AllFreeNovel
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Doctors discover early in their careers that patients lie. Often, patients lie for fear of being judged, and they will put their lives at risk in order to escape judgment from a physician who doesn’t give a damn about anything other than helping them live.
I study those honest, cornflower blue eyes and her blank expression. And an older professor, with thin gray hair and bushy black eyebrows, speaks loudly in the recesses of my mind. “People lie.”
“Can I tell you something?” she asks.
“Anything.”
“I don’t know if I ever loved your brother.” My lie detector blares. “I mean, sure, in the way one does at that age. But… everyone acts like he crushed me. Like I’ve been mourning him. You want to know the truth? I ended things with your brother. Or at least… it was mutual. We grew apart. He went off to Boston, and I stayed here. I didn’t even live in a dorm. We were in such different places. Why can’t anyone get that? The ‘poor Sandra’ routine drives me batty. Why can’t people just accept that I love your parents like I loved my own. You all were family to me before Sam and I ever dated. And Sam and I probably would’ve never dated except he literally lived down the road, and back then we really lived in the middle of nowhere.”
I consider her words. Her dad worked for my dad on the ranch. Our parents were close. We all hung out together, rode bikes and horses together. Built forts in the woods.
“When Sam and I broke up, my biggest fear was that your parents wouldn’t want to see me anymore. That our parents’ friendship would splinter. But your parents were wonderful.”
“That’s because they care about you.” I scratch my jaw, considering her perspective and concerns. “When you worry about what my family would say, you realize it will thrill my parents if you have a child, right? It won’t matter to them who the father is. And if they found out we did this together, as friends, that would only make them exultant. They only want their kids to be happy, and, as you know, you’re like one of their kids.” The cake box on the counter catches my eye, and I point to it. “Noah is like one of their kids. Liam is too, but he’s married and on solid ground, so it’s not as evident these days. But their love is unconditional. That’s what love is, you know? Unconditional.”
I could push my point home and tell her that if she lets me be the father, the child would be born into a family with unconditional love, but no matter who she chooses, that child will be a part of the Duke family. Just like no matter who she chooses, I’ll be a support throughout her pregnancy and ensure she gets the medical care she needs, wherever she needs to travel to get it. If there are complications, Texas has become a state you don’t want to be in, but I’ll help her get the medical care she needs, no matter what.
“Statistically, it’s likely I won’t conceive. We’re going ’round and ’round about something that’s…” She exhales loudly, and her gaze travels to the ceiling.
As a physician, I agree with her that, statistically, a positive result isn’t likely. After one year of attempting to conceive, only five percent of women age forty will deliver a baby. Part of the problem isn’t conception, though. Depending on the study, between forty to fifty percent of women her age will miscarry. And I don’t have access to Sandra’s medical records, but they would need to be reviewed. Her mother died in childbirth. It was forty years ago, and there could be any number of mitigating factors, but I would definitely want to research any genetic causal factors.
“I have access to a wide variety of doctors. We can visit someone–”
“Obviously, but that’s…” She waves her hands as if I exasperate her. “Why do you care who I choose? Parenting isn’t on your life wish list.”
“Because you’re my friend. And I want to do this for you. I want to be there for you. It might not be easy, and I don’t want you to go through it alone.” I mean, as much as my schedule allows, I want to be there for her. “It’s probably going to be a long process.”
“It’s crazy talk.” She half-laughs, and it is in that instant hope surfaces.
“Yeah, I suppose some might call it crazy. But it feels right.”
“It’s lunacy.”
“Nah, it’ll be fun.” Of course, I’m thinking about the sex, but when her eyelashes flutter, I backtrack. “There’s a sign one nurse has hanging near her station. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful. Maybe this isn’t the perfect scenario you envisioned, but there’s no reason it can’t be wonderful… for both of us.”
“Well, if you’re really serious, I’ll get you a jar…”
“No, no, no. That’s not the best way.”
She blinks in startled astonishment. Okay. Having sex with me never crossed her mind. “I think, given your age, we’ll have the best results if we do it the way Mother Nature intended.”
And she laughs. Hard.
Well, damn. Talk about a bruised ego. Her eyes tear, and she wipes the corners with the tips of her index fingers.
“Ian Duke, think again.” She wags her index finger. “Oh, my god.”
The side door opens, and heavy footfalls bang against the wood floor.
“Sunny! What’re you doing?” Noah comes in with his fist out to bump mine in greeting.
“Thought you guys were going out tonight?” I ask, annoyed he’s here.
“We are. Come join us.”
“Grabbed dinner for us to eat.” I gesture to the take-out.
Oliver sticks his nose in one of the brown paper bags. “Mac’s barbecue. There’s enough here for all of us. You don’t mind, do you?”
