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“Maybe she should be more concerned withherrelationship and less concerned with mine.”
“What goes on between your mother and me is not your business and it works for us.”
My eyebrows almost shoot off my face. “Works for who? You? Your infidelity works for Mom? How?”
“Trust me, your mother is fine.” I watch as he drowns the contents of his highball glass, and I feel the itch to join him.No Will, no drinks while they’re here.Having a drink around my parents is a slippery slope. Once I open that door, it wouldn’t take me long to be completely obliterated as I would be taking a sip every time either one of them pissed me off. I’d once gone through four drinks in the span of an hour.
“Fine, whatever. I can’t have this conversation with you for the millionth time. Can we talk about why I called you over here?”
“Yes, that would be lovely.” My mother comes back into the room, and I wonder if she waited until after she knew we were no longer discussing my father’s latest indiscretion.
It is much easier to ignore it that way.
She sits in the chair that she handpicked for me, telling the decorator she hired that it was the perfect addition to the room. It was beige and hard andI fucking hate it.She is literally the only person who ever sits there.
I believe my father is about to start talking when Charley reappears in the room. “It’s ready if you want to eat first or…” she trails off, and I can hear the nerves in her voice. “Mrs. Montgomery, I can make you something else?”
My mother doesn’t move and my father’s eyes are glued to his laptop he’d just opened. I watch in disbelief as neither one of them acknowledge her.
After a moment, my mother remembers her manners and smiles. “It’s really much too late for me to eat anything.”
Charley frowns and looks down at her watch, visibly confused at my mother’s inability to eat past five. My mother must mistake Charley’s confusion for judgment because she continues. “Once your metabolism slows, you’ll understand. Usually around a woman’s late twenties early thirties, one has to watch what they eat and when they eat it,” she nods.
I roll my eyes. “Baby, come sit with me,” I tell her as I wave her over, ignoring my mother’s jab at my fiancée. I sit down and pull her as close as she can get to me without being in my lap and wrap an arm around her waist before giving her a gentle squeeze.
“Let’s forget about food for now, we ate before we came anyway,” my father says and I want to kick them both out for the insensitivity towards Charley’s feelings. “So, let’s weigh the options, shall we?” He sets his computer to the side. “You go to the board, explain everything, they suspend your license.” He opens his arms as if to say ‘what’s next?’ “What happens?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of factors. I wasn’tjustmessing around with a patient. I fell in love with her. She wanted to leave her husband. She’s of a consenting age—”
“Well, I would certainly hope so!” my mother exclaims.
“I just mean she’s of an age to make her own decisions without suspicion of being coerced,” I say before turning back to my father. “I don’t know what the future holds if I tell them everything. The AMA condemns any kind of sexual relationship between a doctor and a patient, but our situation is a little different. It’s against the code of conduct, but—”
“But what, Will?” J.R. interjects, and I’m getting so irritated with them for prohibiting me from getting my thoughts out with their constant interruptions. “I was just reading an article that there are some members of the AMA that believe under no circumstances can a patient give consent at all. Let’s put the violation of patient privacy aside, which is a completely different bear, what will they do when they learn about you and Charley?”
“Worst case scenario, I lose my license.”
“And then what exactly comes next?”
“I do something else. I can do other things. I can counsel other people. Some help centers don’t require a license, and a variety of degrees which I have will suffice. In my situation, I could file for a reissue in which case I could be reinstated. It just might be hard to stay in Atlanta and practice again with my reputation. But I could very well start somewhere new.”
My mother gasps. “And now you’re leaving?!” She shakes her head. “There has to be some other way.”
“Not if he’s hell-bent on telling them.”
“You make it seem like doing the right thing is so terrible. God J.R., your lawyer is showing,” I groan as I rub my head. “It’s the right thing to do, I took an oath for fuck’s sake. Try to understand that!”
“In relation to those patients whose privacy was violated, those people are none the wiser. Charley’s ex-husband agreed he wasn’t going to say anything. We are the only people that know! What is the point of turning your life upside down? I understand the principle, but…you don’t have to cut off your nose to spite your face,” J.R. bites back.
“I can’t have this over me anymore. The guilt will eventually eat away at me,” I tell him honestly.And that’s if I don’t drink myself to death first.
“Why?! They’re not going to know. If you’re feeling guilty, stop counseling them. Recommend them to someone else and move on,” my mother adds.
“Will, we got the tape from Matt when we met with him. There’s no chance of it getting back to them,” my father says.
“And what happens if he made a copy?” I ask.
“I made it clear what would happen if he made trouble in that regard. He gets it.”
