chapter 3

Every so often Amanda would find herself heading over to Max Braverman's kitchens. Nothing romantic mind you. Max was still too shy and way too timid to even say boo to Amanda. No, Amanda was attracted to Max' kitchens for the food. For the first time in her life she was excited about the food she was eating. Just grabbing a tuna fish sandwich out of one of the vending machines just wouldn't do any more, not when there was something that looked tempted and tasted delicious available.

Max was usually in his office when Amanda came around. Actually Max would FLEE to his office whenever he saw Amanda come in the general direction of his kitchens. He couldn't get it out of his head that he wasn't special enough for the golden girl of DePaul University Hospital.

This game of cat and mouse went on for six months or more. Whenever she could break away from making rounds or filling out the oceans of paperwork that seemed to go with the job of Chief Resident in Cardiology, Amanda would find herself heading down to the kitchens for a nosh.

In many ways this turned out to be a great turn of events for Amanda. The fact is that the hospital administration was concerned about her health. She stood about an eighth of an inch short of six feet and weighed a mere 119 pounds. She was definitely underweight. Her blood pressure was way to low at 90/60. Her bone density scan revealed that she was a candidate for osteoporosis and she was showing signs of malnourishment. Well, that HAD been the case before she started frequenting Max' kitchens.

Her growing love affair with the healthful food Max was serving her was having a telling effect on her health. Nothing radical mind you. Her weight had gone up to 124, still decidedly under where it should be but at least it was heading in the right direction. Her blood pressure was now up to 100/70. Her bone density was still a concern but she found a glass of whole milk had mysteriously found its way on her food tray when she had the time to stop by in the morning so at least she was getting SOME calcium. And overall her blood chemistry was looking up.

Max was still rather reticent toward Amanda. He'd say hello if they happened to bump into one another in the corridor or if he saw her sitting down to dinner from time to time. But you could tell he was interested in her just by the look in his eyes. That and the fact that he stared at her when he thought no one was looking.

One of the people who did notice was Hilda Pzybylski, a dietician in the hospital. SHE was definitely interested in Max but Max was hardly aware she was even alive. This infuriated her. What drove her even crazier was the fact that she could see Max pining after Amanda while totally ignoring her.

Another three months passed by. Amanda was coming to the kitchens more frequently and Max was still silently aching for the opportunity to get closer to her. Naturally enough, he was still completely ignoring Hilda. Well, Hilda had taken just about enough of this whole situation. She decided she HAD to do SOMETHING about the Golden Girl of DePaul University Hospital and she finally figured out just WHAT it was she was going to do!!