Nursing The Doctor (26 page)

When they finally made it to the bathroom, Greg turned on his friend and snarled, “Where the hell is Lily? I thought she told you she was coming.”

“Keep your shirt on, she said she was. She’ll probably be here any minute. She was working until seven.”

“It’s after nine now. And either you get Susie the hell out of this house or keep her away from me before I get charged with hitting a woman.”

“Jeez, you’re a tyrant. What did they do to you at the hospital, inject snake venom?”

Greg gave him a look, and Ben sighed. “Okay, okay, I realize this party wasn’t the best idea I ever had. I’ll go talk to Susie about a boob job. I guarantee that’ll keep her off you.”

Ben hurried away, and Greg locked himself in the bathroom, wondering wearily how long it would be until someone hammered on the door. He’d really wanted to insist that Ben get all of them the hell out, but of course it was Ben’s house as well as his. These people were mutual friends, and before the accident, Greg would have reveled in this sort of gathering.

Tonight, his heart just wasn’t in it, and he doubted it ever would be again. He’d changed since the accident. Partying wasn’t what he wanted anymore. It seemed empty and meaningless. He desperately wanted Lily, he wanted to slip away with her, somewhere quiet and private. Was there anywhere left in the entire city where they’d be assured of privacy?

For one mad moment, he even considered phoning Vivian Krupps and asking for the key to the physio room.

He stayed in the bathroom until someone did hammer on the door, and then made his slow and painful way back into the living room, praying that when he got there, Lily would be there.

A quick glance told him she wasn’t. His heart sank as he seated himself on the couch, his casted leg resting on a pillow. He forced a smile and a murmur of thanks when someone handed him yet another card, and it was several moments before
he glanced at it.

Greg knew her writing well. With a feeling of foreboding, he tore the envelope open and read the message, then he staggered to his feet and bellowed at the top of his lungs for Ben.

Lily tried once again to coax Gram to take off her fur-collared coat and the old-fashioned hat with the little veil. The outfit was made more incongruous by the white flannel nightgown peeping out from under the coat and the fuzzy pink bedroom slippers Gram wore on her feet.

But there was nothing humorous about Hannah’s refusal to go to bed. She’d have to resort to giving Gram a sedative if this kept up much longer.

“I’m ready, but you know you can’t go in that dress, Lily,” Gram insisted again in the most reasonable of tones. “You have to wear white for graduation.” She frowned and peered through the veil at the clock on the mantel. “Michael should be here any minute. He promised he’d be home on time tonight.”

“Oh, Gram, please stop it.” Lily sank down on the bottom of the stairs and a single sob escaped from her throat. She was bone tired and her chest hurt. Funny how she’d always thought a broken heart wasn’t a physical pain.

“Gram, wouldn’t you like a nice hot bath?” she pleaded. “With that lavender soap you like so much?”

“It’s late, we’re going to be late.” Gram became more and more agitated. “Why can’t he ever get here on time?”

“You got me,” Lily muttered, at her wit’s end. “I never could figure that out.” And some part of her had stopped trying, she realized all of a sudden. Michael hadn’t been the best father in the world, but the rest of her family more than made up for him.

The doorbell rang, and she jumped.

“That’s him,” Gram crowed. “Michael’s forgotten his key.”

For just an instant Gram’s delusions infected her, as well, and Lily wondered what she would have said to her father.

It’s okay, dad. I’ve grown up, I don’t need to blame you anymore
.

She opened the door and stared, astonished.

It was Greg. She was aware that Ben was there, too. He’d obviously helped Greg with the stairs, but now he said in a rushed voice, “Hi, Lily, how’s it going?” and without waiting for a response, turned and left.

“Call me if you need me,” he hollered over his shoulder as he disappeared out the front gate and into the sports car parked on the street. Itsmotor was still idling, Lily realized.

She also realized that Greg was none too steady on his crutches, and he was in a temper. The card she’d written him was crumpled in his hand.

“What the hell’s this about, Lily?” He waved it like a flag under her nose and almost fell.

She reached out and steadied him. Behind her, she could hear Gram saying, “Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, we’re going to be late.”

It was evident that Greg’s control was slipping. “Are we going to have this conversation out here, Lily? Because if we are, I need a chair. I can’t stand up any longer on these cursed things.”

“Come in, Greg.”

He stumbled through the doorway.

Lily realized how the house looked, toys everywhere, the clothes she’d managed to peel off Gram strewn on the hall rug, the Christmas tree Kaleb had put up listing dangerously to one side after Zoe had knocked it over.

“Oh, goodness.” Gram was wringing her hands. “Oh, goodness. You’re not Michael. Who are you? Are you one of the bad men?” She cowered against the wall. “Lily’s going to be late, we have to go. What have you done with Michael?”

“Who exactly is Michael?” Greg was instantly on guard, as if Lily had a dozen lovers waiting to pop out of the closet.

“He was my father. She’s got it in her head that we’re going to my graduation.” Lily heard Zoe start wailing upstairs and wondered how much worse this bizarre scene could possibly get. She gestured at a chair in the living room and babbled, “Sit down, Greg, take your coat off. Keep an eye on Gram for me. She’s not usually violent, but don’t let her near the poker.”

I must be on the verge of hysteria, Lily told herself as she sprinted up the stairs, joking at a time like this.

Upstairs, she scooped Zoe into her arms and rocked her, but the little girl refused to be comforted. Her nose was running. Greg had never been particularly patient with confused old people. Mindful of what might be happening downstairs, Lily grabbed a soft blanket and wrapped Zoe in it, making her way back to the living room.

