But David wasn’t taking her death in that same way. He had a desperate sadness that made her worried. What could she do to help David?
She spent the rest of the night before she fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning, planning how to help David.
13
David hadn’t been to work in three days. He told Candace to reschedule everything. He went to Lily’s funeral but sat at the back and left before it was over so he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. He barely got out of bed otherwise. He told himself he was just giving himself a few days, wallowing while he could and that then he would stop, take a shower and pick up where he was. But the truth was, he didn’t want to feel better, not yet. And so he considered closing up the office for a week. No one would need him. Everyone’s problems’ could wait. He already knew he was the guy to go to for the nonessentials.
Sarah called once and he ignored her and then she just let him be.
On the fourth day, he got out of bed, planning to tell Candace not to expect him, when Jessie pounded on his door. “I know you’re in there. Answer the door.”
He considered ignoring her but knew she wouldn’t go away and worse, she was likely to climb through a window or something.
So he held it open.
She stepped back. “Wow, you look ripe.”
“Very funny. What do you want, Jessie?”
“Well, as your assistant, I thought I would hand deliver your appointments.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, I know I don’t usually take your calls or manage your calendar, but I’ve been getting requests.”
He waited.
“You are needed at work today, one.”
He didn’t answer.
“Okay, and two. You have a date tonight. At seven.”
“With?”
“Who do you think? Sarah. Or are you seeing someone else? Cause if you are, I don’t want any part of that nonsense.”
“No, I’m not seeing anyone else. I’m barely seeing Sarah.”
“Yeah, you guys haven’t done anything in days.”
There were times David really wanted to live in a different neighborhood. “Jessie…”
“And don’t be telling me anything about it. This message service doesn’t work two directional. I’m just giving you the schedule. Oh, and as your friend, I’m offering to drive you to work.”
He ran a hand through his hair and then regretted it. Such a mess. He looked out across the street. Sarah’s car was in her driveway. He wondered if she was watching the whole thing.
“This isn’t her idea.”
He sighed. “But she wants a date tonight?”
“Yes, she does and honestly, between friends. She’s worked really, really hard at this date, putting herself out there. If you want to keep her in your life, I’d go. Just go. I know you don’t want to. I know life sucks right now. But get your butt out of this house and go.”
He didn’t want to, at all. But watching Jessie, knowing Sarah was rooting for him, thinking about Candace and Abby, he wanted to try. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
Her grin spelled out victory.
“And Jessie, thanks.” He pulled her close for a hug.
She shook her head. “No, here.” She gave him a side hug. “See how nice this is?” Then she shoved him away. “Go get your shower.”
“Alright already. Where do I meet for this date?”
“She’ll pick you up at seven.”
When he shut the door this time, the house didn’t feel so dark, the world wasn’t so heavy, and work sounded almost fun.
He showered with care and put on his favorite green scrubs. Today was gonna be a good day. He hoped. He was willing to try.
He wanted to crawl back into bed ten times before he walked out the door, but he pushed through and made it to work, And then he was actually energized by it all.
Candace high-fived him. “Good to see you boss. Great news. Not a single Henderson on the schedule today.”
“Wow, I bet their mom is just as happy as we are about that.”
“No doubt.”
He had two infants first thing that morning. As he looked inside their mouths, their eyes, listened to their rapid heartbeats, he was astounded at the newness of life, astounded at the beginnings of a remarkable existence. What did these babies have in store? A crap ton of challenges. But they had so much joy to come. So many moments of discovery. Someone would show them sand. And water. And the sun set, and a campfire and a hug. They would feel the love of a mother, a father. Life would be so hard it might break them, but it would also be exquisitely breathtaking.
Then, unannounced, the entire Henderson family walked in through the front door, including the father who David had never seen before. The kids were all well dressed and each one carried a gift.
Mrs. Henderson nudged the youngest. He stepped forward. “We wanted to say thank you for being our doctor.” He held out a wrapped gift.
David accepted his gift and ruffled his hair. “Thank you.”
Each of the children stepped forward with their gifts and then Mrs. Henderson handed him a card. “I hope this can help. You’re the best doctor we’ve ever had. It’s not easy when we come. Thank you.” She wiped her eyes then called, “Come on, kids, time to go get our Christmas tree!”
Every Henderson cheered and the remaining infant startled and began to cry.
“Oh, oops. Sorry.” Mrs. Henderson whispered and then shuffled the kids out of the office.
David smiled. Mrs. Henderson was a good woman. He opened her card and then nearly dropped it in surprise. A check for a significant amount stared back at him.
Patient after patient felt like a new lease on happiness until at last, the day closed and he and Abby and Candace were making their way out to their cars.
