Chapter Fourteen #2
“The universe brought us together for a reason.”
“I’m starting to believe that.”
“Dr. Lovejoy,” Winnie tried again, her voice slightly strained. “Your patient in room three—”
“Can wait another minute. I’m having a fascinating conversation about cosmic destiny and—”
“Fitz.”
The voice came from behind me. Sharp, controlled, absolutely horrified.
I turned to see Julien standing in the doorway to the waiting room, his briefcase still in his hand, his expression one of complete and utter disbelief.
Behind him stood a debonair, strikingly handsome doctor who had aged to perfection and was currently sporting an expression that ranged from amused to delighted.
“Julien!” I said brightly. “I was just meeting your colleagues. Winnie is lovely, and Fitz has been so welcoming—”
“What are you doing here?!”
It wasn’t a question.
It was a statement of pure, desperate confusion.
“Supporting you,” I simply replied. “The universe told me you needed—”
“The universe,” he interrupted, his voice very quiet and very dangerous, “needs to stop telling you things.”
“But—”
“Athena.” He walked toward me, his footsteps precise even in his panic. “We talked about this. You said you were going to explore the city.”
“I did explore! I explored my way here.”
Behind Julien, a tall man with kind eyes and graying hair was trying very hard not to laugh.
“Is this her?” he asked. “The Vegas wife?”
“Hayden,” Julien said through gritted teeth, “this is not the time.”
“Oh, I think it’s exactly the time.” The handsome man winked. “Dr. Hayden Walker, ma’am. Pleasure to meet the woman who finally broke Julien.”
“I didn’t break him,” I protested. “I’m helping him.”
“By showing up at his workplace unannounced?” Julien’s voice had risen slightly.
“By being here when you need me.”
“I don’t—” He stopped, closing his eyes, clearly counting to ten. Or possibly a hundred. When he opened them again, they landed on Fitz with the intensity of a surgical laser. “Fitz. Why are you talking to my wife?”
“Because she’s delightful,” Fitz said, his British accent somehow getting more pronounced, like he was doing it on purpose just to irritate Julien. “And because watching you have a nervous breakdown in real-time is the most entertainment I’ve had all week.”
“I am not having a nervous breakdown.”
“Mate, your left eye is twitching.”
“It is NOT!”
“Oh my God, is that her?” a new voice, excited, slightly breathless, came from the hallway. A moment later, a tall doctor with dark hair practically skidded into the waiting room as if he had been running. “Please tell me this is who I think she is.”
“Nathan,” Julien said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “Go away.”
“But I want to meet the wife!” The new handsome man looked at me with undisguised glee. “The Vegas wife. The one Fitz has been texting us about all morning.”
“You’ve been TEXTING them?” Julien’s voice cracked slightly.
“Group chat,” Fitz said cheerfully. “It’s very active this morning.”
“There’s a group chat about my MARRIAGE?”
“There’s a group chat about everything, Julien. You’d know that if you ever checked your phone.”
“I check my phone!”
“For work emails. That doesn’t count.”
Another doctor appeared, this one devilishly good-looking with an expression of pure delight. “Did someone say Vegas wife? I came as soon as I got Fitz’s text.”
“GAbrIEL,” Julien practically shouted. “You’re supposed to be in surgery!”
“I rescheduled. This is more important.”
“How is this MORE IMPORTANT than SURGERY?”
“Because,” Gabriel said reasonably, “surgery happens every day. You getting married happens... well, apparently it happens in Vegas after you get drunk, but still. Historic moment.”
“I hate all of you.”
“No, you don’t,” Fitz said. “You’re just embarrassed.”
“I am not embarrassed. I am...”
“Mortified? Humiliated? Experiencing a profound sense of existential dread?” Fitz’s grin widened. “Because your eye is definitely twitching now.”
A fourth doctor, younger, with dark red hair, poked his head around the corner. “Is it true? Is she really...?” He spotted me and his face lit up. “Oh my God, it IS true!”
“Quinton,” Julien said, his voice now completely flat. “I will fire you.”
“You can’t fire me. I’m a partner.”
“I will find a way.”
Fitz cleared his throat dramatically, straightening to his full height and spreading his arms as if he were presenting at an awards ceremony.
“Gentlemen and Winnie, of course, I believe introductions are in order.” He gestured to me with a flourish.
“Mrs. Athena Darcy, may I present the esteemed physicians of Clinically Approved: Dr. Hayden Walker... geriatrics and all things old, our oldest distinguished senior partner.”
