by Tasha Jones
MORGAN DIVORCE it read in bold letters across the screen.
In a recent interview with Mrs. Astrid Morgan, the shocking news has come to light that Astrid Morgan, daughter of property Mogul Robert Foster, and Dr. Richard Nathan Morgan, son of lawyers Mitchell and Ruth Morgan, are going through a divorce.
I stopped reading and closed my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Emma said.
“So am I, Emma,” I said and I started my rounds.
This kind of publicity was going to hurt my parents. My father was retired but their position in society was still an everyday job. I didn’t care what people thought of me, but I cared about what it would do to my parents. They’d wanted a lot of things for me in life that I’d never achieved. I was the great disappointment in their eyes. And still I didn’t want them hurt on my behalf.
I pushed the news away. I’d never been the kind of person that wanted my personal life in the tabloids, but Astrid had the blood of a celebrity. She thrived under public attention and drama that went viral. I shouldn’t have been surprised that this had come out.
I just hadn’t been prepared.
I loved being a doctor. I loved being able to save people, and to fix at least one little part of their lives. I just didn’t realize that this would bring so much pain to my own life. It didn’t matter what you studied of the human body. At the end, a broken heart just wasn’t something you could fix.
My parents were lawyers. My father had inherited Archibald, Morgan and Hammond from his father, and he’d wanted me to study law to take the firm further. I’d chosen to become a doctor instead and he’d been horrified to have to let Charlie Hammond, good-for-nothing son of the late Mr. Edward Hammond, take over the firm. It had hurt him, and I’d tried to do him proud with my career as a doctor ever since.
It hadn’t really worked. I knew this online debacle of my marriage-gone-sour would just dent my image in his eyes even further.
I sighed and pushed open the door to the Pediatric ward. I’ve always loved children.
I had five patients that had been in the hospital longer than a month. Four of them were doubled up in two rooms, and the fifth was a little boy whose mother insisted he get a single room. If you asked me, it was just too isolated. I made sure I spent more time in his room, and schedule time where he saw other kids.
Benjamin was eight and his kidneys were a problem.
“Morning, Ben,” I said. The giraffes and cows painted on the walls smiled at me when I walked to his bed. One of the nurses had left a bouquet of balloons in the corner.
“Hey, Doc,” he said, smiling at me. “Why do you look mad?”
Kids knew everything. That was why I loved them so much.
“Just some stuff happening. I’ll take care of it. I want to know how you’re feeling.”
I ran through a standard checklist with him and checked all his vitals.
“Am I going to be here much longer?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. Looks like things are going well. Do you want me to make sure you can spend some time with the other kids later?”
He nodded and I made a note for one of the nurses to push another bed into the room.
“I’ll see you later, okay? Just get better.”
I left the room. The one thing about my job was all the people I got attached to ended up leaving. I was happy about it, of course. No one wanted them to stay sick. It just felt like I never had anyone permanent anymore.
When I thought of Astrid, I realized I never really had anyone permanent to begin with.
At the end of my shift, I made my way down to the emergency room. If there was one place in this hospital that was understaffed, it was this place. There were just never enough doctors and nurses on call for the kind of emergencies that came through the door.
I wasn’t on duty five minutes before victims of a bad car accident were brought in by a squealing ambulance and wheeled through the doors on stretchers. There was a lot of blood, and before a half hour on my shift was over, two had died and the third was stabilized in the ICU.
I sat down on the plastic waiting chairs outside one of the examination rooms and took a deep breath. The metallic smell of blood and detergent still stung my nose, even though I’d left the room.
I hated emergency duty. I’d forgotten how bad it could get.
“Doctor?”
When I looked up the receptionist was in front of me.
“We have another patient. Are you ready to take him?”
I glanced toward the waiting room. A little black boy sat with a middle-aged white woman, clutching his arm like he was sure it was going to fall off. His cheeks were tear-stained and whenever someone walked past he cringed away. The woman sat next to him, looking guilty. She rubbed his back in circles and spoke to him in a low voice.
I took a deep breath, trying to pull myself back together again. I could do this. This was an easy one.
“Hey there, champ,” I said, kneeling down in front of him. “Do you want to come with me? We’ll get that arm checked out.”
He looked up at the woman.
“It’s going to be alright, Trevor,” she said in a voice that sounded like it could smile by itself. “I’ll be right here and as soon as your mom comes I’ll send her through.”
“We’re going to fix you up in no time,” I said and smiled, holding out my hand. Trevor took it and I stood up, leading him to an examination room.
I could deal with children. It was one thing I was good at. Children didn’t try to read a million things between the lines of the only thing that was being said. They didn’t have ulterior motives and double lives. They were who they were and they said what they meant.
“Where does it hurt?” I asked and he showed me. When I touched his arm he cried out. I was about one hundred percent sure he’d broken it, but I wouldn’t make a call without an X-ray.
“I think we better get you down to the X-ray to see what’s going on in there. Do you know how it works?”
He shook his head and I guided him down the passage to the X-ray room, explaining to him how it worked, trying to distract him from the pain and the scary atmosphere in the hospital that was even clawing at me today.
