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“Hey, Mom,” he said. “What’s up?”
“You tell me. Why am I the last one to know that you proposed to Jessica?” She sounded part mad and part hurt.
Shit. “Sorry. I’d hoped to surprise you. Wait a minute, how did you find out?” He thought after the proposal he and Jessica would swing by his mother’s house for a celebration. When the night hadn’t gone the way he’d planned, he was actually glad he hadn’t told her about the proposal in advance. No harm, no foul. But it was going to be hard to convince her of that.
“YouTube.”
Nate shifted the phone to his other ear. His proposal was on YouTube? “What are you talking about?”
“Did you or did you not propose to Jessica at a restaurant recently?”
“Yes.”
There was a long moment’s silence. “Honestly, Nate, I know that sounded like a simple yes or no would suffice, but it really doesn’t.”
“Can we talk about this later? I’ve got a busy day at the office.”
“Are you all right? I mean, you look kind of stunned in the video.” He heard his sister talking in the background. There was an exchange of hands and then his sister, Lanie, got on the line. “Babe, are you okay? What on earth possessed you to propose to that biotch in the first place? Please make my day and tell me she’s on a plane back to Miami.”
“She flew out yesterday.”
“Thank God. Well, sucks that you had to buy a ring and all, but I can’t say that I’m sorry she turned you down. How on earth did that video get on the Internet?”
Nate thought back to Saturday night. He’d been nervous during the proposal, not because he’d been worried about Jessica’s response (an ironic turn of events there) but because everyone in the restaurant had been staring at him. “My best guess is that one of the restaurant patrons taped it with their cell phone.”
“Can’t you get them to take it down? Sue them! It’s awful, babe. You’re right after the guy who proposed to his girlfriend in the food court at the mall.”
“Am I supposed to know that that means?”
“Check out Top Five Epic Marriage Proposal Fails,” Lanie said. “Although, I guess now it needs to be renamed Top Six. This guy goes on and on about how he loves the way his girlfriend cuts a cupcake in half and there’s a guitarist serenading them with Sweet Caroline. I’m not trying to rub salt in the wound but, My Heart Will Go On? Nate, what were you thinking?”
“Jessica’s favorite movie is Titanic.”
“Of course is it. She’s still probably bitter she didn’t get star billing as the Iceberg.”
“Lanie, I have to go. Tell mom I’ll drop by the house tonight.”
“Okay, she’ll like that. Listen, if you ever need to talk to anyone, I’m here for you. I love you, you know, you big goof.”
“Same here,” he said, before hanging up. He stared at his phone for a second and contemplated getting on YouTube, but what was the point? There were patients in the waiting room. There was nothing he could do about the video now.
He put on his best game face and walked out into the exam area. A couple of the medical assistants were huddled together, whispering. “Good morning,” Nate said, startling them into looking up. They looked guilty of something, that was for sure.
Bianca, the nurse who’d given him the idea of going to the proposal website, came out of exam room number three. She took in the expressions on the medical assistants’ faces and immediately brightened in pretense. “Dr. Miller! Don’t you look all ready to go conquer the world this morning!” She glared at the two assistants, who immediately scampered off down the hall. Once they were gone, she lowered her voice. “How are you? Really?” she asked, frowning in concern.
“I’m fine,” he said.
Bianca nervously wet her lips. “Okay, well good to hear! Can’t keep a good man down, huh?” She pumped her fist in some kind of moral victory gesture. “Mrs. Sheridan is waiting for you. Looks like a classic case of dermatitis to me. Not that I’m telling you how to diagnose or anything, but if you read her chart, then you’ll know that she comes in for it a couple of times a year. Doc Morrison usually just prescribes some steroids and a cream.”
Read her chart? Now why hadn’t he thought of that? He tamped down a sarcastic reply and instead said, “I appreciate the suggestion. Thanks, Bianca.” Bianca was another ally of his. At least, she appeared to be one. It certainly wasn’t her fault that the proposal had gone sour.
“Any time,” she said, already taking off down the hall. He could hear the buzz from the nearby waiting room. Monday mornings were always busy. Best to get on with his day.
He tucked his laptop under his arm and went to knock on the exam door when a woman’s voice coming from inside stopped him cold. “I have no idea what I’m going to do when Doc Morrison retires. I guess I’ll just have to drive over to Panama City and see someone there.” There was a pause. “What? Oh, I haven’t met him yet, but Lucy Gardner says he’s simply awfu
l! No bedside manner whatsoever! And now there’s that video of him circulating on…what’s it called? YouTube? I just can’t believe Doc Morrison would abandon us to someone who’s so clueless he has no idea his proposal is about to be turned down!”
Nate cleared his throat and firmly rapped on the door. After a few seconds, he entered the exam room. A woman in her late fifties gave him a thorough look over then snapped her cell phone shut.
