Cocky Doc: A Hero Club Novel

by Samantha Lind

  “Is Lucy here yet?” I ask, wondering if I’m the first to arrive.

  “Nope, she said she’d be here a little later. Something about a morning yoga session she wanted to attend,” she tells me. “So, what’s new with you? Still working too many hours?” she asks, looking me over with that sharp eye of hers.

  “Too many hours according to who, you?” I ask, a teasing tone shining through my question. While she’s always been proud that I became a doctor, she’s always been on me about the number of hours I’ve had to dedicate to my job.

  “You’re just like your grandfather—God rest his soul—and father. Spend all your time at the hospital. Your life is going to go by, and you won’t even realize it. You need to get outside more, find a woman—or man, if that’s your cup of tea—fall in love, and enjoy all that life has to offer outside the walls of that hospital.”

  I laugh at my grandmother’s words. I love the woman to death and love that she’s progressive enough to be okay with whatever sexual orientation I’d like to associate with. I’ve always been close to her, as she was a pivotal part of my childhood. Growing up in a family that has such deep roots in the town made my family have somewhat of a celebrity status. But both my parents and my grandparents did their best to keep that away from us kids. I knew from a young age that my grandparents were important people in our community, but I didn’t really realize just how much so until I was older and could see firsthand the good they did with what they were blessed with. Some of my fondest memories are spending our summers here, running around playing with my cousins, or holidays spent eating huge feasts and enjoying time together. Family has always been important to her, and if there’s one thing I’d like to do before she passes away, that would be to have her at my wedding. I know that it is something she wishes to see before that time comes, so I guess I’d better start making meeting someone a priority, sooner than later.

  “I’m attracted to women,” I clarify for her. “But glad to know if things weren’t that way that I’d have your blessing.” I chuckle. “And it isn’t like I’m avoiding settling down, I just need to meet someone first, I’m not willing to just settle with anyone.”

  “If you’d just let me set you up with someone—” she starts to say, and I interrupt her.

  “Not this again. I don’t need you meddling in my love life, Grandmother. I’m a big boy, I can find my own dates, but thanks for the offer.”

  “I don’t know why you keep declining my offers. I have some good friends with granddaughters that would be very suitable for you, Andrew.”

  “I’m not interested for a few reasons. One, I’m not into being with someone for the status that it can bring them, and let’s face it, Grandmother, if they’re the granddaughter of one of your friends, they’re used to Daddy’s money and not having to work for anything. They see our last name and the dollar signs that come with it. Two, I definitely don’t want a loveless marriage. People divorce enough as it is, I don’t want to set myself up for failure before I even start. I’m not saying that every marriage or relationship that starts with a blind date or being set up by someone ends that way, I just want to meet someone on my own terms. I’ve dated girls from the social elite circle already in my life, and they just aren’t for me. That’s nothing against you or them, but it’s not the life I’m looking to live. I want more out of life than what event we’re attending next or what designer’s name is across the label of the clothes on my back.”

  I have no desire to marry someone whose goal in life is to be a trophy wife. I’ve seen too many friends fall into that trap and they’re miserable. You should enjoy life and the people that you surround yourself with, not dread going home because the person you share your life with makes you hate it. I’ve also seen how bad divorces can rip families apart when they go badly. I’ve purposely kept myself far from that possibility. It doesn’t help that the one girl I thought that I’d settle down with thought that I’d be okay with her sleeping her way through the country club while I was busy with med school. Didn’t think that I’d find out that she wasn’t faithful to what we had, and that was my wake-up call. I broke things off and haven’t looked back.

  “Those are all good points, and I’m sorry if I keep pestering you. I just want to see you happy, and it’d be nice to have a great-grandchild before I die,” she tells me, pouring the guilt on.

  “I’ll see what I can do about that. Do you give Lucy this much crap about getting married and having kids?” I ask, wondering if I’m the only one that had to deal with it. I know I’m the oldest grandchild and all, but damn, can’t a guy catch a break once in a while?

  “Well, now that she’s got that boyfriend, I can only hope that wedding bells are in her future,” she tells me, a huge grin pulling at the corners of her lips.

  “You’re incorrigible,” I tell her, reaching for a glass from the cabinet. I fill it first with ice from the fridge door and then reach inside and grab the always present container of lemonade and fill my glass. I hold up the pitcher, offering to top off her glass, which she accepts.

  “Come, let’s sit on the porch while we wait for everyone else to arrive.” I fall into step behind my grandmother as we take our glasses of lemonade out onto the screened in porch.

  “Hello!” Lucy calls out as she joins us on the porch an hour or so later.

  “Glad you could finally join us,” I tease her as she leans down to hug our grandmother. Her boyfriend, Adam, follows closely behind her. I stand, offering my hand, and he does the same to me as we silently greet one another. They’ve been dating for almost a year now, and he’s been coming around to family dinners for the last couple of months. I’m sure a proposal isn’t far off if things continue to progress the way it has for the two of them, and I can say honestly that I like him. He’s got a good job working as an engineer, so he isn’t after Lucy for her family connections, from what I’ve observed, which I’ve always worried for her just as much as I worry about the issue for myself.

