Page 40 of Cocky M.D.
Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I answered. “Dad.”
“You sound surprised. Why are we not invited to your wedding, son?”
I knew that tone. It meant there was no use arguing with him. I saw the red cross of the hospital and asked, “Are you in contract negotiations with one of her relatives?”
“How did you—”
“Do you talk to me about anything other than my marriage and how it helps with your business?”
That was always what I was to him and my family—a tool for trade but not valued. In most families, being accepted to medical school was a celebration. In mine, it was like I’d asked for a divorce. In the end, moving across the country had saved me from constant reminders of how I’d failed my family.
“You’d have been more helpful working for me.”
“I’m a doctor. I’m sorry that makes you feel like I betrayed the billionaire club.”
“Your trust fund would be more if you invested—”
“I can’t do this anymore.” I waved my badge to get into the parking lot. “Look, tomorrow, Olivia will be my wife. We’re having a small backyard wedding—”
“Backyard?” he interrupted, sounding like I’d caused a heart attack. He must have been shocked that she didn’t want something elaborate. I’d learned from him that people were always after money.
I drove into my spot and said, “Yes, backyard. It’s what she wants.”
I didn’t move at all as he said, “Your mother insists you send Bradley to us for two weeks and enjoy your honeymoon.”
So he would be brainwashed, too, into not feeling anything and believing that money made us entitled. The thought that I was pushing Olivia way because I didn’t deserve her raced through my mind. My throat constricted. “Look, Dad, I have to go.”
“Let us know soon.”
That meant he had a business deal, and my happiness no longer mattered. And I’d treated Olivia the same way. Half of what I’d done that day was because I’d never had a heart to give to anyone. I walked into the hospital, knowing I had no way to ever be like the people I worked with or the ideals I saw in movies.
I had all the money one man might ever need, but I would never have love or whatever that feeling was that Olivia hoped we would have. That was a luxury that had been traded away from me when I’d been in the crib. Ruby had scoffed at the notion of love, and our ease was the closest I had to the feeling. Maybe my parents had been right, and I’d been wrong to let Bradley believe in some idealized version of his mother. No one truly loved anyone.
As I slipped into my office to check my work chart, I quickly took out my phone and decided that after what I’d done, Olivia deserved another gift, so I called my family’s secretary.
“I’d like for you to book two weeks in Hawaii and have the jet fueled for a stopover at my parents’.”
“Excellent, sir,” he said.
I hung up the phone and made my rounds. Testing Olivia had been wrong. Helping my patients made me realize that they all had someone there to hold their hands. The calmest ones were the married couples when they were easy together.
As I left the sixth patient, sending the man to the cardiac floor, the chief came out and stopped me, holding his own charts. “Can’t wait to meet the future missus.”
“Checking up on me, Dr. Munz?”
His gaze narrowed, and he shook his head. “No. I wanted to congratulate you personally.”
Right.His interest in my life caught me off guard. His stethoscope didn’t peer into my soul. I sighed and hoped he would never know I was such a jerk. “For?”
“If you show up married, it’s guaranteed from human resources that you’ll be the next chief.”
Right.I was marrying Olivia for that promotion, because she had my parents’ contract connections, and because my son loved her. She didn’t need my heart, too. I curled my lips into a smile and said, “Excellent. We’ll stop off at the picnic before we take off on our honeymoon.”
His eyes widened, and his voice grew louder as he said, “You’re getting married that fast? I was hoping I was invited. My wife and I enjoy seeing young lovers start on their adventure together.”
Nurses clapped their congratulations for me from the station down the hall, but I said quickly, “I wanted to show you I was ready in case you needed proof I was in a stable relationship.”
He laughed and slapped me on the back. “I’m happy for you. We all are. It’s great to be in love and find the one that makes you happy. I’d never retire if I didn’t have my Evelyn to go home to.”
