Dr. Perfect: A Contemporary Romance Bundle

by Oliver, J. P.

  “Okay,” I replied. “All right. I’ll tail you.”

  With little more than that, I ran back to the store to flip the sign to “ON BREAK” and locked the door. I dashed back to my own car and peeled out of the parking stall to follow after Tarek.

  16

  Tarek

  As we desperately hunted for for Rajal’s car, the town suddenly seemed much bigger. It felt like a gaping expanse of farmland that spread out farther than I could ever hope to see. Every turn revealed acres of emptiness, and every long stretch of road filled me with disappointment and dread.

  Jeffrey tailed along behind me. Any time I glanced back in my rear-view mirror, I saw him scanning the roads. I’d given him a quick description of the car, along with Neri and Rajal, through text. But even then, our sad envoy of two people didn’t seem like enough to sweep all of this land.

  As I drove, my attention was anchored on spotting that car. At the same time, though, my thoughts were consumed with anxious, grief-stricken considerations. Would this have happened if I hadn’t treated Rajal so roughly? Was this all my fault, as I had so cruelly screamed at Jeffrey just moments earlier?

  I didn’t have the time, mental fortitude or energy to figure those things out just yet, but they floated to the forefront of my mind every time my car idled at a stoplight, every time I had to wait to turn, every time there was any lull in the search at all.

  The town itself showed no signs of either Neri or Rajal, which made the pit in my stomach sink even further. But it wasn’t surprising. I didn’t think they would have stuck in the area for long, and while I didn’t know how much of a head start they’d gotten, I felt it was good enough to get them pretty far away.

  That was why I'd directed us toward the highway. The note had given no clues, but I could guess that Rajal had taken what I said to heart. He was likely going to our friends’ house in Oklahoma. I didn’t know of anyone else who would be willing to take him in, since none of our distant relatives lived nearby, and we weren’t exactly swimming in family friends.

  As I pulled onto the freeway, I focused on the road again. Fortunately, at this hour, it was still relatively empty. At the same time, that just made traveling feel even lonelier, as if the emptiness was pointing out how badly I had failed as an older brother.

  My thoughts continued to mill. Was it really my fault? I was the instigator, to a degree, but had I done anything wrong? Had I done anything to warrant this?

  And sure, my parents had had a hand in shaping Rajal’s point of view … but they’d shaped mine, too, and I was still able to look at the world as I did.

  The more I thought about it, the more it started to dawn on me that I wasn’t the only one to blame. Rather than throw myself at Rajal’s feet as soon as I found him, as I had planned, I started to consider something else. A sit-down talk, maybe. A real heart-to-heart where he could safely air his grievances, and I would explain my side of things in a more patient way than I had done the last time we talked.

  Having come to that conclusion, relief swept over me as my eyes scanned the freeway. As soon as I found that car … as soon as I caught up…

  As I turned the next corner, I finally caught that glimpse I had been waiting for. But rather than being one of the few cars driving along the road, I instead saw the corner of a familiar bumper sticking out from over the lip of a ditch.

  Panic immediately flooded my body and washed any thought right out of my head. It was a good thing the lane next to me was empty, since I swerved into it without thinking and pulled onto the shoulder quickly. Tires whined angrily against the pavement as Jeffrey followed my lead.

  I didn’t actually remember jumping out. I didn’t really register the sound of Jeffrey’s car door opening and slamming shut either. The only thing in front of me was Rajal’s overturned car, which groaned and creaked where it sat in the ditch.

  In a panic, I fell to my hands and knees next to it and looked beneath through the broken windows.

  “Rajal!? Neri—!?”

  No one was inside, but I could see a pair of feet on the other side through the window. I quickly jumped up and sped around. Rajal was there. He was covered in bloody cuts, dazed and panicked, and held Neri in his lap. He stared up at me, fear in his eyes.

  “Tarek,” he croaked, but said nothing else. Neri remained motionless. There was a bloody gash across her forehead.

