28. Jonathan
Jonathan
I blew out a long, exhausted breath as I finally pulled down the shutters for the pharmacy.
Today was hectic. There had been an increase in patients coming in with the spike of flu cases within the last few days.
Our lobby was constantly filled with parents and their sick kids, and seniors with runny noses and sore throats.
Even both Shoua and Anthony were home sick with the flu.
I was going to stop by their place with some over-the-counter meds and food once I was out of here.
As Carmen swept the floor behind me, I quickly sprayed down the counters with a disinfectant to ensure cleanliness for the team. With the volume of sick patients we were seeing each day, if one of us got sick, it wouldn’t be easy for the team to handle.
“I can’t wait to sit, have a hot meal, and then go to sleep,” said Carmen.
“Me too,” I agreed. “It was a long day.”
She sighed. “Sorry about spilling the carvedilol earlier.”
During a rush, she had dropped an entire thousand-count bottle of carvedilol 3.
125 milligram tablets on the floor. We all literally stopped and stared at the mess before Carmen looked at me.
Without batting an eye, I wrote it off as a loss for the pharmacy.
I asked her to vacuum all the tablets to toss into our medication disposal bins.
It was a non-controlled so it wasn’t much of an issue.
“It’s alright. Things happen. Just be more careful next time. That’s all we can do.” I shrugged tiredly. “At least tomorrow is Thursday and the day after that is Friday.”
“Yay,” she mumbled flatly. “I have to cover Juliana on Saturday. Remember?”
I grimaced. “Sorry.”
She shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s always nice seeing Cindy, and I get Monday off.”
Cindy, our third staff pharmacist, was our only part-time pharmacist. Meanwhile, Juliana was our part-time, fourth pharmacy technician.
Both Cindy and Juliana preferred working the weekends since they had younger children.
For the last three years, John and me had been asking the two of them if they’d like to try working weekday shifts, to give them some rest over the weekend.
But they always insisted on the weekends.
I tossed the wet paper towels and the face mask I had on into the trash bin. Carmen also ripped off her mask before I tied up the bag to be tossed out. As we stood there for a moment, I noticed her eyes trailing to my Adam’s apple.
For the sake of professionalism, I’d been using medical tape to hide the mark Lina left there.
She had also done the same by covering up what I’d done to her with a large bandage.
Although Lina and me were indifferent at work and still bantered now and then, we both knew the air had shifted between us.
Carmen looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t. I chose not to press her either. There was no doubt our keen and observant team had noticed the change in my relationship with Lina. Even if it were only the tiniest of differences in our professional lives, it was still a change.
“Get lots of rest when you get home,” I said as I locked the back door.
“You too, boss!” Carmen said behind me.
I let her pull out and drive off before I got into my car. I quickly texted Lina, wanting to see her.
Me
I’ll be there soon. Heading to Shoua and Anthony’s place to drop off food and meds. Coming over after.
Lina instantly reacted to my text with a heart, and I couldn’t help but smile. But that quickly dissipated when Anthony called me.
“Hello?” I answered as I started my car.
“Are you heading straight to our place?” he asked, sounding like a completely different person with his raspy, hoarse voice.
“Yup,” I replied. “Didn’t I tell you to just text me instead of calling? You need to let your throat relax.”
Anthony gave me a horribly scratchy hum. “Texting takes too long, doc.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Hang tight. I’ll be there soon.”
I told him to hang tight, but did he? No.
When I arrived at their duplex, the man was waiting by the window with a blanket bundled tightly around him.
I scoffed at the sight of his messy hair and sunken eyes.
He was no different from Uncle Gary, his dad.
Those two never knew how to rest properly or sit still, especially when they were sick.
“Why aren’t you in bed, or at least resting?” I asked when he opened the door for me.
“Why are you masked up?” he answered as I stepped in.
“Because I don’t want to get sick and then get my entire crew sick.” I waved to Shoua, who looked as bad as Anthony, sitting on the couch in the living room. “We’re already getting slammed with sick patients, and it’s not even Friday yet.”
I placed the Korean beef bone soup I ordered for them on the coffee table, along with all the medicine, cough drops, and tissues I bought. I peeled off my jacket as my cousin smiled weakly at me.
“Thanks, Jonathan,” she barely managed to croak, her voice even worse than Anthony’s.