Abby said, “You know, I might not be here if not for you.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I never told you this, but when you hired me, I was feeling really low. I didn’t know where else to turn and I told myself if I couldn’t find a job, that would be proof no one needed me.”
David was astounded. “I had no idea.”
“No, you wouldn’t. But I’m here. I’m healthy, and I love this place. I love what we do here. It might not seem like a lot to a lot of people, but I see their faces, I see them after you tell them how you can help. And it means a whole heck of a lot to them.”
“Thank you for telling me that.” He stopped. “Would you mind if I gave you a hug?”
“Oh sure.” Her face turned bright red so Candace joined in and the three hugged and rocked back and forth for a moment in the parking lot.
“You’re all right Dr. McArthur. Thanks for being you.” Candace gave him one extra squeeze and then they all hopped in their cars.
David drove home with a million thoughts flying through his mind. How could he not have known how much Abby was struggling? Thank heavens he’d hired her.
He pulled into his driveway. Sarah’s house was dark. His watch said he had thirty minutes until she picked him up.
He skipped upstairs, showered and pulled on his favorite green sweater. Then he took it off. What kind of grandpa was he? This was for his date with Sarah.
He grabbed a tighter fitting polo and then his skinny tan pants and a sports coat. Then he dabbed his best cologne on, put on his favorite shoes and spiked up his hair. “That’s better.” He told the mirror.
The doorbell rang and his feet tripped downstairs to answer it, ignoring his disastrously messy house.
Sarah stood on his front porch in a tight short black dress. “Wow, Sarah.”
“Hey stranger. You ready?”
“I’m ready. And you look… Sarah, you’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She led him to her car.
“Where are we going?”
“That’s the surprise.”
He smiled. “As long as I get to be with you, on a date, finally, I’m good with whatever.”
“That makes me happy because there’s a lot about this date that might surprise you.”
He closed her door and ran around to the passenger’s side and hopped in. “Oh yeah? Well, let’s get going then.”
She leaned across the car so that her face was close to his. “First, Come here.” She tugged his shirt.
His gin grew, he leaned across the seat and pressed his lips to hers.
“MMM. I’ve missed that.” She smiled.
“Me too.”
She drove him into town, down main street and then stopped in front of the shelter.
“Uh, what are we doing?”
“Just checking in with some friends. Come on. First stop.”
He followed her out of the car and up the old chipped stairs to the upstairs floor. They entered the makeshift kitchen to a set table, with red checkers and flowers.
“This is lovely.” Sarah smiled at the lady who ran the place.
“What’s going on?”
A young child walked out with a box, wrapped up like a Christmas present. “This is for you.”
“What? Thank you.” David opened it, to a box full of what looked like hand made cards. “Are these from you?”
He nodded and then ran from the room.
“Wow, this is…” He opened the first card. A child had drawn a picture of a doctor listening to her heart. “Thank you for making me feel better.”
The next card was a picture of an ear, dripping red. “Thank you for making my ear not hurt.”
He opened another and another. Card after card of something he’d done to help the people in the shelter feel better. “These are awesome.”
Sarah’s grin grew. “I can’t believe all you’ve done here David. I saw you walk out of here one day and asked Candace about it. What a beautiful thing you’re doing.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that.
They brought out a tray of chips and salsa.
“And here’s our appetizer.”
They grabbed a few chips.
“This is great Sarah, thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You just have a lot of people in your life who are happy you’re here.”
After the appetizer, they got back into Sarah’s car, David carrying his new box of thank you notes. “I’m excited to read every one of these again.”
“These people love you.”
He nodded, speechless.
She drove to the other side of town and they entered a trailer park.
“Uh?”
“There’s someone really special in here that wanted to see you.”
He shook his head and followed her through the trailers. Every now and then someone would peek their head out a do0r. “Hey there, doctor.”
He waved, not sure who these people were. They went to the second to last row and knocked on a trailer with a neat but broken door.
When they knocked, a pair of twins answered the door and when they saw him, they jumped up and down. “It’s the doctor!”
A woman, tired, but clean looking and pleasant came to the door. “Oh, Dr. We are so happy you could come.”
“Thank you.” He wasn’t sure what to expect or what he was doing here.
“We have your basket.”
“My what?”
The kids brought out a huge basket, they carried between them. “This is your dinner for tonight.”
David took the basket and looked from the kids to their mom to Sarah and back.
The mother rested a hand on his arm. “You don’t recognize these two, do you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’m sorry.”
“It’s been many years. And it’s thanks to you.” Her voice caught.
He tried to remember.
“They were in a first grade class and you caught early signs of something in their breathing.”
He wracked his brain.
“You sent a note home. We got them checked out and they had the beginnings of RSV and then we discovered their asthma. We were able to get their breathing treatments and all the help they needed.”
David didn’t remember them, but he was so happy to hear his simple efforts had helped someone.
