When the Time is Right

Rita laughed much too loudly and yet she didn't care as she finally said goodbye to the first guy she'd ever asked out. A much younger guy, at that.

"Where were you?" Rik complained the moment his mom got in the car.

"I had to ask Brian another question," she said with a smile so big it should have tipped her son off.

Clueless, all he said was, "Whatever."

Rita wasn't awake all night, but she found herself unable to think about anything other than the very unusual back and forth she and Brian had that ended with her actually asking him out—on a date.

Several times she sat there and said to herself, "Are you crazy?" or "What have you done?" before asking, "Why did you do that?"

And yet when she thought about his smile and his playful nature, she was able to answer each of her questions mostly to her satisfaction.

Once Rik was in bed around 10 o'clock, she sat down and tried to watch a movie on TV, but she couldn't focus on anything other than her upcoming date.

"Date. I have...a date. With a man. A very handsome man. A much-younger man."

And that started the questions coming again with, "What are you doing?" taking 1st place in the number of times it got asked.

Just before she finally fell asleep, the real answer came. She was tired of living alone. She'd been unwilling to face it until just then, as she continued trying to convince herself, just as she had with work, that doing things with her son was enough. Yes, she very much wanted to try and make up for lost time with him, and she'd done everything she could with Rik over the summer. And yet she knew that no matter how much she loved her son, he could never love her back in the way she needed to be loved; the way his father had loved her for so many years. The way he'd made her feel each time he made love to her or told her how beautiful she was. That was what was missing.

So if she had to take some risks, like asking a man out, then she'd have to be willing to do so if she ever hoped to find the kind of love she'd once had again. It clearly wouldn't be with her underemployed golf instructor, but she'd finally dipped her toe in the water, and Rita knew this was the first step in a new direction she desperately needed to follow.

By the time they left the house the following morning, Rita was so bubbly Rik knew something was going on.

"Mom? What's the deal? You're acting all...goofy."

"I am?" she asked, a smile glued to her face.

"Yeah. It's like you're all dreamy or something."

"Huh. You know what? Maybe I am!" she said as she grabbed both of his cheeks the way she'd done when he was smaller.

"Mom! What gives?" Rik said as he tried to pull away.

"Maybe I'm just...happy," she said. "Can't a mom be happy?"

She kissed him right on the lips, and even though he made a face and said, "Eeeww!" it was obvious he enjoyed the attention.

"I don't tell you often enough how much I love you," she told him after he finished complaining. "But I do, you know."

Rik smiled bashfully then said, "I know. I love you, too, Mom."

"Come on. We're gonna be late!"

When they got to the clubhouse, the employees were talking very animatedly about something.

"What happened?" she asked one of them.

"Oh, some ass...some...jerk...dumped a ton of trash on the course. It's all over the place. Tire tracks, ruts. I mean, we're talkin' about a lot of time and money."

"Oh, my goodness. So...are you closed today?" she asked, feeling crestfallen.

"Mr. Wall Street's class is still on, but yeah, other than that, everything else is closed."

"Mr. Wall Street?" she asked.

"Sorry. I'm just a little pissed off...upset. Yeah. That's Brian Erickson. Mr. Wall Street."

"Oh. Okay," she replied, having no idea what that meant. "So can we go out there now?"

"Sure. Brian's got one area nearly cleaned up. You'll be restricted to that small space and the driving range, but yes, you can go on out."

Feeling very relieved, she and Rik drug their bags along until they got outside then slung them over their shoulders and walked onto the course.

"Oh, my word," Rita said when she saw the damage. "Who would do something like this?"

"Man. It looks like a scene from The Terminator!" Rik said as they surveyed the devastation.

Brian was tossing an armful of trash into a large can when he saw them.

"Morning!" he called out.

"Hi! Good morning!" Rita yelled back as she waved.

Rik watched his mom then looked at Brian then back at his mom and smiled.

"Oh, okay. Now I get it," he said.

His mom ignored his comment as she said, "Come on. Let's go help pick up some of this mess."

Rita couldn't stop smiling as she walked up to the man she'd asked out the day before.

She stopped a couple of feet in front of him and again said, "Good morning."

"It is now," he said. Even the silly cliche didn't stop her from smiling.

