She watched me with her intelligent gaze, her hand slightly rubbing her arm like she was a tad bit cold.
My curiosity got the best of me. “Why do you ask?”
She turned her head away and stared at the coffee cart, where the electrician team waited for their coffees. The residents paid for the coffee cart and food station with their monthly dues, so it was complimentary for the residents as well as anyone who worked there. “As much as I enjoy having you as part of our team, I think I have to let you go.”
I couldn’t control my stunned expression. My entire body went slack because it felt like someone had slammed their fist into my stomach and knocked the air out of my lungs. I loved working for the Trinity Building, working for Cleo, seeing my coworkers every day. I didn’t want to lose the one thing getting me through this painful breakup. “I…I don’t understand. I thought I was doing a great job here—”
“You are doing a great job, Sicily. I really don’t want to go through that stack of applications again when you were the best one in the pile. But I think you’re better suited for a different position.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m so confused right now.”
She turned back to me and gave a slight smile. “How would you feel about working for Dex?”
“Working for him how?”
“As his medical assistant in his new practice.”
My heart fell into my stomach on instinct because I was disappointed that he intended to leave, even though it was a good thing. “I didn’t realize he’d had a change of heart.”
“He hasn’t. But I think he will, and I need the right person to help him get back on his feet.”
When I understood that she was offering me a whole different position, my world stopped crashing down around me. “Me?” I couldn’t hide the tone of surprise because I’d only been there for a month, and while I hustled and did the best I could every single day, I wasn’t another Cleo.
“Yes. You seem to get along very well.”
“Well, he’s the kind of guy that gets along with everyone, so…”
She gave a slight smile. “True. But I can tell you admire and respect him, and you’re going to put his best interests first. That’s why you’re right for the job, in addition to your other qualifications.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. All I could do was stare.
“So, if I can get him to cooperate, you’re willing?”
To work for that hot superhero? Uh, duh. “Of course. Happy to help.”
13
Dex
At the end of the long day, we closed up the office and called it a night. Since Mom lived in the building, she was always on call for some kind of emergency, but that rarely happened after hours. If a client wanted something, she dispatched one of us to take care of it. Everyone in the building was nice and considerate, so they tried to make their requests during business hours. That way, you know, we could have a life.
Mom walked with me and stopped at the elevator. “Want to come up for dinner?”
“Mom…” I shook my head. “You know you have to tell me what’s on the menu before you ask.”
She was a naturally warm person who showed off her smile all day long, but when she interacted with me or one my siblings, she had this special look in her eyes, like she was smiling with just her stare. “Tacos.”
“Like…cauliflower tacos? Jackfruit tacos? Or real tacos?”
“Turkey tacos.”
I considered it before I gave a nod. “I accept your invitation.” Dad and I hadn’t really talked since that ambush a week ago, but we were family, so the awkwardness would go away after a couple minutes.
“Great.” We got into the elevator and rose to their floor. In the same heels she wore all day, every day, she continued to glide.
“Not to be a snitch, but Sicily isn’t a fan of the heels.”
She smiled. “She’ll get used to them. They also have shorter heels too, if these are too much for her.”
“I have a feeling she’s too stubborn for that.”
“Exactly why I like her.” She approached the condo and walked right in because the door was unlocked.
But I could tell I’d walked into another ambush.
Because Dad wasn’t cooking in the kitchen. The house didn’t smell like dinnertime. And there was some random lady sitting on the couch talking to my dad. My dad was the most loyal man ever, so I never jumped to conclusions like that.
Dad turned his head to look at me before he rose to his feet.
I turned to Mom. “I expect this from him, but not you.”
With a guilty look in her eyes, she placed her hand on my arm and gave me a motherly squeeze. “I know. That’s why I hope you’ll keep an open mind—for me.”
“An open mind for what?”
Dad got my attention. “Son.” He gave a nod for me to join him in the seating area.
I walked forward and saw the woman on the couch looking at me like an owl in the dark, her eyes open and wide, staring at me like she couldn’t believe what she was looking at it. It was hard to tell how old she was, but she looked to be somewhere in her forties or fifties.
Dad gestured to the armchair across from the woman. “Take a seat.”
I lowered myself and released a loud sigh even though it was disrespectful. “Is this an intervention or…?” I had no idea who this woman was. Maybe she was a heart surgeon who wanted to talk me back into work? When I’d decided to retire, my colleagues were understanding for the most part. They understood how difficult the job was, and sometimes things just got to you.
She took a few deep breaths before she finally spoke. “I’m Angelica Torres…”
My eyes narrowed on her face, remembering the email I’d received a week ago, her desperate plea for help. Now I had a face to the words, a face that matched the tone of her desperation. I had a photographic memory, so I could pull up her email in my head like it was on a computer screen.
Then I turned to look at my father, flashing him a fiery look of accusation. “You crossed a line.”
