“Sorry I bailed on you the other day. Would have been nice to play ball with the guys.”
“Not a problem,” Chad says, taking a bite of his dinner. “It’s what you signed up for. It’s not like it hasn’t happened a thousand times before with Mom and Dad.”
I nod, laughing. Many dinners, soccer matches, and family outings were interrupted due to my parents’ chosen careers. They are both doctors. I know they like to think they influenced me to follow in their footsteps, but the truth is, I’d have become a doctor anyway. I think I was born for it. There was never even a choice in the matter.
Mallory starts to get up from the table. “You need a refill,” she says, nodding to my empty wine glass.
I put my hand on her arm to stop her. “Stay put, Mal. I’ll get it.”
“Thanks,” she says, rubbing her growing belly.
“So, how long are you in town for this time?” I ask Chad.
“Well, since Defcon Three is pretty much wrapped up, I’ll only need to head back to L.A. for some voice-overs and promo spots. Dark Tunnels won’t be released until after the baby comes, so that means press junkets won’t start until early next year. And filming for Out of the Deep starts in the spring.”
He puts a hand on Mal’s pregnant belly. “All in all, I don’t think we could have timed this better.”
“You’re forgetting how we’ll need to go to L.A. to collect your Golden Globe and your Oscar,” Mal adds.
Chad smirks at her. “Yeah, right.”
“That’s no joke, bro,” I tell him. “Don’t sell yourself short.”
My uber-famous brother, who was going to be a school teacher like his wife, was randomly discovered while saving my ass at a shopping mall shortly after our parents moved us to L.A. It was tough on Chad, leaving Mallory, who was his best friend; which is why when the opportunity presented itself, he turned to drugs. And women. And gambling. Pretty much anything to distract him from the girl he’d left behind. But in the end, they found each other. And they’ve never been happier than they are right now.
I can’t help but think of Elizabeth and how she asked if I believed in fate.
As if reading my thoughts, Mallory says, “I really like Elizabeth.”
“Yeah. She’s one tough chick,” I say. “I can’t begin to thank you enough for going by the hospital.”
“I hope I didn’t offend her by bringing her a few things.”
I remember the bags she showed up with. “The bags were for her?” I ask.
She nods. “When you told me she literally had nothing and no one, I had to ask myself if I were in that situation, what would I need. And since your generous mother keeps sending me maternity clothes that I will never be able to wear due to the sheer numbers of them, I thought I’d take a few things to her.”
“You brought her clothes?”
“It was just a few nightgowns and a cute pajama set. And a robe. Everyone in the hospital needs a robe. Those blue hospital gowns are simply hideous.”
I laugh, thinking Elizabeth looked quite good in them. Blue is definitely her color.
“Oh, and I took her some packs of maternity underwear. She probably thinks I’m a freak, showing up at a stranger’s hospital room with underwear.”
“Either that or a Godsend,” I say in appreciation. “What did you guys talk about?”
She smiles and gives Chad a look. “Are you asking me if we talked about you, Kyle?”
“No, of course not.” I take a drink of wine to mask my blatant lie.
She laughs. “I’m only teasing,” she says. “The girl is pretty tight-lipped and I got the feeling she didn’t want me to ask about her. We mostly talked about being pregnant. And she asked a lot of questions about me and how I like being a school teacher. She seemed really interested in it, almost sad in a way, like maybe it’s something she had wanted for herself.”
“She walks dogs,” I tell them. “For her job.”
“Yeah, she did tell me that, rather hesitantly,” she says. “But, hey, don’t think less of her for it. People love their pets. They pay a pretty penny to have them walked. She’s probably not as destitute as you’re thinking.”
“I don’t think less of her,” I say, defensively. “But I’m not sure about the destitute part. I mean, she wouldn’t even give us her address when she was admitted to the hospital.”
“You’re a doctor, Kyle,” Mallory says. “She was probably embarrassed to reveal where she lives, knowing the doctors and nurses surrounding her live a far better life.”
“Maybe,” I say. “Or maybe she doesn’t have a home. Or she could live in a shelter.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, I work with homeless girls at Hope For Life. No, Elizabeth just seems like one of us. Heck, she’d probably fit right in at girls’ night.” Her face breaks out in a slow, growing smile. “Oh, Kyle, I have a great idea. I’m sure the girls would love to help her out. Think about it, we can all take turns visiting her. Between all of us, there is no way she’ll get bored or depressed, or whatever bedridden patients get.”
