Lakeside Hospital Box Set

by Cara Malone

  “What’s your dad like? He’s a neurosurgeon, right?” Chloe asked. “And what does your mom do? Your brother is two years younger, right?”

  She barely took a breath between questions and Ivy laughed, then tucked a stray tendril of blonde hair behind Chloe’s ear. Before she started answering questions, she said, “Thanks for being my study partner this weekend. You’re sure you don’t mind?”

  “I’m just happy I have a family to share the holiday with, even if they’re not mine,” Chloe said.

  “We’ll see how happy you are once you meet them,” Ivy said. “You might not get a word in edgewise when my brother’s in the room.”

  She had explained the competitiveness that she and her brother always fell back on, as well as the way their parents encouraged it by doling out praise and attention to the child who was doing the most to impress them at any given moment. Or at least, she’d explained the Chan family dynamics as best as she could to an outsider… something Ivy had never needed to do before.

  “So?” Chloe asked, reminding Ivy that she had unanswered questions.

  Ivy smiled and acquiesced. “My father is the top neurosurgeon at Harper University Hospital. My mother is a well-regarded corporate accountant, and my brother, Victor, is one year younger than me.”

  “You must really look up to your dad,” Chloe said, “to want to follow in his footsteps.”

  “It’s the most challenging subspecialty,” Ivy said.

  That was the reason she always gave when people asked about her career plans, and she actually avoided mentioning her father whenever possible in conversation because so many people in the field knew him. He’d carved out a niche for himself in spinal cord injuries and published many papers on the subject – the last thing Ivy wanted was to have people think she was given a free ride due to her father’s reputation.

  But this was Chloe and Ivy felt close to her in ways that she’d never felt even with her own family. She added, “I plan to stay as far away from spinal cord injuries as I can to avoid living in his shadow. I find brain tumors fascinating because of their effect on personality, lifestyle, and cognitive function.”

  “You want to do your own thing but make sure your dad is still proud of you,” Chloe said, and Ivy smirked. She had this crazy ability to look right through her. Before Ivy had a chance to feel self-conscious about that, Chloe was on to her next question. “Is it hard when they pit you and your brother against each other?”

  “It’s not that they do it intentionally,” Ivy said. That aspect of her family had been the hardest thing to prepare Chloe for. She might not get it until she was there to witness it, but Ivy tried again. “My parents are extremely driven people, and more than anything they want my brother and I to succeed. They both had to scratch their way up from the bottom when it came to their careers. They’re second generation Chinese-Americans and they grew up watching their own parents struggle to acclimatize and find their footing, so it’s important to them that my brother and I don’t squander the advantages they’ve worked so hard to get for us. My mother worked four different jobs the entire time my father was training to become a doctor, and she got her accounting certification while she was nine months pregnant with Victor. They’ve sacrificed a lot to make it easier for us to have a good life, and ever since I was little they’ve told me how important it is to focus on education to secure a bright future.”

  Ivy slumped slightly in her seat, looking hopelessly at Chloe and feeling like she was doing an absolutely terrible job of explaining herself. It sounded so clinical but Chloe patted her hand and said, “I understand.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. You don’t have to explain hardship and privilege to me. Just wait until you meet my crazy family,” Chloe said. Ivy laughed, then Chloe added, “But when that happens, we’re going to be the opposite of study partners. I’m so tired of my Aunt Bertha asking me when I’m going to find a ‘nice young man,’ I’m buying you a fake ring the size of your knuckle and you’re going to hang on my arm the whole time.”

  “I’d like that,” Ivy said. “Should we study?”

  “Sure,” Chloe said as Ivy got out her flashcards.

  Ivy’s mother and brother were waiting in the formal sitting room when she and Chloe arrived via Uber from the bus depot. Her mother always liked to greet guests in that ridiculously over-decorated and under-used room, and Ivy had prepared Chloe for it in advance. It wasn’t like she’d brought many friends home in the past, but she knew how formal her mother could be with strangers, and it tended to put them off.