I waved my hand at her to stop her from continuing, reaching over to feel her forehead to gauge her temperature. I did the same for Anthony when he finally sat his ass down. They weren’t dangerously hot, but they were still warm.
I sighed, looking at Anthony. “I’m surprised you’re still able to talk, but I guess even a sore throat can’t shut you up.”
He scoffed. “That’s because I have a better immune system.”
“Says the one who’s sick thanks to that great immune system.” I nodded wryly as I took my seat on the floor by the coffee table.
I rolled up my sleeves and brought out some of the medicine I purchased. Anthony and Shoua gasped at the claw marks Lina left across my forearms last week. I scoffed as they watched me with wide eyes.
I started pouring various amounts of liquid medicine into a new medicine bottle I brought with me from the pharmacy. As I was measuring the 20% benzocaine, Shoua typed a question on her phone and showed it to me with the tap of my shoulder.
What are you doing, Jonathan? AND WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THOSE SCRATCHES ACROSS YOUR FOREARM?
Ignoring her second question, I answered, “I’m compounding an over-the-counter-grade mouthwash to alleviate your sore throat. Anthony, you sounded like shit over the phone this morning. And, Shoua, you can barely talk. Don’t push yourself.”
She shoved her phone back into my face.
JONATHAN LO, DON’T YOU DARE IGNORE MY SECOND QUESTION.
“As for the scratches, it’s because I was petting a very demanding and hungry pussy cat,” I said with a nonchalant shrug.
My cousin flashed me a look—a pinched face and crumpled brows—as Anthony laughed softly before groaning in pain. “Thank you for loving us so much and coming over to make us that stuff, you smartass.”
I smiled, closing up the bottle and shaking it vigorously. “Damn right. You should be grateful. The prescription-grade of this concoction costs a hundred bucks a bottle.”
Shoua’s brows crumpled together, showing me another question on her phone.
What’s in it?
“Over-the-counter antacid, diphenhydramine, and benzocaine for your sore throat,” I replied, capping all the medicine bottles I used. “Don’t push yourself, Shoua. If anyone should lose their voice, it should only be Anthony.”
She shook with a silent laugh while Anthony grumbled a gravelly sound. I grabbed a permanent marker off the coffee table and started writing on a blank prescription label I also swiped from the pharmacy.
Anthony turned to my cousin with a withered look. “Why’d you ask him like we know what the hell he’s talking about? What even is benzocaine?”
“It’s a pain reliever often used for mouth pain and toothaches.
Benzocaine will help numb the pain from your sore throat.
” I laughed, shaking my head. I held up the directions I had written on the prescription label, stuck now to the bottle.
“This is mouthwash. Do not ingest it. Shake it well before using it. Use this every four to six hours. Wait thirty minutes before you eat or drink anything to allow the medication to go into effect.”
I uncapped the compounded medicine and unwrapped the oral syringe I bought.
I suctioned five milliliters of the milky mixture into the syringe to show it to them.
“You only need five milliliters of this stuff. And make sure to coat the back of your throat well. As I mentioned before, don’t swallow it.
All the directions are on here. This only lasts fourteen days, so toss it out when it expires. ”
Shoua and Anthony both blinked at me. I raised an eyebrow at them.
“Has anyone ever told you how hot you are when you’re a concerned doctor?” Anthony spoke up.
I blew out an exasperated sigh as I squeezed the medicine out of the syringe back into the bottle. “I’m aware.”
“No wonder you bring all the girls to the yard when you have that white pharmacist coat on.” Anthony grinned, light coming back to his previously sullen face. He nodded at the medical tape over my Adam’s apple. “I’m assuming your blind date went well?”
Shoua gently smacked his shoulder as I laughed. “No, it didn’t. But I bumped into a familiar face after. It all turned out for the better.”
They glanced between my face and throat in confusion. I chuckled again as I peeled off the medical tape to gloat about what Lina did to me. Their eyes widened temporarily before Anthony howled out an awful croaking laugh too jarring for the ears.
“You slut,” he mumbled as Shoua furiously typed something on her phone.
I grinned. “She called me the same thing.”
Their eyes widened again as my cousin continued typing. She showed me her phone screen again with the softest smile. I think I like her.
I smiled back with warm cheeks. “Yeah,” I breathed. “I like her too.”