He rubbed his knuckles slightly as he stared at me, his dark eyes expressing nothing.
“I’m a grown-ass man.” I couldn’t keep the venom back, not this time. “You don’t get to pull this shit—”
“I came to him.” Angelica’s weak voice slashed through my rage. “I’m so sorry to cause tension between the two of you. That was not my intention.”
I turned back to look at her.
“I went to his office and begged him to help me. He said there was nothing he could do, but I kept pleading and pleading…until he arranged this.” Her eyes started to shine with moisture, the tears pending. “I love my husband so much, and I can’t give up. You’re the only one who can help him, Dr. Hamilton—”
“Dex.” I shouldn’t cut her off, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind right now. “My name is Dex.” I’d left my title behind over a year ago, and I didn’t miss it. It wasn’t my identity anymore.
She nodded slightly. “Of course, I apologize.”
Even though Dad had been pressured into this, I was still pissed off that he’d allowed this to happen. If someone asked me for a connection to my father, I would talk to him about it first. I wouldn’t just bring them to his home and catch him off guard. It was completely inappropriate, regardless of how desperate she was. It was a huge violation of trust. “Look, Mrs. Torres, I’m sorry about your husband’s situation. Truly, I am. But I’m not a doctor refusing to take on a patient. I’m not a doctor. Period.”
Her eyes started to well up even more, and she grabbed the folder of papers beside her. “Please. You’re my last hope. I’ll do anything…please.”
I bowed my head because this was fucking torture. And my dad put me through it intentionally. “I haven’t done a surgery in over a year—”
“But you’re the best. God, please.” Now she sniffled over and over as she combated the choking sobs. “You’re the only one who can treat inoper
able conditions and get results. You’re the only one who has the brilliance, the dedication, and the compassion. Please. My husband will die without you.”
I raised my head and looked at her—forcing myself to be a man and look her in the eye. “The reason I left surgery is because my last patient died during a routine procedure. To this day, I don’t know what happened—”
“I understand the risk, Dr. Hamilton—” She quickly realized her error. “I mean, Dex. I understand that no surgeon can have a perfect record. But if he doesn’t have this surgery, he’ll die within a few months. We both agree we’d rather take the risk on the table than wait for him to drop dead. Please.”
I turned to look at my father, giving him an enraged look that raised the temperature of the room by several degrees.
He looked away, like he couldn’t take it.
She held up the folder. “Just look at his medical records. Please.”
“I don’t have a license.”
Dad intervened. “We both know that’s a simple matter of filling out paperwork, Dex.”
I clenched my teeth in rage and tried to keep back my retort, but I couldn’t. “You aren’t a part of this conversation. Butt out.”
Dad turned back to me, his eyes angry at the way I spoke to him.
Didn’t give a damn. He was in the wrong—and we both knew it.
Mom stood behind the couch and placed her hand on Dad’s shoulder, like she was silently telling him to let it go.
When I turned back to Angelica, she was in front of me, holding out the folder of medical records.
I didn’t take them. “Mrs. Torres—”
“I’m not leaving until you consider it. You think I would have gone to such lengths if I didn’t believe in you?” The tears cascaded down her cheeks as the sobs racked her body. “I believe in you, Dex. I believe you’re the only hope that my husband won’t die young. He’s the father to my three children…he’s our whole world. You can give me my family. I’ll be all my kids have left. Can you imagine losing one of your parents?”
That was a deep fucking cut because I remembered my mother’s cancer diagnosis like it had just been revealed. With my kind of cognition, everything that happened seemed recent, even if it was years ago. I’d never been so scared in my life because the loss of my mother would have fucked up every single member of our family. Dad never would have recovered. I never would have recovered.
Without looking at her, I took the folder.
She gasped a deep breath, like she just made a miracle happen. “Thank you—”
“I will consider it. I’m not agreeing to anything.”
“Of course. Thank you…thank you.” She brought her flattened palms together in a silent gesture of gratitude. She grabbed her purse off the couch then headed to the door. “Thank you so much…to all of you.” Then she walked out and left us alone in the condo.
I held the folder in my hand but didn’t open it. I was too furious to sort through the mountain of paperwork that would give me a static picture of this man’s health. All the blood work, the scans, every documented piece of evidence that pointed to a condition that would probably claim his life.
I let the silence linger for a while because I didn’t know how to process this level of rage. I rarely became angry about anything because I was laid-back and easygoing. I was a forgive-and-forget kind of guy, after watching my brother make mistake after mistake. But right now…the anger was palpable, like waves of energy that were visible in the room.
Dad stared at me, his brown eyes studying my face. “You made the right decision—”
“You motherfucker.” I seethed in anger, looking at him with so much distaste that I felt the bile on the tip of my tongue.
Dad couldn’t control his reaction, his eyes immediately widening at my outburst.