  “Hello, everyone,” Ivy said as they rounded the corner from the hallway. “We’re here. This is Chloe Barnes.”

  “Welcome,” her mother said, extending a hand. “Please, have a seat. Victor, take their bags upstairs.”

  Ivy guided Chloe over to one of two matching antique sofas that faced each other, with a long coffee table between them. Both sofas were covered with thick plastic slipcovers and whenever she was forced to sit here, Ivy was reminded how lucky she was that her mother wasn’t this protective of the rest of her furniture.

  Chloe sat down with a squeak of plastic while Ivy handed her backpack and Chloe’s gym bag to Victor with a smirk. She had no idea how long she’d get to enjoy the spotlight thanks to Chloe’s presence as the honored guest, but Ivy would take it while she could get it. Victor disappeared into the hall while Ivy’s mother pointed out the array of finger foods she’d arranged on the coffee table, then offered Chloe a drink.

  “I’m okay for right now,” Chloe said, refusing the drink offer but taking a cookie. “Thank you.”

  “How was the bus ride?” Ivy’s mother asked. “I’m sorry we couldn’t pick you up at the bus station. I just got home from work and I asked Victor to handle the snacks.”

  “It’s okay,” Chloe said. “The bus ride was long but we got a lot of studying done, and the Uber driver was friendly.”

  “Do you want a drink, Ivy?” her mother asked. “Tea, water, coffee?”

  “I’d love some tea,” Ivy said. “Where’s Pa?”

  “Getting ready to go to the hospital,” her mother said, going over to an antique tea service on a console table along the wall. She poured a cup of hot water for Ivy and let her choose her tea flavor, then offered a cup to Chloe again. As she returned to the sofa across from the girls, she handed Ivy her tea and added, “Your father has a spinal decompression surgery scheduled this afternoon and he won’t be home again until after dinner.”

  Victor came back downstairs a moment later – so fast that Ivy wondered if he’d simply stood in the upstairs hallway and flung the bags in the direction of their rooms. He got himself a cup of tea and sat down next to their mother, and Ivy caught him looking at Chloe. Not a chance, little brother, she thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Chloe was one thing they were not going to compete over.

  Chloe got to meet Ivy’s father briefly as he came downstairs and grabbed his coat, then headed out the door. He was polite but not warm, and it would have been quite out of character for him to behave in any other way. He gave Ivy a hug to welcome her home and then kissed her mother’s cheek before heading to the hospital. When Ivy finished her tea, she brought Chloe upstairs to show her the guest room and let her get settled.

  “Unfortunately,” she said as she led Chloe into the last room in the hallway, “this room is second on the list of most-fussed-over place in the house, right behind the antique sofas with the ridiculous plastic slipcovers. I promise we have more comfortable, normal furniture in the den, and I’ll get you some sheets and towels that don’t look like they were hand-stitched during the Ming Dynasty.”

  Chloe laughed and told her it wasn’t that bad, then took a minute to look around her quarters for the weekend. The room had the same dark wood trim as the rest of the house, with a generously-sized window to the left of the bed and several more pieces of antique furniture, including a brass bedframe with an intricately embroidered quilt laying over it. />
  “So what do you think of my family so far?” Ivy asked, leaning against the bedframe and wondering if she had the nerve to kiss Chloe.

  “They’re nice,” Chloe said. “I can see where you get your determination.”

  Ivy came a little closer to Chloe even though her quickening pulse told her it was a risky move. Her mother was just downstairs, and more importantly, Victor was always looking for any excuse to feel superior to her. If he saw them kissing, he’d be likely to use it as blackmail of some sort.

  She asked, “And my brother?”

  She’d had to spend the last half-hour watching him labor under the assumption that Chloe was just a friend – probably a straight friend - and Ivy could tell exactly what he was thinking when he looked at her. She couldn’t blame him - Chloe was strikingly beautiful – but at the same time, Ivy felt fiercely protective of her. She knew Chloe wasn’t interested, but she needed to hear it.

