Chapter Four
It was a rare Sunday afternoon off, and Bethany couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do than walk around Central Park with Jaya and Priyanka. She’d spent too many hours trapped inside the hospital and desperately needed the sunshine, fresh air, and vitamin D. And spending time with the world’s most adorable four-year-old was icing on the cake. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity for a gossip and catch-up session with Jaya.
“So anyway, I’ve been studying up on the foundation board members and working on the application. The personal statement is always the worst part,” Bethany griped. She’d gotten into medicine instead of English or literature for a reason. She was a woman of science, not flowery prose. Give her a tongue depressor over a pen any day.
“Want me to take a look at it before you hand it in?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
Jaya worked in the non-profit sector so she’d know the buzzwords and things the fellowship committee would be looking for, so her feedback would be invaluable.
“Pri, honey, slow down. And careful with that ice cream—you’re starting to drip.” Always in Mom mode, Jaya didn’t break stride before turning her attention back to the conversation in hand. “Happy to help, just let me know whenever you’re ready. How’s everything going otherwise?”
“The family’s good. Allie sent me new pics of the kids. Can’t believe how quickly the rug rats are growing up.” Wild horses couldn’t get Bethany to admit how cute she’d found the photos. But they were her niece and nephew after all. She was entitled to some auntie pride.
“Tell me about it. I swear it feels like I brought Pri home from the hospital yesterday and she’s starting preschool soon. Time just seems to be flying by.” Jaya gave a nostalgic sigh.
“You know what they say: the days are long but the years are short,” Bethany said, doing her best to commiserate.
“Too true. I remember the days when I was convinced I was in some sort of nightmare Groundhog Day loop when she had that horrible bout of colic when she was a baby. Wait. What the hell?”
At Jaya’s sharp tone, Bethany stopped short. Then saw the cause for her friend’s concern. Priyanka was in full conversation with some strange man just up the path. The two women rushed to close the gap.
Priyanka was chattering away, waving her arms excitedly. For his part, the man was giving the girl his whole attention, hanging on to every word.
“Honey, you know not to talk to strangers,” Jaya scolded as she and Bethany skidded to a halt.
“She and I were having a pleasant chat, and I assure you I mean no harm. Your daughter is perfectly safe.” The familiar voice and formality of the tone rang alarm bells in Bethany’s head. No, it couldn’t be him.
And yet, it could be. In a T-shirt and running shorts to boot. She had to admit, she was a bit shocked to see him like this. She could’ve sworn he wouldn’t own anything as pedestrian as gym clothes. In her mind, if he ever deigned to do anything as common as exercise, it would be something pretentious like fencing or squash.
“What are you doing here?” Bethany realized how stupid the question was the minute it came out of her mouth but seeing him so informal and outside a work setting was really throwing her off her game.
“Enjoying the fine fall weather while jogging. This is a public park. People do that here don’t they?”
Jaya gave a pointed cough, now that she’d calmed down and was no longer afraid that her daughter was about to be kidnapped.
“Jaya Mehra, Dr. Ethan Wu. This is my neighbor, Jaya, and her daughter, Priyanka,” Bethany mumbled, wanting to get the introductions over with as quickly as possible.
“Nice to meet you,” Ethan said politely, sticking out his hand.
“Likewise, Dr…” Jaya’s voice trailed off as the name finally registered. She threw a book at Bethany. Is this him?
Bethany gave a grim nod. Yup.
“Please, it’s Ethan,” he continued, his impeccable manners on display as always.
“Thank you for entertaining Pri. As you can tell, she can be a handful,” Jaya said, nodding toward her daughter who was now making friends with a friendly golden retriever on the other side of the path and its owner. “She doesn’t believe in strangers. To her, they’re just friends she hadn’t met yet,” she added with a rueful smile.
“I found her delightful,” he replied sincerely.
Who was this man? This wasn’t the Dr. Wu she’d expected or come to know. Bethany would’ve bet her bottom dollar that he grew up with parents who had the “children should be seen and not heard” ethos and that he embraced the same.
As Jaya went to rescue the dog and its owner, Ethan turned to her.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” he said.
