The Doctor She Always Dreamed Of Read online

  “You can afford to pay me one hundred and five thousand dollars a year?”

  What? “You make one hundred and five thousand dollars a year?”

  “I did.”

  “I can pay you half that, to start.” If he paid himself less. “Once things at my office are working smoother and I have the staff I need, I can take on more patients. As soon as I’m able, I’ll give you a raise.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t survive on fifty thousand dollars a year.”

  “Work for me while you’re looking for your next job. A few weeks, a few months.” Anything. “Start tomorrow. You won’t miss a paycheck.” And I won’t feel so terrible about being partially responsible for you getting fired. “You’ll be making more than you would on unemployment. If you need a day off to go on an interview, no problem.”

  She was still shaking her head. “I don’t like the idea of working so far from home.”

  “You’d only be an hour away. You trust your mom’s aides, you said so yourself. Surely they could handle any situation until you got there.”

  She walked along looking deep in thought.

  Hmmm. What would get her to agree? Then it came to him. “I’ll throw in free medical care for you, your mom and your sister.”

  “My mom needs a female doctor.”

  “I’ll wear a dress.” At this point, he’d do anything.

  She laughed. “You. You’ll wear a dress.” She looked him up and down as if trying to imagine it.

  “And full makeup and a wig, whatever it’ll take for me to pass as a woman. I need you that much.” He also wanted to help her with her mom the way she’d helped him with his.

  “I don’t drive. How will I get from the train station to your office? Next block.” She pointed. “See that red sign?”

  It read Phil’s Tavern. He nodded. “I’ll pick you up every morning and drop you off every night.” Happily.

  “You need a nurse, too.” She looked up at him. “Full time?”

  “You’d be in charge of scheduling. But yes, I’m pretty sure I need both positions full time. Maybe even a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant to help me with patients. Maybe you could research salary ranges and which would be a better fit for my practice.”

  She stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. “Benefits?”

  “Medical and dental.”

  “And free health care for me, Mom, Krissy and her baby, when and if she has one? Even if I only work for you for a short time then come back to the city to work?”

  “Yes.” So he’d have a reason to keep on seeing her, so she’d always have someone to call if she needed help.

  She nodded, a hint of a smile on her face, as she pulled open the door. “That might work. Let me think about it.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE TRAIN RIDE up to White Plains wasn’t as bad as Kira had thought it would be. Forty minutes of time to herself was an absolute luxury. But the book on her iPad didn’t hold her attention. She glanced over to Krissy who sat next to her, staring out the window.

  “Don’t sulk. It’s not forever,” Kira said. “All I asked is that you give it a try.” Maybe she’d like working in a doctor’s office. A set schedule and reasonable hours would make it easier to coordinate child care, when and if she needed it.

  “I’m not sulking, I’m thinking,” Krissy said without looking at her.

  They returned to sitting in silence.

  Kira had managed to read three uneventful pages when Krissy said, “You know. I’m not the waste of life you think I am.”

  Kira set her iPad down in her lap. “I don’t think you’re a waste of life.”

  “I can’t do what you do,” Krissy said. “With Mom. I can’t...” She shook her head, turning to look out the window again.

  Kira reached for her hand and held it.

  “It’s too hard,” Krissy said.

  Indeed, it was hard.

  Krissy turned back to look at Kira. “Seeing you sacrifice your life—”

  “I’m not—”

  “Let me finish.” Krissy added her other hand and held Kira’s hand in both of hers. “Seeing you give up...so much makes me so...angry. She doesn’t know who we are. She’s not our mother and yet you’re—”

  “She is our mother,” Kira said quietly. “Even though she doesn’t look the same or act the same, every now and then she’ll do something or say something that reminds me of who she used to be. And if God forbid, anything horrific ever happened to you, I’d take care of you just like I’m doing my best to take care of her.”

  “I know you would. And I love you, for it.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “I know it makes me a terrible person, but I don’t like spending time with Mom,” Krissy said. “It’s hard to see her like that.”

  “For me, too.”

  “But that’s not the only reason I don’t come around more often.” Krissy looked down at her lap. “I’ve always felt like you don’t need my help, or want it. But yesterday...when I saw you lose it in Derrick’s arms, I realized how wrong I was to not even try.” She looked Kira in the eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around more, made more of an effort.”

  Kira turned in her seat. “It was my decision to bring Mom home. So it’s my responsibility to care for her. I want you to live life to its fullest, for both of us.” She squeezed Krissy’s hand. “But I’d love it if we could see more of each other throughout the year.”

  “I’m glad you said that.” Krissy turned in her seat too. “I think I’d like to stick around a while.” She placed a hand on her belly. “To see if the pregnancy takes but also to help out.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “And for your information, I do have money. A lot of it actually.” She handed Kira what looked like a receipt of some sort. “Yesterday I went to the bank and paid your mortgage for the next three months.”