I study my altruistic sister-in-law. “You think they’d really do that for her?”
“Have you met any of them, dude?” Chad asks, raising his eyebrows at me.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “Elizabeth seems like a private person.”
“Maybe that’s just because she doesn’t have anyone, Kyle.”
I nod in agreement. “Let me see how she felt about your coming in today. I don’t want to overstep my bounds. I’ll let you know what I think.”
Mallory bounces in her seat as much as a pregnant woman can bounce. She claps her hands giddily. “Oh, good. I’m going to call the girls. It’ll be fun.”
“She’s not a project, Mal. She’s a person.”
She shoots me a distasteful look. “Of course she’s not a project,” she says abhorrently. “Kyle, you’ve always said we’re all just one bad circumstance away from being homeless. Well, maybe we can be her good circumstance. With all our connections, maybe we can be what helps her turn her life around.”
“Alright,” I say. “I’ll talk to her.”
Chad’s phone rings. He looks down at it. “It’s Dad,” he says. He swipes his finger across the screen. “Hi, Dad, you’re on speaker. Mal and Kyle are here.”
“Hello, everyone,” he says. “How’s my granddaughter doing in there, Mallory?”
“She’s doing very well, Marc, thanks for asking,” Mal replies. “Please thank Jackie again for sending another care package.”
“She loves doing it, Mallory. So, how are my boys?”
“Good,” Chad says.
“Can’t complain,” I add.
“Except that you do,” Chad says.
“What?” I ask.
“Oh, come on, you nearly made my ears go numb with all the bitching you did about your new attending,” he says.
“What’s this?” Dad asks. “You having trouble with one of your attendings, son?”
I shoot Chad a look of death. He doesn’t need to be bringing this shit up with our dad. “No, sir. No problems at all.”
Chad blows out something that sounds like, “Pfffffft.”
“You need to learn to get along with your attendings, Kyle,” Dad says. “Not all of them will share your ‘save the world’ philosophy.”
“I know, Dad. And I do get along with them for the most part. But this one didn’t even give me a chance.”
“What’s his name?” he asks. “Maybe I know him.”
I sigh. “It’s not a him,” I say. “I started my OB rotation this week. I’m working under Dr. Redman. She decided on day one to put me on scut. She assigned me one patient, Dad. One. Then she has me running around doing menial crap that interns should be doing, not second-years. Oh, hey, but I did get to deliver a baby the other night. Solo.”
I don’t tell him about the second one I delivered just this morning.
When I stop talking, I realize Dad is laughing on the other end of the phone.
“Dad?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I think that’s great, son. Your first solo delivery. Fantastic. Being in emergency medicine, I’m sure it’s just the first of many you’ll have over your career.” He clears his throat. “And, Kyle, I’m pretty sure Dr. Redman’s aversion to you is not your fault.”
“No, I’m pretty sure it is. She singled me out over all her residents. I just wish I knew what I did to piss her off.”
“It’s not anything you did, son. It’s what I did.”
“You?”
“Dr. Redman and I did our residencies at the same hospital,” he says.
“You know her?”
“Yes,” he says. “I dated her.”
“You what?”
I hear more laughter. This time, it’s not only coming from Dad, but Chad and Mallory as well.
“Sorry, son. It appears you’ve been getting the wrath of a woman scorned. Although you think she’d have long gotten over it by now.”
“Scorned?” I ask. “What did you do to her?”
“I broke up with her to date your mother.”
I roll my eyes and let my head fall back as I look up at the ceiling. “Great. Just absolutely fucking perfect.”
“Don’t curse in front of Mallory,” Dad reprimands me.
“Sorry.”
“Details, Dad,” Chad says. “How long were you and Dr. Redman together?”
“Not long, a month or so,” he says. “It was near the end of our third year. We had different specialties, obviously, but it was a smaller hospital, so residents pretty much all knew each other, despite their different fields of study. But when your mom joined the program as an intern, I only had eyes for her. I ended it with Louise before I asked your mom out. But she always knew why I left her.”
“One month?” I ask. “She’s making my life a living hell because she dated you for one month over thirty years ago?”
Dad laughs again. “It appears I’m a hard man to get over.”
Great. I have to spend the next four weeks with a woman who hates my father. How’d I get so lucky?
But then I think of all the experiences I’ve had this week. Tiny, lifeless babies that fit in my hand notwithstanding, I’d say it’s been one hell of a week. And I surmise that despite the wicked witch of OB, I am, in fact, pretty damn lucky.