"Any idea who did this or why?" she asked.

"They're reviewing security video, but so far, no."

"How can we help?" she asked, the smile still there.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Some of this stuff is pretty nasty, and the course owners are worried about liability, so maybe the best thing to do would be to just warm up, and let me finish this one area. I've just about got it anyway, but thank you for offering."

"Okay. Sure," she said so sweetly Rik rolled his eyes.

Brian saw it, but his mother didn't as she told him to go get their bags.

"Both of them?" he whined.

"Yes. Both of them, my strong, handsome son," she said.

The only things left that Rita could see looked like an old television and a boom box of some sort. At least in the small area Brian had been working on. There was a whole host of...stuff...all over the course strewn from one end to the other in varying amounts making her think someone had driven a trash truck and dumped its contents as it went.

She saw Brian bending down and looking at the front of the old television. He went around to the back then knelt down and appeared to be reaching for something when she heard a noise and saw Brian fall over.

By the time he hit the ground, Rita was running toward him. She had no idea what had just happened, but could tell it was serious.

Her years of training took over as she got to him, rolled him on his back then began assessing his condition. She knelt down and listened. There was no sound and no breathing. She saw no other signs of harm such as bleeding so she immediately began CPR after screaming, "Call 911!" to Rik who was running up to her.

She slid her phone toward him as she pressed her lips against Brian's and began delivering oxygen to his body. She knew there'd been a lot of discussion about the use of chest compression and breathing into the unconscious person's mouth, but her instincts told her both were essential as blew twice then compressed his chest several times in rapid succession before forcing air into his lungs again.

To her tremendous surprise, the man she'd spoken to earlier came running out and asking what she needed.

"Do you have a defibrillator inside?" she screamed.

"Yes! It's brand new. I'll be right back!" he hollered.

Rita continued performing CPR until the man came sprinting back and handed her the kit.

"No! YOU open it and do exactly what I say!" she ordered as she compressed Brian's chest.

She tore open his shirt once she heard the paddles charging then said, "Stand back!" before placing them on his chest.

She discharged the paddles and waited.

"Recharge!" she said telling him what setting she needed then hollered, "CLEAR!" before shocking him again.

The first sounds of an ambulance could be heard off in the distance as Rita lowered her head and listened.

"He's breathing!"

"Your mom is pretty amazing, buddy," the man said to Rik as he put the paddles away.

"I know. She's a doctor and she's awesome," the boy informed him.

The unknown man ran out to meet the ambulance and directed it to where Brian was laying, knowing no one would even notice an additional set of tire tracks, and more importantly it didn't matter when someone's life was on the line.

An EMT went to take over when Rita said, "Oh, hell no! I'm Doctor Rita Gordon, and you're following my orders."

The EMT was more shocked than Brian had just been and said, "Yes, Doctor. How can I help?"

She and Rik both rode in the ambulance as she monitored her patient during the ride and giving instructions to the EMT.

At the hospital, a good friend of hers who was on call in the ER met them at the entrance and asked for the patient's status which Rita rattled off with perfect precision before finally turning Brian over to his care.

Word of Rita's arrival made its way around the hospital in no time, and several of her colleagues showed up in the waiting room to check in on her.

An female orthopedist she'd known for years sat with her for a few minutes, and after asking how she was doing, inquired about her patient and what had happened.

"Oh, okay. Your golf instructor. So not a personal friend then, right?" she asked Rita.

"I...I'm not sure," Rita told her. "But he is kind of...special to me."

"I won't ask," her friend said with a smile. "Listen, I need to get going, but it was so good seeing you again. I think about you all the time, and I uh, I kind of envy you."

"It was good seeing you, too, and maybe you'll take the plunge one of these days."

Both she and Rita knew that wouldn't happen. Her friend loved medicine and her job at the hospital. She was also still happily married to a really great guy, so leaving made no sense.

Just as she left, the attending who was caring for Brian came out.

"He's going to be just fine, Rita," her former colleague told her.

"Oh, thank God!" she said, nearly collapsing into his arms.

"Someone from the golf course came by and said this was laying between your patient and a television set."

He held up a small piece of electronics and said, "It's a 200v capacitor that must have retained a lot of its charge."

