Chapter 6
“Did you know that woman is here?” Mom demanded, storming into Kyle’s room.
“What woman?” he asked, although he had a fairly solid suspicion. Mom had only ever gotten this upset over one person before. The one he’d left back in Willow Springs.
Her eyes narrowed to Arctic gray. “Oh, you know very well which woman I mean. Genevieve Rivas.” She almost spat the name.
Dad’s gaze veered from Mom to Kyle. “Your ex-girlfriend is here.”
Kyle dipped his chin. “She works here.”
“Are you serious?” Mom’s screech bounced off the walls. “How could a little nobody like her end up working here?”
He shrugged, but honestly, he was impressed.
Gen had had the odds stacked against her since day dot, when her dad had left her mom when Minnie was pregnant.
If it hadn’t been for Minnie Rivas and her indomitable fierceness, Gen could have so easily been another trailer park statistic.
But Gen’s brains, along with her mom’s take-no-prisoners approach, had always seen her rise above adversity.
Truth be told he recalled Minnie Rivas as being a little terrifying.
Probably because she shared some of those qualities with his mom.
“I couldn’t believe she had the nerve to answer when someone called her a doctor.” Mom sniffed. “It’s not Halloween.”
“But she is a doctor, Mom. She’s—”
“Sure she is. She might dress the part, but the best that girl could ever do was become an osteopath,” she scoffed. “Looks like anybody can get away with calling themselves a doctor these days.”
Heat rose. “Mom, stop. Gen is a real emergency doctor. She’s actually the one who first treated me in the ER.”
“What?” Mom blinked. “You mean you’ve spoken to her? Oh, I bet she was trying all her charms on you again, and you’ve foolishly fallen for her—”
“She barely spoke to me, Mom.” His heart panged. He needed to speak to Gen. There was so much to say.
“You mean she didn’t try to flirt with you? I’m shocked. I always hated how you and she would go off together with your little club-of-two. She was always trying to lead you astray.”
Nope. That had been all him. Regret soared. “Mom, you can’t keep speaking about her like this. She’s a fully trained medical doctor now. She’s employed here. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
“It tells me she probably had handouts galore, that’s what it tells me.”
“I think it’s kind of impressive,” Dad said mildly.
“Nobody asked for your opinion, David,” Mom snapped.
Kyle barely refrained from rolling his eyes at his dad. “I agree, Dad. She’s done amazingly well to make it so far.”
“Don’t tell me you’re falling for her again.” Mom’s eyes were like flint. “I won’t let her destroy your life again.”
“Mom, my life is hardly destroyed.”
“You need to calm down, Pippa,” Dad said. “Otherwise you’ll get angina again and may have to go to emergency and be seen by the woman you hate most in the world.”
“Wow.” Kyle suspected his dad was joking, but he hated that they both saw Gen like that.
Mom stuck her hands on her hips. “Can I help it if I can’t forgive her?”
“I don’t know why you can’t. What did she ever do to you?”
“Because I hate what she did to you. You’ve never dated because she did a number on you.”
“I’ve dated,” he protested. Had a bunch of first dates until he found Jesus.
Then couldn’t see the point as he didn’t want to date unless he could find forever.
And even though he’d tried the Christian dating app Dream Match it hadn’t worked.
He guessed until things were finally resolved with a certain pretty doctor working downstairs that he’d never really move on.
“Nothing that lasted,” Mom complained. “No one you introduced us to. I just want you to be happy, Kyle. I want you to find someone to settle down with.”
“She wants to be a grandmother,” Dad inserted.
“Is that so bad?” Mom demanded. “What’s wrong with that? You know my friend Roberta has a daughter your age and I just know you two would hit it off.”
Kyle silently exhaled, working to keep his temper at bay. He still felt new at this Christian walk, so what was the godly response here? What would Jesus do? Probably not swear at his mom.
“Kyle has the right to live his life the way he chooses,” Dad said, taking it for the team.
“But we’re getting older. And accidents like this,” she gestured to Kyle’s injury, “only make us more aware that life is short and we never know how much time we have.”
