Doctor's Date with a Billionaire

by Amelia Addler

  “I would really appreciate it if you could,” Alex said. “Tell him that if he’s not feeling well, I can stop by on my way home and check on him.”

  “Okay, I’ll let him know.”

  Alex wandered into the break room in search of something to eat. All she had eaten that day was half a bagel for breakfast and that donut for lunch. Her morning clinic in the next town over ran late, which led to a domino effect of lateness.

  It was all for a good reason, though. Her last patient of the morning came in crying, devastated by the loss of her husband the previous month. Alex sat with her, holding her hand and listening to her. She tried to offer as much comfort as she could. Though she wished she could do more, the least she could do was share her time. Falling a bit behind schedule was a small price to pay.

  The break room fridge had nothing but week-old pizza; Alex gave it a sniff and recoiled. As hungry as she was, it wasn’t worth getting food poisoning.

  She settled on pouring herself a mug of coffee. It was unfortunate that all of Mrs. Higgins’ cookies were gone, because they would’ve been great with coffee. She wished she’d stashed one for herself earlier.

  Oh well! There would always be next time. Mrs. Higgins insisted on bringing something every time she came.

  Maybe by the next time they saw each other, Alex would be able to tell Mrs. Higgins that she was actually seeing someone. What would she say if she knew her real age? Or that she hadn’t been on a date in years?

  Alex knew that things wouldn’t change on their own – she’d have to make an effort if she wanted a relationship. Or, for that matter, if she ever wanted to have the family she’d always imagined. There were a lot of excuses she’d made over the years as to why it wasn’t the right time.

  The biggest was that her job took up a lot of time. But she loved her job. It was always her dream to be a doctor, and it seemed like she worked her entire life to get to this point.

  She had a boyfriend once – Brian. They met in college and dated for two years. He was a wonderful guy, and she thought for sure that someday they would get married and start a family.

  But life doesn’t always turn out the way that you expect. When Alex got into her dream medical school in North Carolina, she didn’t hesitate to accept.

  Alex didn’t like to overthink things that felt right, and this definitely felt right. Brian gave her his full support, too, even though he had a job back in Syracuse that meant they’d have a nine hour drive between them.

  She believed that she and Brian would be able to work it out. Their love was strong enough to survive the distance.

  And maybe it was strong enough to survive the distance. But it wasn’t strong enough to survive Brian’s stressful job, Alex’s constant studying, and Brian’s mom being diagnosed with cancer.

  After the first year, he told her that he just couldn’t do it anymore.

  She could have dropped out of medical school then and there, moved back up North, and married him. She knew, though, that if she did that, it was unlikely she would ever go back to school to finish her training.

  It was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make. She loved Brian with all of her heart. She wanted to be there for him. But when she thought about giving up her seat at school, she just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t abandon that chance to make her dream come true.

  It broke her heart to say goodbye to him, but in the back of her mind, she always hoped that one day they would end up together again.

  That didn’t work out, of course. Alex pulled out her phone and navigated to Brian’s Facebook page. She clicked on his profile picture – it was him, his wife, and their two beautiful children.

  She stared at it for a moment, studying their smiles. She didn’t feel bitter or angry. It’s not like she didn’t want Brian to be happy. He was a wonderful guy – he deserved to be happy.

  In a selfish way, she felt sad for herself. It was sad that life made her choose between a great person, whom she loved with all of her heart, and her lifelong dream of being a doctor.

  Mrs. Higgins was right, though. What was Alex waiting for? If 26 was pushing it for starting a family, 31 was practically ancient. If she wanted to have a husband and have little rugrats of her own, she needed to do something about it.

  Alex stuck her phone back in her pocket. That was that. It was time to revive her love life. She wasn’t sure exactly how she’d do it, but surely the first step was committing to change, right?

  “Alex?” Jean popped her head into the break room.

  “Hey Jean, what’s up?”

  “I called Mr. Willow. First he apologized for not calling us, said he overslept with a nap.”

  Alex smiled. “Oh, okay, I’m glad he’s not sick.”

  Jean frowned. “He said he’s been sleeping a lot lately, and that he’s getting so tired because he can’t catch his breath.”

  “Oh dear,” Alex said with a sigh. “I wonder if his heart failure is flaring up. He might be carrying extra fluid that’s making it harder to breath.”

  Jean shrugged. “Could be.”

  “Or maybe pneumonia again…he had it last year. He’s still smoking so he’s definitely at risk…”

  “I tried to offer him some of the free nicotine patches,” Jean replied. “He said he wasn’t ready to quit yet.”

  Alex stood up. “Yeah, I remember. I appreciate that you’re trying. One day he might be ready. Anyways – if you guys don’t need anything from me, I think I’ll stop over to his place and see what’s going on.”

  “Sounds good, we’re all set here.”

  “Alright Jean, thanks for all of your help today! See you guys next week!”

  “Take care!”

  Alex stopped by a computer to write down Mr. Willow’s address before saying goodbye and getting into her car. Finding a husband would have to wait, at least for tonight. She told herself that maybe over the weekend she could join a dating website or something.

