“Nope! Turns out, I can’t stay still for that long,” I said.
“I could have told you that.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. There were so many ups and downs to being in a new relationship. Like learning to sleep next to a person. Daniel was a sound sleeper, whereas I liked to toss and turn even in my sleep. I accidentally kicked him many times during the night.
“Then I tried meditation with Rosie.”
“Let me guess, that didn’t work either?”
“I was banned from returning to the class.”
My face burned with embarrassment as Daniel laughed loudly. I pouted and poked him in the side which only made him laugh louder.
“You know I have the same problem, which is why I chose the more adventurous sports,” he said, chuckling lightly.
“I thought that was because you’re an adrenaline junkie,” I said. “But I do agree with you. I went to kickboxing with Logan and while I am exhausted…. I got an idea for a new recipe!”
We stopped walking because we had reached the coffee shop and also because Daniel pulled me to a stop and turned me to face him. I loved the excitement in his eyes because it was a reflection of my own. This was a big burden off my shoulders. I hadn’t lost my mojo.
“That’s brilliant. You’re brilliant!” Daniel gave me a kiss which left me weak in the knees. “I’m so proud of you.”
My heart warmed and those three little words bubbled up inside me. They had been bubbling up inside me for weeks now. Just as before, I kissed him before the words could come out. I wanted to say them more than anything and I was afraid that it was too fast and he didn’t feel the same way.
“Can I ask what’s this new masterpiece?”
“It’s a cupcake version of a Millefeuille. That’s a French Neapolitan puff pastry. It’s not easy but I think I can do it. I’m working on the first batch tonight. You can come over and try it,” I said playfully.
“It’s going to be amazing and I would love to try,” Daniel said, kissing the back of my fingers.
We went into the coffee shop and I ordered a large black with one sugar, Daniel ordered a large with one cream. He also ordered me a blueberry muffin and grabbed a table outside so I could get some sun.
“I can’t believe you’re making me eat lesser baked good,” I complained even as I bit into the muffin.
“You need to eat. Even if it is sugar.”
“There are eggs, too.”
“I’m sure that makes all the difference,” Daniel said cheekily.
“So, was there a reason for this lunch that I am also forgetting?” I asked. I felt bad enough forgetting the actual lunch. I wasn’t usually so forgetful. Appointments went right into my book the second they were made. I handed it to Sheila every morning to keep me on track.
“Nope, nothing special,” Daniel said, almost too casually.
I was far too hungry to focus on his casual answer, which I didn’t believe for a second. I was going to eat first, then I was going to ask him what was going on. In twenty minutes, I had inhaled my muffin and most of the coffee.
“When was the last time you had bloodwork done?” Daniel asked suddenly. I almost spit out my coffee.
“You want to draw my blood? How romantic. Have you been watching Twilight again?”
He rolled his eyes and tugged a strand of my hair teasingly.
“I’m simply concerned.”
Ugh, not this again. It was almost adorable how concerned he was. I leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on his lips. “The next thing you’re going to ask me is when was the last time I did a breast exam.”
Daniel opened his mouth and I cut him off by holding up my hand.
“It was last week.”
He smirked. “That’s a shame. I was going to offer to give you one.”
I sat up straight, deeply interested in that idea. “In that case, I don’t think I gave myself a proper one. You should do it.”
“I would never accuse you of being incompetent.”
I shook my head. “It’s not about incompetence. You are a doctor. If you know how I can take better care of myself, you must tell me.”
“Maybe I will do it, after dinner tonight,” Daniel hedged.
He promised to cook dinner since I was making the dessert. What time will I be home? That was the word he used. Home. Like his home was also mine. The strangest thing? I didn’t correct him. I hadn’t even thought of going back to my house for anything other than getting more clothes.
I finished the last dregs of my coffee and Daniel walked me back. We stopped in front of the bakery and I tugged on his hand, urging him to look down at me.
“I’m sorry I forgot about our lunch,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it. But I am going to get you something to eat right now,” Daniel said.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said immediately. I didn’t want him to feel like he needed to take care of me. He was the sweetest but I couldn’t put my fears to rest. I didn’t want to get used to his care.
“I know I don’t have to. I want to,” he said, and paused, taking a deep breath. “Eve, I am in love with you.”
I opened my mouth, the only thing that came out was a squeaking “uh”. My brain was making a buzzing noise like it was full of bees. Daniel didn’t want for me to reply, not that I was sure what I was going to say. Funny right? Given that not twenty minutes ago I was thinking I was in love with him and he didn’t feel the same way.
Daniel was pulling me close and kissing me before I had even made up my mind, or fully felt the impact of his words.
He pulled back. “You don’t have to say anything. I know it’s too soon, I just wanted you to know where I stood in this relationship.”
“Uh.”
What the fuck? Eve, say something! Fucking say it!
“Hey, Eve?”
I turned around. Sheila was standing just outside the door of the bakery holding her phone in her hand and looking frantic and excited and dancing from leg to leg.
“Not now,” I said through numb lips. I turned back to Daniel.