“And the basket has notes from others too.”
“Others?”
“Yeah, we reached out to the parents at the school and there were lots of others who had the same kind of thing happen with them. You found something important, and we got it taken care of.”
Sarah stood closer. “I didn’t know you did free physicals for every kid at school.”
“Well, I …” He didn’t have anything to say.
“You ready?”
“We’re going somewhere else?”
“Well, we have to eat our picnic.”
“Oh true.”
She turned away; they waved goodbye, and then climbed back in her car.
“How are you finding all these people?”
“I wish I could take more credit but I didn’t find them. They found you.”
He opened the basket. “Oh yum. Fried chicken.” He dug around some more. “And what looks like…some more notes.” He pulled out an envelope with folded notes inside. “The first one says, “Thank you for my physicals. We’re gonna start billing our insurance.”
He laughed. “And this one says the same.” He sifted through. “There are some checks in here. Quite a few checks. I hate to take their money, but this could really help.”
“I think they are offering the money cause they want to help.”
He nodded. “Good people.” He pulled out a drumstick. “And I’m starving.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Ok.” He took a bite of chicken. “MMM. This is good.”
“Thank you.”
“You made this?”
“I did.”
“Does that mean…”
“We’re going back to my house.”
“Should I look around for something to interrupt us?”
“No. Please no.”
He laughed.
They pulled into her driveway and made their way into the house.
She had more than a table and chairs. Her front room had furniture now and a tree!
“Your tree is bare.”
“I know. I figured after dinner we can decorate either mine or yours and then the other one the next day.”
They moved the food to the table. It had been set with a lovely place setting, a deep shade of red. Their chairs were close together instead of across from each other.
She moved to the entertainment center and linked it to her soft playlist. The music sounded through her new speakers.
David pulled her into his arms. “Dance with me.”
She wrapped her hands around his neck and he felt strong, happy. Her smile, her happy expression looking up into his made him laugh. “And just what are you so happy about?”
“Oh nothing much. Just that…we did it.”
“Did what?”
“Actually had a date, one full night all to ourselves.”
The doorbell rang.
“You did not just jinx us.”
“Ugh. I could ignore them.”
He waited. He wanted to answer it. Even if it meant interrupting a truly awesome moment.
“You can’t stand it.”
“You’re right. I can’t. Even if it’s just Carl next door, I have to see.”
“Okay, Let’s open the door.”
When Carl stood there with an UNO deck in his hands, he tipped his head back and laughed. “What is this?”
“The Gempseys just wanted you to know we’re glad you’re our doctor.”
He reached for the deck. “Thanks man.”
“You’re welcome.”
After he closed the door, he took a good look at the cards. “Hey they wrote on these.” He pulled one out. “Good for one free lawn mow.”
“Sweet!” David grinned. “This one right here is gold.”
“Did they fill out every c
ard?”
“He shuffled through. “Looks like it. Wow, these are really good. Home made bread. Shovel snow. There’s all kinds of stuff in here.”
He dropped them on the table. “But we were in the middle of something…”
“Yes we were.” She stepped into his arms and wrapped her hands around his back.
“Talk to me. What’s going on tonight?”
“Honestly David. It wasn’t really me at all. I think people noticed you down. As soon as word got around that Doctor McArthur needed something, they were happy to help you. Everyone wanted to know what they could do. Offers came pouring in. I’ve never seen so much love for one person before.”
The hole-y rough parts of his insides were suddenly smoothed over and he felt some healing begin. Perhaps he was making a difference in his town?
“I have to thank you for this. I was in a really dark place. And I wasn’t sure how to feel better. I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel better. And you, the others, the whole town has reached down to pull me back up. Thank you.”
“Hey, I just wanted a date out of you.”
He laughed.
“The others, they wanted to say thank you and all that, but me, I wanted one good solid date.”
“Just one?”
“Hey, it’s a wonderful date.”
“Well, true, but I don’t know. I was kind of hoping this might become a regular thing with us.”
“Dinner at my place.”
“Well, yeah, but really I just mean you, me, together. I want that to become a regular thing.”
“I’d like that.”
“Mmmm. Me too.” He nuzzled her neck, filling his lungs with her smell of lemons and strawberries. His lips found the small of her neck and nibbled up along her skin to the base of her ear. “Is this really happening to us?” He pulled her earlobe into his mouth and toyed with her earring.
She gasped at the goosebumps that spread along her skin. “I hope so.” She clenched her toes in a silent scream. Then called out. “David.”
“What?” His crooked smile toyed with her.
“Don’t stop.”
He laughed. Then lifted her chin. “If it were up to me, I’d kiss you right now, over and over, on your mouth, your neck, your fingertips, your mouth again, until you can’t stand me any longer.”
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