Heart Doctor

by Melissa Silvey

  Who’s going to save me? Prince Charming isn’t coming to the rescue, that’s for damn sure. The prince had his fun, and now he’s moved on.

  I buy my coffee, and begin to suck it down before I even leave the stand. And just as I’m walking to the elevators, I see a picture on a magazine that catches my eye.

  The Prince has Returned! the headline reads. And there’s Lex, standing in front of a building where he’s cutting a red ribbon. His pretty young fiancée is at his side. I should have known. Damn, I’m such a fool.

  I guess this is my payback. Maybe this is what he’d planned all along. Maybe he decided to seduce me, make me care about him, and drop me. Maybe he planned to break my heart for some kind of revenge.

  His plan succeeded. My heart is officially broken.

  I open the door, and I’m surprised to find Vivienne Astor sitting in a cheap green fabric chair, ramrod straight, waiting on me. She looks paler, thinner. She looks almost weak. She’s not the only one. I haven’t eaten, or slept, since last weekend. I look like shit. Ryan even said so yesterday. Ella shook her head, and gave him a dirty look.

  I stare at her silently, until it gets awkward.

  Finally, he says, “Good morning, Dr. Bell.”

  “Why are you here? I didn’t think I’d see you again. Ever.”

  “I’m here for my appointment. We had the stress test scheduled for eight thirty. It’s now…” She even glances down at her expensive watch. “Ten minutes after nine.”

  That stuns me. Is she really going to continue with this charade? She only came to see me because she wanted to get her son and his ex back together. She failed. Miserably.

  I try my hardest not to yell. But I’m in a terrible place right now. My bedside manner is even worse than usual. And, I raise my voice. “I made it very clear you the last time you were here that you should find a new doctor, Mrs. Astor. I can’t help you.”

  She stands then, back still straight as a board. “Do you think I wanted to come to you, Dr. Bell?” she snaps at me. “I am ashamed of what I did. I broke my son’s heart.”

  “Twice,” I prompt.

  She looks away, as her son does when he wants to avoid telling a lie. “How do you know that?”

  “I know. You did it with the girlfriend before me, the same thing you did with me,” I accuse.

  She returns her gaze to mine, and she looks so sad. Pitiful, almost. “I did things I shouldn’t have done. I broke his heart and left him cold. I’ll live with it for what I have left of my life.”

  “He’s not the only person you hurt, Mrs. Astor,” I remind her.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Bell. I hope that one day you can forgive me.” She sounds sincere. I nod, and turn away. “You could go to New York, you know. You could go see him.”

  I continue to walk toward my office. “I could. But I won’t.”

  I catch Ella staring at me through the glass partition. She looks like she feels sorry for me.

  She shouldn’t. I’ve gotten over the Astors before, and I’ll do it again.

  She gives me a weak smile. She and Ryan have both become too familiar. They don’t see me as their boss, they see me as their friend. I think Ryan looks at me like his little sister, even though I’m older than he is.

  I should start over, in a new city. I should return to California. No, I hated San Francisco. I’ll go somewhere else.

  I should call Freddie Portland. No. I should start over somewhere new, with someone new, someone exciting.

  Somewhere the Astors can’t find me.

  Chapter Nineteen

  September 17, 2016

  I’m packing my suits into a box when my pager buzzes. Not that I’ll be able to wear them for much longer anyway. At least not for another year. I’m glad I’m getting away from DC now, when I don’t have to get the looks of pity from the hospital staff. I bet there would have been more than a few who would look at me and wonder if I even know who the father is. Of course I know. And he’s getting married to someone else. Not that they’ve publicly set a date, or anything, but one of the magazines at the coffee shop ran a story about his fiancée looking for venues, or something. That was a month ago.

  I call my answering service, and state my name.

  “Dr. Bell, we’ve received an urgent call for you. The doctor of one of your former patients has called. Apparently he believes she’s having a heart attack. She is being transported to your hospital now.”

  I immediately forget about packing, and go into crisis mode. I guess I should have informed my answering service that I left the hospital. Either way… “What’s the patient’s name?” I ask, as I glance down at my clothes. I’m wearing the long cotton skirt and shirt that Lex’s assistant bought me. It’s the only thing I have, that’s not sweatpants, that I can wear comfortably. And I’m wearing it for… reasons.

  I stand up, and my head starts to spin. Then I glance at myself in the mirror. Fuck. I look pregnant. Oh, well. If the nurses gossip about me, at least I won’t be around to hear it.

  “Vivienne Astor,” the voice on the other end of the line says.

  Just when I thought I was almost free of them, this happens. Fucking hell. I can’t deny a patient in an emergency, the medical board would frown on that.

  “I’m on my way,” I say, and tap the screen. I grab my lab coat before I head out the door.

  *****

  I walk down the hallway in the ER, and I find Garrison Astor, who looks so much like his son, with Lex sitting in a small waiting room, before I make it in to Mrs. Astor’s room. Garrison looks worried, and so does Lex, until he sees me. Then, he looks furious. His nostrils flare, and his strong jaw looks like it’s set in stone. His eyes aren’t sparkling, they look like they’re about to ignite.