“You know, having a broken arm makes you look tough,” I said. Trevor smiled under the tears.
“And you’re such a big boy, you’re even doing all of this without your mom here. When she gets here, you can show her how brave you were, and we’ll put a glow in the dark cast on you. Does that sound good?”
He nodded again.
Chapter 3 - Nadine
My tires squealed as I skidded to a stop outside the hospital, and I jumped out of the car, running into the emergency room. It was packed with people with injuries ranging from an ingrown toe nail to a cut spilling blood onto the floor. I ran up to the front desk.
“I’m looking for Trevor Lewis,” I wheezed, trying to catch my breath. My chest felt tight and I struggled to breathe around the lump in my throat. “He’s five,” I added.
“There were no kids here today, dear,” the receptionist said with a flat voice.
“There’s got to be some mistake. I...“
My phone rang and I cut my sentence short to answer.
“Where are you?” Dianne asked over the phone.
“I’m at reception. They’re telling me there were no kids here today. Where did you take him?”
“Oh, we’re at St. Mary,” Dianne said. Her voice sounded far and tinny. I swore under my breath.
“I can’t afford St. Mary, Dianne. I don’t have medical insurance.”
“Oh, Nadine I’m sorry, I didn’t know… don’t you worry about it. We’ll figure it out. Just come on through, I’ll meet you outside.”
I hung up and flew out of the emergency room. I tore down the road, speeding tickets to hell, and made it to St. Mary in record time. The private hospital parking was a lot cleaner than the hospital I’d just been at, and part of me was relieved. The other half of me
sagged when I saw the expensive cars in the parking lot, the cameras monitoring every angle of the entrance, every little thing that screamed out this place had money and would charge me an arm and a leg.
“Oh thank God, where is he?” I asked Dianne when I met her at the door.
“He’s with the doctor now, I had to wait for you to sort out the paperwork.”
I followed her inside and she handed me a clipboard.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked. On the way here I’d imagined the worst. A broken back. Paralyzed for life. A coma.
“I think his arm is broken, but I wasn’t sure. He wouldn’t stop crying and he screamed every time I touched it.”
“A broken arm?” My body crumpled under my own weight and I lowered myself into a chair. A broken arm I could deal with. I blinked down at the clipboard, not seeing anything that was printed on the forms.
“He’s going to be alright. Here, let me get you a coffee,” Dianne said and stood up, disappearing through double doors. A coffee. Well that was the least she could do. I let out a shaky breath, trying to collect myself and come back down to earth. I’d been running on such a high level of adrenaline that now that I knew it wasn’t something life-threatening, I felt like I was going to faint.
I took three deep breaths, holding each for three seconds before I let them go. Finally my heart slowed down, and I could focus on the form.
When I finished filling it out, I put it on the counter and the receptionist took it, typing up the details into the computer. I sat down again, and Dianne appeared with a two hot cups of coffee. She passed me one, and I took a sip. It was scalding hot.
The doors opened, and a doctor appeared. He had blond hair and blue eyes that smiled at me across the room. I felt warm all over, like I was defrosting. He looked down at a clipboard.
“Mrs. Lewis?” he asked. I stood up and shoved my cup of coffee into Dianne’s hand. She nearly dropped hers.
“I’m here,” I said and walked to the doctor. He was confident and calm, and it felt like I stepped into a circle of comfort when I came closer to him. “Is he okay?”
The doctor’s eyes were light blue and open, like the sky on an autumn day. The kind of blue I could get lost in. He looked upright and sure in his white doctor’s coat.
“I’m Doctor Richard Morgan,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Nadine Lewis.” I took his hand. His skin was rough as if he hadn’t only been doing doctor’s work his whole life. My hand disappeared in his. “And that’s Miss,” I added and then I felt like an idiot. The one corner of his mouth tugged up in a lopsided grin that made me feel equally unbalanced.
“Right. Miss. You can come through to see him.” What in the world would he think of me? Making it so clear that I was single. He pushed open the door of an examination room.
“Trevor’s been such a big boy.”
Trevor sat on top of an examination bed with a yellowish cast around his arm and up over his elbow. It reached halfway up to his shoulder.
“Oh, Trevor,” I said and wrapped my arms around him, breathing in the sweet-sour scent that always hung around him. He smelled like cookies and mud.
“Are you alright, angel?”
“I’m fine, this is glow in the dark!” He held the cast up proudly.
“It’s a hairline fracture just below the elbow. He was lucky. It will heal without problems and you can come back to remove the cast in six weeks. Don’t get it wet.”
“Richard says I have to take baths with a bag over my arm,” Trevor said.
Doctor Morgan grinned and walked over to a drawer. He produced a lollipop.
“Here you go,” he said to Trevor. “For being so brave.”
Trevor looked at me, a question in his eyes. I never allowed him sweets before supper, but I nodded.
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said. Trevor hopped off the bed and I held out my hand. He took it.
“Are you going back to work?” he asked when we walked out of the examination room.
“Not today. We’re going home.”
