Page 23 of A Very Grumpy Doctor

“You know, you could come visit me at the clinic.We could grab lunch or a coffee on my break,” I suggest.

“Yeah… maybe,” she says weakly.

I clear my throat.“Do you want to tell me about it?”

She frowns.“About what?”

“Why you hate doctors?”

“I… I don’t hate doctors necessarily,” she lies.

I pin her with a hard look.

“Okay, I kind of do.”

“Why?”I ask gently, sliding the chicken and vegetables into the oven.

“Just a lifetime of bad experiences with them, I guess.I mean, whenever you go to a doctor, it’s because you don’t feel good or you think something is wrong, so you’re already anxious and miserable.Whenever I’ve gone for an appointment, they’ve never seemed to take me seriously.”

“How so?”

“Everything is because of my weight,” she snaps, her eyes flashing with hurt and anger.“I have migraines?It’s because I’m overweight.Ingrown toenail?Weight.I’m throwing up?You guessed it, it’s because of my weight.”

“I’m sorry, Alexi.”

“It sucked.And sometimes it was dangerous.One time, I was throwing up because I had the flu and wound up severely dehydrated.I had to go to the hospital.”

I walk around the island, stepping between her thighs.“You shouldn’t have had that experience, baby.I’m sorry you didn’t get the care you needed.I’m sorry you were dismissed and lectured.”

“It got worse when my parents got sick.They were chubby too, and the doctor spent months lecturing them about losing weight instead of running tests.Maybe if they’d taken them seriously, they’d still be here.”

“What happened to them?”I ask carefully.

Alexi rests her cheek against my chest, letting me comfort her.“My mom had a glioblastoma.”

I close my eyes, my heart aching for my girl.Her mom had a brain tumor and probably experienced symptoms for months.Instead of getting help, she was ridiculed and lectured about her weight.She should have gotten a scan.She should have gotten treatment.

“She was gone in a few months.It was so fast.”Alexi sniffles.

I tighten my hold on her.

“My dad passed a few months later.Pancreatic cancer.”

“Fuck, baby.I’m so sorry.”

We stay like that for a few moments.I hate that she lost her family, hate that she experienced any of this heartache.I wish I could have helped, wish I could’ve taken away some of her pain.

Alexi pulls back when the oven timer goes off, swiping at her eyes.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the mood on our date.”

“You didn’t ruin a damn thing.You could never ruin anything, baby.”

I move around the kitchen, pulling the food out of the oven and making our plates.

“Did you want something else to drink?”I ask as I set our plates on the kitchen island.

“Maybe some wine?”

I nod.“Of course.”