"What?" Rita said, even though she knew exactly what a capacitor was and why they could be dangerous. What she didn't understand was how it ended up on the ground.

"Yeah, the old saying that it 'ain't the voltage that kills, it's the amps', is a bunch of hooey," the male doctor told her.

"Oh, definitely. Yes, that's a very simple equation involving the body's resistance. I agree. So it obviously had a pretty good charge left in it."

"Enough to stop his heart. Thank God you were there and the golf course had a defibrillator."

"Yes. Right," she said before suddenly asking if she could see him yet.

"I don't see why not. He's sitting up and doing all right. I gotta tell you, he's been a big hit with a couple of the nurses."

"Oh, right. Yes, he's a very handsome guy, isn't he?"

The male doctor laughed then said, "I'll take your word for it. Come on. I'll walk back with you."

"Rik? Come on. Let's go see Brian," his mom said.

She heard his voice before she saw him, and it made her smile. She let the other doctor go ahead and stopped for a moment to listen and heard Brian saying to a nurse, "No. I don't think so. I'm kind of seeing someone. Or at least I hope to be, anyway."

She heard the nurse, someone she also knew, say, "Oh, okay. Lucky girl."

Moments later she walked out and saw Dr. Gordon and said 'hello' and asked how she was doing.

"Great. Really great," Rita said. "How's the patient?"

The nurse smiled then said, "Oh, my God! He is SO hot!"

"Ah, okay," Rita said with a smile.

"And like all the really cute ones—taken."

Rita wished her well, then took a deep breath, and walked into the room, quickly forgetting about the 'taken' comment.

Brian was talking with the doctor who went in first, but the moment he saw Rita, he stopped speaking. The doctor turned around and understood why.

"I'll check back on you in a few hours. If everything looks good, we'll get you out of here today."

"Thanks, Doc," Brian told him, never taking his eyes off of Rita.

"Hi," she said with a bright smile.

"Hey, there," Brian said as he smiled, too.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. Now," he told her, still smiling.

"You gave us quite a scare," she said as she stood next to the rail on his hospital bed.

"Sorry. I didn't realized I had that...capacity," he said trying not to smile.

Rita got it immediately and laughed, with most of the laughter coming from necessity to let go of a lot of tension that had built up from worrying. She thought about the word 'tension' and its relation to electricity and smiled.

She put her hands on the rail then said, "I like a man with a sense of humor."

Feeling almost fully recovered, Brian recalled their upcoming date and decided to reach for her hand. There was no hesitation on her part as she happily gave it to him.

"Was the capacitor laying on the ground?" she asked.

"Yeah. There were several gizmos laying there, and I was going to pick each of them up separately. I guess that was a mistake."

Rita smiled then told him she was just glad he was okay.

"They told me you performed CPR."

"Oh, right. Yes. I did do that," she told him with a smile.

"It was totally worth it, you know," Brian said.

"What was worth it?" she asked.

"Invoking a near-death experience to get a first kiss," he said trying not to smile.

Rita smiled back and laughed a little before saying, "All you had to do was ask."

"Eeeww! Gross!" Rik said, even though he was secretly hoping they would kiss for real.

"I'd like to kiss you," Brian told her.

Rita leaned down and softly kissed him then said, "That wasn't so hard was it?"

"Gee, if I'd only known I didn't have to risk the Pearly Gates, I'd have let that little piece of metal stay on the ground."

Brian noticed Rik smiling happily and asked, "Was that okay, good buddy?"

"Uh-huh," he said.

When his mom turned to look at him, Rik's cheeks glowed red. She chose not to mention it knowing it would just embarrass him more. Instead, she held out her arm, and pulled him in close.

"So now what?" Rita asked.

Brian was still holding her hand when he said, "Now we have that first date. And if I'm right, there'll be second and hopefully a third."

"I can't say that would bother me," Rita said very sweetly.

He squeezed her hand then said as sincerely as he could, "Thank you."

Rita wasn't a crier. While she wasn't a trauma surgeon, and hadn't worked the ER since her residency, medicine had toughened her up inside, and besides, no one wanted to see their doctor cry. But she couldn't help tearing up as she told him it was her pleasure.

"Saving my life or 'kissing' me?" he teased.

She smiled but didn't answer his question.

"Brian? I was so scared," she told him as her eyes welled up with tears.

