The Doctor's Wife

by Mildred Riley

  “Now, Leanne, if you need any help, I’ll be close by, just call.” And she said in a quiet voice, “You can use my employee discount.”

  “Oh, no, Tina, you don’t have to do that!”

  “Why not?” Tina asked. “We’re friends, aren’t we? I can use my discount as I please, and I would be so pleased to help you. After all, we’re sisters under the skin, aren’t we?”

  “If you mean because of our divorce experiences, I guess you’re right, Tina.”

  “That’s right! Now sing out when you’re ready. Have you had lunch yet?”

  “No.”

  “Well, why don’t we hop over to the Ninety-Nine?”

  “Sounds fine to me. I do have a one-thirty appointment to show a house.”

  In short order, Leanne tried on her selections and decided to purchase all of them, thanks to Tina’s employee discount.

  While waiting for Tina, Leanne sat in the shopping mall on a bench facing the entry to Macy’s. She phoned the restaurant to say that she was on her way for lunch with a friend. She described herself and gave instructions that she was to be given the lunch check. She felt it was the least she could do, considering the generous discount Tina had given her.

  It was a little before noon when they arrived at the restaurant. Leanne was able to find a parking spot very close to the front door. She’d insisted on using her car for the short trip.

  As soon as they were seated in a comfortable booth, a server who introduced herself as Joan came to take their order.

  “And I’m Mrs. Matthews,” Leanne said, alerting the server that she was to get the check.

  A few minutes after each checked the menu, they both decided on soup and a sandwich. While waiting for their food, Leanne thanked Tina again for allowing her to use her employee discount.

  “Lee, I was happy to do it. It’s one of the nice things about my job. Think nothing of it.”

  “It’s much appreciated.”

  “I’ve done the same for some of the other First Wives.”

  “That’s wonderful. We women need all the support we can get. Tell me, Tina, if you don’t mind, what happened in your divorce situation? You’re so young.”

  Tina, shaking her head, tossed her long blonde hair back. Her face took on a sober look and she took a sip of water before she answered.

  “It came as a complete shock to me, Leanne. Gene and I met, believe it or not, at a football game. Two of my brothers were playing on teams opposite each other and I was cheering for each team. Naturally I couldn’t choose one over the other, although I sort of hoped my older brother would win, figuring my younger brother, a freshman, would have more years to prove himself.

  “Sitting beside me, Gene laughed at me all through the game, and after it was over my older brother’s team won. He invited me to have dinner at a very elegant restaurant. We hit it off from the start. He was a lawyer and worked as an assistant district attorney, had graduated from Harvard Law School, which I have to tell you really impressed me. I was getting my degree in business management, but it did not take long before I knew I was in love with this delightful, handsome young man. Think of Paul Newman, God rest his soul. My wonderful Gene could have been his double.”

  “So, you two got married?”

  “We did. Happiest day of my life.”

  “What happened?”

  “After a few months he decided he didn’t want to be married to me.”

  “But why?”

  “Simple. I wanted to start a family and he didn’t.”

  “Did he say why?”

  “Said he didn’t want to bring children into this crazy world, the war, terrorists, the failing economy. But the funny thing is he was always ready for sex.”

  “That sounds odd.”

  “I thought so, too, but he was adamant that I should not get pregnant. He said that if I did, he would leave. That’s when I told him to ‘hit the road.’ And the next day I filed for a divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Leanne said just as the server brought their soup and turkey club sandwiches.

  * * *

  Tina picked up her spoon and waved it in front of Leanne’s face, her eyes intense as she continued her sad story of divorce.

  “The strangest thing is that six months after our divorce was final, the bastard took up with another woman and she is six months pregnant! Go figure!”

  “I can’t, Tina. Must have been hard on you.”

  “It was, mainly because I thought he loved me. How could he reject me for someone else?”

  Leanne shook her head, picked up a quarter of her club sandwich, looked over at her friend.

  “You know, Tina, I think that there are some men who don’t know what they want. Some psychologists think that the male of the species wants to ensure his immortality by passing his genes along to the next generation. But there are others who do not have the same focus. They want to be lord and master, control their female partner, even denying her the opportunity to reproduce. From what you tell me, my dear, Gene was using you. Good thing you got out when you did.”

  She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed slowly as Tina nodded.

  “You could be right, you know. I never thought about it in that way, but if true, it says to me that Gene just did not love me. What about you?”

  Leanne nibbled on a dill pickle before answering.

  “Tina, to be truthful, I take some responsibility for what happened. We’d been married for twenty-five years and I…well, really, each of us was comfortable with our lives. Don’s medical practice was doing well. My real estate business was doing well, too. Our two children were both in college and everything seemed perfect. But now, as I look back on it, I never thought that my husband would ever look at another woman! Guess I never figured that if a woman wants a man, she will leave no stone unturned to get him.

  “Don and I were not as sexually active as in our earlier years, and I guess we both thought that was normal. I was wrong, very wrong not to understand my husband’s needs. And when that woman chased him, he asked for a divorce so he could marry her. Looking back on it now, I think his ego was boosted by the fact that he was still able to produce a child. I tell you, it was a painful experience for me!”