I walked back to the waiting area. Dianne stood up and Trevor ran to her to brag with his cast. I turned to the receptionist. She handed me the bill.
Blood drained from my face.
“I don’t have this kind of money on me now,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you can’t leave the hospital without paying the minimum amount.”
“Can I pay it down? I can do installments.”
The receptionist shook her head and pointed to a sign that was screwed to the wall behind her. I’d somehow missed it. It stated that all patients had to settle at least the doctor’s fee before being able to leave.
Dianne appeared next to me.
“What’s the problem?” she asked.
“I can’t cover the payment. Not even the minimum fee. Will you help me out?” I hated having to ask. It felt like I was begging. But I had no choice.
Dianne glanced down at the bill and shook her head.
“I don’t have that kind of money,” she said.
“Then why did you bring him here?” What did she think I was going to do if she wasn’t even able to cover these kinds of fees herself? “Where do you go when you’re injured?”
Dianne’s face closed. “I think that’s beside the point,” she said tightly. I smiled at the receptionist and excused myself, beckoning for Dianne to follow me a couple of steps away.
“You know my situation, Dianne. I can’t afford this kind of money. I wouldn’t have brought him here in the first place. What do you suggest I do?”
“I don’t know,” Dianne said, shrugging and crossing her arms over her chest. “I can’t just fork out cash for everyone, you know.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stop myself from panicking.
“Please, Dianne. I can’t leave here without paying at least something. I pay you every week for Trevor.”
“Then use that, I haven’t taken it from you yet,” she said. “I won’t charge you for today because I feel guilty.” She walked away from me. Sure, how nice of her. I knew she had enough money. We’d been neighbors for years. I almost wanted to say friends.
I suddenly felt like I wanted to cry, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Miss Lewis?” someone spoke behind me and when I turned around it was the doctor.
“Oh, Doctor Morgan,” I said and blinked furiously to get rid of the tears. “Sorry, am I in your way?”
“Not at all,” he said. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. If it’s any help to you, I’ll cover the minimum amount and you can settle the rest later.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t accept that from you. I...“ My voice caught in my throat. He took my wrist, holding it only between his fingers, and electricity ran through my body. His eyes were a light blue, looking right through me, and when he spoke again his voice danced over my skin like a caress.
“Don’t worry about it. I understand. Please, the money is nothing to me. I’d rather see you and your son safely home.”
I wanted to say no. The protest formed on my lips, but I didn’t say the words. The atmosphere around us was charged. I was aware of how close he was standing to me, I could feel the heat radiating off his body. I was suddenly very aware of his lips, not too full, and pressed into a line of thought. When I forced myself to look at his eyes they were on my lips too. I breathed out in a shudder.
“I don’t know how I can thank you,” I said. Richard smiled and it defrosted me.
“Will you go out with me?” he asked. Something inside of me lurched when he did.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
He looked sheepish. “I know this is uncalled for. But I’d like to just see you outside of this hospital environment. Besides, you look like you could do with a break.” He looked apologetic as soon as he said it. “I mean… I can do with an escape as well. Really, you’ll be doing me a favor.”
I hesitated.
>
“Naturally Trevor can come too,” he said like he’d read my mind. “It’s not a date.”
I didn’t know why I agreed. I didn’t know this man from a bar of soap and I’d just accepted payment from him like a beggar, and now I was agreeing to go out with him. But it wasn’t a date, like he’d said, even though a part of me felt a little disappointed about it. I shook my head. I was being ridiculous. At a loss for words and affected by a man like a teenager. This wasn’t a date, it was an act of charity. And I felt like I owed him.
“I’ll call you. Your numbers are on record.”
I nodded. Richard dropped my wrist and he smiled at me and turned to leave. I noticed how broad his shoulders were under the white coat. The way his hands hung next to his side, steady and able. Warm.
I collected Trevor and walked away without saying anything to Dianne. In the car I could still feel Doctor Morgan’s fingers on my skin, like ghosts of himself he left behind.
On the way back, Trevor told me in detail how he’d broken his arm falling out of the tree, and how the X-ray machine worked.
“Richard explained it to me,” he said when he was done.
“Don’t you mean Doctor Morgan? It’s rude to call people by their first names unless they’re friends,” I said.
“He told me to call him Richard. He works with kids like me all the time. He says we’re way more fun than adults.”
I could imagine that. “I’m just glad you’re safe, sweetheart,” I said. “Imagine what all the kids at school are going to say about your arm!”
Trevor’s face lit up and he launched into speculations again which allowed me to switch off for a while. I nodded and gasped in all the right places, but my mind wandered back to the doctor. We hadn’t really talked. He’d only said one or two things. But his eyes had been like pools of blue I’d wanted to drown in. And his fingers on my skin had almost burned me alive, but in a good way.
How did a man have an effect like that on me? I hadn’t known anything like that, not even with Marcus, and he was the man I’d intended on having a family with. I sighed. He would call me, he’d said. I wondered what kind of man followed up with a phone call when it wasn’t even a date, if the men in my life usually didn’t even call after a four year relationship together.