There wasn't anything he could say so he squeezed her hand again then told her, "You look even more beautiful after saving someone's life."

Her sadness melted away almost instantly as she smiled.

"I already agreed to go out with you. There's no need to keep laying on the flattery."

"It isn't flattery," he told her.

He pulled her hand to get her to lean down again, and when she did he put his hand on her face and said, "You truly are beautiful, Rita Gordon."

"You're sorta cute yourself," she told him. "In that, gorgeous kind of way."

The way she smiled at him caused a stirring, and with nothing but a hospital gown covering Mr. Happy, the last thing he needed was for Rik to see something Brian never wanted any guy to see. In fact, he was laying there thinking he didn't want any other woman to ever see that again, either. Unless she was Doctor Rita Gordon.

He gently put his hand behind her head and pulled her close and kissed her. Rik didn't say anything, but he was smiling again.

"We should go," Rita told him as she stood back up.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he said as he tried to imagine Rosie O'Donnell standing there to help stop the 'swelling'.

"Sorry about not being able to hold class today," he told her.

Rita laughed then said, "Yeah. What's up with that? Who lets a little thing like nearly dying keep them from doing their job?"

Both of them did their best not to laugh, but they did smile.

"Don, the guy from the golf course who brought you the defib kit, and the capacitor to the hospital, said they closed the course until further notice."

"I hope they catch the guy who did that," Rita said.

"It was a very expensive prank," Brian offered.

"And it might have come with prison time had you not come back."

He reached for her hand again then said, "I'm very glad I did."

She smiled warmly then said, "Me, too."

Rita turned to Rik and said, "Okay, son of mine. Let's go back out to the waiting room until our former golf instructor gets released."

"Wait. Does that mean we can't play anymore?" he asked, his priorities coming through loud and clear.

Before his mom could answer, Brian said, "I'll take you guys to play 18 holes one day this week. How's that?"

"Cool!" Rik said. "I really like golf."

"Well, you've got real potential, Rik. If you keep playing, who knows?"

"Hey! I could change my name to Payne Stewart!" he proudly announced.

"Ugh! You're a...pain...all right!" his mother said before looking back at Brian and telling him, "we'll be here if you need us, okay?"

He smiled then told her, "Something tells me I might always need you."

Rita didn't reply, but her smile spoke volumes.

Four hours later Brian was discharged and Rita was still there waiting for him.

"Finally!" Rik said when he saw his mother's new...boyfriend?

He was in a wheelchair because that's what hospitals did, but he was more than able to walk.

"I'll take him out," Rita told the nurse.

She looked at Rik then said, "And my son will bring the wheelchair back."

Rik knew better than to complain but he couldn't resist rolling his eyes.

By the time they got back to the golf course, the police had apprehended the two young men who'd torn up the golf course. Don let Brian know they were local kids from families that had more money than they what to do with.

"I'm sure they'll be happy to cough up whatever it might cost to repair this beautiful course," he told Dan.

"I've got a friend who's a detective. He's being pretty tightlipped, but there's talk about them doing that to keep their kids out of jail."

"What? So the kids get off scot free?"

"No. Not at all. They'll have to spend 20 hours a week helping with the repair work every week until its done then do some unspecified number of additional hours doing community service. And that's only if the DA agrees to it. They could still press charges for what happened to you."

"I don't want to see that happen," he said. "I'm very much a pro-personal-responsibility kind of guy, and I understand the 'unforeseen consequences' issue as well as anyone. But a capacitor from an old TV set zapping someone? That's a little too much even for me."

"Then you might want to stop by the police station and talk to my friend who's already working with the DA."

"I might just do that," Brian told him.

Rita was standing next to him just listening and waiting patiently and admiring his perspective on things. She loved that he wanted them to pay but not take a pound of flesh in doing so.

"But first I have two very special people who haven't had anything but junk food since breakfast, and I'd like to take them to get something to eat."

Rita started to say that wasn't necessary when Rik said, "It's about time!"

She went to scold him, but because Brian laughed, she let it go.

"You know you're encouraging him, right?" Rita said quietly.

"He's had a long, boring day, and it wasn't vicious."

"Huh. Once again, I'm impressed," she told him without explaining the 'again' part.