Page 26 of True Blue

“Indie, mom,” Teddy says, rolling his eyes. “Indie.”

“Right, right, Indie. Bring... her. We’ll have more than enough food.”

“I’ll ask her if she can come⁠—”

“I miss you, Theodore,” she says, her voice wobbly, tone changing in the blink of an eye. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I came home for dinner three weeks ago, Mom.”

“Too long without my baby boy,” she singsongs.

I barely suppress my cringe.

Teddy doesn’t notice, and rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I love you too, Mom,” he sighs. “I gotta go.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart!”

Teddy hits the end and tosses his phone across the bed.

He looks at me and smiles, “Sorry about that. I’m just her only boy, and I’m the baby, so you know...”

I don’t.

Not really.

But I kind of do, I guess since I just got a front row seat of what he means.

While I didn’t grow up in a normal family dynamic, it’s something you’re taught to identify as a doctor.

Certain signs to look for.

Certain behaviors.

And while the conversation could be completely normal between a mother and her son, it was the tone of her voice.

Which sounds crazy, but there was something... off to it.

“Your mom sounds...”

Many adjectives come to mind, but the one I settle on is, “...nice.”

His grin widens.

“I’m so excited for you to meet her.”

5

INDIE

SEPTEMBER

“So, you must be Cindy.”

The day already started off wrong.

Originally, I was off this Sunday, which is why I agreed to go to Teddy’s family dinner after some hesitation. But, early in the morning, a resident called and woke me from much-needed sleep asking to cover their shift.