Mom was even more shocked.
I got to my feet. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” I came closer to her and stood over him, looking down at him like he was inferior to me for the first time in my life. “You had no fucking right to do that. How fucking dare you?”
Dad was silent, absorbing everything.
Mom pulled her hand away from his shoulder and spoke with a calm voice to de-escalate the situation, the constant diplomat. “Baby, just calm down—”
“Fuck no, I’m not going to calm down.” I threw my arm down just inches from his face. “You crossed a line. You betrayed my trust. You stuck your nose where it doesn’t fucking belong. I’m sorry that my life is such a disappointment to you that you have to intervene like that, like I’m some problem child doing heroin under a bridge. But get the fuck over it. Get. Over. It.”
His face started to flush red and his anger deepened, but he held his silence.
“Now it’s my turn to be disappointed in you.” I gave him a final scathing look before I turned to the door.
Mom’s voice turned more concerned when my father stood up. “Deacon—”
“You want to talk about disappointment?” His deep voice filled the condo with a distinct boom even though he wasn’t yelling, just raising his voice and making the baritone of his anger bounce off the walls like a loud concert in an auditorium. “Yes, I’m disappointed in you. I’ve never been more disappointed in one of my kids than I am with you.”
Like knives had stabbed me in the back, I sucked in a breath between my teeth and stared at the door.
“You aren’t brave. You’re weak. You’re letting a single person sabotage your life, letting her pull at your heartstrings when she’s not even around anymore. That is so fucking weak. Pathetic.”
I slowly turned around and faced my dad, seeing him seethe the way I did.
Mom was no longer diplomatic, looking panicked by the interaction. “Deacon, stop—”
“You think you can talk to me like that?” Dad stepped toward me, my height, in just as good shape as I was, so he was intimidating when he wanted to be. “If you think I’m just going to look the other way and accept this hollow and unfulfilled version of my son, then you must have a very low opinion of me, must really think I’m a motherfucker.” Spit flew from his mouth as he yelled at me, cursed at me when he’d never done that as long as I could remember. “Because I will never give up on you. I will never let my son settle for a life that’s not supposed to be his. I gave you time to sort through your issues because your mother made me, but no more. Get your shit together and be what you’ve wanted to be since you were four fucking years old. Be strong. Be brave. Be the man I know you are. I’m your father, and I’m going to keep pressing your buttons, getting in your face, digging my goddamn hands under your skin until it hurts because that’s my fucking job. If that makes me a motherfucker, then so be it.”
I shook my head. “You crossed a line—”
“And I’ll do it again and again.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t expect me to apologize because I won’t. I’m not sorry. I’ll never be sorry. But you’ll be sorry for talking to me this way. When I’m dead, you’ll regret this moment. This memory will haunt you for the rest of your life. Hope it was worth it.” He turned away. “Get the fuck out, Dex.”
I swallowed the insult and turned back to the door, wanting to get away from my father for the first time in my life. When I was young, we butted heads sometimes, but never like this.
“Deacon.” Mom turned on him.
I walked out and heard their exchange.
“I won’t go after him.”
When I was in the hallway, the adrenaline hit me hard, and the pain hit me even harder. Everything that had happened played in front of my mind again, like the memory of a car wreck that was so traumatic you couldn’t really process it at the time, so your memories were just broken images. My vision was tinted red, my gums ached from grinding my teeth so hard, and I marched to the elevator with no intention of coming back.
“Dex.” Mom’s voice came behind me.
“Leave me alone.” I didn’t even bother with the elevator because I wanted to get away from
her too. I turned to the door for the emergency stairway.
“Stop now.”
“No.”
“Stop right fucking now.” She raised her voice for the first time ever.
It made me stop involuntarily, like I had no control over my body. But I didn’t turn around.
“I know you’re upset right now. I understand. But your father loves you so much. Please don’t forget that.”
“Really?” I said bitterly. “He has a funny way of showing it.”
“He loves you more than anything in the world. He just wants the best for you—”
“Mom.” I turned around and faced her, slightly pained at the tears in her eyes from the way this whole thing had blown up, the destruction of her family. “I really don’t want to talk right now. You need to let me go.” I considered her just as guilty as my father for her involvement in this plot, but I couldn’t yell at my mother, not when she wore her heart on her sleeve and loved me fiercely every single day.
She stared at me as the tears fell down her cheeks, but then she gave a slight nod.
I turned into the stairwell and left.
“I love you, baby…”
The door shut behind me and cut her off from view.
I stopped and stared down at the steps, wishing I could just walk off, but I couldn’t. I turned and opened the door, seeing her standing there like she knew I would turn back around. “I love you too, Mom.”
14
Dex
I showed up on her doorstep and knocked while holding the six-pack underneath my arm.
The Doctor Who Has No Ambition (Soulless Book 9) Page 11