2. Jeremy
JEREMY
Jeremy overheard Nurse Abigail talking to one of the patients about miracles and prayers in her sweetly kind way.
He fought the urge to go back and tell them both to not waste time on such nonsense.
As a man of science, he believed only in things which could be proven with facts, statistics and science.
He took it as a personal insult whenever anyone prayed for or expected miracles.
In his opinion, praying only led to false expectations and crushing blows when a patient inevitably succumbed to a disease or an illness.
He decided against having another talk with Nurse Abigail, since none of his previous rebukes had seemed to have any effect and he knew it would be a waste of breath.
Putting aside his thoughts on miracles, he went back to the task at hand, deciding whether he should go home or stay at the office for a little while longer.
The phone on his desk rang; it was the receptionist, Lynn.
“Okay thank you, Lynn, I’ll get it.”
As the line disconnected, he picked up the receiver, trying not to sound impatient, “Hello, Mom.”
“Darling, how are you?”
“I’m good and yourself?”
“Oh wonderful, your father went out golfing hours ago and he’s still out, no doubt he won’t be back till late tonight. And I had some errands to run for the fundraiser the country club is hosting next month.”
“Hmm…sounds like a busy day. So what do you need from me?”
One thing he had to admire about his mother, she never pretended otherwise and got right to the point.
“There’s a charity gala on Saturday night, being hosted by the Weinmans and I would simply love it if you could come.”
“I’m sorry Mother, my schedule is absolutely jam packed for this weekend and I…”
His mother cut his excuses short, “I’m sure you can clear a few hours from your schedule for your dear mother, you won’t even have to stay long, just an hour or so.”
Jeremy sighed wearily, “Mother, why do you really want me to come to this thing?”
He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head as she debated on how much or how little to tell him. At last she said, “The Weinmans’ daughter is in town and I think it would be lovely for you to meet her.”
“Mother, not this again, I’m not interested.”
“How can you not be interested when you haven’t even met her?!”
“I just know I won’t be interested. I’ve told you this time and again, Mother, I don’t have time for relationships right now. So please just...”
“It’s been four years …”
It was his turn to interrupt her and he abruptly cut her off, “We’re not talking about this again, Mom and that’s not even what the issue is. I simply don’t have the time.”
“Well it’s not like I’m asking you to come for five hours, I don’t think it would kill you to simply show up at the gala for just a few minutes.
All the kids your age are married now, do you know the Steinberg's’ son and his wife are expecting their second child?
Their second, Jeremy! I want to be a proud grandma too, who can show off pictures of her grandchildren too, you know.
How is that ever supposed to happen if you won’t even open yourself up to the idea of meeting someone? ”
As much as he hated caving in, Jeremy heard himself agreeing reluctantly to show up to the dinner. But even as he said yes he cautioned her, “But no more trying to set up me for the next year.”
“Let’s say three months.”
“Mom!”
“Okay, okay six months.” Her voice brightened as she launched into praise for the Weinmans’ daughter, “You’ll love her Jeremy, I’ve heard she’s very beautiful and accomplished and I just know that she has a wonderful heart.”
“How would you even know about her heart, mother?” he asked her, feeling exasperated.
“She’s gone to third world countries to build huts or homes or something like that. You would obviously need a kind heart to do something like that voluntarily!”
Jeremy didn’t even know how to respond to that, “I’ll see you on Saturday then, Mother.”
“Lovely! Why don’t you come over earlier and we can go together.”
“Sure, Mom, whatever you want.”
“Love you, son.”
“Love you too.”
“Have you eaten today?”
“Yes, Mother, I ate today.”
“Good, make sure to look after yourself properly, God knows there’s nobody else to do it.”
“Goodbye, Mother!”
As he hung up the phone, he groaned to himself for the second time in three minutes, wondering for the hundredth time why he allowed himself to be so blatantly manipulated by his mother’s emotional blackmail.
Over the years, his mother had repeatedly tried to set him up with girls she considered good enough for him and while he managed to duck out of most of them, he occasionally found himself giving in to maintain the peace.
He knew there was nothing his mother wanted more than to see him settled down with someone.
But the problem was, he had very little interest and even less time to be embroiled in a relationship.
Despite Jeremy coming from an immensely wealthy family, Jeremy’s father had instilled in him the importance of a good education and how nothing in life should ever be taken for granted.
His father himself came from very humble beginnings, but he had worked tirelessly, and by the age of 30 had made a small fortune in real estate; by the time Jeremy was born, the man was worth hundreds of millions.
But he never forgot his poverty-filled childhood.
As a result, Jeremy had worked extremely hard for everything he had in life and he had very specific goals about where he wanted to be in life ten years down the road.
Even as a child he had been very focused, when he was a teenager and girls were constantly crushing on him, he paid them very little attention and instead looked ahead to an education at Harvard University.
During his time at Harvard, he dated here and there but it was never anything serious and he was never known to have a steady girlfriend, and it wasn’t for a lack of girls trying.
With his chiseled features, straight, narrow nose, blue, serious eyes, tousle of dark blond hair and a tall, muscular build thanks to regular tennis games and daily swims, he looked more like a movie star than a pre-med student.
But even at twenty-two years old, Jeremy had big dreams for himself.
And now almost a decade later, he was still focused on pursuing those dreams.
Simply becoming a heart surgeon wasn’t enough, he wanted to be the best doctor he could be, he wanted to save lives and heal people. And unfortunately, he saw love as a hindrance to those goals. From first-hand experience, he knew that girls brought nothing but trouble.
His cell phone beeped with an incoming message, shaking him out of his muddled thoughts about his mother.
It was a message from his best bud Xavier confirming plans to grab dinner and catch the game at their favorite pub later that evening.
Jeremy looked at his watch; he would need to leave soon if he was going to make it in time.
He went back to the file he had picked up before the call and began to thumb through it halfheartedly.
It was a referral from Dr. Harrod who had briefly explained the situation.
It was a pretty straightforward case about a five-year-old girl who had a congenital heart defect, a hole in her heart.
Jeremy had been tempted to turn it down because he wanted to focus on more complex cases but the file had already been delivered and he figured he may as well take a look before saying no, out of respect to a colleague he admired greatly.
He quickly scanned the page with Dr. Harrod’s notes on it and flipped a few pages over to the patient’s medical history and he knew in an instant he would have to take the case.
What had caught Jeremy’s attention was not the case itself, but the girl’s picture pinned to her medical history.
She was small for a five year old but she had beautiful features.
Her lips were twisted into a half smile as though she knew an amusing secret while her enormous caramel eyes looked out at him solemnly.
Digging deeper into her history, Jeremy discovered she lived in one of the poorer parts of the city, she was an only child, and was being raised by a single mom.
As he continued to stare at the little girl’s face, he knew he had to help her get better.
He jotted off a quick email to Dr. Harrod saying he would be happy to take over the case and sent another email to Lynn asking her to schedule an appointment with the mother and daughter as soon as possible.