Chapter Six
Wren
L ater, I was finishing up looking at an X-ray, trying to ignore the task of reaching out to Daniel Campbell, when Regina turned up, rambling.
“Sorry, sorry, I told him you would call later, like you wanted. But once he heard you knew he was calling, he said, ‘Och, help a guy out and see if she’ll talk now. It’s urgent.’ I couldn’t help hearing him say it was urgent, so please take his call… He really sounded desperate…and sexy.” Motioning to my phone, Genie said, “I’ll send the call to your phone.”
While I used my hand to shoo Regina out of the X-ray room, it didn’t take long for her to rush out and transfer the call.
“This is Dr. Bianchi,” I spoke softly.
If there was one thing I’d learned since graduating college and medical school and finally saying screw you to my parents, it was boundaries. I was Dr. Bianchi, and whoever was on the other side of the line needed to know. Problem was that the person on the other side of this call knew all of this—all too well.
The truth was, I’d wanted to be a veterinarian, and I wasn’t. The moment I’d finished my medical residency, I made a promise to keep my limits firmly in place. Until now, and a brief visit from the past had shattered all my hard emotional work.
“Birdie?”
It was gruff and coarse, and for a quick second I thought I’d heard wrong.
“Hey, Birdie?”
There it was again, still gritty, but I was correct. Hearing the nickname—the one he’d used for me—tossed all of my restrictions, limits, and tight boundaries out the hospital’s eighth floor window. Standing there, unable to speak, my mind went into a tailspin.
What does he want?
He cleared his throat into the phone. “Wren? Are you there?”
My actual name shook me out of the spiral I’d collapsed into. “Daniel, why are you harassing my staff, demanding to talk with me?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to harass anyone. I needed to speak with you…”
“After…let’s see, what’s it been? Sixteen, seventeen years?”
“Closer to twenty. It’s been a long time.”
“I’d say. Now, while you’re dancing around why you called, I have a patient sitting in an exam room waiting for me, so get on with it.”
“It’s so good to hear your voice. You’re a hard person to get a hold of—”
“Daniel, now speak up. What do you need?”
I resisted taunting him, suggesting his dad could buy whatever it was he wanted. But our parents were older, and who knew how his dad was or if he was alive. I might be impatient and have a short fuse, but I wasn’t callous.
“I can feel your brain churning over the line, probably wishing I’d run back to Scotland with my daddy. I didn’t…”
“I know. We may not have spoken for close to two decades, but I know.” I repeated myself, tripping over my own words.
“I need a favor.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if he deserved one.
“Seriously? Are you in a bar? Drunk?” I registered a lot of noise in the background, maybe a casino…or hotel. I leaned my hip into the counter for support—the emotion of the day, the enormity of the call, and the past were getting to me.
With the phone against my ear, I stared at the X-ray, not really seeing it.
“Yes. I’m sorry, I mean, no, I’m not drunk, but I really do need a favor. I tore my ACL, skiing…really tore it, and I need surgery.”
All of a sudden the beeping made sense. Daniel was in a hospital. “And you called me? Why?”
“Because I need surgery—I already said.”
I blew out a long breath; I wasn’t a fan of his playing dumb. “Let’s give up the ghost, Daniel. We’ve googled one another. You knew where to find me—here in Boston. And I happen to know you live happily in California. So forgive me, but what the hell do you want me to do about your ACL on the other coast?”
He cleared his throat again. To be honest, I’d never liked anyone until this man wizarded me into liking him during college. The sexy golfer with an accent, who was headed to the tour, and seemed to be into me—the half Jewish, half Italian, hot mess with a flaring temper and sardonic wit. He’d listened when I spoke and laughed when he saw my day-of-the-week panties. The sheets were still rumpled from us having sex when his demanding father showed up, calling me a distraction and making sure Daniel didn’t lose focus on the tour. I’d decided on that very day to shelve love and my own distractions for my career, even though it wasn’t the profession I’d dreamed of…
“I’m in New Hampshire.”
His statement jolted me out of my journey down memory lane. And he took my silence as an invitation to go on.
“I was skiing, and this happened…my knee. And well, for a number of reasons, I don’t want to head home to have it fixed…”