Shoua and Anthony looked at each other, mouths forming the same knowing smirk. This was the most alive they’d looked the whole night, making me laugh out loud again. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Lina.
“Anyway, I’m going to head out,” I said, still chuckling.
I rose from the ground and grabbed the jacket I threw on the couch’s armrest. “Take it easy, rest, and take the meds I brought, especially the fever-relieving ones. If you need any more mouthwash, just let me know. I’ll make time to swing by to mix up more. ”
“Sure thing, doc,” said Anthony, getting up with me to walk me to the door. “By the way, Dr. Lo, I have a question.”
I turned to him with crumpled brows. He only called me doctor formally when he wanted to tease.
“Did that familiar face you met last Friday happen to have a name that sounds similar to Hli Nag?” he asked, raising a brow.
I hummed, mouth cocking into a smirk as I stepped out the door. I looked back at him and my cousin on the couch. The two of them wore a look of growing eagerness as they waited to hear my confirmation.
I tipped my head as my mouth stretched so wide my cheeks ached. They couldn’t see my smile because of the face mask I wore, but I knew the corners of my eyes crinkled. “Maybe.”
I received a text instantly and quickly checked it, expecting it was Lina. Instead, it was a text from Shoua.
Shoua
Tell Lina you two are going to be the hottest, smartest couple I know.
I looked up at her and showed Anthony her text. “I’ll see you two later,” I said. “But before then, don’t try to infect anyone.”
“The only one we’re hoping to infect is you,” he mumbled.
I laughed, slipping my phone into my back pocket. “As your pharmacist, I suggest you keep your mouth shut and enjoy the silence, Anthony Hughes.”
He rolled his eyes at me as he closed the door in my face. A thunderous chuckle still rolled out of me when I got into my car and tore off my face mask. I quickly sent Lina a text that I was heading over with our own batch of Korean beef bone soup for dinner.
On the way to her place, my giddiness kept coming out in bursts of chuckles, wide smiles, and hot cheeks.
Despite the long day, I no longer felt tired.
The thought of seeing Lina became my focus.
I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to hold her.
Most of all, I just wanted to breathe her in and ease into her warmth.
At the stoplight, I leaned into my seat and let out all the stress building up under my skin, releasing it with an exhale.
My fingers traced over the spot where she’d left her mark on my body and soul.
Warmth sparked across my chest. But the fervor of it was gone as soon as it started. The world came to a slow pause.
I watched the scene before me with crumpled brows and a dry throat.
A familiar face instantly grabbed my attention out of the corner of my eyes.
She walked hand in hand with a man I didn’t know.
Delight shone brightly in her eyes, and love twinkled in his as he watched her.
They crossed the street with big grins and laughed out loud.
Without a doubt, it was the same bright melody I grew up with and would recognize anywhere instantly.
I watched on as the man placed a loving kiss on the back of her hand as she smiled sheepishly.
The only time I’d ever seen her wear that look of utter happiness was with my dad.
My mom looked straight ahead as emotions washed over my body in waves of ice and fire. Her dating shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But it still did. Along with frustration, happiness—and somehow, abandonment—all at once.
I suddenly felt the way I did when I was six.
Whenever a rush of excitement and happiness surged, the thread of grief over losing my dad stitched its way through the moment, reminding me of my loss.
Like I wasn’t allowed to feel happy because he had died.
Like I wasn’t allowed to be ecstatic for my mom getting to live a life outside of my sister and me.
My brain whispered how she had now abandoned me, the way my dad abandoned us when he died. My dad, the man I will never grow old to know . . . the same man whose voice I could no longer remember, but whose warm love I could still feel through the memories of those who remembered him best.
My dad passed away twenty-two years ago, and I couldn’t remember him without a picture anymore.
Somehow, I was the only one who still clung to the pain of losing him, even when my family had moved on, as is their right.
My sister was now married and will soon have a family of her own.
My mom, who held onto his memory for all these years, was discovering and living life again.
But me?
I was still there—in the same place when I was six—scared of change, and the loss of life and love.
Love.
Lina flashed across my mind as I tore my eyes away from my mom.
She smiled at her partner on the other side of the street with the brightest expression I had ever seen in over twenty years.
The stoplight turned green. I pressed on the gas, stiffly, knowing full well how much of an asshole I was for feeling the way I did.