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Jake and Jim laughed in a way that made me fearful of seeing her again, more than I was moments ago. “Well, definitely that,” Jake chuckled, “but more the fact that you resigned everything because you’re still on your mom’s tit.”
“I guess that’s one way of putting it,” I answered, disgusted by the analogy. “Although that’s not exactly?—”
“We understand what happened between you and your parents,” Jim interrupted. “It’s hard when you’re raised to believe your parents have unconditional love for you only to find out it isn’t the case. It fucks with your mind, but it’s up to everyone to own who they are and take control of their lives. I’m impressed that you learned from your unfortunate circumstances and were courageous enough to face those you abandoned. A real man owns up to his mistakes. If there’s one thing I do relate to, it hurts when you realize the love and support in your life is an illusion. But you are sitting in front of me to get your life back and not sitting in front of your parents helplessly, wondering what the fuck happened to yourself.”
“Trust me, that’s exactly what has been happening,” I answered.
“I’m glad you could see it for what it was.”
“No happier than I am.”
“Families are always so fucking complicated,” Jake added. “However, finding balance and throwing up some major steel-framed boundaries is the secret to owning your life and not giving a fuck what your parents feel about it. It’s hard, but I’ve seen many people happier for doing it.”
“I’ll discuss your return with the board,” Jim said, “but right now, I’m ready to eat. I’ve been here with Spencer since four in the morning, and I’m having an early lunch. You two care to join me?”
“I’m down,” Jake stood with me. “If your ass wants any guidance on how to get the girl back, you’d be wise to join in as well.”
I grinned. “Brunch sounds great,” I said, then looked at Jim. “Will the hospital be okay without the funding?”
“Your parents overestimated their ability to affect any part of my business,” Jim grinned. “They aren’t the only people running the world, you know? I have more than a few people and tricks up my sleeves.”
I suddenly felt stupid, thinking a man like James Mitchell wouldn’t see pretentious, age-old billionaires like my parents coming from a mile away. He’d been around people like them his entire life and didn’t get to where he was by being stupid.
“As I said,” Jim clapped his hand on my back as we turned to leave, “you should’ve spoken to me about all of this in the beginning. I could’ve saved you a lot of trouble.”
I didn’t deserve the second chance, and I knew it, but Jim’s approach made me realize that things would be different this time. I would feel steadier and in control of my life again.
Now, I just had to hope these two had great advice on getting my girl back because something told me it would be a million times harder than getting back my job.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Mickie
It’d been a reasonably decent day so far. Still, sadly, some difficult conversations took place in this field of work—miscarriages and infertility being two of the worst—and I had to have one of the former and two of the latter today.
Let’s face it, I sucked at helping people cope with things I couldn’t relate to. I had never lost a baby, nor had I ever attempted to have one, so my empathy could only stretch so far, and it left me feeling like I wished there was more I could do.
I had about another year of residency before I could even consider going into an oncology program, and days like this made me second-guess whether I should even do it.
All I could do for these women today was to be there for them and answer their questions, always offering hope for the future.
I tended to do well by offering hope for better days to come and reminding people that things will always get better, but I was a hypocrite when it came to myself. I was the first person to start beating myself up over things, and the doctor who’d returned to Saint John’s last week—Dr. John Aster—was a reminder not to make any more stupid mistakes.
Luckily, because of scheduling differences, I’d not encountered him since he’d returned, but I wasn’t looking forward to when that would change. One positive thing that’d come out of my stupid decision to date him was the lesson that I’d never trust an immature, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rich boy again.
“Mick,” I closed my eyes after the oxygen was sucked out of my lungs when I heard John’s voice for the first time since Monaco. “Mickie,” he called again.
I turned and mustered the most professional expression I could pull off. “Dr. Aster,” I said, sounding pleasant and professional and very proud of myself for pulling it together after our eyes locked.
His flirty smile and dazzling eyes filled with excitement helped encourage me to act maturely and keep everything professional as I should’ve always done.
“I heard you were back,” I said with a decent smile. “A lot of your patients will be very pleased. If you’ll excuse me, I have one more patient, and I’ll be?—”
“Mick,” he said with a sigh. “Can we try to act like?—”
“Oh, no, Dr. Aster,” I interrupted his smooth way of trying to make this conversation personal. “We cannot try to act like anything. The last time I saw you, I was part of an act—a show kind of like the opera?” I arched an eyebrow at him.
“Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m referring to,” he answered, his confidence still there, but I could tell he might have expected a different response from me.