  For now she was going to check on one of her notoriously stubborn patients and drive him to the emergency room, if need be.

  Chapter 3

  Jason and Marty finished lunch without any additional near-death experiences. His dad wanted to pick up the tab, but Jason was one step ahead of him and made sure to pay for it first.

  He paid with cash to avoid leaving any traces of their meeting behind. He still felt wary that they may have been followed, so he told his dad that they shouldn’t linger in the parking lot in case anyone was watching.

  Marty dismissed the fear. “Don’t worry about it, son. What could they even do to me now?”

  “A lot,” Jason replied. The FBI agents told him how aggressive his dad’s enemies were. It seemed unwise not to be afraid.

  Marty shrugged. “I guess. Well, you stay safe.”

  “You too.” Jason struggled for something more to say. This wasn’t at all how he expected this meeting to go. And now, he found himself quite sentimental in his last moments with his father as a free man.

  “Hey, don’t look so glum. I always knew this was coming. I’m surprised I’ve lasted so long.”

  Jason offered a pained smile. “That’s one way to look at it.”

  His dad patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry so much. The next time I see you, it’ll be in court. I’ve got a new suit!”

  What a thing to say. “Alright Dad.”

  “Take care.”

  Jason watched as his dad got into a flashy Jaguar. Definitely not the kind of car that Jason would’ve chosen for what was supposed to be a secret meeting, but it only further supported the fact that Jason had no control over what his dad did.

  He sighed. Even if his dad deserved to go to jail, it made him feel sick to think about.

  Jason walked over to his old beat up pickup truck. Though he couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness around this meeting, he at least felt good that he was honest with his dad and met with him in person. He finally felt ready to tell the FBI that he was ready to go all in.<
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  It took him forty minutes to get back to his small, dark hotel room because he took the long way to ensure he wasn’t followed. It wasn’t the nicest place, but he wanted to get away from home and get the chance to talk to his dad about what he was doing.

  He’d only been there for about a week, though it felt like it’d been a lifetime since the FBI agents came to talk to him at his home in Virginia. They told him about his dad’s trial, which he hadn’t heard about, and asked if he had any information that would help the case against his dad.

  He was too stunned to think clearly, so they gave him a night to think about it. The next day, his house was ransacked while he was at work. The windows were broken, closets and shelves were turned inside out, floorboards were ripped up and worst of all – they set his workshop on fire, along with all of his woodworking projects inside.

  At first, when he walked into that scene, he thought there was some sort of a terrible accident. It took a few minutes for him to come to his senses and tell the FBI that he was targeted.

  They told him that he had two options: he could agree to go into temporary protection while the U.S. Marshals determined if he was a candidate for the witness protection program, or he could take his chances with the criminals who destroyed his home.

  He planned to choose the temporary protection and told the FBI agents everything he knew about his dad’s “businesses.” At first, he wasn’t sure that anything he had to say would be worthwhile – years earlier, he’d documented the names and numbers that his dad told him, but he didn’t know what any of it meant.

  It wasn’t until he mentioned that he still had copies of all the records that the agents’ eyes lit up. They escorted him back to his house, got the computer, and told Jason that this collection of documents was the jackpot.

  His father was involved in many different scams over the years and with that, he was deeply entangled with numerous shady business associates. Jason’s records connected all of these associates, along with dates and even payment information. It was no wonder that the goons wanted to scare Jason into keeping his mouth shut.

  Jason locked the door to the hotel room and pulled out the cell phone that the FBI agents gave him. The agents were his only contacts – it made him laugh a little at how absurd it all was. It was happening so quickly that he was having a hard time accepting that he actually was leaving his entire life behind.

  Though when he was honest with himself, he knew that he didn’t have much to show for his life. Sure, he would miss the people that he worked with and all of his friends.

  But even that life was something he built after running away from his dad and his dad’s problems. Jason spent his entire life running away. He was tired of it. As hard as it was to leave everything behind, he was ready to start over, one last time.

  He dialed Agent Simmons.

  “Agent Simmons, what’s up?”

  Jason smiled. When he first interacted with Agent Simmons, he thought it was odd that he answered the phone like that – but then he realized that he was in the FBI and he could do whatever he wanted. It all seemed impossibly cool to him.

  “Hi, it’s Jason Brash. I’m ready to come in.”

  “That’s great news. Have you decided if you’re going to enter witness protection?”

  “Yes. If that offer is still available, I would like to take it.”

  “Alright Jason. We were hoping you’d say that. Hang tight, we’ll be out to pick you up in an hour. Make sure to pack anything that you don’t want to leave forever.”

  Jason looked around the empty room. He wouldn’t have much to bring. “Alright, sounds good. Thank you.”

  The next hour dragged on. When Jason left his home in Virginia, he only brought what could fit in the back of his truck. He told himself that he was just going to visit his dad in Albany and explore his options, but deep down he knew that he would never return.

