Page 51 of No Way Home
Had I known that in a few short hoursI’dbring down a sledgehammer on that glass bridge, throwing all three of us into a reckless free fall…
I would’ve gotten back in my car, driven away, and pretended I’d never heard the last name Dupree.
Chapter Sixteen
MAGNOLIA
TWO YEARS LATER
I pulledinto the Seddledowne Family Medicine parking lot, put my car in park, and let myself just be for a few seconds. I needed to fit in all the relaxation breathing I could before heading inside. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy family medicine. I’d enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It was that Topher Adams, Dr. Adams’ oldest son, had a sonar for my arrival. The minute I got out of this car, I had about thirty seconds before he pounced.
But there was no relaxation for me today, because just then, a call came through from Abilene.
“Hey, Abracadabra,” I sang.
“Hey, Magnesium,” she sang back. “Just calling for my daily dose of hopeful Dupree drama.”
I pursed my lips, even though she couldn’t see. “You know there’s not a single Dupree or Bishop that would be caught dead inside of Seddledowne Family Practice.” Not with Dr. Billy Adams—Lemon’s ex—running the place.
“Probably wise. Can’t imagine he’d actually take care of them.” Abilene grunted. “Well, tell me you at least ran into someone at Food Lion. Ford? Charlie?Bowen?” she intoned, and I was positive her eyebrows just waggled. “Anyone?”
“Nope. Hate to disappoint but I do all my shopping in Honeyville just in case.”
“Come on,” she whined. “I’m tired of appendectomies. We need an epidemic outbreak or a mass casualty to liven things up. Right now, I’ll just have to entertain myself and live vicariously through you.”
“You are so morbid,” I teased. But Abilene didn’t actually mean it. She might act tough, but deep down she was one of the most caring people I knew.
“Well.” She sighed. “If you don’t have any Dupree drama to share, give me something else. Small towns are known for their family feuds, torrid affairs, and illegitimate children. Quit holding out on me.”
“You’ve been watching too much Gilmore Girls.” I laughed. “Sorry to disappoint, but the only drama in my life is a very pushy, very average-looking redneck who got rejected from every med school he applied to, but somehow thinks he’s got a chance with me.”
“Girl,” Abilene said. “To-furkeyneeds a knee to the nuts.”
I snickered at her nickname for Topher. “I’m trying to pass this rotation. Not end up in court.” With Topher’s dad in charge of my grade, I needed to tread lightly.
Speak of the devil, at that very moment, Dr. Adams yelled, “Hollis!” from somewhere outside. I turned to see him across the parking lot, standing by his car, balancing a teetering stack of surgical packs.
“Gotta go!” I said to Abilene.
As soon as my door opened, the sound of electric saws assaulted my ears—and I meanassaulted. They could probably hear it at the high school, three miles away; it was so loud and grating. I’d learned on the first day of this rotation to never show up without earplugs. Seddledowne Family Practice had better be gorgeous when this renovation was through. Because this constant cacophony might make the entire town go deaf.
“A little help?” Dr. Adams yelped as he lost the fight with gravity and a suture pack landed at his feet.
“Got it.” I picked it up and then took the top four packages from him. “The autoclave still isn’t fixed?”
“No,” he said, irritation in his tone. “And if Mindy has to help me sterilize tools with the pressure cooker one more night, she just might divorce me.”
“We wouldn’t want that.” Especially since he was on his fourth marriage, paid child support on five kids, was growing balder by the day, and his beer belly was popping over the top of his pants. He might be a doctor but the man was in no condition to go wife hunting again.
“Thanks for the save,” he said, a little calmer.
“No problem.”
He stared helplessly at his steaming McDonald’s coffee in the cupholder of his console.
“Here.” I grabbed three more packs. “I’ll see you inside.”
As he reached for the coffee, his phone rang. He let out a frustrated noise and set his stack on the driver’s seat.
