Page 18 of Doctor Daddy Dilemma

She took a gulp of her wine and set the glass back down as I took her hand and pulled her toward me. She rose slowly and wobbled on bare feet until she sat on my lap and I wrapped my arms around her. She was tired; I could see it in her eyes. Likely she had wrestled with this for the past few days as she prepared to come visit me. By every standard, we’d done enough “interviews” to give her plenty of material, but I knew her boss was a hard man to please.

“How about this… I’ll tell you some things that happened to me early in my career, and you tell me if you think they’re gritty enough for your boss.”

I tightened my grip on her body and she shrugged. “You don’t have to. I know your privacy is important.”

“Well, this isn’t private. The tabloids covered it years ago, but it might just be what your boss wants.” I raised my eyebrows and she nodded.

“Okay, what is it?”

“Well, my first breast augmentation surgery was horrible. I was doing implants on a fairly unknown patient. I accidentally punctured one when doing sutures and later had to come back and redo the whole surgery. Huge malpractice suit.” I was embarrassed to admit it, but at the time I was so green. I had been raked over the coals in the newspapers and tabloids, but it died down soon enough.

“That’s horrible, I’m so sorry.” Her compassionate expression warmed my heart.

“Eh, don’t be. I was young and stupid. I deserved the bad press because I was too arrogant.” I often thought of that incident as a means to keep myself humble and less god-like, which I had a tendency to be. “And there was the time I got sued by Barbra White. Gave her a facelift and left a scar on her chin. Man was she ever angry with me. Cost me millions.”

Charlie cringed at hearing the story. “Are you sure you want me to publish this stuff? Won’t it be sort of damning?”

I held her more firmly and looked up at her with a forced smile. Nothing in me wanted those stories republished. I’d had to go through a lot of pains to rebuild my brand and reestablish my image after being torn to shreds publicly, but it was old news. Charlie would get her “gritty” story for her boss and no harm done other than a reminder of the past. It would also keep my name from being associated with my parents, which was one thing I refused to allow happen.

“Yes it’s okay. Just paint me as the contrite doctor who makes things right,” I joked, and as I did my phone rang. “One sec, baby,” I told her, and she slid off my lap.

I reached into my pocket and saw the caller ID was one of my patients, probably needing a question answered or something. I stood and swiped to answer, but I walked away from Charlie to have a bit of privacy.

“Dr. Hartman here…”

“Doc, it’s Ellen. Nick spiked a fever. I know you gave him that shot of antibiotics, but I think he needs more.”

Ellen Drake, wife of one of the local celebrity golfers who had come in for a face lift, sounded worried. When I did procedures at my home office there was always a slightly higher risk of infection. I often warned my patients of this fact and advised them to take extra precautions, including additional prophylactic antibiotics. Ellen and Nick had refused, saying he had a fantastic immune system.

I glanced at Charlie who had now finished her glass of wine and was watching the ripples on the surface of the pool water. I didn’t want to go out and leave her alone, but it appeared I didn’t have a choice. A sick patient was a grumpy patient, and I had to tend to them or they made a fuss.

“Alright, let’s meet at the pharmacy in…” I looked at my watch and scowled. It was already late and I just wanted to be with Charlie. “Fifteen minutes. Walgreens on North Avenue, right?”

“Yes, see you then.”

I scowled as I hung up the phone and put it in my pocket. Charlie didn’t look surprised at all when I leaned down to kiss her. “I have to go, hon. I need to check on a sick patient. Can you wait for me? About an hour?”

“Well, you are Miami’s superhero, I suppose.” She kissed me back and grabbed my tie. “But when you get here, I’ll need a checkup too… I have this spot that needs a lot of attention.”

Her comment got my heart beating, and I grinned. “I’ll pencil you in.” I winked at her before taking off, and twenty minutes later, after a bout of traffic and frustration, I was at the pharmacy. I walked Ellen to the back, writing a script with a fake name on it for the pharmacist to fill. It was the only way to keep Nick’s name out of the media who, like scavengers, snooped through even the most private of records in the interest of exposing any and every weakness.

Ellen picked up a few more things she needed while we waited for it to be filled and then I walked her to her car. As soon as we walked out of the pharmacy we were bombarded by men with cameras. Ellen used the plastic sack carrying her goods as a shield to block them from getting a picture of her, but I was certain anyone who saw these photos, if published, would immediately know who I was and connect me to her somehow.

It didn’t matter to me that I was associated with her, but Nick would be angered that his secret was out. I tried ushering her to her car, but the paparazzi followed so closely I had to push a few of them away. In doing so, Ellen dropped her bag. Her things scattered on the ground—the medication, some pain reliever, some condoms and lube, and a few snacks. I thought nothing of it as I helped her pick them up quickly, and instead of forcing my way through the nosy crowd to her car, I opened the back door to my car.

“Get in,” I barked, and she dived into the backseat. In seconds we were out of there, leaving her car behind. She righted herself as I drove and apologized profusely over and over again, but it was just part of the job.

I’d had enough drama for one evening, and I was ready to be back with Charlie now, even if all we did was talk because we were both too tired to do much more. A thought occurred to me that her boss was just as vicious and immoral as those cameramen out for a juicy gossip story. I wanted Charlie to get away from all of that and be able to live her dream of being able to stand up and be a voice for minorities. That was why I had given her those details to publish. No other reason.

It was going to sting a little, but nothing I couldn’t recover from. And she deserved it. I honestly loved her, and I wanted to tell her as soon as possible. I just wanted it to be the right timing, so she didn’t think I was using those words for any reason other than my intended purpose—to care for her.

13

CHARLIE

It felt very awkward waiting around Lex’s house for hours without him. I finished my wine, snooped in the pantry a bit, and got a snack, then climbed into his bed and dozed off. I didn’t even realize how long I’d been sleeping until I heard a door click shut and was startled awake. I glanced at the bright blue letters lit up on the nightstand next to my head to see it was after one in the morning and I’d been sleeping for at least three hours already.

“Lex?” I asked, pushing myself up off the pillow. I was groggy, still slightly drunk, and overly tired. The light nausea I’d been feeling all day was gone, though, so that was good. The room was so dark all I could make out were a few shadows as someone moved around the room. The alcohol inhibited any fears I had, though the thought did occur to me that had this not been Lex, I’d have been screwed.

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