Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
BLAKE
“ I hear you have a girlfriend,” Dad says the following week before lifting his mug of coffee to his lips and taking a sip.
How is it possible that I’m in my mid-thirties, I’m a doctor, and I’ve been living my own life for a damn long time, but my father can make me feel like a teenager again with only six words?
And I want to tell him that I don’t simply have a girlfriend . I’ve found the love of my fucking life, and as soon as I can talk her into it, she’ll be my wife.
“I do.” I cross one ankle over my knee. I’m sitting at my parents’ kitchen table. Mom’s off for a hair appointment, and Dad asked me to come over to “help him with something.”
I’ve been here for twenty minutes, and he still hasn’t told me what he needs help with.
I suspect he just wanted to have coffee .
“What’s her name?”
I lift a brow. “Billie didn’t tell you her name?”
Dad smirks. We all know who the gossip in our family is. “I want to know more about her from you. Better yet, I’d like to meet her myself.”
“I’ll bring her to the next family dinner.” I sip my water. I’ve already had too much coffee today. “Her name is Harper. She’s from Silver Springs, and she’s a NICU nurse.”
“Works with babies.”
That’s an incredibly simple way to say that Harper takes care of extremely tiny, medically fragile preemies and is honestly a fucking badass for being able to do her job, but I leave it at that.
“She does. If you and Mom had come up to the resort last week, you would have spent time with her. It was fun.”
“We wanted to leave that for you kids,” Dad replies, shaking his head. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“Dad, you know I always love seeing you, but what did you need help with this morning?”
“Got somewhere else you need to be, son?” Dad smiles, taking any sting out of the question. He’s a smart man, and he’s always been a gentle one.
“I have a little time,” I reply. “But you said you needed help.”
“I lied.” He watches me for a few seconds and blows out a breath. “I haven’t seen my boy in weeks, and I miss you. I thought we could have coffee together. If I tell you I need help, you won’t turn me down. ”
“Dad, I won’t turn you down either way. Don’t do the whole crying wolf thing on me.”
“I don’t think you’ve had a girlfriend since high school.”
I frown at my father. “Really? You want to talk about my love life ? Do you have a fever?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No fever. A burning curiosity, sure. Because you’ve been so focused on your goals and your work that you’ve never let a woman in. So what’s so special about this one? I want to know what’s going on with you, kiddo.”
“You’re as nosy as Billie.” I shake my head and sip my water.
“She’s just different. I took one look at her, and it was like I recognized her on a molecular level.
Like something inside me said Oh, there you are.
I know that everyone gives me shit because I don’t see a woman more than once, and I never get attached, but I think I was waiting for her all this time, and I didn’t even know it. ”
I look up into eyes so much like mine. He’s listening intently, and if I’m not mistaken, his eyes have gone glassy.
“You love her.”
“Fuck yeah, I love her.” I nod and tap the table with my fingertips. “I’m crazy about her. I’d marry her today. She’s it for me.”
“Good for you, buddy. I can’t wait to meet her. The next time you have a Sunday off, we’ll do dinner. Now, you need to leave. I have shit to do today.”
I laugh and stand, then pull him in for a hug. “You seriously wanted to gossip about my girl. ”
“I’m sick of getting it secondhand from your sister. I wanted it from the horse’s mouth. I love you, Blake. I’m glad you found your person.”
My person.
Yeah, that’s exactly what she is.
I have a short shift at the clinic this afternoon, and I finally get a few hours with my girl this evening. We agreed that she’d stay the night since we’ll be going to work at around the same time tomorrow morning.
I have to savor the hours with her when I can.
The chaos in my work life is why I’ve always shied away from looking for a relationship.
Add in her chaotic schedule, and spending much time together has been almost impossible.
Since last week's few amazing days at the resort, we’ve been back to stealing moments here and there.
Tonight will be the first night we get to spend together since last week.
And I’m getting impatient.
I need more of her. I just don’t know how to make that happen.
An hour later, I’m in my office, typing notes on my first patient of the day before I go into the next exam room.
My schedule is packed, but I’ll be damned if I’m staying late today.
I need the medical gods to shine down and not give me anyone who needs labs drawn late in the day that I’ll have to stick around for.
I need smooth sailing.
And before Harper, I never had these kinds of thoughts. That’s not lost on me.
She’s changed everything .
And it doesn’t scare me at all.