  What did I do this time? He left me, and returned to his fiancée.

  I walk past them, toward the room where I will find Mrs. Astor. I grab her file, and read it over. Her symptoms are shortness of breath, and escalating pain. They’ve hooked her up to a monitor. I take a deep breath, and open the door.

  She looks up when I enter the room. She looks pale, and thin, just like she did the last time I saw her. I check the monitors, and her heartbeat is a little weaker, but steady. I walk toward her, and ask, “How are you feeling, Mrs. Astor?”

  “Embarrassed,” she answers. That’s not a reaction I’d expect to hear from someone who is having a heart attack.

  “Your health is very important, Mrs. Astor. There’s no reason to…” I begin.

  She looks away from me. “I’m afraid it’s only anxiety.”

  I bite my bottom lip, hard. Is there a way that I can sneak out of the hospital without Lex seeing me? Then her eyes travel over my body, and land on my stomach.

  “Mrs. Astor, you did the right thing by coming in. There’s no need to…” I begin. But my voice cracks, and I turn away before I begin to sob.

  I thought I could run away again. I thought I could just pack up and move away from Lex again. I thought I could avoid the pain, and the hurt, by starting over in a new city. But that would be so selfish of me, because I wouldn’t only be hurting myself, and Lex, I’d also be hurting this tiny little human that is forming inside me. I lost my father when I was young. I lost my mother. I don’t have a family. I should know better than to take this person’s family away from them as well.

  “I was trying to make Lex listen to reason. I know that you are…” She pauses there. I turn swiftly to face her. “Alright, I’ve had a private detective keeping an eye on you. I know that you’re leaving, Dr. Bell.”

  I exhale loudly. Can she not tell that I’m pregnant?

  “We were arguing, and my heart began to race. The pain in my chest, in my heart, it just began to consume me. I know that it’s my fault that you two aren’t together. I’ve lived with that guilt for a long time, and it’s eating away at me now that you’ve come back. I know Alexander’s first marriage broke up when he saw you. But it was doomed before it began. He’s so in love with you
. He always has been, and it’s eating him up inside.”

  “He’s marrying someone else,” I point out. This time I do sob. I cover my mouth with one hand, and my stomach with the other.

  “No he isn’t, dear.” She says it, but I don’t believe her.

  “He left me,” I spit out. “After…”

  “After he paid ten million dollars to win you away from Freddie Portland. And then he entered your office the next day, and saw you kissing him.” My eyes grow wide, and it’s her turn to look angry at me.

  “Freddie kissed me,” I correct her.

  “That’s not what Alexander saw,” she says gently. “I tried to call your office, but some strange voice said you were no longer accepting patients. And today, I was trying so hard to make him listen to me, without divulging your secret, that my head started spinning, and I couldn’t breathe.”

  “You did the right thing, Mrs. Astor. It’s sometimes very hard to tell the difference between a panic attack, and a…” I stop suddenly. Both hands cover my stomach, subconsciously. “My secret? That I’m leaving?”

  She smiles at me, and shakes her head. “No dear,” she states pointedly, and looks at my stomach. “That secret.” I sigh, and turn away again. “Please tell me you weren’t going to keep this baby a secret from Lex. It would destroy him, and any chance that you two could reconcile.”

  She’s right. I should have told him. I should tell him. I’m an idiot. I’m a total fucking…

  “He’s in the waiting area, Dr. Bell,” she reminds me. “Go, and tell my son you love him before it’s too late.”

  My steps are as heavy as they were four and a half months ago when I found Lex lingering at my door. I feel like it’s taking me forever to get to the door. But she’s right. I have to tell him. I’m about to have my own anxiety attack as I walk toward the waiting room. As I enter the room, Mr. Astor immediately asks, “How’s my wife?”

  “She should rest, and she’ll be fine,” I say, then turn to Lex. “May I speak with you, alone?”

  He’s still angry at me. I think somehow he’s put on even more muscle. His hair is shorter, as if he’s trying to cut all the curl out of it. But his face, well, it’s still perfection. “Dr. Bell, I don’t…” he begins.

  Oh, God. He called me Dr. Bell. That might crush me right there. Somehow, I manage to get out the word, “Please.”

  His expression softens just a little, before he nods. I lead him to a room that I know is private, and I hope is empty. As soon as we enter, and we’re alone, he growls, “Should I send my congratulations to the Duke of Portland?”

  “What? Why?” I ask, and immediately my hands go to my stomach. Damn it, why must I do that?

  “The last time I saw the two of you together, after you spent the morning making love with me, he asked you to marry him, and you kissed him.” His voice is full of accusation, and anger, and something that might actually be hatred.

  “Lex, I’m…” I try to say, but he interrupts.

  “When’s the big day?” he grumbles.

  “I’m trying to tell you…” His anger has not abated at all. So I blurt out, “February,” and place both hands on my stomach.

