Page 357 of The Doctors Will See You Now

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?”

I shook my head and touched my lips to hers. “What other women? Do other women exist?”

She smacked me on the chest and rolled her eyes at my theatrics, and only then did I remember what had brought me down the stairs in the first place.

“Now, what is it you’re looking for? A schmoodle? Or a hot s’more? I’ve got no fucking clue what you were saying.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “Yeah, I was just making up words. I knew you’d come down if I kept it up long enough.”

“Oh yeah? Did you miss me or something?”

“Mmm-hmm.” She nodded and rubbed the tip of her nose against the tip of mine.

“What part of me did you miss most?” I asked softly, the succulent skin of her lips tickling the nerves in mine as they skimmed together.

Her eyes widened, almost comically because of our proximity, and I laughed at the words she didn’t have to say.

“Yeah, I thought that might be your favorite.”

“I was thinking about your brain,” she lied.

I nipped at her lips and then skated my own down the silky skin of her neck. “Sure you were.”

“I was! I’m starting medical school tomorrow, and I could really use your knowledge. Can you take all of my tests for me?”