Greg had collapsed onto the sofa. Gram was watching him suspiciously from the hall. She turned toward Lily, obviously distressed. “Where were you? I didn’t know where you were, and we have to go right away. Who is that man?”

Her voice was high and tremulous, and Lily hugged her as best she could with Zoe squeezed between them. The little girl, awake now, liked it and giggled, and then she sneezed. She spied Greg and studied him, absently wiping her running nose on the shoulder of Lily’s dress.

“This is Zoe, my niece, and Hannah, my grandmother.” Belatedly, Lily performed introductions. “Greg works with me at the hospital,” she explained to Gram, hoping it would penetrate. “He’s a doctor.”

“I don’t need a doctor.” Gram was immediately on the defensive. “I’m not sick. Is the baby sick?”

“She has a cold, and she’s lonely upstairs by herself,” Lily said in a coaxing tone, aware that Greg was watching and listening. “Would you come up and help me get her settled, Gram?”

This appeal worked where nothing else had. Gram nodded and slipped her coat off, heading for the stairs.

Lily sighed with relief. “I’ll be down as soon as I get them both into bed, Greg.”

“I’ll wait.” It sounded more like a threat than a promise.

Lily hurried upstairs, wondering if he had any idea exactly how long this process could take, and whether at the end of it she would have the energy to confront him.

Forty minutes later, filled with apprehension, she came down again.

Greg was still on the sofa. He’d propped his cast on an ottoman, and he was simply sitting, waiting.

Lily had hoped she was too exhausted to feel anything, but her heart began to pound. Obviously love was an involuntary emotion with no connection whatsoever to the brain, she thought miserably. Her mind knew quite well what she needed to do, but every nerve ending in her body tingled at the sight of him.

“They’re both asleep,” she managed to say, and he nodded, watching her.

“Greg, this is my life,” she burst out. “This is my home, this is how I live.” She waved an arm around the shabby, untidy room, comparing it in her mind’s eye with the glimpse she’d had of his elegant living room. “Gram was a little worse than usual tonight, but not much. Even when she’s hospitalized, I plan to be with her as often as I can. And whenever it’s possible, I baby-sit Zoe. I’m a family person. I’m not ever going to take up skiing. I don’t enjoy parties and I’m not good at them. I like babies and old people and my job in the ER. Greg, you read my note. We don’t have Hep C, the test was a false positive. You’re going to be back to your old self in a short time. You can have your old life back.”

“If that’s what I wanted, don’t you think I’d still be at that goddamned party? I don’t want parties anymore.”

“How do you know you won’t?” How could she know?

“You want guarantees, is that it?” His voice rose. “I can’t guarantee a single thing about our future, Lily. I can only say right now that I never plan to strap on another pair of skis and I’ll probably always run with a limp. If everything’s working the way it should, we can have as many babies as you want, but we’re going to need a hell of a lot more time to practice making them than we’ve had. As for old people, I liked Hannah, she just needs a little more time to get used to me, is all.”

He ran a hand through his hair and glared at her. “All I really want is you, Sullivan. Can’t you get that through your beautiful head? And I promise you I’ll love you all the days of my life. That I
can
guarantee.”

He tried to get up and cursed when he lost his balance and landed back on the sofa. “My life isn’t going to be a long one judging from the way things are going tonight, so, Lily, please, Lily, would you, for pity’s sake, come over here to me? I’m gonna kiss you until you agree to marry me, but I just can’t chase you around the room to do it. I will someday soon, trust me, but not tonight.”

Love, and trust. No guarantees, the chance of a false positive in every test life presented. Could there also be happy endings?

There were only three steps separating them, but it felt like a gigantic leap, a leap of faith, to take them. Lily did, and then the doubts were gone. She was safe in his arms.

EPILOGUE

St. Joe’s efficient grapevine spread the word throughout the hospital, although the message was also there on the computer, under Employee Information.

On May 23 in the ER staff lounge, beginning at 10:00 a.m. and lasting for as long as it takes, a celebration will be held in honor of Lily Sullivan’s recent marriage to Greg Brulotte, and the Doc’s return to active duty. Everyone welcome
.

The noise rose and fell as people flocked in from every part of the hospital. The ambulance crew had just arrived, and they were a particularly noisy bunch. The X-ray techs had been quieter, but they’d already returned to work. The surgeons were the worst, guffawing over some gruesome joke Bellamy was telling involving intimate body parts.

Mary Giles and Patricia Zanick, the nurses who’d been the main organizers for the party, were keeping a practiced eye on details, making certain that the industrial size coffeemakers they’d borrowed for the day were refilled when necessary and that there were plenty of chips in the bedpans they were using as serving bowls. They’d filled urinals with bouquets of spring flowers, and they’d had Doc Brulotte’s certificate for Worst Patient of the Century blown up and framed.

“The doc’s not limping much at all anymore,” Mary remarked. “And doesn’t Lily look gorgeous? She’s just glowing. Elizabeth said she thinks Lily might be pregnant. She heard her upchucking the other morning in the staff toilet.”

“That was fast work. They’ve only been married a couple of months.”

They both scrutinized Lily for visible signs, but of course it was too soon to tell. She was smiling, standing beside Greg under the banner the nurses had strung up, hearts and flowers and their names intertwined, and he had his arm around her waist.

“I never figured him for a family man until he came by to pick Lily up the other day,” Patricia remarked. “He had a couple of little kids with him, one on each arm, and it was obvious he loved it. One was Lily’s niece and the other was Frannie Myles’s nephew. By the way, did you hear that Kaleb and Frannie are getting married?”