’t know they were supposed to look this good. He helped her carry them to her car and set them in the backseat at her instruction. He threw her a friendly wave over his shoulder as he headed toward the hospital, and she started the car. Wheeling the Mustang out of its space, she suddenly felt bad for not getting his name.

~ ~ ~ ~

The end of the week couldn’t have come soon enough for Sydney. The adult patients were grumpier and whined more than any of the children she had ever cared for. Mark had been checking up on her regularly, and sometimes accompanying her on rounds when he had he time. In all this time, she had not once seen the mysterious Good Samaritan, as she was calling him, since that day in the parking lot. That brief meeting had had an effect on her, and she had found him on her mind more often than a chance encounter with someone should be. She shook her head, and headed down to the doctor’s lounge, where she found Amanda. Sydney was eternally grateful to Amanda for taking her under her wing when Syd was a new doctor at Community General. Amanda smiled broadly as Sydney entered the lounge.

“Hi Syd. Having fun today?” she asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. While Sydney was getting off now, Amanda still had four hours left to her shift.

“Loads. Everyone always said children are the whiny ones at the doctor, but I’m finding that my kids take a stick better than most of these adults.” She replied, shrugging off her white lab coat. She had been forced to leave her electric blue one upstairs in pedes. “Looking forward to a couple days of respite from them.”

Amanda laughed. “I fortunately don’t have that problem. My patients don’t say or do much of anything.”

“Sounds nice. Peace and quiet.”

Another laugh from Amanda and a grin from Syd. “So what are you up to this weekend?” asked Amanda, stepping in front of Sydney’s path to the door.

“Nothing that I know of, why?”

“Well, a couple of us were taking a day trip up to Monterey, and I thought you might like to come.”

Sydney debated that for a moment, “Sure. Sounds like fun. Who all’s coming?”

“Me, Jesse, Mark and Steve. We’re meeting at Mark’s house tomorrow morning and driving up from there. I’m asking you to come partially because we need another car.”

“Ahhhh, I see, I’m the U-Haul truck.” Sydney said jokingly, “I’ll be there, with my truck.”

“Great! See ya then!” Amanda replied, and stepped out of Syd’s way. Syd flipped her a wave as she headed out the door.

“Ciao.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Sydney pulled up in front of Mark’s beachside house at seven the next morning. She saw Amanda and Jesse’s cars out front, and decided that she wasn’t late after all. She grabbed her purse out of the passenger seat and headed up the driveway. She reached the porch and rang the doorbell, looking around as she waited for the door to be opened. When it did open, she found herself looking straight into the face of her Good Samaritan. She blinked, thinking she was imaging things.

“Can I help you?” he asked, the sound of his voice proving that he was not the product of an overactive imagination. Before she could answer she saw Mark coming up behind the Good Samaritan and greeting her.

“Glad you could make it! Come in, come in.” he hugged her as she stepped into the foyer, under the scrutiny of the Good Samaritan. “Sydney, this is my son, Steve.” He continued, nodding at the Good Samaritan. The shock was apparent on Syd’s face as she managed to mumble a hello. “Steve, this is Sydney Kale, she’s a doctor up in pediatrics at Community General.”

“Hello, nice to meet you again.” Steve said, reaching out to shake her hand.

Before Mark could ask, Sydney explained. “I dropped those books you gave me in the parking lot, and Steve helped me pick them up, but I never got his name.”

“Ahhhh. Well, come back and have some breakfast before we pull out of here.” And with that, Mark led them back to the kitchen where Amanda and Jesse sat eating breakfast.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sydney had the sneaking suspicion that this had been planned all along. As soon as they finished packing the vehicles, Mark had suggested that Syd and Steve ride up together in Syd’s Explorer, and he, Jesse and Amanda would take Amanda’s new Cherokee. Before she or Steve could voice their opinion, the others had decided that this was a great plan. So now, Syd was stuck behind the wheel of her truck with Steve sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window. They were halfway up the coast, and the only conversation they’d had was when he offered to drive some when they stopped for gas, and she had refused. Unfortunately, the thought of him sitting there in her truck was fighting the road for her attention. Trying to clear the thought, she reached down for her soda that sat in the cupholder. Her hand brushed against his, since he had also decided to go after his soda at the same time. Syd drew back, knocking her soda all over her.

“Oh no!” she gasped, as the brown, fizzy liquid soaked her pants. Steve, grabbed the napkins in the bag on the floor, and tried to mop up the mess.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” he apologized as he wiped at the spill. Syd put on her blinker and pulled over to the side of the road. She cut the engine and flipped on her hazards, and carefully opened her door to get out. Ice spilled out of her lap she stepped out into the hot California sun. She started laughing as she watched the cubes tumble into the roadside dust. Steve had also gotten out and had come around to see if he could help. He heard her laugh, and wondered what she found so funny. She was standing there looking up at the sky just… laughing. She looked at him as he approached, boots scuffing on the gravel. Her smile was as contagious as her laughter, and they just stood in the sun on the side of the road, smiling and laughing.

~ ~ ~ ~