  “Oh my god, Neri.” I scrambled over and fell to my knees. Fortunately, I could see from up close that she was still breathing, but she remained unconscious. “Oh god, oh my god, Neri … Neri! Holy shit.”

  Terror and panic rose over me. It choked off my breath and made my feet and hands tingle with a strange numbness. Rajal said something, but I could barely hear him over the rush of blood in my own eardrums.

  From behind us, I heard a sharp intake of air. “Let’s get to my car.” Jeffrey’s voice rang out. “I’ll take you to the hospital. C’mon.”

  My body went on autopilot after that. After asking Rajal if he was okay, I took Neri from his lap carefully and arranged her in the back seat of Jeffrey’s truck. Jeffrey, in the meantime, slipped an arm under Rajal’s and helped him walk back to the car.

  The ride to the hospital passed by in a blur. I looked back at Neri frequently, as if hoping that she would come to, though she didn’t. Rajal seemed to be doing okay, if nothing else. He was terribly shaken like the rest of us, and sat pale and silent for the entire ride.

  Jeffrey swung into the emergency area, and he was the first one to jump out of the car and run for the paramedics. Before I knew it, people in crisp and clean clothing were rushing out to meet us. Someone brought along a gurney. They carefully lifted Neri from the car to place her on it and in the next blink, they were already wheeling her away. Other hospital staff members came to check on Rajal, too, and whisked him off.

  Jeffrey explained the situation to one of the staff members. I stood in silence near him, feeling as though the entirety of my life had just crashed soundly down around my ears. I had no idea what to do. I didn’t know what I would do with myself if Neri was in grave danger.

  Somehow, we managed to make our way to the waiting room. I didn’t remember much between leaving the car and getting there, but I sat with my head between my knees for what felt like entire years, and tried to catch my breath and ease myself down from a panic. Jeffrey sat next to me. I vaguely made out the feel of his hand against my back, which patted it in soothing motions.

  It actually did help me to gain some calm, funnily enough. About ten minutes passed, I thought, by the time I could sit upright again without feeling sick, but it helped to not be alone.

  Ten minutes later, Rajal was escorted back out into the room. He was bandaged, but otherwise fine. “He’s pretty shaken,” the doctor explained, “but it’s nothing serious.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, more out of automatic politeness than anything. Rajal took a seat a few chairs away from me. When I saw him cast a glare at Jeffrey, who’d given us a ride here in the first place, it took everything in me to retain the control I just gained over my emotions.

  I took a breath in. Now I knew what to do about all of this.

  “Rajal,” I started out. My voice was a little shaky, but I ignored that and pressed on regardless. “I’m sending you to our friends in Oklahoma.”

  17

  Jeffrey

  The air in the sitting area was thick and tense in a different way than it had been when we first entered the hospital.

  The doctors had stopped by to explain that Neri’s injuries weren’t too serious, though we couldn’t visit her. Rajal was keeping a distance from me, and shot dirty looks my way every now and then. I couldn’t really blame the kid. After all, Tarek had just sent him away.

  I couldn’t blame Tarek either, though. I was an only child, but I tried to imagine what I would do in this situation. If I had a little brother who’d gone off and gotten himself and our youngest sibling hurt, just because he couldn’t handle who I was wi
th, how would I have reacted?

  As I sat there contemplating that, the air only grew heavier. Finally, I cleared my throat. “Er … I’ve gotta make a few phone calls,” I said.

  Tarek glanced up at me and nodded before turning his attention back to the door the doctors were coming in and out of. My brow creased in concern, but I would talk to him more about it later. For now, I walked over toward the calling area in the waiting room and quickly punched in the number for the farmhouse.

  “Hello, hello! Rosie here, what’s up?”

  “Ma?”

  My ma immediately made a startled sound. “Jeff! Good lord, are you all right, hon? Where in the world are you?”

  “I’m at the hospital,” I said. I realized a half-second later that that probably wasn’t a very reassuring thing to start with, so before she could panic, I rushed to add the rest.