  CHAPTER 31

  Taking care of Jay proved to be much easier than Don had anticipated, mainly because the child was so delightful.

  Don had moved the baby’s crib into the master bedroom, and when he woke up the next morning, looking over at the smiling baby playing with one of his squeaky toys, he thought, He’s growing up so fast!

  He got out of bed, wondering what he should do first. There was the problem of caring for the child or meeting his own needs. What to do?

  He took Jay out of his crib, strapped him into his stroller, gave him a pacifier and wheeled him into the bathroom.

  He took a quick shower, shaved and dressed. He then took the baby back to the bedroom, and using a face cloth that he had moistened with warm water, he cleaned, powdered and dressed him in clean clothing.

  “Now, my man, let’s get us something to eat.”

  He warmed up a jar of baby cereal and a jar of applesauce that he took from a kitchen cabinet. He put Jay into his high chair and tied a bib around his neck as the child pounded both fists on the tray table “Ready to eat? Here we go!”

  Glancing at his watch to check the time, he saw that it was nearly eight and he still had time to drop Jay off at the day care center and be at his office by nine.

  He had a lot to deal with, and his mind bounced from one problem to another. What news might he receive from Alisha? Had her mother been found…and in what condition? How to resolve his marriage situation as quickly as possible? What legal responsibilities did he have to Jay? It was almost too much for him to think about. And then there was always his duties to his patients and…his staff. Sometime today he would call Frank, his lawyer. God, what an unbelievable mess!

  He decided not to eat breakfa
st but to wait until his coffee break. He did gulp a small glass of orange juice before heading out the door.

  At the day care center he informed the day care director, Mrs. Rosa Fallon, that his wife had been called away due to a family emergency. She expressed her sympathy, and when he told her that he hoped she would be able to meet Jay’s needs, particularly if he had emergencies regarding patients, he assured her that he would compensate her for any extra hours.

  “No problem, Dr. Matthews. He’s a lovely child, a joy to take care of.”

  He thanked her and hurried to the elevator that would take him to his office. He was happy to be in his office, in a familiar serene setting where the only problems he faced were ones he could resolve medically. I’ll take care of personal problems at home, not here.

  * * *

  He found an e-mail from Alisha when he got home later that day—Mother hospitalized, serious condition, prognosis poor. Will call after eight. Alisha.

  He had just put the baby to bed when his bedside phone rang. He sat on the bed and picked up the phone.

  “Yes, Alisha, how are things going?”

  “The police found Mother sitting on a park bench about a mile from our house. Evidently she had been there for two days. People passed right by her.” Her voice cracked.

  “How is she doing now?”

  “You know…IV fluids, a ventilator, not aware of anything, comatose, and the doctors say the prognosis is poor.”

  “I’m very sorry. I know this is hard for your father.”

  “He’s beside himself.”

  “I can imagine. So I expect you don’t know when you are coming home.”

  “I’m not coming back!”

  “What do you mean, ‘not coming back’?”

  “You want a divorce, don’t you?” she fairly shouted over the phone.

  He found himself shouting back. “Alisha! You deceived me! Of course I want out! I want a divorce!”

  “Well, you can have it!”

  “What about Jay?”

  “What do you mean, ‘what about Jay!’ ”

  Don almost choked on his words. “He’s your son!”

  “I don’t want to be a single mother!” she yelled back.

  “You’re his mother, for God’s sake! He’s your son,” Don hotly reminded her.

  “I just told you I don’t want to be a single mother. Your name is on his birth certificate as his legal father!”

  “You’re crazy!” he shouted back over the phone.

  Her voice was calm, cold, and matter-of-fact when she answered.

  “I’ve already spoken to my lawyer and he said that with a divorce I can give up custody of the child. My focus now is my parents. They need me.”

  “You, you would do that? Deny a child that you brought into this world!”

  His brain reeled with the undeniable knowledge that this woman was a true certifiable psychopath, a person who saw no right or wrong in pursuing whatever it was that she wanted or thought she wanted. He could barely control his fury.

  “Alisha, you deceived me about your pregnancy. You lied about having Japanese ancestry. And now you are dropping off your son like a bag of dirty clothes. You are one amoral, crazy bitch!”

  He hung up, afraid that if he did not, he would begin to sound incoherent. His mind spun with disbelief.

  Sitting on the bed, he assigned major blame to himself. I have to accept blame for this mess. It was my ego, inflated by sex with a younger woman, seduced by her attention. The weakness was mine, and I will have to pay for that.

  * * *

  The reminder came to Don’s office a week later. Having been busy juggling his practice with caring for the child, he had almost forgotten the prior commitment he had made to serve as chairman for a two-day conference to be held in Philadelphia, about six weeks away. The topic was, ironically, Advances in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

  He had to go. He would lose all credibility in his medical association if he did not fulfill this obligation.

