24. Nick
24
NICK
" T hank you, Dr. Edwards. You literally saved my life."
I looked down at the grateful expression on Cherry Phillips's face and smiled at her. "You're very welcome. Now, you rest up. We'll have you home in no time."
With my rounds complete, I was now free to head out to the lake with Scarlett and Ethan. For the past few months things had been going so well between the two of us we were both walking on air. And the rumors spread by Marjorie weren't as bad as we feared they'd be, though Scarlett did see a downtick in sales. I encouraged her that it would pass and we'd be fine, and we went about our lives like normal. Like today—we'd made plans to take Ethan to the lake, and finally after weeks of waiting patiently for Scarlett to tell me it was time, we decided today was the day we'd tell Ethan I was his father.
I strolled toward my office in the hospital with a bit of nervous anticipation. Telling Ethan the truth wasn't something we could delay anymore. Kids at his school were talking and he'd asked a few questions about what it meant for me to be Scarlett's "baby daddy" which was the phrase people were spewing in their nonsense gossip.
It irked me that they had no respect for a child's heart or Scarlett as a mother, but small-town gossip wasn't exactly a polite thing to begin with. I wished I could've spared both of them all of the hassle and frustration of it all, but I knew we had to do things the right way. Ever since Scarlett told me, this was the one thing on my mind—making sure Ethan was okay through all of this.
"Well there, Dr. Edwards, how are you doing?" I heard the voice call out from behind me and before I even turned to see who it was, I knew the voice. A feeling of dread washed over me, and I gritted my teeth. It wasn't a conversation I could walk away from, so I slowed my pace and turned to face him.
"Dr. Bradshaw…" I stated his name calmly, but my chest was suddenly anything but calm. I thought I'd gotten Fiona off my back weeks ago. After she came to my office to bring me lunch and I rushed her out, racing to Scarlett's to tell her what a fool I'd been, Fiona hadn't come back. Now her father was approaching me? This wasn't good.
"Nick, it's good to see you." He thrust out his hand and spoke to me like we were old friends.
I hated this man.
Between him, his daughter, the reporters, and the board of my former hospital I was almost buried alive. They twisted facts following a surgery to make me look negligent, so the full brunt of a malpractice lawsuit hit me, all so the hospital wouldn't take the hit. And while the courts stopped short of taking my license to practice, it cost me twenty million dollars and I couldn't find any patients who would trust me.
I shook Marvin's hand, but couldn't stop the glower from creeping across my face. "I can't say the same," I told him, though I kept my nastier thoughts to myself. Thoughts like I wish you'd walk in front of a moving train . He was a board member here, capable of manipulating other board members into firing me. If Fiona could suck up to Daddy Dearest and promise me promotions and pay raises, certainly Marvin could twist the knife again and have me terminated.
"Ah, well I'm sorry to hear that. I was just going to invite you to a family barbeque I'm hosting this evening. I thought we could put the past behind us and forge a new friendship. There are some exciting changes happening here at General and I want to discuss them with you."
The snake slithered backward, retracting his hand as I very visibly wiped my hand on my lab coat. Fiona may have backed off for a time, but I knew what this was. She'd gone crying to Marvin, probably telling him she just had to have me back. If she couldn't weasel her way back into my life, she'd have him put pressure on me from the top down. I wasn't having it.
"Sorry, Dr. Bradshaw, I have plans this evening at the lake, and tomorrow too." I thought of my son and the things we had to discuss with him. I had to make myself available all weekend in case he had a negative reaction to the news. Scarlett told me she assumed he already put some of the pieces together, but he was seven. I didn't think so. And neither of us knew how he'd respond. I just wanted to be there for both of them.
"Well, again, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm surprised you're not taking your career more seriously after everything that happened. I'm opening a door for you with the higher ups, Nick. You shouldn't be passing up any opportunity to rise in the ranks. After what you did?—"
"Excuse me," I grunted, interrupting him, and I turned to walk away, but as I did I heard him call after me.
"Be careful you're not disappointing the administration again, Nick. You only get so many chances."
His words rang in my ears all the way to my office and even as I was driving home. When Fiona realized she couldn't seduce me back into her web of deceit, she sent her father. People like that disgusted me.
I headed home and changed, grabbed my sunscreen and a towel, and got back into my car to head to Scarlett's. By the time I got there she and Ethan were ready and waiting. I helped them pack their beach blanket, umbrella, cooler, and chairs in the trunk of my car, and we were off.
The drive to the lake was pleasant, and we found a spot not too far from the water's edge. For August it was a nice day, warm enough to enjoy the water and sun, but not too hot to make it miserable. Scarlett looked incredible in her wrap around one-piece suit and the large black floppy hat she wore to shade her face and shoulders. Ethan had the classic American flag pattern swim trunks but chose a bright yellow swim shirt with built-in sunscreen protection. I just tore my shirt off and let the sun kiss my skin.
When Ethan ran off toward the water shortly after we ate our picnic lunch, Scarlett leaned over to kiss me softly. Her lips were salty from the potato chips we'd eaten and I couldn't help but indulge a little, deepening the kiss and enjoying the salty flavor.
"Mmm you're yummier than a potato chip." I smiled as I pulled away and she sighed but she looked stressed. "Is everything okay?" I asked her. I knew work had been tense, and now on days she wanted to have time off, she had to close the bakery early.
"The interviews aren't going well." Her shoulders slumped a little and I noticed a bit of sun on her nose. If I didn't get sunblock on her she'd be in pain later. I reached for the lotion and squeezed some in my palm as she continued, and I rubbed it onto her skin. "I haven't found a decent replacement, and I'm starting to worry with the downward trend in sales that I might be losing the bakery."
"I won't let that happen, baby," I reassured her as I lotioned her.
"I just don't want people saying I'm a gold digger, Nick. I want to do this on my own." She had been adamant for weeks that she wouldn't take my money, but I still offered it to her.
"Well, say what you will, but when we come out of all this haze on top and your bakery is booming, people will see we love each other and that you have never been anything but the love of my life." I kissed the back of her shoulder and she grew quiet as we watched Ethan splash in the water.
She had so much weight on her shoulders I couldn't wait to rip the bandage off and move past this present hurdle of telling Ethan the secret. The way I figured it, if we just hit one obstacle at a time at a pace we could manage, eventually there would be no more mountains to climb, or walls to tear down.
"It's time, okay?" I kissed her shoulder again and she nodded.
"Alright…" Her soft sigh wasn't encouraging, but I knew this would be good. Just one more thing to tackle, then we move on. We could do this. "Ethan!" she called, and he perked his head up.
It was now or never.