Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
T hat night, after I put Sophie in bed and assured her that Liam would be back before we knew it, sleeping in his bed in the bedroom beside her on weekends, I went back down to the living room where Kate was waiting.
She held an ornate shot glass of Anisovaya in each hand. “I think we both deserve this after the day we’ve had.”
I took the shot glass from her and gave her a warm kiss. “I think we do.”
We both drank back the special vodka and smacked our lips appreciatively. It was one of our favorite drinks and held special memories of our early life together. I introduced Kate to the flavored vodka of Russia and so many other things that were now a part of our lives together, if only pleasant memories.
“Brings back old times,” I said and smiled.
“That it does.” She took my hand and together, we walked out to the patio and stood at the balcony wall, watching the lights of Manhattan across the East River.
She sighed beside me. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It is,” I said and turned her to face me, my arms going around her. “You are.”
We kissed and the kiss was warm and filled with affection. “I hate to see Liam go, even though I know he has every right to travel with Maureen and Chris. And Matthew. I just worry about him getting sick.”
“Maureen will be careful,” Kate said and adjusted my tie, which I’d loosened, unbuttoning the top button. “She has Matthew to worry about, too.”
“Still, it’s a risk.”
“They’ll take all necessary precautions. I trust her. She’s really settled down since she had the baby. So has Chris. He seems so much more stable now.”
“Hopefully,” I said, taking in a deep breath. “So, enough about me. How is work on your article going? Almost finished?”
“Doing the final edits. I’ll send it off to Lori tomorrow. She’ll have it for a week, and then I turn it in to the editor and I’m officially done.”
“Freedom!” I said with a laugh, although I didn’t really mean it. Kate enjoyed her work at the literary and artistic online newspaper, and I was happy that she was happy.
“So,” she said and gave me a coy smile. “What should we do with the rest of our evening? Something special came in the mail today…”
She raised her eyebrows, and I knew exactly what she meant.
I went to the living room and saw that our new Apple TV hub had arrived.
“Dune 2,” I said and grinned. “Finally.”
We’d been holding off seeing the movie because neither of us wanted to get sick or watch the entire movie wearing masks. Instead, we decided to order Apple TV so we could buy it and watch in the comfort of our own home. We had a huge flatscreen and a very comfortable sofa sectional across from it.
“I’ll make popcorn,” Kate said.
“I’ll get this set up.”
While Kate went to the kitchen to make popcorn, I went to set the new hub up. Within a few moments I had it all ready and had signed into our account.
“There it is,” I said and clicked on the film, buying it so we had it forever.
Then, the two of us plopped down on the sofa and spent the next almost-four hours watching. Liam had already watched it at Maureen and Chris’s place, and it was from them that we got the idea to get a hub of our own.
When the time came for us to shut off the hub and go to bed, I was exhausted and emotionally drained, both by the movie itself and the day that had just passed, saying goodbye to Liam.
“I’m exhausted,” I said as I crept into bed beside Kate. She was already snuggled down in the sheets, her eyes closed.
“Me, too. Maybe we can get some quality time together this weekend at the beach house.”
I moved closer to her, pulling her into my arms. “You don’t think we had quality time together tonight?
I put on a mock frown when she opened her eyes.
She laughed. “You know exactly what I mean…”
I smiled and kissed her. “I do. Count on it.”
We fell to sleep in each other’s arms as usual, the sounds of the city beneath us filtering in softly through the open window.
The next morning when I awoke, Kate was already up and had showered and was sitting in the kitchen with Sophia, eating breakfast. I went to have my own shower and when I was dressed and ready, I went to the kitchen.
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep in,” I said and kissed the top of her head.
“You said you booked the morning off.”
I smiled at her. “You’re up every morning with Sophie. I want a few for myself.”
She laughed. “You’ll get yours. As soon as you take vacation, you can let me sleep in.”
“Count on it.” I bent over Sophie’s shoulder and gave her a quick peck on the cheek and glanced at her coloring book.
“Frozen? You like that movie or something?” I looked at her and saw her frown in momentary confusion.
Then, she realized I was teasing. “Daddy!” She turned the book towards me and showed me her latest effort. “It’s her in her purple dress.”
“Oh,” I said and raised my eyebrows. “Purple? That’s your favorite color, isn’t it?”
“It is. I want a purple dress when I grow up.”
“You can have one now,” I said playfully. “In fact, I think you already have a purple Frozen dress, or am I mistaken?”
I glanced at Kate and saw her smile. “She has two Frozen dresses. One pink and one purple.”
“Ah, yes.”
I checked my watch and then fixed myself a cup of coffee in a travel thermos. “I’m going to head out and get to the office early so I can prepare for my meeting. I’ll probably play some racquetball with Dave and then will be home for dinner.”
“Sounds good. Sophie and I will probably go for a walk along the boardwalk and maybe get some street food. Hotdogs or corndogs?”
“Corndogs!” Sophie replied, smiling.
“Corndogs it is,” Kate said and turned her face up to me for a kiss goodbye,
“Lucky you,” I said, raising my eyebrows, knowing Kate was just about corn-dogged out. They were one of Sophie’s favorite junk foods that she insisted on eating when they went to the boardwalk.
I kissed Sophie one more time and then grabbed my jacket and briefcase and left the apartment. Down on the street, I knew the limo would be waiting for me, so I grabbed a newspaper out of the dispenser on my way. My driver had the door already open for me.
I thanked him and got inside.
“Where to, Sir?”
“New York Presbyterian, thanks.”
