by B. B. Hamel
“Look, I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules. I just do what I’m told, and I’m supposed to get you to leave.”
I shake my head and back away from him. “My grandmother is here. I have a right to see her.”
“Please, don’t make a scene.”
“Why are you doing this? What the hell is going on?”
“Miss,” he says, stepping closer to me, hands raised.
“Don’t touch me!”
He freezes. People look in our direction. I can hear them starting to whisper.
“Miss, I’m not touching you,” he says softly, calmly. “But I will remove you if you won’t come with me peacefully.”
“Now you’re threatening me?” I shake my head, unable to fully grasp what he’s doing. “I want to talk to Dr. Hill. That’s my grandmother’s doctor.”
“I’m afraid you can’t do that. I’ve been instructed to make you leave.”
I turn away from the security guard and start toward the elevators. He hurries behind me and cuts me off.
“Miss, I’m serious,” he says. “This is your last chance.”
I stare at the guy and he looks pissed. I know he’s going to drag me out of here kicking and screaming, but I don’t know why I’m being removed.
Well, that’s not true. Not entirely true at least. I know one reason.
Liza. Aiden’s boss.
She wants him gone. She wants to use this relationship against him. Aiden said something like this could happen if we got caught.
The kiss from yesterday. I knew it was stupid, knew I shouldn’t. Hospital room doors are basically just big glass panels and anyone could’ve seen it. We weren’t even careful.
My grandmother just seemed so excited. I thought it would be nice, and since she’s doing so much better, it wouldn’t matter.
If Liza saw that, though…
Oh, shit.
The guard steps closer to me, eyes narrowed. “Miss,” he says.
I put my hands in the air. “Okay, okay,” I say. “I’ll leave.”
“Good.” He sighs, steps up next to me.
For a second, I consider making a break for it. Aiden or no, my grandmother is still here and still sick. I want to be there for her when she gets released, but it’ll be pretty hard if I get banned from this damn hospital.
I don’t know what to do. I need to see her, at least to explain why I’m not around.
The guard eyes me suspiciously and I sigh. I look away from him. People are whispering all around, some of them staring. At least one person has their phone out, probably recording.
I start walking toward the exit. The guard walks alongside me.
Fucking bastards. Fucking bastards. I don’t know what I did to deserve this.
I’m not even a real patient. Aiden can do whatever he wants with me, it’s not against the rules.
Or maybe it is. I don’t know. I don’t think I care, either way.
It’s not fair. Liza is just using me to hurt Aiden. I hate her so much for it.
We get closer to the door. I think I might start to cry, but the people staring at us keep my tears at bay.
I’m not going to break down and weep like some stupid child.
This is the problem with the world. Something good can so easily get crushed just because people don’t understand it. What I have with Aiden is good.
He’s older than me, sure, whatever. That’s not really a big deal, at least not for us.
But to those on the outside, it seems like a huge deal. It’s an enormous deal. It’s scary, weird, unusual.
And they’re going to win. The forces that want to tear us apart just because they don’t understand what we have are going to win. There’s no other way to look at it.
I know Aiden isn’t going to give up his job for me. He cares too much about being a doctor, and I can’t blame him. I’m not worth losing something he loves. Being a doctor defines him, gives him purpose.
I’d hate myself if I took that away from him.
So I trudge to the door like I’m walking to the guillotine. I’m going to lose something I love, something I cherish. All because the bastards want to ruin it.
I sigh, defeated. I don’t know what else I can possibly do.
As we reach the automatic doors and they slide open, I hear something. I stop walking, the wind of the city blowing in through the open glass. I turn back to look over my shoulder.
“Ruby, wait!”
Aiden’s striding toward me.
My heart skips a beat.
Aiden. He’s coming for me.
I didn’t think he would. No part of me thought this would happen, but there he is
Gorgeous, tall, intense. He looks pissed and even the security guard steps back away from me.
The whole room looks at him. Every single person is staring at Aiden Hill, gorgeous genius doctor. He’s an asshole, a bastard, but he’s here. He’s coming for me.
“Ruby,” he says softly.
“Sir, I’m sorry—” the guard starts, but stops when Aiden glares at him.
“Give us a second,” Aiden says.
The guy hesitates but sighs and steps further away.
Aiden looks back at me, takes my hands in his. “I’m sorry,” he says.
I nod sadly. “You don’t have to be. I’ll be okay.”
He frowns. “Of course you will. I just need you to wait for me.”
I blink at him in surprise. I thought he was apologizing for leaving me, for giving me up in order to keep on being a doctor…
“Wait for you?” I ask stupidly.
“I’m discharging your grandmother. She’ll be fine, by the way. When I’m done with that, we can get her home together.”
“We… can?”
“Right.” He gives me a strange look. “Are you okay?”
“Aiden, they’re kicking me out. I mean, I thought… I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”
Understanding flashes across his face. “Oh, shit,” he says softly. “Ruby. I’m so sorry. I thought I texted you.”