  What? “You—”

  Krissy jabbed a finger in Kira’s direction. “Don’t you dare tell me I didn’t have to, I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”

  “That’s over eleven thousand dollars,” Kira said. “Where did you get that kind of money?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Krissy looked ready to do battle if Kira pushed the issue, so she didn’t. “All that matters is now you have one less thing to worry about.” Then her expression softened. “I got your back, sis.”

  The gesture reminded Kira of the sweet, generous child Krissy had been prior to Mom’s injury, before Kira had been forced to transition from sister to parent.

  “You know a thank you would be nice.”

  Kira did better than that. She grabbed her sister and hugged her tight. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Krissy said, trying to get her arms free. When she did she hugged Kira back. “Now knock it off.” She pushed away. “We’re almost to our stop.”

  When they arrived a few minutes later, Derrick was standing there waiting for them, just like he’d said he’d be. “Good morning.” He smiled at them over the roof of his car. “How was the trip?”

  Kira glanced at Krissy. “Good. The trip was good.” It’d given them uninterrupted, Mom-free time together. A little more, and maybe there’d be hope for their relationship after all.

  Derrick gave Krissy’s multicolored scrub top and maroon scrub pants a quick look before his gaze settled on Kira. “You look nice.” The heat in his eyes when he looked at her was totally inappropriate, and yet she liked seeing it here.

  Her elegant white blouse, sleek beige pencil skirt, and matching patent pumps might be total overkill for her temporary new job, but, “My wardrobe consists of outfits like these or shorts, T-shirts, and leggings. I figured a skirt was the way to go.” Besides, the professional look had given her
a boost of confidence she’d really needed this morning. What did she know about running a medical practice? Nothing. But the challenge of doing something new, after so many years of working in case management, had sparked an excitement she hadn’t felt in a long time. Maybe, just maybe, the opportunity to see Derrick on a regular basis had a little something to do with that.

  The drive to Derrick’s office took roughly ten minutes. Kira watched the route carefully. She could walk it if she had to.

  “Limone Family Medicine. Walk-ins welcome,” Krissy read the red, white and blue sign above Derrick’s strip mall office.

  “The walk-ins are killing me,” he said.

  “Look, there’s a deli in the next plaza over,” Krissy blurted out. “And a donut shop. Sweet.”

  “What do you think?” Derrick asked Kira, as he pulled into the farthest spot in the lot. She liked how he left the spots out front for his patients.

  “I think it’s an excellent location.” On a busy road. She climbed out of his car. As they walked closer she studied the other occupants of the strip mall. On the left corner was a podiatrist, then Derrick’s office, an otolaryngologist, an audiologist, an orthopedist and a diagnostic imaging facility on the far end. “You’re certainly in good company.”

  While he unlocked the door, Kira looked through the glass wall into the waiting room. Neat. Functional.

  “Sara and Bonnie will be here by eight thirty. Office hours start at nine. We have a full schedule today. Lots of parents left their back-to-school physicals for the last minute. Let me put this down in my office,” he held up a plastic grocery bag. “Then I’ll give you a tour.”

  The office was set up in a rectangle with the waiting room at the top then a large reception area. There were ten exam rooms placed around the perimeter, four decorated specifically for young children. In the far left corner was Derrick’s office. Beside that was Kira’s office, which had been turned into a storage room of sorts. A small lab area and a medication/supply room took up the space in the center. In the top corner, facing the parking lot, a staff breakroom had a partial kitchen area with a coffeemaker, a microwave and a small refrigerator. There was also a water cooler and an oval table that could seat six.

  “I can’t thank you both enough,” Derrick said.

  “On account of you’re paying us, we should probably be thanking you,” Krissy replied.

  Actually, it seemed their arrangement would work out well for all three of them, at least for the time being.

  When Sara arrived, Kira partnered with her in the front to learn patient sign in and check out procedures, and the phones. When Bonnie arrived, Krissy partnered with her for a quick intro to the lab, the computer system, and everything she’d need to handle the back-to-school physicals.

  By eleven o’clock, Kira was proud to note, each of them were functioning independently. Kira working the phones and reception/checkout, freed up Sara to start catching up on billing.

  Just before noon, Derrick walked behind the desk to hand her a form, looking so professional in his long white lab coat with his stethoscope around his neck. “How’s it going?”

  Sara answered. “She’s doing great. I’ve finally gotten through the mail from the last three weeks.” She held up a stack of checks. “I’ll be making a nice deposit today, boss.”

  “Good to hear.” He smiled then turned back to Kira. “Thanks for pitching in. I know you didn’t come all the way up here to answer phones.”

  “She’s doing a lot more than answering the phones,” Sara said.

  “If I’m to be an effective office manager,” Kira said. “I have to understand all the jobs I’m expected to supervise. No better way than to jump in and do them.”

  After lunch, compliments of her new boss, Kira’s job responsibilities expanded when she picked up an internal call and Derrick said, “Kira, I need help in room seven.”

