The First Star- a Tara and Jeffrey Christmas

TARA sat in front of the living room bay window and stared at the snow covered driveway, willing Jeffrey to pull into it. Saturday had finally arrived. She not only had the weekend off from the hospital, but her boss, the OB/GYN department chairman of Westchester Hospital and Clinics, Dr. Louis Faliano, had also given her the week off, including three days before and three days after Christmas. Since it was her first year as an assistant professor, and she was the newest faculty member, she had been certain she would be the attending physician on call for labor and delivery on Christmas. But he had insisted that she be with her family during the holidays. What a pleasant surprise!

She suspected it had something to do with last summer when she and Jeffrey managed to corner and arrest a serial killer who was also one of her medical students. But even if that was partly why she was getting Christmas off the holidays were not a time to rehash morbid events.Ever since putting away the killer, Jeffrey’s homicide calendar had remained blessedly empty.

Tara smiled and cocked her head at the fresh snowflakes floating down from the winter sky. For once, their lives were as pristine and sugar white as the snowy landscape outside.