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“I’m glad he was a part of your life.”
“Me, too. He was my first real friend, after Freddie. He started out as one of my professors, and despite the walls I’d put up and all my anger, he saw something special in me. In the end though, we only had three years together. Then he died as unexpectedly as my parents had. I don’t understand why everyone I loved was ripped from me so abruptly.”
Words failed me, so instead of saying anything I held him and kissed the side of his head. He took a few deep breaths as he clutched me.
After a minute or two, Theo stepped back and said, “It’s going to be tough to deal with my coworkers today, when my emotions are so close to the surface. And for the record, even though I’m complaining, I know I caused the situation at work. It’s a classic case of ‘you made your bed, now lie in it.’ If I’d acted differently from the start, it wouldn’t be such a negative environment for me.”
“That doesn’t excuse their gossiping, or the lies that have been spread about you.”
“I made myself an easy target, though,” he muttered.
“Have you ever thought about finding a job at a different hospital and getting a fresh start?”
“Often. But I don’t want to leave my home, so I’m limited to the Bay Area. I’m sure my reputation would precede me wherever I went,” he said. “This isn’t forever, though. One day, I plan to open a community pediatric clinic, one that operates on a sliding scale so no one is ever turned away. Once I do that, I’ll be the boss, and I’ll be able to do my job without a petty supervisor or gossiping coworkers.
“But most importantly, I’ll be able to help a greater number of kids. I also love the idea of children and their families returning year after year for check-ups and wellness visits, so I get to watch them grow up. That’s the thing about working in a hospital—we only see kids when something catastrophic is happening, and often never again.”
“This is such a wonderful idea,” I said. “What would you need to make it happen?”
“Mostly just the confidence to take on a project of this scale. I have plenty of money to invest in it, thanks to Marty. Also, I wanted to gain a bit more experience first, which is another reason I haven’t gotten the ball rolling yet.”
“Well, whenever you’re ready, count me in. I’ll help in any way I can.”
“That means a lot. It’s much less intimidating to think about doing this with some support, instead of all alone.”
I smiled at him and said, “I’ve got your back. Always.”
After I finished getting dressed, we left the house hand-in-hand. I gave Theo a big hug and told him, “See you in a few hours.”
“I’m looking forward to it, more than you know.”
I backed out of his driveway and waited while he pulled his car out of the garage. Theo waved to me and closed the garage door with the click of a button before driving off. Then I pulled to the curb and sat there for a few minutes, while I thought back over everything he’d just said.
The story about his friend Martin had been exactly what I’d expected. The part of the conversation that rattled me was fully realizing what a negative environment the hospital was for him. I’d figured it wasn’t great, but somehow I hadn’t gotten the whole picture before. Now that I knew, it made my heart ache.
Chapter 10
Eventually, I pulled away from the curb with a sigh and made the short commute home. Then I got lucky, because there was a parking space close to the house. I couldn’t park in the short driveway with the tree, since it blocked the sidewalk.
As soon as I stepped through the door of the Victorian, Lark called, “Hi, Casey! I feel like I never see you anymore.” No wonder, since I’d spent every night with Theo for almost two weeks, in addition to working crazy-long hours.
I joined Lark in the living room, which was totally decked out for Christmas. We’d really gone all-out on the tree. It was almost nine feet tall, wrapped in hundreds of colored lights, and decorated with a wonderfully random assortment of ornaments. There were lots of rainbows, including the hearts I’d found for JoJo and Yolanda, a whole flock of fake birds, and all sorts of miscellaneous things. Lark’s contribution had been some sexy merman ornaments, which he’d found in the Castro.
He was currently sitting on the floor beside the tree with one of his wrapped presents on his lap. Yolanda told me he’d been doing that a lot over the last few days. Christmas was still two days away, and I thought he might die of anticipation before it finally got here.