  On her way back she realized working in a patient care setting meant she could be called on to assist with a medical emergency at any time. Time to get her CPR certification updated. When she reached room seven she knocked.

  Derrick called out, “Come in.”

  A young woman with black hair sat on the exam table, her legs hanging over the side, a little girl in pigtails dressed in head-to-toe pink, who looked to be around two years old, not that Kira had much experience with young children, had her arms wrapped around the woman’s neck, her legs wrapped around her waist, and was clinging to her chest.

  “I need to examine Mom,” Derrick said. “But little Isabelle here is intent on playing baby koala.”

  Little Isabelle buried her head in the side of her mom’s neck.

  “Maybe you could take her to see the secret box of stickers and surprises I keep in my office for special little girls who let me examine their mommies.”

  Little Isabelle wasn’t interested.

  So Kira sweetened the pot. “I think I saw lollipops in there.” While she didn’t have much experience with children, she had lots of experience with distracting and bribing her mother.

  Isabelle lifted her head.

  Kira held out her hands. “Shall we go see?” She glanced at Mom. “Is it okay if Isabelle has a lollipop? Or maybe a candy necklace? I think I saw some of those, too.” Derrick had quite a few things stashed in there.

  Isabelle looked up at her mother, unsure.

  “Go ahead, honey,” her mom said with a tired smile.

  “We’ll only be a few steps down the hall.” Kira held out her arms again.

  This time Isabelle reached for them and let Kira pick her up. Without even thinking about it, she settled the girl on her hip like it was the most natural thing to do. Odd, because she rarely came in contact with children, let alone picked one up. Unlike other women, she never dreamed about one day being a mom. Not with everything she had going on in her life. Yet there she stood, liking the feel of a tiny child in her arms. Something inside of her shifted.

  “Kira?” Derrick’s voice brought her back. “You okay?”

  “Yes. Sorry.” Her face heated. “We’re off to the secret box.” Without looking at Derrick, she exited the room.

  At the end of the day, while waiting for Krissy to finish up with her last patient, Kira sat at the desk in her cluttered office, thinking about all she’d done since eight thirty that morning. She’d enjoyed interacting with the patients and helping out wherever she was needed.

  Derrick was great with the patients, young and old. Professional and hardworking, friendly and caring, everyone loved him. Kira could see the potential in his practice, would have loved to help it grow and be a part of its success...if only it was located closer to her home. For now she’d have to settle for helping him find qualified staff and putting procedures into place that would help everything run smoothly.

  A knock brought her attention to the doorway where Derrick stood, still in his lab coat, so handsome.

  “Busy day.” He walked in, moved a box, and sat down in a chair.

  “Busy is good.” Her mom always used to say that.

  “What did you think?” He took off his stethoscope and set it on her desk. “You coming back tomorrow?”

  “I enjoyed it.” She smiled. “Of course I’ll be coming back tomorrow.” Then she got serious. “I’ll give you as much notice as I can if and when I find something else.”

  “Thank you.” He studied her.

  “What?”

  “Something happened when you picked up Isabelle today.”

  Of course he’d noticed. “I’m not used to being around children, that’s all.”

  “You were a natural.”

  God she didn’t want to hear that, didn’t want to start thinking about things she had no business thinking about. “Oh. While you’re here.” She held up a manila envelope, changing the subject. “I found th
ese keys, but they’re not labeled.”

  “Those are to the front and back doors. There should be a paper with the alarm code in there. I figured whenever I got an office manager he or she would need them so I left them on the desk.”

  Kira opened a drawer and stuck the envelope inside of it. “Don’t want to leave that lying around where anyone can find it.”

  Krissy joined them. “All done.”

  Kira looked at her sister feeling such pride. “I realize today was the first time I’ve ever seen you on the job. You were incredible.” Except for a quick lunch break, Kira hadn’t seen her sister sit down once. “You acclimated so quickly. It was like you’ve been working here for months.”

  “As a traveling nurse I have to adapt quickly to new situations. But bottom line, patients are patients and nursing is nursing, doesn’t matter where you do it.” She looked at her watch. “We’ve gotta bolt or we’ll miss our train.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ON SUNDAY MORNING Derrick woke and glanced at the clock. Almost eleven. He hadn’t allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in for months. He stretched, feeling completely relaxed for the first time in a long time.

  He owed it all to Kira.

  Things were stable up with Mom and Dad. The new home health care agency she’d brought in was providing quality aides and therapists and they were showing up as scheduled. According to Dad, Mom was improving a little bit each day.

  In the office, it’d only taken Kira one week to straighten things out. Not even a week, four days. Patient billing was all caught up, the medication nook had been organized alphabetically, and any expired doses discarded. There were no longer boxes stacked in his hallways or dozens of messages piled on his desk, waiting for a response. She effectively and efficiently screened his calls, dealt with problems, and managed the patients, the staff, and him with ease. She’d even negotiated two contracts for pre-employment physicals and drug screening, getting him a higher rate than he’d gotten on the one he’d negotiated on his own last month.