“Room 11 is ready for you, Dr. Blake,” Sharon says, poking her head in my office.
“I’ll be right there.”
I close the laptop, loop my stethoscope around my neck, and knock twice on the door before pushing it open.
“Good afternoon, Hillary.”
“Hey, Doc.” She pushes her hair back behind her shoulder and bats her eyelashes.
Yeah, I fucked Hillary a few years ago before she was my patient, and she won’t let it go. I took her off my patient list and passed her to someone else, but she’s a work-in, and there was no one else to see her. I’m taking overflow this afternoon.
“What’s going on today?” I ask as I open my computer and look at the vitals that Sharon got for me. “Your blood pressure is pretty low.”
“I’ve been woozy,” she says, nodding. “And I get this warm sensation that floods over me, and it’s really unsettling.”
“Makes sense with the blood pressure. Dizziness is common. Hop up on the table and let me hear your heart.”
She does as I ask. I’m relieved that she’s not touching me inappropriately today.
“Take a deep breath for me.” We go through the four more breaths, and I frown. I don’t like the way her heart sounds. “Have you ever been diagnosed with a heart murmur? ”
“No.” She shakes her head. “Not that I’m aware of.”
I press my stethoscope over her heart again and close my eyes, listening.
Definitely a murmur.
“Hillary, I’d like to get an EKG and a chest X-ray before you leave. I hear a bit of a murmur in your heart, which can sometimes be associated with low blood pressure. How much water are you drinking in a day?”
“Probably not enough,” she admits. “I forget.”
“Keep a bottle with you and get that water in you. Do you eat foods rich in iron?”
“I eat on the run a lot. It’s wedding season, Blake. I’m always on the go.”
Hillary is a baker and is known for her wedding cakes.
“You need to eat well. That’s part of your problem. Add a little salt to your water, that will help the blood pressure a bit. If you feel like you’re going to pass out, sit down. You don’t want to fall and hit your head.”
“I’ve passed out a few times,” she admits, and I frown.
“Let’s get those tests. Don’t leave until I get the results. It shouldn’t take long.” I open the exam room door and point to the left. “The EKG and X-ray department are just at the end of the hall. Take this paper down there, and they’ll take care of you.”
“Thanks. Hey, before you go, we should get a pizza sometime or something.”
I stop and look her dead in the eyes. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m in a relationship. Go get those tests, and we’ll get this figured out.”
Her shoulders sag, but she nods and walks down the hall for her tests.
“Heartbreaker.”
I turn at her voice and pull Harper into my arms. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until dinner.”
“I know. It’s my lunch hour, and I missed you. So I came to hug you real quick. I know you’re busy.”
“Best part of my day,” I whisper into her ear. “Best part of every single day, sugar.”
She buries her face in my neck and holds on tight before she pulls back and grins at me.
“Same, Dr. Blackwell. I’m making you dinner tonight.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
“I’m cooking tonight, Harps. I have a plan, and I’ll get home before you. Be sure to bring an overnight bag.”
“Already packed,” she informs me. “And I get to cook next time. Or we can cook together.”
“Deal.” I press a kiss to her forehead as she walks away. “Eat something before you go back on shift.”
“Are those doctor’s orders?”
“If that’s what gets you to eat, yes.”
She laughs and turns a corner to leave the clinic, and I turn to see a smiling Hillary standing outside of room 11.
“I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks. Let’s look at your test results.”
I’ve just set some chips and queso on the island when Harper walks through the front door, drops her bag on the floor, her purse on top of that, and sighs.
Her hair, which just four hours ago was in a knot on top of her head, is now floppy. Her mascara is smudged. And her lower lip is quivering.
Fuck.
After flipping off the burner, I toss the towel from my shoulder to the counter and hurry to her, scooping her up in my arms as the tears come. She buries her face in my chest, clinging to me.
“Shh.” I rock her back and forth, and my heart aches as she cries. “Aw, baby. I’m so sorry.”
I have no idea what happened, but it’s bad. And it’s rocked her to the core.
I pick her up in my arms and sit on the couch, keeping her cradled against me, and let her cry it out. After pulling her hair out of the wrecked bun, I push my fingers through it and press kisses to the top of her head.
As medical professionals, we’ve all seen horrific things. I’ve had to tell parents that their children weren’t coming home. I’ve given diagnoses that meant my patient had days, not years ahead of them. I’ve seen more blood and horror than any one person should.