  “How’s work?” Grandmother asks Lucy once we’re all seated around the outdoor table, a large lunch spread set out before us.

  “It’s going great! We hired a new CLS. She started this past week and is really good with the patients.”

  “That’s great!” Grandmother replies.

  “Yep, and this one made an ass of himself when he met her,” Lucy says, pointing at me.

  “Language,” Grandmother gripes.

  “Sorry,” Lucy says, shrugging her shoulders as she reaches for her glass.

  “And what did you do to embarrass yourself?” Grandmother asks, turning to me.

  “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and ran into her, tripping myself right into her lap,” I tell her.

  “Andrew Michael Montgomery,” she says, her tone serious, right along with the use of my full name.

  “I apologized, and didn’t hurt her, I promise. Only thing hurt that day was my ego,” I tell her as I glare at Lucy. She just gives me a shit-eating grin in return. I wink at her, letting her know that it’s on. I’ll find something to throw her under the bus with, and that perfect thing pops into my head just then.

  “So, how’s the apartment hunting going for the two of you?” I ask, knowing damn well that she didn’t have any intention of announcing that was taking place just yet.

  If looks could kill, I’d be dead. “It’s going okay,” she says, her eyes bouncing between me and our grandmother.

  “You’re moving?” Grandmother pipes up.

  “Thinking about it. Adam and I have been talking about moving in together. No sense in us both paying rent on apartments when we’re together most of the time as it is, but with us both having roommates, neither one of us can just move into the other’s place. We each have a couple more months left on our current leases, so we’ve been talking about it and looking at what’s available.”

  “Good for you, not that I like the idea of living together before marriage, but you kids do what you want these days.”


  “Grandmother, it is the twenty-first century. It’s not practical to wait until we’re married to live together. How are we supposed to know if we’re compatible living together if we don’t do it?” Lucy asks.

  “Semantics,” Grandmother replies. “I might not like the idea, but I understand what you’re saying. Learning to live with your grandfather—God rest his soul—was no easy feat. He liked and expected things just so and it was completely different from the way I’d grown up, so it took us a little while to adjust and come to an agreement on how things were going to be.”

  “See, we’re getting that out of the way early,” Lucy tells her, then turns to me and sticks her tongue out. We might be full-grown adults, but we can easily act like little kids when the mood strikes, or it gets us out of the spotlight of Grandmother’s questioning.

  6

  MEGAN

  “GOOD MORNING!” Lucy calls as she walks down the row of lockers, stopping at hers, which is just a few from my own. “Did you have a good weekend?”

  “Morning, I did. Did you?” I reply as I get all my things situated.

  “Yep. Lazy Saturday followed by Sunday lunch at my grandmother’s.”

  “Sounds like a good time,” I tell her as I turn my chair around.

  “It always is. It was only Drew, my boyfriend Adam and Grandmother. Drew and I almost always find ways to pester each other. You get the two of us together and it’s like we’re little kids all over again. I might have thrown him under the bus and made a comment about him making an ass of himself when he literally ran into you last week.”

  “You didn’t,” I say, laughing at how animated she’s getting.

  “I did. It was great. But then he turned the tables on me and dropped the news that my boyfriend and I are moving in together. I think he figured that’d be a huge bomb to drop, but Grandmother took it much better than either of us anticipated she’d take it, so it kind of fell flat if he was expecting a bigger response to the news.”

  “Sounds like a fun lunch,” I tell her, loving hearing about her family’s dynamics.

  “Even with all the crap we give each other, we really do get along and love each other. He’s one of my best friends and one of the best people I know. He’d give anyone the shirt off his back, if needed. Has a heart of gold and is one of the best doctors this hospital has ever seen, and that’s saying something.”

  “I can’t attest to all that you’ve said, but what I’ve seen on the doctor front is spot on.”

  “He’s the best, I promise,” she says again. I enjoy learning little tidbits about her family, Drew especially. Even if he’s so far out of my league, a girl can dream.

  “Who’s the best?” the man himself asks, popping around the corner, scaring Lucy just a little.

  “You scared the shit out of me, Drew!” she yelps, turning quickly and smacking him on his chest.

  “Sorry?” he says, not sounding very sorry at all and grabbing her wrist to stop her from hitting him a second time.

  “No, you’re not,” she says, laughing at him. I’ve only been around the two of them a few times so far, but I love watching the dynamic between them, they’re hilarious.

  “How are you today, Megan?” Drew turns his attention my way and asks.

  “Good, and you?”

  “Can’t complain. I finished rounds for the morning. Headed to my office to take care of some charting and see what pops up for the day.”

  “Sounds like an easy day.”

  “Eh, normal for a Monday morning. I’m sure it won’t stay that way,” he tells me as we both head for the exit. He beats me to the door, which he opens and holds for me to pass through, Lucy directly behind me. He follows us to the nurses’ station where he stops at the computer station that is there for the doctors to use. I grab my tablet and pull up my schedule for the day. I’ve got a fairly light schedule, as well, so far. A few patients with tests that need assistance and some in-patient visits.

  “I’m off to radiology,” I tell those gathered around the station.