I shake my head. “I haven’t gotten any messages.”
“Shit,” he says again, and pulls me into a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
I hug him back, confused but starting to feel an inkling of hope. “What’s happening?”
He pulls back and looks at me. “Liza knows about our relationship. She threatened to use you against me… so I quit.”
I stare at him. “What?”
“I quit,” he repeats.
“You’re not going to be a doctor anymore?”
“No,” he says, laughing, “no, I’m still going to be a doctor. Just not at this hospital.”
“Can’t you lose your license for this?”
“Maybe,” he says. “But Liza agreed to back off if I agreed to leave the hospital. We made a deal.”
“For me?” I ask, barely able to believe this.
“For you,” he says, grinning. “I think I got the better end of this, by the way. I’m going to get you and I’m going to make a shitload more money in a private practice.”
I throw myself at him. I feel the weight of what just happened, the fear and the confusion, threaten to crush me. I hold him tight and I can feel tears forcing their way out of me.
“It’s okay,” he says softly. “Really, it’s going to be okay.”
“You asshole,” I manage. “You should’ve warned me. I was freaking out.”
“I know. Liza is a piece of shit for kicking you out like this. It’s just her last way of telling me to fuck off.”
“She must be pretty pissed.”
“That’s putting it mildly. She feels like she invested a lot in me… and I turned my back on her.”
“Oh, shit, Aiden.”
He smiles at me and wipes my tears away. “It’s really okay, Ruby. My little gem.” He leans down and kisses me.
I feel the whole room staring, but I don’t care. I feel like we’re completely alone in this room as he kisses me fu
ll and deep and slow. I want to crawl into his arms and let him hold me, let him comfort me.
I want to be warm against him. Safe and sound in Dr. Daddy’s arms.
“Now, go wait for me,” he says softly. “There’s a Starbucks around the corner. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
“With my grandmom?”
“With your grandmom,” he confirms. “We’ll get her home.”
I kiss him. “You’re perfect.”
“I know.” He grins, kisses me one last time. “Now go.”
We break apart. The security guard rolls his eyes and gestures for me to leave. I flip him off.
Aiden barks a laugh as he walks away, back toward the elevators.
The guard grumbles at me, but I’m already leaving. I keep my finger up, flipping off the whole damn place.
Aiden isn’t leaving me. He’s losing his job here, but he’s not losing his license. He’s going to be a doctor after all.
My Dr. Daddy.
I walk proudly from that hospital and I don’t look back.
20
Aiden
I tug Ruby along behind me by the hand. “Just up here,” I say as we walk down Spring Garden toward Sixth.
“How’d you find this place, anyway?” she asks me.
“Friend of mine told me,” I say.
“Friend?” she asks, grinning.
“I have friends.”
“Liar. I’ve never heard of a single friend.”
I sigh. “Okay, fine. He was a patient a few years back and we’ve kept in touch.”
“That makes more sense. You saved his life, right?”
“Pretty much.”
“He’s not your friend then. He just owes you.”
I sigh and squeeze her hand. “You’re rough on me.”
“Someone has to be,” she says, grinning huge. “You’re too smart and handsome. You get it too easy.”
I roll my eyes but I’m still smiling. We head down the block and halfway to Sixth, I pull her up short in front of a building.
It doesn’t look beautiful. Old brownstone and a stoop that needs work. The windows look like they’ve seen better days.
“Come on,” I say to her.
“Are we walking into a crack house?” she asks.
I laugh and unlock the front door. It pushes open easily enough. The hallway has linoleum floors and the lights work as I flip all the switches on.
It’s actually not bad on the inside. The walls are in good condition, the floors not beaten to hell. It smells a little musty from disuse, but that’ll change.
“We’re going to do a lot of work,” I tell Ruby as we walk through the space, “but it’ll be great when it’s done.”
“What used to be in here?” she asks.
“I think it was an office for social workers,” he says. “At least, that’s what my, uh, friend told me.”
She gives me a look but doesn’t correct me this time. “I honestly thought it was going to be gross in here.”
“I know. We’ll do some work to the outside, too.”
We head through the space, from office to office, until we end up in the back.
It’s mostly open back here. There are still cubicle marks in the carpet, and it’s easy to tell where people’s desks used to be.
Now though, the space is empty. Whatever used to be here is long gone, abandoned years ago, the lease never picked up since.
Until now. Spring Garden isn’t exactly a thriving neighborhood, but that’s what I like about it.
I can hold open clinic hours for local residents. I can see people that otherwise might never be able to afford a doctor like me. And the patients that can afford me will travel out here to see me.
Or they won’t. I honestly don’t care, although every single one of my current patients, along with many of my past ones, have said they’ll follow me here.
It’s not a hospital. It’s just office space. I’ll be affiliated with Temple Health from now on, which will be a slightly longer commute, but that doesn’t matter.