Good to see Mom knew Kyle’s life was supposed to revolve around her. Lord, give me patience. And wisdom. “Mom, I promise to make more of an effort. And when I find someone you’ll be the first to know.”
“As long as it’s not Genevieve.” She rolled her eyes as she always did when she said Gen’s name aloud—she thought it pretentious, which was ironic, coming from her. “Anyone but her and I’ll be happy.”
“Noted.” But not agreed to.
“Good.” Mom eyed him for a moment, a slight frown in her gaze. “Well, I might see if there’s a coffee at the café. Want one?”
“I don’t drink coffee, Mom,” Kyle reminded her.
“I meant David.”
Okay.
She left, her exit drawing an audible sigh of relief from Dad.
Yep. Same. “Is she safe downstairs? You don’t think she’ll try to find Gen, do you?”
Dad sighed. “I’m afraid that after being married to that woman for thirty years there’s nothing she wouldn’t do.”
Kyle winced. “I really don’t want her harassing Gen. She’s just trying to do her job.”
Dad studied him with one of those long looks that said he saw more than Kyle was comfortable with. “You do still have feelings for her.”
He shook his head. “It’s not feelings. It’s just there’s a lot of stuff that feels unresolved.
We broke up, and it was mutual, sure—even if Mom always wanted to blame Gen.
But I always felt like it was weird that she and I never communicated again.
Then, when I went back to find her, it was like she’d disappeared off the planet. Until boom, here she is again.”
Dad nodded, as a nurse came in. “I might go see how that coffee is going.”
“Thanks. That might be wise.” He wouldn’t put it past his mom to bail up Gen and insist she never see Kyle again.
“Hello, Kyle,” the nurse said. “How are you feeling today?”
Physically? “Much the same.” Emotionally? Not so good.
And as the nurse started fussing, he watched as his dad departed, and wondered whether Mom was right now letting Gen know she needed to stay away from her son.
* * *
“There you go, Mrs. Patrice. If the pain doesn’t subside with that medication then you may need to return.
Or visit your local doctor,” Gen added. Some people used the hospital’s emergency department to save time, not realizing that non-life-threatening cases were triaged and assigned for later treatment, sometimes hours later, and still usually cost more than a regular doctor’s visit.
She released the elderly woman to be discharged by a nurse, then completed the paperwork.
She’d needed a few easier cases to help settle her after that unfortunate encounter earlier.
Part of her was on tenterhooks expecting Mrs. Tinker to show up; the other half was focused on keeping her calm facade from slipping.
Already people were starting to see Gen show emotions she’d never shared before.
She had to lock in, to refocus. To not let a bitter woman discompose Gen’s internal equilibrium.
She returned to where a flustered Nancy was directing the emergency room traffic, as a gurney was wheeled past, with two police officers trailing behind. “Who’s next?”
“Bay two. Woman complaining of chest pains.” She thrust a sheet at her.
Gen didn’t have a chance to look at it as she sidestepped a wheelchair loaded with a teenager, and moved to the second bay. Shifted the curtains. Then nearly dropped the paper.
Her mouth dried, and she had to swallow several times to force moisture inside. “Mrs. Tinker.”
“Well, well, well. So it is true. Who would have thought someone like you would end up in a place like this?”
So the evil eye outside had been an accurate read. “Do you have chest pains? Or was that your excuse to see me?”
“I don’t want to see you.”
Gen pushed her eyebrows up, saying nothing.
“I just want you to assure me that you’ll never speak to my son again.”
Wow. Good to see the woman remained as pleasant as ever. “Surely that’s his prerogative, not yours.”
Philippa’s gaze tapered. “So you do insist on seeing him. I knew it! I should’ve guessed you took a job here just so you could be near him. You’ve always been fixated with Kyle. You’re shameless.”
The accusations kept coming, the vitriol like arrows piercing an already-bloodied heart. But she had to be a professional. To not let this woman see how much her words hurt.
She folded her arms. “Do you have chest pains or not?”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Fine.” She pivoted and walked away.
“Don’t you turn your back on me,” Kyle’s mom screeched. “I need you to know how much you hurt my son.”