  “So, why are you waiting?” Then he takes a closer look at me. And he practically howls, “You’re pregnant!”

  “Yes.”

  “Send my regards to the father,” he groans, and moves toward the door.

  “It’s you,” I say, just as his hand touches the doorknob. And he stops. “You’re the one who didn’t wear the condom. You’re the one who hoped my birth control would fail, which by the way is very effective.” I state, softly. He exhales, but continues to face the door. “The prince made a wish. Maybe the fairies heard it.”

  His head falls forward, and bangs against the door. “I saw you kiss him. I brought you flowers, and I saw you kissing another man. I dropped them when I saw you two together. Then I picked them up and ran off.”

  “You saw him kiss me. And if you’d stayed, you would have seen me push him away and tell him no. And you would have seen the reason that I told him no was because I am in love with you, Lex.” He still refuses to look at me. “I always have been, and I swear to you right now I always will be. This is true love, Lex.”

  “Liv,” he sobs.

  So I take a step toward him. “I’m sorry that I left you fifteen years ago. I’m sorry that I avoided you when I came back. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you when I found out we’re having a baby.”

  He turns toward me finally, and I can see tears glittering in his beautiful green eyes. “Most of all, Lex, I’m sorry that I doubted you. I doubted that you loved me, and instead of flying to New York and demanding to know why you left, I just thought maybe you didn’t really want me in the first place. And then, when I saw the picture of you with your fiancée…” I sob on the last words, and suddenly I’m in his arms.

  “Don’t ever doubt how much I love you, Liv. I will never touch another woman, as long as I live. You are everything to me,” he murmurs against my ear. Then he kisses my cheek, and moves his hands to touch my stomach.

  “You’re really pregnant?” he asks, as if he doesn’t believe me, as if he can’t feel it.

  “I really have a tiny little person growing inside me,” I reply. I say it with a smile, but he’s not smiling.

  “Boy, or girl?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I say. His eyes find mine, and his eyebrows arch. “I don’t want to know.”

  “Exciting,” he whispers, and his eyes begin to sparkle.

  “Say it Lex,” I moan, as I lean forward to kiss him.

  “I love you, Olivia. God I love you.” And then, he kisses me.

  Epilogue

  February 22, 2017

  We got married in Las Vegas. It was the twenty first, but not of May. Four days after I told Lex I was pregnant, we flew to Las Vegas and got married. Then we spent the month in Cancun for our honeymoon. And our babymoon.

  Thankfully I had already told the hospital I couldn’t stay. And I sent my regrets to the hospital in Phoenix to let them know I wouldn’t be joining them. We’re living in Manhattan, right where he wanted to be. But we also bought a place at the beach, for the baby. Or babies, if we’re lucky enough to have another.

  “Breathe,” Lex whispers, as he looks into my eyes.

  I smile at him, because he’s still the most beautiful man in the world, even though he’s got a few gray hairs now, and tiny little worry lines on his forehead. He might have really wanted a baby, but he can’t stop worrying over every little thing.

  “I’m having a C-section, Lex. You don’t have to worry about the breathing stuff,” I point out. But I hold his hand a little tighter, to remind him that I want him here, that I love him, and that whatever comes our way, we are in this together.

  My obstetrician thought, due to my age, a C-section would be the best thing. And although I wanted a natural birth, I had to agree with her. Medically, of course.

  “What are you thinking about, love?” he asks, as he pushes my hair out of my eyes.

  “I’m thinking about how handsome you are when your hair curls like that, and how I hope I have seven or eight boys who look just like their dad,” I answer with a smile. “What are you thinking about?”

  “The Ecology of Commerce,” he replies.

  A nurse near us gasps. He probably thinks business tycoon Alexander Astor, the prince of Manhattan, is thinking about business at a time like this.

  But I smile, because I know exactly what he means. “I’ve been thinking about the past too. Even though today of all days, we should be looking toward the future.”

  I hear the baby crying, and Lex turns his attention away from me. I see the doctor handing something to Lex, wrapped in a white cotton blanket. His eyes light up, like it’s the first time he’s seen the sun. The smile on his face is incredible. I wish I had my phone so I could take a picture, so I’d never forget the way he looked at our baby.

  “What is it?” I ask, as I
watch him bonding with his child.

  “I thought you didn’t want to know,” he says with a laugh.

  “Lex, please,” I scoff.

  The doctor pulls the blanket away, and his eyes get even bigger. “It’s a boy,” he exclaims, with tears in his eyes. “And he’s perfect, just like his mother.”

  I watch the man of my dreams holding our baby, the baby I never thought I’d have. He’s staring at his son with all the love he’s feeling. After several moments, he turns to show him to me.

  “I love you, Liv,” he says. “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.”

  He doesn’t realize he’s made me even happier.

  And they lived happily ever after

  Thank you for reading Lex and Liv’s happily ever after!

  If you enjoyed their story, please leave a review on Goodreads here.

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  Stay in touch with Melissa at masilveywrites@yahoo.com

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