For the next half an hour as we drove through the streets of Brooklyn and then across the Brooklyn Bridge to the hospital, I read the news headlines. When we finally arrived at the hospital, I thanked my driver and then went to my office, which overlooked the quad. I had several piles of files on my inbox shelf and needed to read over a few before my conference call with a colleague about how the cases would be divided amongst the staff neurosurgeons while I was on leave for the summer.
I met with the crew, and we spent the first couple of hours discussing each case and then dividing them up according to experience and specialty.
“Lucky you,” Dane said and smiled, when I handed the last of the files over to him. “A whole summer off? Talk about dedication to your patients. I hope I can be you one day…”
I laughed. It was just good-natured ribbing and nothing serious. It was just Dane being Dane. I had come to know him quite well since I returned to NYP. He was my right-hand man, and I could count on him to manage things for the summer while I was away for two months. In fact, I think he relished the idea of running the practice while I was away. It would give him the management experience he needed to head up his own one day.
I had every faith that he would. He was that gifted as a surgeon.
While I was cleaning up my office before leaving for the day, I got a call on my cell and checked the call display to see who it was and whether I would answer.
It was from none other than my former boss and friend, Michael Owiti.
I answered right away, smiling at the thought of my old boss and long-time mentor, who gave me the job in Southampton and a lot of work in Africa.
“Michael, long time no hear. How are you? What’s new in Merry Old England?”
“I’m not calling from there, my friend. I’m actually in Kenya. You must have heard about the flooding that hit the region. Well, I’m here in Nairobi, trying to salvage what I can of the hospital’s neurosurgery department.”
“Oh, God, yes,” I said, rubbing my forehead. I remembered an article I’d read earlier in the day about catastrophic flooding in Kenya that destroyed vast tracts of crop land and the potential for crop failure. “I read about it. Terrible.”
“That’s why I’m calling. I was asked to come down and do some work for them. They lost two of their top surgeons in a flood that swept their vehicle away. There’s risk of food shortages and famine, so I’m here, trying to cobble together a team to take over. That’s where you come in, if you can spare the time. I need you, here, as soon as possible.”
I frowned and gritted my teeth, thinking about my plans for the summer. My immediate response was to turn him down even though I was just about to go on a three-month leave from NYP. I made a promise to myself that Kate and I would never again be separated, and so far, I had been able to keep that promise.
But my second more thoughtful response was to agree. This was an emergency. It was a life-or-death situation.
“How long will you need me?”
“Just until I can hire a new team, maybe a few weeks. No more than a month.”
“A month,” I said and made a face, glancing at the calendar on the desk. “Let me talk to Kate and call you back, okay?”
“Sure. I understand it’s hard to make a last-minute commitment like this. I’ll be waiting for your call.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
We ended the call, and I took in a deep breath and called Kate. She answered on the second ring.
“Hey,” I said and smiled when I heard Sophie’s voice in the background. “You and Sophie having a nice time?”
“We’re at the boardwalk and have just finished some ice cream after eating corndogs. What’s up?”
“I got a call from Michael Owiti about an emergency at the hospital in Nairobi due to the flooding. He was asked to go and cover for the neurosurgery department because two of the surgeons were killed in the floods. He asked me to go and help him until he can hire replacements.”
“Oh, Drake, that’s terrible. I saw coverage of the flooding on the news. You said yes, I expect.”
“I told him I had to call you first. I promised myself that I’d never separate us again and I don’t want to break it. The best option would be for you and Sophie to come with me, but I know you’re not done your article for the paper.”
“No, no,” she said, her voice firm. “You must go, Drake. This is important. Sophie and I can manage until I’m done. Then, we can fly to meet you in Nairobi. We could start our vacation once you’re finished. It will only be a few days unless I have to do any serious edits.”
I sighed. Of course, Kate would want me to go. In truth, I didn’t feel I could say no, considering I had the summer months off from NYP but at the same time, I didn’t want to say yes without feeling out how Kate responded to the idea.
She was too wonderful.
“I hate leaving you and Sophie,” I said, exhaling heavily.
“We’ll be fine. You call Michael right back and tell him you’ll be there as soon as you can pack a bag and catch a flight. I won’t hear of you saying no. I couldn’t live with myself if it was over me.”
“You are amazing.”
She laughed. “I am. You better remember that and treat me like a queen when Sophie and I arrive when I’m done at the paper.”
“I will. Thanks, Kate.”
“You’re welcome. We’ll miss you, but we’ll keep ourselves amused until we can fly there.”
We ended the call, and I called Michael right back.
“Drake,” he said, his voice hesitant. “What was the verdict?”
“I’ll make arrangements and I’ll be there on the first flight out of New York.”
Michael sighed heavily. “I knew I could count on you. Believe me, I hesitated calling. I know you have a busy life there with your two kids and Kate, plus your practice. I was going to ask Franklin in Boston, but you’re the one I trust the most.”
“No, I understand. I have experience there and have just about started a few months leave from NYP. I know the hospital in Nairobi. I’ll check flights and call you back with the details.”
“Thanks, Drake. You don’t know how much weight this takes off my shoulders.”
I ended the call and opened a browser in my laptop and started a search for a flight to Nairobi, Kenya. I saw the airline I preferred, British Airways, with a one-and-a-half-hour stopover in London, and then would arrive the next day in Kenya. It was a Boeing 777, and I couldn’t resist their first-class business suite. The flight left at night, and I would arrive in Kenya the following evening.
After a few clicks, I had my ticket.
I leaned back in my seat and exhaled. I’d miss Kate and Sophie, but we’d be reunited within a few days. A week at most.
Besides, by helping Michael Owiti, to whom I owed so much, I’d get a chance to use my skills in a way that helped innocent children in an emergency.
That would be more than worth the disruption and change in plans.