  Chloe shrugged, oblivious to Ivy’s inner turmoil, and said, “I hardly noticed him.”

  Ivy grinned and thought, she’s perfect. Then all of her resistance melted away. She slid her hands around Chloe’s waist and even though she’d touched her hips dozens of times already, it took on a whole new level of pleasure now that there was an element of risk involved. Ivy kissed her and it was fantastic.

  They only had a couple of minutes together before Ivy heard the stairs creaking and she pulled away from Chloe and said with a smirk, “Good study session. Thanks.”

  They went downstairs and helped Ivy’s mother with dinner, and in the evening Ivy brought Chloe back into the formal sitting room along with her index cards and notes so they could really study for a while. The plastic slipcover squeaked every time one of them reached for a new flashcard and it wasn’t the most comfortable night she’d ever spent with Chloe, but at least there was a little bit of privacy for them in there while Victor read in the den and their mother waited for Pa to come home from surgery so she could heat up his dinner.

  Ivy and Chloe spent most of the next day in the kitchen with her mother, cooking the Thanksgiving meal. She asked Chloe all kinds of polite questions about her career path and education, and Ivy did what she could to steer the conversation to lighter, more interesting subjects. She knew that Chloe was still struggling with her specialty, and that even though she’d chosen pediatrics, she wasn’t enamored with the decision. Even though they were masquerading as study partners, Ivy liked having Chloe here and she didn’t want coming to the Chan house to be as much of a chore for Chloe as it was for her.

  She seemed to take it all in stride, though, and as they carried all their dishes into the formal dining room, Ivy and Chloe lingered behind her mother. She put a hand on the small of Chloe’s back and asked, “Are you having a good time?”

  “Yeah,” Chloe answered. “Your mom’s really sweet.”

  “Not the word I would use,” Ivy said, mostly in jest. Only Chloe could cut through her mother’s formal demeanor and wind up thinking she was sweet just twenty-four hours after having met her.

  Ivy and Chloe sat on opposite sides of the table, a sturdy mahogany that matched the rest of the woodwork in the house, and Victor took his customary place across from Ivy. She rolled her eyes as he sat down conspicuously beside Chloe, smiling at her and continuing to be completely oblivious. He was probably enjoying Chloe’s presence as much as Ivy was, although for completely different reasons. She’d never brought anyone home in high school, and Victor ended up being deprived of the formative experience of making a pest of himself in front of his big sister’s female friends. It looked like he was making up for lost time this weekend and Ivy contented herself with the private knowledge that Chloe would never look at him the way he wanted her to.

  Ivy’s father came in from the den a minute or two later, looking slightly foggy from a late night at the hospital after complications had arisen with his spinal compression patient. He sat at the head of the table and motioned Ivy’s mother to the last open seat, then said a blessing over the meal. He carved the turkey and everyone passed serving dishes around, and Ivy’s mother got up and went into the kitchen, double-checking to make sure that none of the numerous dishes they’d prepared had been left behind and that everyone had what they needed.

  “Sit down, Ma,” Ivy said after a few minutes of this.

  Of course, it wasn’t in her mother’s nature to actually enjoy the meal she’d toiled over all day, but when everyone’s plate was loaded with turkey, squash, sesame noodles, miso-glazed carrots and a half-dozen other things, she finally sat down. Everyone praised her for all the different dishes as they dug in – most of them were family favorites that she made every Thanksgiving, and Chloe was the loudest to applaud since she’d never had them before.

  Ivy was just starting to think that Chloe’s presence meant they could have a relaxing family dinner for the first time in her memory, until about fifteen minutes into the meal, when Victor stood up and said, “I have an announcement.”

  She was already preparing to roll her eyes – Ivy had been in this family long enough to know that some kind of bid for their parents’ attention was about to take place. Her father set down his silverware and looked attentively at Victor, and their mother looked like she was impressed merely at him having an announcement to make.