  “Tarek and I — we’re here with his brother and sister. It’s … it’s a long story, but those two got into a crash. It doesn’t seem like either of them have anything serious going on, though.”

  I could hear a great big sigh from the other side of the phone. “Oh, goodness … I’m so glad they’re all right.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Me, too.”

  A glance back to the waiting room revealed that things still seemed to be relatively tense, but that wasn’t something I needed to burden Ma with. “Er, sorry that I didn’t call earlier or anything. And sorry about being gone, too. I’ll head back soon so I can take care of the coops before the night’s—”

  “Oh, don’t you even think about coming back,” Ma interrupted, tone chiding but somehow warm at the same time. “You’ve got other problems to deal with right now. Besides, I can take care of the farm on my own for a little bit. Your mother isn’t so old she can’t even do that much, you hear?”

  It was startling, especially since I knew how grueling farm work was. “Are you sure…?” I ventured, still uncertain. I preferred to stay here with Tarek, especially since I knew I would be nothing but worried the entire time I was doing farm work if I left. It felt unfair to Ma to put her into this kind of position, though.

  But she didn’t seem to think so, and just laughed in her usual way. “I’m sure, I’m sure! Besides, you do too much, anyway. Most people your age would be clamoring for any break they could get, Jeff. Just enjoy having a little time off.”

  Somehow, the idea of taking some time away from the farm was so foreign to me that I was left speechless. Ma seemed to understand though, and she carried on seamlessly. “You come back only after everything over there has been settled, all right? And I mean everything.”

  Something about that last part made me wonder exactly how much she knew, and exactly how mothers had a way of finding out about these things. Despite how dire the situation was, I chuckled just a little. “All right, Ma. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

  “Okay, Jeff. Take care.”

  I hung up and slipped the phone back into my pocket, taking a second to just stand there, dumbfounded. This was the first time since my old man died that I’d been relieved of farm duties for even a bit, and it felt surreal.

  But I didn’t have time to dwell on that. As I was heading back over to the waiting area, the doctor’s door opened up behind me, and I whipped around to look. The doctor glanced out at us all and smiled.

  “Your sister is in bed now,” he said to Tarek and Rajal. Tarek was already out of his chair, though Rajal lingered and looked more than just a little guilty. “You can come back and visit her, if you would like. Her injuries aren’t serious, and she’s regained consciousness, but try not to be too loud around her.”

  As Rajal and Tarek headed to the door, I went back to the seating area to give them some time alone together. Tarek reached out to grab my arm as I went, though.

  “You, too,” he said. His smile was tired but warm. “I’m sure she’ll want to say thanks directly.”

  “You sure?” I questioned. Though I didn’t look at Rajal directly, Tarek could certainly understand the source of my hesitation.

  He nodded regardless. “Yep. Come on.”

  The three of us headed through the door and were guided toward one of the clean, white hospital rooms. Neri lay on the bed, looking small, wearing even more bandages than Rajal. She was groggy, but awake. I lingered near the door and offered her a smile, which she returned without hesitation.

  Rajal hung back a little too, but Tarek was quick to rush to her bedside. The way that he checked her over and gushed out his concerns reminded me a little of a mother bird checking up on their chick. It was endearing, in a way that seemed to bring a little levity back into the situation.

  When Rajal stepped forward to deliver an apology, Tarek came to speak with the doctor in quieter tones about the actual injuries Neri was suffering from. “It seems she has a mild concussion,” the doctor explained, going over his charts and forms. I glanced briefly at the papers that I could see from where I was standing, but couldn’t really understand the medical jargon scribbled across them.

  “I don’t think we’ll have to keep her here for longer than a day or two, maybe three at the most. She was pretty lucky. They both were. I was expecting much worse when that young man described what the scene looked like.”

  He nodded over at me, and I smiled somewhat sheepishly. Tarek looked over and laughed, though it was a tired sound.