What? She turned around in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”
Words rose, begging to be released, before she remembered she was on show here. Some of the nurses had paused, were watching, probably wondering what had happened that had finally caused Gen to raise her voice.
And really, anything she had to say had to be said to Kyle. Not his mom. No matter how entitled or controlling the woman was.
“Is everything okay in here?” Harvey, the emergency room’s security guard, asked.
“She’s leaving.” Gen pointed to the exit.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Mrs. Tinker snapped.
“I think you’ll find that in here I can. I’m a doctor, in case you didn’t realize.”
“Not a real one. You probably got one of those fake degrees—”
“Harvey, please escort her outside.”
“Sure thing.”
“Get your hands off me!” Mrs. Tinker yelled, brushing herself down. She stabbed a finger in Gen’s direction. “Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me. And don’t think you can have anything to do with my son.”
Officer Ramos, another of the cops who regularly attended emergency, drew closer, frowning. “Is this person bothering you, Dr. Rivas? Need me to arrest her for harassment?”
She knew he was playing, but kept her amusement locked away at the delicious thought of Mrs. Tinker behind bars. “That won’t be necessary. At this stage, anyway.”
“You’ll be sorry,” Mrs. Tinker snarled.
She already was. She ignored her, moved to where a wide-eyed Nancy was watching. “Got a real patient for me?”
“D’you need a minute?”
She needed a lot longer than a minute. Maybe a week. A month. A year. She blinked hard, tamping down the emotions percolating within her soul.
“Philippa? What are you doing down here?”
Gen’s shoulders slumped. She recognized that voice too.
“Tell me you weren’t making trouble with Kyle’s ex.”
Huh. That sounded like David Tinker was actually on Gen’s side. That made a change. She’d always believed he thought she wasn’t good enough for the son of a financier and his social-climbing wife. She peered past the white column, saw him steering his wife away, an arm around her shoulders.
He glanced back, mouthing what looked like a “sorry” to which she nodded then turned away.
“Gen? Take a minute,” Nancy said. “Maybe have a lie down for ten minutes. There’s nothing urgent that others can’t take care of. Dr. Visek can cover for you.”
Unfamiliar tears pricked, and she blinked hard and shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not. Go. Take five minutes, at least. Don’t make me find Dr. Singh to force you, now.”
“Okay, fine.”
She hurried to the doctors’ lounge, her heart still in turmoil. A splash of water on her face, a calming cup of chamomile tea that she sipped, savoring the relative quiet of the doctors’ lounge. She closed her eyes. Breathed in. Breathed out. Tried to visualize, to calm the inner angst.
But nothing seemed to work. After spending years of finally reaching this state where she was living her dreams and everything had been going so well—feeling respected at last—how could just two days have turned everything upside down?
Kyle’s arrival on Saturday night had been the catalyst for all kinds of questions she’d suppressed for years.
Questions about what was right or wrong.
Whether he deserved to know. Clearly his mom thought their breakup was Gen’s fault, and it seemed wild to think that he might still be holding a torch for her this many years later.
No. His mom had to be confused. He didn’t care. He couldn’t.
And Gen sure couldn’t afford to let him know about his child, especially when that was sure to justify his mom’s hatred.
Could she?
She closed her eyes, and maybe she fell asleep, for she was soon being shaken awake by Nancy. “Gen? We need you. Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.” She rose quickly, rubbed at her eyes.
She didn’t wear makeup for that very reason.
Being “on” in emergency was all about brains, her ability to analyze, diagnose, and make life or death decisions, not her physical appearance, and she really didn’t care what others thought of her.
It was best to look professional, not have mascara trailing halfway down her cheeks.
She returned to complete her shift, taking care to project that aura of calm stability she was known for.
No more getting emotional for her. So in between evaluating patients, she ordered imaging, pulled up lab results, checked on those in the middle of their workup, ignored Dr. Visek’s poisonous looks, consulted with specialists and Dr. Singh, admitted patients and discharged others, wrote up notes, and did all she could to forget the unpleasantness of before.
And counted down the minutes until she could leave, hoping with all she had that Kyle would stay healthy enough so he would soon be discharged.