Together

Opportunity

Hi.... it's been a hot second since I updated, and I'm so sorry about that. Please let me give my excuse because it gives me self-validation.... I've been really sick (and had to miss most of a choir festival but that's a whole other story) (but in better news, I forced myself to go to the auditions and I'm
moving on to the next level!) so writing hasn't been too much on my radar. I'm starting to feel better, slowly, though, so I used all of my energy to pump out a chapter tonight. I'm excited about sharing this one so I hope you all enjoy. Comment/vote x
-ab

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November 19, 2025

Patrick

"Hey, you're coming along really nicely with this, Isla," I tell the little girl, giving her a smile. "I think that in a few more weeks, you won't have to come back here anymore."

"But then I won't see you, Dr. Patrick!" she exclaims with distraught. Biting my lip to hold back a smile, I look up at her mom, who I can tell is also stifling a laugh.

"Hey, you can come visit me whenever you'd like," I assure her, "but aren't you happy that you're nearly all healed up from your injury?"

"Can I go back to ballet class?" she asks me, with wide eyes.

"Soon," I promise her. "I'd say in about a month."

"But that's so long, Dr. Patrick!"

"I know, but patience is a virtue, love. Now, you're done for today, okay?"

"Okay. Bye bye, Dr. Patrick!" She throws her arms around my waist and gives me a hug, causing me to smile.

"Bye, Isla." Then, I turn to her mom. "You can go schedule her next appointment at the front desk. I'll see you next week."

"You too," she smiles, grabbing her daughter's hand and leading her out.

Sitting down at my desk, I check my calendar and notice that I have a bit of a break before my next patient comes in, so I pull out my phone and begin to aimlessly scroll through social media until I hear a knock on my office door.

"Hey, come on in."

The door creaks open, and I look up to see Jamie, my boss.

"Hey, Patrick," he tells me. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah..." I reply, clearly worried, until I see the smile on Jamie's face.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I just wanted to talk to you about the little girl who you've been working with."

"Oh, Isla. Yeah, she's a sweetie."

"You're really good with her," he says. "Even some of your peers have commented to me on how much she loves you."

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much," I smile.

"I was wondering how you'd feel about taking some more pediatric patients?"

"It's fine with me," I shrug. "I love little kids."

"Great. We would like to send you back to university, just for a single course, beginning in January... if that's alright with you. It's a course in physical therapy, while working specifically with children... it'll just help to hone your skills. We will pay for it entirely, so long as you pass the course."

"Wow. That's amazing. Thank you so much. I'd be honoured to do that."

"Perfect," Jamie says. "We can get you enrolled in that then. London's hospitals like to send children our way, so I was thinking that it would be nice to have somebody who specializes with the kids, you know? You just seemed to be a good fit."

"I'm flattered, honestly," I tell Jamie. "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem," he says. "I'll leave you to your business now, alright?"

"Alright," I say. "Thank you."

As he leaves, I immediately pull out my phone and start to text Harper.

Patrick: I just got a really exciting job opportunity. I'll explain it more later, but I'm thrilled. Hope you're having a nice day xx

Harper: Congrats, love! I'm a bit bored, but nothing's new there, haha. I'll see you when you're home and I can't wait to hear about your day x

Smiling to myself, I tuck my phone away and begin to prepare for my next client, who is due to arrive any minute now. He will be my last one of the day.

Soon, he comes in, and I begin my session.

After finishing up and seeing him out, I collect my things and quickly begin to walk home. I know that, if I don't hurry, then I have a good chance of missing Harper before she has to go to the theatre for her show, and I don't like that. I always like to give her a kiss and wish her luck before her shows.

Once I'm home, I find Harper cooking up some soup on the stove. "Hey babe," she smiles, turning her head around to look at me. "I started dinner."

"You're the best."

"How was your day? What's this 'opportunity' that you were talking about?"

"Oh my gosh," I tell her, "it's really an honour. I've been working with this little girl, Isla, and apparently, they think that I'm really good with her, so they want to send me back to uni to take one more class, aimed specifically in working with kids in the field so that I can be the specialist for our clinic, essentially."

"Wow!" she exclaims. "Patrick, that's so cool. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," I smile, wrapping my arms around her waist. I rest my head on her shoulder. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're making soup."

"Love, I'm fine. It's just cold, and it's always good for my vocal cords, you know."

"Just wanted to make sure. You've been known to overwork yourself and stress yourself out too much."

"Once, when I was a kid, I got so stressed that I burst a blood vessel in my eye," she recalls with a laugh.

"See, that's not good."

"It's fine," she rolls her eyes. "And I'm fine. I promise."

"Alright," I laugh. After a moment of silence, she turns to me.

"Well, the soup should be ready. Could you grab some bowls?"

"Sure." After I place them on the counter, she fills each of them up with the soup, then we head to the table.

"What did you do today?" I ask her.

"Not much," she laughs. "I slept. I looked over my script. I made plans to meet up with Nessa and Katherine on Sunday, so that we can work on our concert outfits and drink tea. I read a little bit."

"Sounds exhilarating."

"Absolutely."

Soon, Harper has to get her things together so that she can be on her way to the Piccadilly Theatre. So far, she's loving every minute of performing in Anastasia, and I love that she loves it. It's quite the nice arrangement.