  Victor puffed out his chest and said, “I was waiting for an appropriate moment to let everyone know, and since we’re all together, now seems right. I received my bar exam results and passed with a combined score of a hundred and sixty-three points. That’s twenty-three points higher than the median.”

  Ma jumped up from her chair, her food getting cold while she hugged Victor in a rare show of physical affection. Pa nodded his approval without getting up and Chloe congratulated Victor from across the table.

  Ivy waited until Victor had basked in the glory for a minute or two and then let their mother sit down again as he returned to his own meal, then she said, “Congratulations, little brother. That’s really impressive.”

  “I know,” Victor said. “I was in the seventy-fifth percentile. I’ll have my pick of law firms.”

  “That’s great,” Ivy said, turning her attention back to her plate and stabbing a carrot.

  “I’ve already got a few interviews lined up,” he added, then named a few firms that their parents seemed impressed by, even though Ivy didn’t know any of the names. She set her jaw and waited for him to stop bragging.

  It wasn’t that she begrudged Victor his success, but she could see right through his actions. He could have chosen any other point during the weekend to tell them about his bar exam results, but he had to do it during Thanksgiving dinner, and he probably thought he’d get bonus accolades if he did it in front of the pretty houseguest. Ivy tried to be graceful and let him get his bragging out of the way – he did have a right to it – but when it became excessive, she could feel the urge to compete rising in her.

  Don’t do it, Ivy told herself.

  She kept her eyes on her plate and thought about all the reasons it wasn’t worth starting World War Three right here and now. If it had just been the four of them and Chloe wasn’t there to witness the carnage, Ivy wouldn’t have thought twice about stealing Victor’s limelight. It was just what they did – a competitiveness that often turned petty but was ultimately rooted in love.

  But what would it look like to Chloe?

  “What firm are you hoping to work for?” their father asked. Victor rattled off a long string of names – partners at a stuffy and prestigious-sounding firm – and then their mother asked how many of Victor’s classmates had gotten their scores back. Ivy knew what she was really asking was how Victor stacked up to them, and Victor dodged the question by saying he was just happy that he could share this information while Ivy was home to hear the news in person.

  Ivy couldn’t take it anymore. Chloe already knew her competitive side from all the times she’d gotten into it with Megan and Victor’s relentless bragging was ruining the meal.r />
  “Does that mean you’re going to stop freeloading soon?” Ivy asked.

  “If by freeloading you mean studying sixty hours a week,” Victor said, scoffing and looking to Chloe for sympathy, “yes, I imagine I’ll be getting an apartment of my own as soon as I’m hired on at a firm.”

  “I haven’t lived at home since high school,” Ivy pointed out. “And I spend eighty hours a week working, between hospital shifts and studying.”

  “Yeah but you don’t actually pay rent,” Victor said. “It’s all going into one big, fat student loan.”

  “Ivy’s doing really well in her surgical rotation,” Chloe said, surprising Ivy by jumping into the fray. She could have leapt across the table and kissed her if that wouldn’t have shifted the topic of conversation in a totally new direction. Chloe added, “Doctor Isaac is not easy to get along with and Ivy has managed to become his right hand.”

  “What surgeries have you scrubbed in on so far?” Ivy’s father asked, and for a moment, Ivy was thoroughly pleased and impressed that Chloe’s tactic had worked. One thing Victor could never offer when it came to competing for their parents’ attention was a shared interest in medicine. He was the kind of person who fainted at the sight of blood and it was too bad – he would have been ruthless in an operating room.

  “A lumpectomy on a patient with Stage One breast cancer, an appendectomy, bariatric surgery to place a gastric band,” Ivy listed.

  She got a solid two or three minutes to talk about the cool things she was learning and the interesting cases she’d observed before Victor interrupted and said, “Ma, will you make her stop? I’m losing my appetite.”

  Ivy relented, losing control of the conversation as Victor immediately launched into a detailed break-down of his bar exam scores. If Chloe hadn’t been there, she would have fought a lot harder to keep her parents’ attention and show them just how hard she’d been working and how much she was learning.