“Why? I have as much right to be here as anyone else,” Bethany tossed back.
With a sigh, he explained, “All I meant was that I didn’t expect to see you here with Priyanka and her mother. You don’t strike me as a kid person.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? And how do you know if I’m a kid person or not? As it happens, I love kids. I’m great with them.” Okay that may be a slight exaggeration—she did like kids but mostly only the ones she was related to, and Priyanka was another exception. But still. Who was he to make such assumptions? It was one thing for her to peg him as anti-kid based on their prior interactions and his reputation, but he didn’t know her enough to make that sort of call. She contained multitudes and couldn’t be boxed in.
A sharp cry drew her attention away from the conversation. Priyanka was on the ground, sobbing. Before she knew what she was doing, Bethany rushed over.
“She tripped on a crack in the pavement. She just skinned her knee—she’ll be fine,” Jaya said, even as she was doing her best to soothe her daughter. “You’ll be okay, honey,” she cooed as she tried to wipe Priyanka’s tears.
“Is everything all right?” Ethan inquired politely.
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, you can go,” Bethany said, turning her back to him.
But Priyanka was having none of it. “I hurt my leg and my elbow,” she said, hiccupping. She stuck her arm out to show Ethan the injuries, and unfortunately, her sticky hands landed smack dab on his T-shirt.
“I’m sorry,” she said, lips trembling.
“Let me get you a wipe,” Jaya insisted, digging into her huge purse.
“No need to concern yourself. Nothing a washing machine can’t handle,” he assured her. Then he turned to Pri. “Are you all right?”
The little girl sniffled. “No. It hurts,” she pouted.
“Just for a little bit. Once you get cleaned up and we put some antiseptic and bandages on your elbow and knees, you’ll be good as new.”
“Antisetic?” Priyanka asked, intrigued.
“Yes, to make sure we get rid of all the germs and there’s no infection.”
“Mommy makes me wash my hands all the time. She says germs are bad.”
“She just wants to make sure you don’t get sick.”
Priyanka bit her lip, then looked at her mother. “Can I have a Hello Kitty Band-Aid?”
Jaya sighed and shook her head. “Sure. Why not.” Then she frowned. “Wait. I think we used them up. We’ll make do with a regular Band-Aid.”
Priyanka gave Jaya the puppy-dog eyes and Ethan gave a slight cough. “It shouldn’t be too much trouble to get more Hello Kitty Band-Aids, can it? Surely there’s a pharmacy around here where you can get some. Priyanka has been through quite an ordeal today—special Band-Aids seem like a small price to pay to aid in her recovery.”
Sensing a new ally, Pri went over to Ethan and put her hands in his. “Yeah, Mommy. I’ve been through an ardool.”
“Ordeal,” Ethan murmured.
“That’s what I said,” Pri frowned. She paused. “What does ardool mean?”
“A painful or traumatic experience. I think having a nasty fall qualifies,” he answered.
“Very painful,” Priyanka confirmed. “You know what would make it better?” She gave her mother an expectant look.
“Fine,” Jaya said, throwing up her hands. “We’ll get some damn Hello Kitty Band-Aids.”
“No swearing, Mommy. You have to put a dollar in the jar when we go home.”
To his credit, Ethan maintained his composure. Bethany, on the other hand, couldn’t contain a snicker.
But Pri wasn’t finished. “Do you know what else would make me feel better, Mommy?” She looked over at Ethan, who gave an approving nod.
“A puppy. It would give me licks and kisses and would make me feel loads better.”
“No. I am not getting you a puppy because you tripped and fell,” Jaya said sternly. But even she couldn’t hold up under Ethan and Priyanka’s gaze. “How about we go home and watch Encanto?”
“Can we have cookies and popcorn?”
“Sure, why the hell not?”
“Mommy!”
“I know, I know. Another dollar in the jar.”
“I hope you feel better soon, Priyanka,” Ethan said solemnly.
“Thank you, Mr. Ethan.”
“Let’s hope for minimal to no scarring.”
Priyanka’s brow knit in confusion. “What’s scarring?”