I’ll have a career. I’ll help people again.
“What do you think?” I ask her.
She looks around, inspecting every little thing. I follow her, wondering what she’s thinking.
My little gem. My beautiful gem.
“Perfect,” he says, nodding. “Very perfect.”
I grin and kiss her. “I thought so.”
“You’re going to love it here.”
“We’re going to love it here,” I correct her. “I’m going to need help, you know.”
“I’ll help if you’re willing to take one more elderly patient.”
“Dot is going to be my very first priority,” I say, grinning.
“Good.”
We kiss again, slower this time. I love her taste and it takes all my damn willpower not to push her down and fuck her right here on the carpet.
But I know Dot’s waiting for us back at her home. After she left the hospital, I’ve been checking in on her once a week, just to make sure her progress is going okay.
She’s a strong woman. She’s going to be just fine, like I predicted, but I know it helps having me look after her. It makes Ruby happy, at least, and I love making Ruby happy.
We wander around the space for a while. I tell her my vision for it and she listens, smiling and nodding along. When we’re done, we end up back in the front toward the door, leaning against the wall.
“You’re really doing it,” she says softly. “It’s amazing.”
“Thanks. I hope it works.”
“It will.”
I take her hand, squeeze it. “You know, I never knew… I never knew I needed you.”
She looks up at me. I meet her gaze. “I never knew I needed you, either.”
“Until you came into my life, I was happy being alone. Or at least I thought I could keep living that way. Now, though, I can’t see myself without you.”
“I feel the same way,” She says softly.
“I love you, Ruby. I need you.”
“I love you, too.”
We kiss, my whole body tingling with the thrill of saying those words for the first time.
I haven’t loved someone like this ever in my life. I haven’t said those words in a very long time.
Now it feels right, and I need this more than she knows.
I feel like my life is finally starting. Working those long hours, living at that hospital more or less, that was just a holding pattern. This right here, with Ruby in my future office, this is real life.
This is what I worked so hard for.
I can finally have it. All because I stumbled into her life, and she changed mine for the better.
“Come on,” I say softly. “I know a place near here, a little Asian diner called Kenshin. Interested?”
“Very.” She takes my hand and we leave the building together.
Out on the sidewalk, I look either way. I can see our life together stretching all over this city. We have so much to do together.
I can’t wait to get started.
21
Ruby
One Year Later
“Maria! He got out again!”
I stand in the doorway of exam room two as Mateo pulls out a big wad of gauze and throws it on the floor, giggling.
“Oh, crap, I’m so sorry,” Maria says, hurrying into the room. “Mateo, stop that,” she says to the little boy.
He giggles as Maria scoops him up into her arms.
“He’s going to be the death of me,” she says as she walks past.
“He’s pretty cute, though,” I say.
“Cute death, but still death.”
Mateo gives me a big smile and giggles again. “Hi!” he says.
“Hi,” I say back, smiling.
“I’ll make sure he stays put,” Maria says.
“It’s okay, I just don’t want him to get hurt back here.”
Maria nods and hurries up front again. She’s one of our regular p
atients and she’s always bringing her intense little son. Ever since he learned to walk, that boy is a little terror.
I smile to myself as I head back up front. I have some work to take care of, just boring administrative stuff, but nothing ever feels that boring at Spring Garden Family Practice.
Michelle and Rosie sit up front, checking people in and doing paperwork. “Busy today,” I comment, sitting down next to the girls.
Rosie sighs. She’s young, early twenties, with big cheeks and a wide smile. “We’re swamped,” she says.
“When aren’t we swamped?” Michelle asks. She’s older, mother of two, endless energy. “Dr. Hill can’t help himself.”
“He really can’t,” I admit, laughing. “Nobody gets turned away. That’s the point of this place, right?”
“Right,” they say in unison, and laugh.
“Speaking of the good doctor, he was asking about you,” Rosie says. “I think he’s back in exam six.”
“Oh, okay. Is it urgent?”
She shrugs. “He always seems like it’s urgent. You can never tell.”
“True.” I grin and turn away. “All right then. Off to see the wizard.”
I head back down the hall and to the last room on the left. I smile to myself, nodding at some nurses as I pass, and glance down at the ring on my finger.
We got married the day after this place finally opened. It took about two months to get it in shape, and ever since then, we’ve been taking on more and more patients. Aiden refuses to turn anyone away, and people that can’t get paid will still get seen.
He doesn’t care about profit, although of course we’re doing well anyway. Mostly thanks to the rich patients that fly in from all over the country to see him in this tiny little family practice.
He loves it, of course. I love it too. I take care of the front end, and he takes care of the back. Together, we’re running this place the best way we can.
And we’re saving lives. Both poor and rich people get treated here, and those that he can’t take care of in these four walls, he finds doctors that’ll help them. Aiden is becoming a regular old Robin Hood.
I push open the exam room. He’s sitting next to the table, eating a sandwich, and he grins when I come in.