“Uh, right now,” Sheila hissed. “Do you know who’s on the phone? The Netflix production team for Baking with Caroline. They want you as a guest host. For one week.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. I looked between Sheila and Daniel, both of whom were looking at me expectantly. I didn’t think Daniel would be disappointed if I took this phone call right now because it was a huge deal for me. To host with Caroline Bishop for one week was a huge fucking deal. She was right up there with Martha Stewart and Sylvia Weinstock.
“Eve, take the call,” Daniel urged softly.
I rubbed my hands on the back of my jeans and walked to Sheila. I felt strange, my body felt light and airy. I could have been walking on air. My heart was beating fast and I wanted to turn to Daniel and ask him to check my blood pressure. Everything moved in slow motion. I went to take the phone out of Sheila’s hand and watched as it slipped right through my fingers and fell to the ground.
“Eve?” Daniel’s voice sounded far away and panicked.
I opened my mouth to reply, except my lips were numb and my hands were numb and my breaths were coming too fast and oh my god, I couldn’t breathe, blackness crowded my vision, someone was reaching out for me, there were voices in my ear.
Then everything was black.
Chapter 26 – Daniel
My foot was tapping a furious rhythm on the floor. I was grinding my jaw so hard my molars were starting to ache. My hands were wound into tight fists, so tight my knuckles were turning white. I had never been on this side of the waiting room, the side where I was nervous because my loved one had been admitted to the hospital and I couldn’t do anything but sit here and wait for news. I had been told to wait by Eve’s doctor because I wasn’t on call and even if I was, there was a conflict of interest in treating my girlfriend.
Eve had fainted. I told her I loved her and she fainted. Granted, th
ose two things probably did not correlate. Though that’s exactly what had happened. Her pulse had been fine, her blood pressure was low but nothing to be concerned about. No one knew what had happened to her. She had been taken in for tests and I had been told to wait. I wasn’t allowed to go in and supervise the tests. I had to fucking wait. And wait and wait.
I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway and I looked up just as my sister rounded the corner. Sienna looked harried as she came to sit down next to me.
“What happened? What’s wrong? Show me the reports,” I demanded.
“You will get no reports. Dr. Singh has warned me that I could be in deep trouble if I share the reports with you.”
“Fuck that. I can just log into the database and see the reports for myself.”
Sienna laid a staying hand on my arm. Her expression was understanding and I failed to see how she could understand how I was feeling. We were talking about the woman I loved. The only woman I planned on loving for the rest of my life.
“Eve is fine. Dr. Singh said it’s most likely exhaustion and he’s doing bloodwork just to be sure it’s not something else. I’ve also called Eve’s brother and parents and they’ll be here soon. I bet this is not how you expected to meet her family.”
“Is Dr. Singh certain it’s just exhaustion? I should take a look at that bloodwork.”
“If we need an infectious disease expert, we’ve got Dr. Sinha and Dr. Hanover. You’re too involved.”
Too involved? Of course, I was too involved. What was I supposed to say, too bad, she’ll be better soon? I should have insisted that she take a day off here and there and adjust her work hours. I didn’t care if it would have made her angry, or that I could never be that high-handed and controlling. Eve wouldn’t be in a hospital and that was all that mattered.
All I could picture was Eve’s face when I told her I loved her. I had thought for a second that she was about to say it back, not that it mattered whether she said it or not. Without a doubt, I wanted her to say it. It would also be fine if I was ahead in the feelings department and she needed more time. I was willing to take it one day at a time, as long as I spent those days with her.
I rubbed my hands over my face and wound them into my hair, resting my elbows on my spread knees. The fact that it was just exhaustion should have eased my worries. Instead, it had only added to them because Eve was never going to cut back on her hours; she was incapable of that. I could picture myself back in this waiting room in a month, two months, going through the same hell again. It was hell for me because I loved her. She was it for me. So, I felt it my responsibility to look after her.
“You love her,” Sienna said, sounding as surprised as she looked when I lifted my head to look at her.
“I know you think I’m unlovable, but that doesn’t mean I’m also incapable of love.”
“I never said you’re unlovable,” Sienna said defensively. She kept her voice low because we were still at our workplace and she, at least, was still on the clock.
“You told Eve not to fall in love with me. However, you use it, it translates to the fact that you think I shouldn’t be loved. And I don’t understand why you feel that way. Because I left? What was I supposed to do, Sienna? I just had to get out.”
Sienna clenched her jaw tightly; her gaze shooting sparks at me. We were going to fight, right there in the waiting room. The kind of fight she always had with Emily, and never with me. Sienna had always been my favorite, still was, but there came a point when enough was enough.
“Yeah, you had to leave,” Sienna said bitterly. “And I understood that, for one year, two years. Then you graduated and I thought, finally, he’s going to come back. But you decided to stay. That’s when I stopped giving a fuck. I was closest to you and you abandoned me. Then suddenly you decided to run away from Cecily and came back, claiming that you were here to stay. I’m sorry if I’m having a hard time buying that crap.”
Her words hit with the ferocity of tiny little knives digging into my skin. How accurate they were. I ran away from here and I ran away from every relationship I was in ever because I couldn’t stay. Staying felt to me the equivalent of a noose being tightened around my neck.
