his patients in her room.” I could still see Darion’s angry scowl as he dragged me through the halls. “And we ended up in this empty surgery room.”
“Oh my God. Did you bone him?”
I had to laugh. “No, I didn’t bone him.” I plucked a dead leaf from the ivy.
“But something happened, or you wouldn’t be bringing it up.”
I shrugged. “Maybe we got a little…involved.”
Jenny transferred from the fuzzy sofa to the old one to sit next to me. “You can’t leave out the details!”
“None of our clothes came off.” I crossed my arms over my belly. I could still feel the doctor’s hands on me.
“Not like that’s necessary,” Jenny said. She picked up the mermaid and turned it over. “Where did this come from?”
“One of my patients made it.” I resisted the urge to ask her to set it back down. The clay was so soft.
But she handled it carefully. “It’s beautiful.”
“I know. I wish I could get back in there and say good-bye to some of them. I can’t believe they just escorted me out.”
Jenny placed the mermaid back on the coffee table. “That’s not right. What’s the hot doctor going to say?”
“He saw me leaving. There’s nothing we can do. I’m just not qualified.”
Jenny flopped back on the sofa. “Uggh. That just sucks.” She lifted her wrist to examine a diamond-encrusted watch, probably another gift from her director. “It’s five o’clock somewhere. Let’s find something to drink.”
Chapter 12: Darion
I tried not to be distracted as I went on patient rounds. Everyone deserved my full attention. But I kept pausing between the rooms, picturing Tina with her box of belongings. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have something to do with this, despite what they said.
About an hour after my run-in with Tina, I spotted the custodian, Charles, mopping an empty room. I stepped inside and closed the door.
“Did you mention me and Tina to anyone?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual. “Because she just got fired.”
Charles leaned on his mop. “Not to nobody,” he said. “But her boss lady got the axe too.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why would they be firing people randomly?”
“Just sayin’ what I heard.”
I could believe that Charles, virtually invisible to people as he cleaned floors in his blue uniform, might hear things others didn’t. He’d probably seen hundreds of doctors and nurses come and go. Administrators too.
Charles straightened his ball cap. “Your Miss Tina has a lot of champions. I think she’ll be back.”
“What do you mean?”
Charles resumed his mopping. “Just saying that money talks around here. And there’s some money going to be flappin’ like a squawking bird when the word gets out that she’s gone.”
I had to get back to my rounds. If Charles was right, then something would happen. But that man was as vague as a fortune cookie. I couldn’t risk it. I knew who I had to talk to.
~*´`*~
My father’s office was a twenty-minute drive from St. Anthony’s Hospital, and he wasn’t expecting me.
I did take the precaution of calling his secretary to make sure he was in, but otherwise I felt it better to not announce my intent to see him in advance.
As I pulled into the parking garage, I girded myself for the visit. We did not have a good relationship. I rarely saw him, even on holidays, as he refused to allow me to bring Cynthia around him.
My main goal today, the same as any time we met, was to avoid an argument. He had made some terrible choices, and they had cost my mother and my sister dearly. But he wielded a lot of power, and sometimes I needed him for that.
He wasn’t someone to make your enemy, although I had tried my darnedest in the years after he left my mother and refused to acknowledge Cynthia as his.
The California Board of Medicine was housed eight hours away in Sacramento, but being on the board didn’t require being there. My father, and his father before him, had a lot of political
“Oh my God. Did you bone him?”
I had to laugh. “No, I didn’t bone him.” I plucked a dead leaf from the ivy.
“But something happened, or you wouldn’t be bringing it up.”
I shrugged. “Maybe we got a little…involved.”
Jenny transferred from the fuzzy sofa to the old one to sit next to me. “You can’t leave out the details!”
“None of our clothes came off.” I crossed my arms over my belly. I could still feel the doctor’s hands on me.
“Not like that’s necessary,” Jenny said. She picked up the mermaid and turned it over. “Where did this come from?”
“One of my patients made it.” I resisted the urge to ask her to set it back down. The clay was so soft.
But she handled it carefully. “It’s beautiful.”
“I know. I wish I could get back in there and say good-bye to some of them. I can’t believe they just escorted me out.”
Jenny placed the mermaid back on the coffee table. “That’s not right. What’s the hot doctor going to say?”
“He saw me leaving. There’s nothing we can do. I’m just not qualified.”
Jenny flopped back on the sofa. “Uggh. That just sucks.” She lifted her wrist to examine a diamond-encrusted watch, probably another gift from her director. “It’s five o’clock somewhere. Let’s find something to drink.”
Chapter 12: Darion
I tried not to be distracted as I went on patient rounds. Everyone deserved my full attention. But I kept pausing between the rooms, picturing Tina with her box of belongings. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have something to do with this, despite what they said.
About an hour after my run-in with Tina, I spotted the custodian, Charles, mopping an empty room. I stepped inside and closed the door.
“Did you mention me and Tina to anyone?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual. “Because she just got fired.”
Charles leaned on his mop. “Not to nobody,” he said. “But her boss lady got the axe too.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why would they be firing people randomly?”
“Just sayin’ what I heard.”
I could believe that Charles, virtually invisible to people as he cleaned floors in his blue uniform, might hear things others didn’t. He’d probably seen hundreds of doctors and nurses come and go. Administrators too.
Charles straightened his ball cap. “Your Miss Tina has a lot of champions. I think she’ll be back.”
“What do you mean?”
Charles resumed his mopping. “Just saying that money talks around here. And there’s some money going to be flappin’ like a squawking bird when the word gets out that she’s gone.”
I had to get back to my rounds. If Charles was right, then something would happen. But that man was as vague as a fortune cookie. I couldn’t risk it. I knew who I had to talk to.
~*´`*~
My father’s office was a twenty-minute drive from St. Anthony’s Hospital, and he wasn’t expecting me.
I did take the precaution of calling his secretary to make sure he was in, but otherwise I felt it better to not announce my intent to see him in advance.
As I pulled into the parking garage, I girded myself for the visit. We did not have a good relationship. I rarely saw him, even on holidays, as he refused to allow me to bring Cynthia around him.
My main goal today, the same as any time we met, was to avoid an argument. He had made some terrible choices, and they had cost my mother and my sister dearly. But he wielded a lot of power, and sometimes I needed him for that.
He wasn’t someone to make your enemy, although I had tried my darnedest in the years after he left my mother and refused to acknowledge Cynthia as his.
The California Board of Medicine was housed eight hours away in Sacramento, but being on the board didn’t require being there. My father, and his father before him, had a lot of political
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