  What about the baby? he thought. Thank God Jay was already enrolled in day care, but now what about nights? Who could take a baby who needed care at night? He thought about his staff, but each one had family responsibilities of her own. Who…who could he get to help him? He remembered Mrs. Sparks, but she was out of town.

  Before he could stop himself, he dialed a familiar number.

  “Hello?”

  “Leanne, it’s me.”

  “Don! My God, what’s wrong? Are you sick? You sound…”

  “Leanne, Leanne, oh, my God, I have no right to call you after what I’ve put you and the children through. I can never, ever tell you how sorry I am.” His voice cracking as he struggled to continue.

  Leanne interrupted him, “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

  “No, no, I’m, I’m okay. But Alisha has left me.”

  “Left you? When? Where did she go?”

  “Ten days ago. She went home to Pittsburgh. Her mother has Alzheimer’s, disappeared from home. Police found her. She’s in the hospital, not doing well. Her prognosis is poor.”

  “Don,” Leanne’s voice was firm and controlled when she broke in with her question. “Don, why are you calling me?”

  “I—I need you.”

  “For what?”

  “Please, Leanne, I know I’m asking a lot and…I have no right to do so, but I’m in an awful mess!”

  “Tell me, Don. Tell me what you want.”

  “It’s such a long story.”

  “Begin at the beginning.”

  She heard him take a long, drawn-out breath as if gathering the strength to continue.

  “I sent pictures of the baby to Curtis and Jane. Have you seen them?”

  “Yes, I have Don. A handsome child.”

  “Then probably you noticed that he didn’t resemble our two kids.”

  “To be truthful, I did think he had an exotic look, as if he were part something else…and I thought he was a very cute baby.”

  “He is a lovely, healthy baby. But, Leanne, he is not my child!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I asked Alisha about his features and she claimed that she had a Japanese grandfather. That information did not sit well with me, so I had a DNA test done that proves I am not the father.”

  “How can that be?” Leanne asked. “I know that you two were…” she paused, founding it difficult to say sexually active, so she ended with, “were very close.”

  “You won’t believe this,” Don said, “but that…I hate to say it, but I was such an idiot. But that conniver was out to get me any way that she could, and I was so dumb, lost all reason and believed her when she said she was pregnant with my child.”

  “What did she say when you told her what the test showed?”

  “She had used a sperm donor.”

  “Oh, my God, Don! She’s crazy!”

  “Tell me about it! She blurted out that she loved me and this was her desperate attempt to get me.”

  “Now what, Don?”

  “Wouldn’t you know it, we were in the middle of this mess when the phone rang. I thought it might be a patient emergency, but it was her father calling about her mother. Naturally she rushed home. She called me last night to say she’s not coming back, will not contest the divorce, and she is giving up all rights to and responsibilities for the baby.”

  “She can do that?”

  “Apparently she can. I checked with Frank Jones, my lawyer, and he said it’s called emancipation of a minor child.”

  “Don, as angry and hurt as I have been over our divorce, I am sorry that you have been involved in such a sordid affair.”

  “It was all my stupidity,” he insisted, but Leanne tried to reassure him.

  “What has happened is in the past, Don, and cannot be changed. Today is a new day. What can I do to help?”

  Grateful for Leanne’s understanding and lack of bitterness, he forged ahead and explained his problem.

  A
fter he explained that he needed to be in Philadelphia for a medical symposium, she agreed to help him.

  “I’ll be away for two nights. Jay is in day care at my office building…”

  “Oh, that’s where Rosa Fallon works.”

  “You know her? The director?”

  “We served together on the vestry board at church.”

  “Great! I’ll give her your name, address and phone number as the responsible person for the baby. Leanne, how can I thank you?”

  “No need, Don. We do have a history together.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Relieved by Leanne’s willingness to help him, Don breathed a sigh of relief. He placed an order with a rental company to send a crib with mattress, a high chair, playpen and walker to Leanne’s home. He had located her new address when he had gone online to get her telephone number listed with her real estate agency.

  He had planned his departure to Philadelphia for a Sunday afternoon flight, and Leanne had said that he could drop Jay off early that afternoon on his way to the airport.

  He had purchased a cooler for the jars of baby food, crackers that the child liked, as well as a few of his favorite toys.

  He placed a few sets of shirts, coveralls, a pair of shoes and some socks, along with toilet articles into a small overnight bag. He included pj’s, three packages of diapers, plus baby wipes. He bought milk and apple juice on his way to Leanne’s Sunday afternoon. He made an addition to the list, car seat, that he’d have to leave with Leanne.

  It was a pleasant, sunny day when he arrived at Leanne’s home that afternoon. She opened the door almost as soon as he got to the front door, an excited wiggling baby in his arms.

  “Leanne!”

  “Hi, Don. Give him to me!” she said as she reached for the chubby, smiling baby.

  “My, he’s an armful!” she said as she took the child.

  Don agreed. “He is that. But, Leanne, don’t you look great!”

  “You think so?” she smiled over her shoulder as she walked into the living room with the baby.

  “My goodness, you’ve lost some weight, and it looks good on you! And your hair, I like the way you’re wearing it, soft around your face. You look like a young…”