  “Want to grab lunch together?” Lucy calls out to me before I get too far down the hall.

  “That’d be great. I should have a break around twelve thirty if everything goes well this morning,” I tell her.

  “Sounds good, I’ll just meet you down in the cafeteria if that works for you?”

  “Works for me,” I tell her and then take off for the elevator to get down to radiology.

  “HOW WAS YOUR MORNING?” Lucy asks, dropping into a chair across from me.

  “Pretty good. Everything stayed on track, all my patients were in good spirits this morning. How about you?”

  “Rough one. I had a new patient getting labs drawn and an IV placed, and she was scared of needles. Took a few of us to hold her down and took most of my techniques to get her distracted long enough to forget about the IV line long enough so they could get it secured properly so she can’t pull it out.”

  “Poor girl. Is she doing okay now?” I ask.

  “Yep. I got her all set up with a tablet filled with movies for her to keep for the afternoon. I think the meds they were finally able to start giving her helped calm her down, as well. Hopefully she’ll only need a day or two in-patient before being able to go home.”

  “That’s good.”

  “I know you just moved here and started working here, but are you going to the benefit this weekend?” Lucy asks as she digs in to her lunch.

  “What benefit?” I ask, chomping on my carrot sticks.

  “The hospital hosts a benefit every year for the children’s hospital. My grandparents started it in honor of my cousin, Tyler. He’s Drew’s younger brother. His heart issues are one of the main reasons Drew picked pediatric cardiology as his specialty when he went to med school.”

  “Oh, wow. I didn’t know that. And to answer your first question, no, I’m not going. I didn’t even know about it, nor could I probably afford a ticket to an event like that.”

  “Hospital employees get a free ticket to the event. You should come, it’s a great event! I can see if we have any open seats at our table and you can join us.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t have anything to wear to a fundraiser, and I don’t think I could afford anything they’d be selling or auctioning off.” Attending something like this sounds fun, but nothing that I’ve ever dreamed about going to. It just isn’t something that would ever be on my radar to attend.

  “It’s more than that. Trust me. Yes, they’ll have a large auction going on, both live and silent, but it’s more about celebrating all that the foundation has done for the hospital and the kids that have benefited.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I finally tell her, just to appease her. On one hand, if the hospital provides staff with the ticket, why wouldn’t I go and enjoy myself, but on the other, I don’t really know anyone other than the few people I work with here on a daily basis, and I don’t want Lucy to feel like she has to be my babysitter and keep me entertained.

  “You’re going to have so much fun. If it’d make you feel any better, you can be Drew’s date!”

  I sputter, spitting out a mouthful of water. “I don’t think being his date would be a good idea,” I say between sputters. I attempt to wipe up the mess I’ve just made.

  “Why?” she asks.

  “Um, well, first off, shouldn’t you leave him finding a date to himself? And two, I try not to mix my personal life with my work life. Nothing ever good comes out of dating a co-worker.”

  “Tomato – tom-ah-to,” she sates. “I think you’d be a good date for him. And that boy hasn’t been on a date in months, maybe even more than a year. He’s always so focused on work that he doesn’t necessarily think of these things or pay much attention to his personal life. So, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and help nudge him along.”

  “I’m sure he’ll just love that,” I tease her.

  “The trick to it will be to make him think he’s doing it all on his
own. Be the silent puppet master in the background, so to speak,” she says. Obviously, she’s given this idea some thought. “I just didn’t think that it would be so easy to get that first date picked and scheduled.” Not sure I agree with her trying to trick him into something like a date, but the thought of Drew seeing me in that light has butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

  “First date for who?” Drew asks, pulling out the chair next to Lucy and plopping down into it. My eyes bouncing between the two of them as we both await Lucy’s answer.

  “I invited Megan to the fundraiser this weekend and told her she could be your date. I figured you hadn’t found one of your own and she’s new and needs someone to attend with.”

  He looks from his cousin to me and back again before replying. “And what if I already have one?” he asks Lucy, flashing me a quick wink, as if in a way to tell me that he doesn’t, he’s just messing with her. That wink has those damn butterflies fluttering just a little bit harder, and giving me an ounce of hope that maybe, just maybe, he could see me that way.

  “Well then, I guess you’d just be the lucky guy to have two.”

  “Like you’d be okay with being one of two dates with Adam?” he asks her, his left eyebrow raising up in question.

  “Do you really already have a date?” she deadpans.

  He takes his time answering her, the humor evident in his eyes as he makes her wait for the answer. He opens his sandwich and takes a huge bite, chewing slowly as she sits next to him, impatiently waiting on his answer.

  “Drewwwww,” she draws out his name, annoyed at his stalling. “Answer me,” she says, smacking his arm.

  “Fine, no, I don’t have a date lined up yet for this weekend.”

  “Brat,” she says, sticking her tongue out at him, causing me to laugh at their antics, once again. I love seeing the two of them like this, carefree and giving each other a hard time. I wish I had a cousin to have a relationship that is as easy as Drew and Lucy’s. “It’s settled then, Megan can be your date. Please be a gentleman and show her a good time. Grandmother will be thrilled to know that you’ll have a date to the event.”