  After checking on a few more things, the doctor took his leave. Rajal and Neri were still talking, so Tarek came to stand by me for a moment. I looked his way, concerned.

  “Hey … is there anything I can get you? Some water, or a snack or something? I think I saw a vending machine on the way in.”

  Tarek shook his head, but sounded grateful when he responded. “You’ve already done a lot for us, you know. Seriously … I can’t thank you enough.”

  He paused after that and hesitated over something. I remained quiet but arched a brow, prompting him to continue. But whatever it was that was on his mind, he’d apparently decided to keep it to himself for now.

  “Just … thanks. This would have been way worse if you hadn’t come with us,” he said after a bit of a lengthier pause.

  “I’m glad I could help.” I smiled in a way that felt somewhat lopsided on my face. The sting of our spat from earlier had long since faded. The situation now was far from perfect, but it had ended up being better than our worst fears.

  I glanced back toward the bed. Rajal’s head dipped low, and Neri had a look on her face that was caught somewhere between annoyance and disappointment. I couldn’t overhear what they were talking about, but somehow, it felt like something I shouldn’t be a part of.

  So I thumbed over to the door. “Hey, I’m gonna go get myself a cup of coffee. Want one?”

  Tarek paused for a second, but then nodded gratefully. “Thanks.” The word seemed to encompass a lot more than just the coffee.

  “No problem.”

  I grabbed two cups of mediocre hospital coffee without any hassle and carefully returned holding the Styrofoam in both hands. When I handed Tarek his, he didn’t seem any less grateful than before.

  18

  Tarek

  Fortunately, the rest of the visit went well. As the doctor said, Neri’s injuries weren’t too serious. They kept her in the hospital for an extra day just to be safe, but we were sent away with little more than instructions on how to keep her injuries clean, and what signs to look for as she recovered from her minor concussion.

  As for Rajal, I tried to have a discussion with him shortly after we first came back from the hospital, that I might have been a little too rash, and that we could talk things out a little more before he left. He didn’t have any interest in talking to me about anything, though. We barely exchanged a word after we arrived home.

  He packed his bags in silence and snubbed every attempt I made at starting a conversation with him. I even offered to let him stick around until his injuries were better, but he wasn’t having any of it.

  As he
packed, I called our friends in Oklahoma and explained the situation to them. They were an understanding couple, with more than enough room on their property to host one extra person for a little while. Though they expressed concern for both Neri and myself, it was clear they were willing to take Rajal in for as long as it took him to cool down. I only hoped that it wouldn’t be too long.

  Rajal left shortly after he was done packing. I almost didn’t catch him on his way out the door, and he cold-shouldered my goodbye regardless. I watched as he drove away a strange mix of feelings in the pit of my stomach. Bouncing from one emotional extreme to the other over just a few days definitely hadn’t been healthy for me, but in the end, he was still my brother. I loved him no matter what, and I would wait for him to come to terms with things on his own time.

  After that, my plate had more or less been cleared. That is, until I got a phone call the day after Neri was brought home from the hospital. “Hello?”

  “Tarek?”

  I froze. It was the voice of my shift manager. In all of the chaos and turmoil of the last few days, I’d entirely forgotten to call in to work.

  “Oh,” I said dumbly. I already knew where this was going.

  My manager sounded disappointed, but delivered the expected news without any hesitation. “Glad to have finally gotten in touch. I’m calling to let you know we’re letting you go.”

  I could try to explain myself, but after everything I had been through, I honestly didn’t have the energy. Once again, it felt like the world had opened up underneath my feet. The same numbness from before crept over me. I didn’t even remember if I’d said anything before I hung up — not that it mattered much.

  What was I supposed to do now? I still had bills to pay, and now we had medical expenses on top of everything else. The concern ate away at me all throughout the day, until I finally parted from Neri and the house to visit Jeffrey again. We’d made arrangements earlier to meet up for one final day of work on the farm. I wanted to thank him properly for all the help he had been, and talk about the things I’d said before all of this exploded.