“It’s when you get a scar as a result of an injury. Like this.” Ethan pointed to a scar on his own knee. Now that Bethany got a better look, it did appear to be quite nasty.
“What happened?” she couldn’t help asking.
“Happened last year. I was going on a bike ride. I took a turn too fast and fell off. Scraped both my knees and my elbow. Don’t recommend it.”
Priyanka’s eyes widened in awe. “That must have really hurt.”
“It wasn’t fun,” he agreed.
Priyanka traced the scar with an aura of reverence. “You must have been so brave when they gave you medicine to help you feel better,” she said with a hint of awe.
“Well, I don’t know about that…” he began.
With a shake of her head, Priyanka cut him off. “I’m going to be super-duper brave just like you. And I want a scar like you.”
Clearly a strong case of hero worship was developing here.
“I think it’s time for us to head home now.” At her daughter’s look Jaya relented. “After we get the special Band-Aids.” Then she turned to Ethan. “Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Wu.”
“Likewise. And please, it’s Ethan.”
“Ethan, then. Priyanka, honey, say goodbye to Mr. Ethan.”
“Bye, Mr. Ethan. Can I come by the hospital to visit you? I want to show you my new scar.”
“Of course, anytime. I’m going to finish my run so I’ll say goodbye. Ladies.” He turned to Bethany and raised a brow. “Dr. Lee.”
“Dr. Wu,” she replied with a small nod of her head. All three of them watched as he jogged away.
“Well, that was interesting.”
“I know. He seemed almost human.”
Jaya gave her a slight slap on the arm. “Oh come off of it.”
“He was quite nice with Pri,” Bethany conceded. She had to admit, her opinion of Ethan Wu might have to be adjusted. Anyone who showed such kindness to children couldn’t be ALL bad. And Priyanka was clearly in love. In her experience, children tended to have good judgment and instincts when it came to adults.
Though that was not going to deter her from kicking his ass at work. He was still an opponent who must be crushed. Ethan Wu was just less hateable now.
“He hardly seems like the stuffy jerk you were painting him out to be is all I’m saying.”
“I get it,” Bethany muttered as they walked into the CVS. Priyanka immediately ran toward the first-aid section to look for her precious Band-Aids.
“And you didn’t mention how good-looking he was.”
“He’s not that good-looking,” Bethany protested.
“That’s a damn lie and you know it,” Jaya snorted inelegantly.
“Another dollar in the jar,” Bethany couldn’t resist pointing out.
“Whatever. I saw you checking him out.”
“I was not checking him out.”
“Really? You weren’t noticing those nice arms and nicely toned legs?”
“He was pointing out his damn scars. Of course I noticed them. Purely from a professional standpoint,” Bethany felt quite pious about her delivery.
“Again. Liar.” Jaya paused then sized Bethany up. Then a huge grin spread across her face. “You like him, don’t you?”
“Absolutely not! He’s a co-worker. Not to mention I still haven’t forgiven him for showing me up with that lab snafu.” She frowned a little just thinking about it.
“Oh yeah, you like him. You have a crush. I have to admit, it’s sorta cute.”
“Repeat that anywhere and die,” Bethany hissed.
“Here are the Band-Aids!” Priyanka ran up to them, slightly out of breath, waving the box like a trophy.
“Great, sweetie. Let’s check out and go home.”
“Okay,” the little girl happily agreed. Then she turned to Bethany. “When can we visit you and Mr. Ethan at the hospital, Miss Bethany?”
“Yes, that’s right. We’ll have to make sure to find a good time to visit. How about if we make some sandwiches and the four of us can have lunch?” Jaya suggested, her smile mischievous.
Oblivious, Priyanka cheered and Bethany didn’t have the heart to say no. Which, of course, was exactly the point.
“Fine,” Bethany gritted out.
“Perfect, it’s a date,” Jaya said with a wink.
As Priya ran her purchase over the self-checkout scanner, Bethany leaned over and whispered in her neighbor and not-so-much-friend-anymore’s ear. “You’ll pay for this.”
“You don’t scare me. We all know you’re all bark and no bite.”
“Watch me. This time I’m making an exception.”
“Stop making me laugh.”
“Damn it.”
“Told ya.”