  Most important to him were his tools and a photo album of his family – back when they were happy. He wondered if they would take that from him. Though he was just a baby in most of the pictures, his dad was easily recognizable, with his wild eyes and bad haircut.

  He loved those pictures, though. His mom looked happy; it was before his dad’s greed took over their lives. Jason’s mom, Sandra, couldn’t stand what her husband turned into. She hated the lies and the scams. She hated the never-quite-above-board business ideas. Most of all, she hated the feeling that the money didn’t come from a good place, even if her husband was skilled at lying about how he got it.

  Just a few years after the divorce, his mom passed away from cancer and he had to go back and live with his dad. She never spoke poorly of his dad, which was a civility he may not have deserved; in the end, it hurt Jason because he had no idea what kind of a person his father really was.

  Jason pushed the memories aside and repacked a small suitcase of clothing. He set it next to his tools by the front door and then sat on the couch waiting for the FBI to arrive.

  True to their word, they arrived almost exactly one hour after the phone call was made. Jason opened the door and welcomed them inside.

  “Hey Jason, good to see you,” Agent Simmons said, vigorously shaking his hand.

  “Good to see you too.”

  Agent Simmons was the first person who contacted him in Virginia, and he threw Jason because he was so unlike what he thought an FBI agent would be. He always imagined that agents were serious, no-nonsense, dark sunglass wearing forces of the law. He got that from the movies mostly, and maybe some were like that.

  But Agent Simmons was more like a friendly dad. He had salt-and-pepper hair, twinkling blue eyes, and always sported a wide smile. He was just about Jason’s dad’s age, which made Jason wonder what his life would have been like if his father chose a life of law enforcement instead of a life of financial crime.

  A woman he’d never seen before stepped forward. “Hi Jason, I’m U.S. Marshal Madeline Perez.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “It looks like you’re ready to go.”

  “I am,” he replied. “I hope that this isn’t too much to bring.”

  Simmons laughed. “No, not at all. Usually we have to talk people out of bringing several carloads of stuff. This is no problem.”

  Perez smiled. “You should see what some of the mobster housewives try to bring with them.”

  Jason laughed. “I can’t imagine.”

  She made a motion to pick up his suitcase.

  “Please,” he said, intercepting her. “I can carry it. Don’t trouble yourself.”

  She gave him a stern look, but let him pick up the tools and his bag.

  It wasn’t that he thought she couldn’t handle carrying his stuff – she was clearly a tough woman. It just seemed impolite. She stood at what could be no more than 5’3”, yet she commanded the room. Unlike Agent Simmons, she was not constantly smiling. Jason figured that as a woman in her position, she probably didn’t have the luxury of being overly friendly.

  Jason liked her immediately; she reminded him of his mother. She was also a no-nonsense sort of woman.

  They walked out to a black SUV and Jason loaded his stuff in the back.

  “I guess I’ll have to leave my truck behind?”

  Simmons nodded. “Yeah, but don’t worry. Where you’re going, I bet they’ll have a nice truck for you.”

  “Really?” For some reason, this cheered him a bit.

  “We’ve got you covered,” said Perez with a smile.

  They drove along for about half an hour before they reached their destination.

  “This is a secure location where you will spend the night before we send you to your new home,” said Perez.

  “You know,” commented Simmons, “I half expected you to stand us up.”

  Jason shot him a puzzled look. “Why?”

  Though his father was a dishonest man, Jason certainly was not. He felt a bit of shame burn in his chest – of course people would assume that he was just l
ike his father.

  “Well,” he said with a sigh, “to start, we don’t have much to offer you. Most of the people that go into witness protection are guilty of crimes themselves. But you haven’t done anything wrong. You could just keep living your life the way that it was.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” Jason said as he stepped into the building. “I’ve felt guilty for long enough. I felt like this was the least I could do to bring justice for some of the people that my dad scammed over the years.”

  Simmons continued. “Yeah, well, when you met with him today, we thought you might be tipping him off.”

  Jason shook his head. “No. I needed him to know what I was doing, though.”

  Perez smiled. “We know. We heard it all.”

  Jason took a step back. “So I was followed? I knew it.”

  Simmons shook his head. “No, we didn’t follow you. But some of your father’s associates knew that you were meeting. Before you got there, they bugged the restaurant. And we have them tapped, so we got to listen in, too.”

  “Seriously?” Jason felt like the wind was knocked out of him. “Are you saying that my dad set me up?”

  “No,” Simmons said quickly. “It doesn’t appear that your dad was involved at all. I think he was quite unaware. They’re not happy with him, though. And they’re really not happy with you.”

  They walked down a long hallway and invited Jason into a well lit room. He took a seat.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m a big problem for them.”

  “We appreciate what you’re doing,” Perez said.

  Simmons closed the door. “We do. Your testimony helps connect a lot of dots. I’m glad that you came in when you did, because we’ve been hearing a lot of chatter that they want to intimidate you and prevent you from testifying.”

  Jason frowned. “And have they found anything to use against me? They already destroyed my home.”

  Agent Simmons shook his head. “No. Luckily not. You have no family, no children, and no discernible significant other.”