I grasped Sienna’s hand between my own and held it tightly. She was looking the other way, her back to me.
“Sienna, Grumpy, listen to me, okay? I would never abandon you. I’m sorry you felt that my leaving meant I was leaving you behind because that’s not what it was. You are the most important person to me. I can promise you that I have no intention of going anywhere. This is my home. And if you’re worried that I’m going to leave Eve, that’s not going to happen either. I love her, Grumpy.”
Sienna slowly turned back to me and sniffed. I wanted her to believe me more than anything. If I had any idea she felt the way she did, I would have come back a long time because I never wanted her to be disappointed in me, or feel like she couldn’t trust me. We all needed someone to have blind faith in and for her, that person was me. And I had broken that faith.
“I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, out of sisterly affection,” Sienna said haltingly.
“Thank you,” I said, sighing with relief. The moment called for a hug, but like most things, Reid’s weren’t huggers either. Sienna squeezed my hand once and pulled away.
We sat in companionable silence for a moment before Sienna remembered that she was supposed to be working and skedaddled out of there, leaving me waiting for Eve’s family.
Chapter 27 – Daniel
Dr. Singh decided the best cure for Eve was sleep. The blood report was clear—I checked it myself. I met her parents, nice people, for lawyers. Her family wasn’t my biggest fan. Her mother was wary of me and her father and brother stared daggers at me the whole time we were sitting in the waiting room.
“So,” Mr. Darling said the next morning. “You’re the boyfriend.”
I looked up from the patient’s chart I was reviewing and looked at him. I set down my tablet and focused my attention on Mr. Darling. He was about my Dad’s age, tall with blonde hair that was growing lighter and sharp grey eyes that I didn’t like being focused on me.
After we had found out Eve was fine and just needed sleep, we had all left, except for Mrs. Darling, who decided she was going to wait. It was funny how both Eve and I found second mothers who perhaps loved us more than our own ever did. In my case, I was certain that my mother has never loved her older children as much as Lisa does.
“Yes. Daniel Reid. It’s nice to meet you. Again.”
Mr. Darling looked me up and down with the shrewd gaze of a criminal lawyer. Honestly, I wondered if he could tell what a little juvenile delinquent shit was I. He had a presence. I could tell the second this man entered a court the judge and attorneys knew shit was about to go down.
“Daniel Reid. You’re a doctor?”
“Yes. I work here. In the Infectious Diseases department,” I said. I would tell him my social security number if he asked, he had that effect. Whether that was because he was my girlfriend’s father or a criminal lawyer was to be seen.
“Uh-huh. Let me tell you something, kid. You all think that just because my daughter smiles at you and laughs at you and says a few kind words that she’s going to fall in love and give up on her dreams.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t want Eve to give up on her dreams, Mr. Darling. That would be the equivalent of cutting out a vital organ and expecting her to go on as normal. I love her as she is.”
Mr. Darling’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
“Now, wait a minute. I haven’t allowed you to fall in love with my daughter.”
“I wasn’t sure I needed your permission to fall in love. If I had known, I would have asked, I can assure you.”
Mr. Darling remained reactionless. He simply put his hands in his pockets and regarded me with that same perceptive gaze that made me squirm. It brought me back to the time I was standing in front of a judge, waiting for
him to decide what was going to happen to me and whether he would let me salvage the future I had managed to screw up.
“Eve has always been very popular with boys. She’s sweet and kind. People like you are drawn to her but you’re not good enough. Never think you’re good enough,” Mr. Darling said.
I swallowed. “People like me?”
Mr. Darling’s mouth twitched with a smile. “I’ve spent years dealing with criminals. I can always tell when someone has a…rich history. What did you do?”
“Something criminal. I was a juvenile delinquent; I won’t deny that. But I’m not that person anymore. As for Eve, I don’t think I’m good enough for her. I just know that I love her and I will do anything and everything in my power to make her happy.”
My pager buzzed before Mr. Darling could reply. I looked down at it, seeing a notification that I had a patient waiting.
“I’m sorry, I have a patient waiting. What time will Eve be discharged?” I asked. I wanted to see her before she went home. Otherwise, I won’t be able to see her until tonight and I didn’t want to wait that long.
“The doctor is working on her discharge papers now. I’d say about another half hour,” Mr. Darling said. He held out his hand for me and I glanced down at it before reaching out and shaking it. In his eyes, I saw…not acceptance, but not rejection either. We had reached an impasse. I wanted Eve’s father to like me because I knew the importance of her parents in her life. Would it affect our relationship if he didn’t?
“Please let her know I will come by to see her before you leave,” I said.
“What about your patient?” Mr. Darling asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ll make time,” I said with conviction.
Mr. Darling gave me a slow nod. I picked up my tablet and walked down the hall, taking the elevator up to the seventh floor to my office. I took out my phone and texted Eve to let her know I will see her before she leaves, in case her father decided he doesn’t like me and his daughter is better off not waiting for me.
Not My Type : Golden Girls 1 Page 21