Chapter 1 #3
I nodded. “I had remembered Dandan and his old tank. The poor guy won’t mind if you have his lid because he passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He looked sorry.
“He had a long life filled with lots of love,” I said comfortingly.
“It’s still hard.” He pressed his hand to his jaw again. “I just had to tell a man today that he—never mind.”
“What?” I asked, but the elevator stopped and the door opened into the parking garage.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said. We’d taken a few steps before he added, “I’m Theo.”
I had only thought of him as Dr. Winter, and it was interesting to learn that he had a first name. “I think I already told you that I’m Grace.”
“You did tell me, and I’m not going to forget anything about you,” he said. I thanked him but when he glanced over at me, I got the idea he hadn’t meant it as a compliment. “That was a nice thing that you did, when you got the little girl’s ring. Odd, but nice.”
“I’m the youngest of seven and I seem to get into problems sometimes. I always had bigger people helping me, so I’m glad to pass it along to others. Are you all right?”
He was rubbing his jaw again. “Yes,” he said, but then continued. “I get a pain here from grinding my teeth, bruxism. My dentist recommended a specialist and I keep meaning to go.”
“That’s kind of funny,” I said. “You’re a doctor putting off your appointments just like everybody else does. It would be like my dad not doing his taxes on time, since he’s a CPA.” Come to think of it, it was now October and I didn’t seem to remember doing my own taxes.
“I’m busy,” he explained, and then laughed quietly. “That’s exactly what my patients say, and then I shake my head and tell them that their health is more important.”
“I could go with you.”
“What?”
“I could go with you to the bruxist doctor. I’m not doing very much right now. I have a job but I don’t know if I can keep doing it,” I said. “It makes me feel really strange and uncomfortable.”
Theo stopped and looked down at me. “Are you all right? Is someone hurting you in your workplace?”
“He’s not putting a hand on me,” I assured the doctor. “Are we going to go to the bruxist now, or later?”
“That’s not a real thing and also, it’s nighttime. I want to go home and I’ll have to make an appointment with…” He looked around. “There are no cars on this floor. Where are we going?”
“I thought that I had parked here but I’m realizing something’s wrong.”
Theo Winter decided that there was definitely something wrong, and it was something wrong with me.
I could tell, because this had happened before in my life.
He nodded slowly, seriously, and then he started to speak in a very clear tone and he used only short, easily understood words.
He asked me if I had really come here in a car, and I said yes.
Then he confirmed that I had keys and a parking ticket, which I also did, and it was for this garage.
“I’ll help you find your vehicle,” he told me, each syllable distinct. “Is that all right, Grace?”
“Yes, thank you. I’m really ok,” I tried to reassure him. I definitely was, except that I was a little cold.
We went into the elevator again and rode it to a different floor where there were a few cars, and one of them belonged to Theo. He spoke more normally and less like I was a small child as we approached it.
“It’s a mess inside,” he apologized.
“That’s ok. I don’t mind a mess,” I said. “If I did, then I definitely couldn’t have lived with Quintus Hortensius. He’s a friend of mine, the one who had the lid that I gave you for your aquarium.”
He was trying to unlock the door. “I thought you used another name when you talked about your deceased friend.”
“Quintus Hortensius isn’t deceased, or did you mean Dandan? We weren’t very close, not like me and Quintus Hortensius. It’s not like a dog.”
Theo managed to unlock his car but when he opened the passenger door, a deluge of papers, a metal travel cup, an old wrapper from a hamburger, and several charging cords spilled out. “Holy hell,” he muttered, and I knelt to help him pick up his stuff. “Who has a dog?”
“Not Quintus Hortensius. Instead, he had Dandan as a pet, but that guy wasn’t very friendly. I was sorry when he died, of course.”
He stared. “You were talking about a fish,” he stated. “Before, when you told me about your friend not needing his tank, it was because his fish had died. Dandan is a fish, not a human.”
“Humans can’t live underwater,” I explained. How come he didn’t know that?
He stood up. “I’m tired,” he said, and his hand went back to his jaw.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to help me find my car,” I told him. “You’re safe now, so you can get on your way.”
“We were walking together so that you would be safe, not me. I will take you to your vehicle now.” He had used a very commanding tone.
My sister Sophie, the next-to-oldest, had given me a few lectures about going off with strangers after she’d found out that I had done exactly that.
She’d been correct that it was a very, very bad idea and that things could go very, very wrong for you—but Theo Winter wasn’t a stranger.
He was a doctor, an oncologist who had helped to save my brother-in-law.
It was true that he’d neglected his fish but so many people entered into things and then got over their heads, and the excess of poop in that tank was a good example of that phenomenon.
He seemed concerned about it and willing to correct his mistakes, which was a sign that he was a good person.
So was his choice of profession: helping very sick patients.
So I got in and we started driving through the parking structure, looking for my car.
It didn’t take too long to spot it, because there was hardly anyone here at this time of night and it was also very bright and hard to miss.
“That’s it,” I said, pointing at my little vehicle.
It was exactly the same color as a green tree python that had been dropped off at the animal rescue and had caused a huge problem.
He stopped and I stepped out. “Thank you for the ride,” I said.
“Thank you for trying to fix my fish tank. It was nice to meet you, Grace.”
“Likewise. See you soon,” I said as I closed the door.
Then I got in my car and it started. I turned on the heat, too, since this scrub top was thin and my sister’s shorts didn’t provide jack for warmth for my legs, either.
I might have wanted to rethink this whole outfit, since I had just remembered again that it was October and we were in Detroit.
I backed up carefully and drove down the winding ramp, and when I got to the exit, the black car behind me made a left after I made a right. That was the end of Dr. Theo Winter.
Until the next day. “Oh, no,” the nurse at the desk said. She had recognized me immediately. “What are you doing back here? Stay away from the tank!”
She had spoken quietly, and I was glad. There was no need to get upset and no need to scare the fish. Also, there were patients here who definitely had bigger problems than a dirty aquarium. “I need to do a test strip in the water,” I explained. “You can go about your business.”
“I’m going to call security.”
“Dr. Winter knows that I’m here,” I said, remaining calm. Did she really think that I would neglect my duty to these animals after a measly threat like that? I’d had security called on me any number of times, and they didn’t scare me in the least.
I got busy on the tank, opening the new lid. As I was waiting for the color to change on the test strip, Theo came out of the back.
“Grace,” he said, and I held up the little paper.
“It’s almost done,” I told him. “I said I would do this for you.”
He glanced at the nurse. “Regina, it’s fine.” She didn’t seem convinced. “I was thinking about our conversation on my way home and I tried to figure out what happened,” he continued to me. “I did remember that you mentioned coming today to check the ammonia level.”
“I’m also here to remind you about the bruxist,” I said helpfully.
“The…oh, right. My jaw.”
“I’ve been telling him that he has to go in,” Regina said, nodding at me.
“I’ll schedule it,” he told her. “I’ll do that today. In the meantime…” They both turned to me.
“I have a few things to do here,” I said. “It may take me a few minutes, so you guys should just continue as you are.”
“Uh, thank you,” Theo replied, and we all returned to work. I checked the test strip and shook my head. There was obviously a lot that needed to get done.