Page 239 of The Doctors Will See You Now

“Really? You’d do that?” I asked, because holy hell. That was a big commitment. That was Scott letting my future career path guide us. That was…everything.

“I’ll follow you anywhere, Harlow,” he said. “And if your dream keeps us here, then we’ll find a way to deal with the media until it dies down. All that matters is that we’re together.”

I wrapped my arms and legs around his strong body and pulled him closer to me. This man had me. He so fucking had me. “I love you,” I whispered into his ear. “You make me so fucking happy.”

Because he did. My life wasn’t the same without him in it. And, even though we were in the middle of a temporary hell, as he put it, with the whole media shitstorm following us around, it didn’t matter. That was just minor details in comparison to what we had together. And nothing could affect that kind of happiness.

He winked, picking up both glasses of water and handing one to me. “To love,” he said with a smirk, taking me back to the very beginning with the toast at his dad’s anniversary party. I clinked my glass to his, and he smiled. “Cheers, Doc.”

Seven months later…

“Scott!” Harlow yelled, her voice carrying up the stairs and into the loft.

“Yeah?” I yelled back as I pulled the protective wrapping off of my diploma from NYU and set it to the side to reveal another frame. The quilted padding of the moving blanket and tape concealed its contents completely, but I knew what was inside.

Years of studying, years of training, and years of service to the citizens of New York City, all symbolized in one framed, white coat. It was a source for a million memories, and despite knowing this move was going to be everything I’d ever had in New York and more, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to open it yet. Sometimes memories—especially those that carried a tinge of melancholy—had the ability to feel more potent than the present. But happiness feeds the soul, and it wouldn’t be long before Harlow’s smiles and flirty fun were the only thing I could feel.

“Scott!” Harlow called again, now impatient.

Fuck. “Sorry! I zoned out!” I shouted, keeping my sentimental moment close to the vest. I didn’t want her to think I had any resentment about leaving New York and starting over with her—because I didn’t. The life we were leaving behind had really started to feel like no life at all. Although we were blissfully happy together, the media was a constant circus, and everything we did played out under a microscope of public scrutiny. But I guessed that was what happened when you were at the center of a scandal with the mayor of New York City.

After a fairly lengthy investigation, both Brent and Pam had been indicted on a litany of charges. Not only had Pam falsified statements to the police, but she’d been the one to organize the actual hacking of Harlow’s email account. The fine law enforcement of New York had taken the cybercrime pretty seriously. While jealousy and scorn over our non-relationship had been the weak board underneath her, it was her naïveté and willingness to consort with Brent that had turned her life upside down. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d slept with the wrong person in an effort to get to the top.

Brent, though less directly in contact with the actual dirty work, had bigger fish to fry—likely the ones at the bottom of the bay. As in, he swam with them.

Okay, so he wasn’t dead, but for a driven egomaniac like him, the demise of his political career and the distinct possibility of prison had to feel like it. His trial date was scheduled for the end of the year.

“What’s up?” I called over the railing.

“Have you seen my masheew?” Harlow asked loudly.

“Your masheew? What’s a masheew?”

“No!” she yelled through a laugh. “My nuschmoo!”

“Why are you garbling this word so much?” I shouted with a smile. I moved directly to the stairs, knowing she was just stubborn enough to keep yelling until the end of time despite our gap in communication and the simple solution of a short trip up one flight of stairs. “I understand everything else you say completely, and then, as soon as you get to the important word, all ability to speak is lost.”

I wasn’t even fully on the landing when the weight of her body hit mine. I went back and down, putting a hand out behind me to brace myself on the steps as she fell on top of me.

She giggled the whole way, shrieking a little when we hit bottom and the force of her body on my stomach made me grunt.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a chuckle as I shifted my now bruised back off of the wooden riser and settled my ass onto a stair instead. She straddled my lap, adjusting easily to the new position and wrapping her arms loosely around my shoulders. “Are you trying to send us both to the hospital?”

“Just think how fun of an introduction that would be to your new coworkers,” she teased.

I narrowed my eyes. “Not fun at all.”

While the shitshow with the media had been one driving force for our move to San Francisco, my job was another. Just as I’d suspected, being cleared of any and all charges didn’t mean being cleared of the consequences. While the hospital couldn’t legally fire me, the whole dynamic of my working environment had shifted to something I didn’t enjoy. Constantly watched and criticized, my teasing good-natured fun wasn’t allowed, and all of the joy had left along with it.

We were hoping starting over at San Fran General would bring some sense of normalcy and enjoyment back to the career I truly loved. I didn’t even know how to be a good doctor without being a smartass. Just like with my musical warm-ups, that shit went hand in hand.

And it didn’t hurt that little Harlow had been accepted to the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and would be starting her first semester tomorrow.

“Really?” she questioned, grabbing me by the hair at the back of my head and playfully shaking it back and forth. “I think it’d be great. Injuries bring people together. Look at what it did for us.”

“That’s true,” I mused. “If only I’d known about the power of a head laceration earlier.”

“What? You would have used it sooner on another woman?”