Hayden gave a little bow.
“Dr. Nathan Carter, our cardiovascular specialist and gossip enthusiast.”
“Guilty.” Nathan smiled cheerfully.
“Dr. Gabriel Lyon, who apparently reschedules pediatric surgery for social events.”
“Priorities.” Gabriel grinned.
“And Dr. Quinton Wesley, our youngest partner and most enthusiastic emergency physician, who is happily eager to witness this unfolding disaster.”
“It’s an honor,” Quinton said, pressing his hand to his heart.
“And together,” Fitz concluded, gesturing to all of them like a ringmaster, “we are Clinically Approved. Julien’s worst nightmare, finest colleagues, and sometimes reluctant best friends.”
“It’s so nice to meet you all!” I said brightly. “Julien talks about you constantly.”
“He does?” Nathan looked delighted.
“No, I don’t,” Julien said quickly.
“He does,” I insisted. “He says you’re all very talented and that he trusts you completely, even though you drive him crazy sometimes.”
There was a moment of surprised silence.
“Aww,” Fitz said, his voice softening. “Julien. You do care.”
“I’m going to murder you,” Julien said. “All of you. I’m going to murder you and make it look like an accident.”
“See?” I said to the group. “He’s very precise. Even his murder threats are well-planned.”
Hayden choked on a laugh.
“Mrs. Darcy,” Gabriel said, his eyes twinkling, “I think you’re going to fit in perfectly here.”
“Stop,” Julien said, his voice rising. “Stop talking to my wife. Stop encouraging her. Stop”—he gestured wildly at all of them—“whatever this is!”
“This is called ‘being friendly,’” Fitz deadpanned. “You should try it sometime.”
“I am FRIENDLY!”
“You once made a patient cry because they were three minutes late.”
“They were FIVE minutes late, and I didn’t make them cry; they were just...”
“Terrified of you?” Nathan suggested.
“Intimidated by your intensity?” Quinton added.
“Concerned about your blood pressure?” Gabriel offered.
“I DO NOT HAVE BLOOD PRESSURE ISSUES.”
“Yet,” Fitz murmured.
Julien turned to me, his expression one of complete desperation. “Athena. Please. Tell them you’re leaving.”
“But I just got here,” I whispered hopefully. “And everyone’s being so welcoming. The universe clearly wants me to—”
“The universe,” Julien interrupted, his voice very quiet and very dangerous, “can mind its own damn business.”
“The universe is its own business,” I pointed out. “That’s kind of the whole point.”
Behind Julien, all four doctors were now openly grinning.
“I like her,” Hayden said.
“I love her,” Nathan corrected.
“I want to adopt her,” Gabriel added.
“Can we keep her?” Quinton asked. “Please? She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to this clinic.”
“She’s been here for FIVE MINUTES.”
“Best five minutes of my life,” Fitz said solemnly.
Julien made a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a whimper.
“Julien,” I said gently, touching his arm. “Your eye really is twitching.”
“I KNOW.”
“Julien,” I continued, my hand still on his arm. “It’s okay. Fitz was just being welcoming. And Winnie has been wonderful. Everyone here has been so kind.”
He looked at me, and I could see it—the panic, the embarrassment, the absolute certainty that his carefully controlled professional life was about to implode.
But underneath all of that, there was something else.
Something that looked almost like... relief.
Like maybe, just maybe, he was glad I was here.
Even if he would never admit it.
“We need to talk,” he said quietly. “In my office. Now.”
“Okay.”
“And the rest of you”—he turned to his colleagues, who were all watching with undisguised glee—“have patients. Go see them.”
“But this is so much more interesting,” Quinton whined.
“Dr. Wesley—”
“Fine, fine. But I want details later.”
“There will be no details.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Julien grabbed my hand gently but firmly and started pulling me toward a hallway.
Behind us, I heard Fitz say to Winnie, “I give them six months before he’s completely in love with her.”
“Three months,” Winnie replied.
“Want to bet on it?”
“Dr. Lovejoy, I am not betting on Dr. Darcy’s marriage.”
“Your loss.”
I smiled, letting Julien lead me away, feeling the warmth of his hand in mine and the certainty in my chest that said, “Yes, this is right; this is exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
The universe had brought me here.
And I was going to help him, whether he wanted me to or not.
Because that was what the universe did.
It brought people together who needed each other.
Even if they didn’t know it yet.