Page 39 of Noticing Natalie

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“Hello?”

“Ms. Martin?”

“Yes.”

“Ms. Natalie Martin?”

I frowned. “Yes—who’s this?”

“Sorry. My name is Lark Hansbury. I’m your father’s… nurse. I—well, I hate to do this over the phone, but your father is very ill.”

I sat my glass of wine down on the wrought iron patio table with a distinct clink. “What? I don’t understand.”

I’d been more in touch with my father than I’d ever been before. We’d started calling each other at least weekly if not more often. We texted almost daily. And now I was hearing he was sick?

“Your father didn’t want to tell you, and he made us promise not to tell you until there was no alternative.”

What the hell? I was suddenly very, very sober. “What’s wrong with him?”

My roommate looked very concerned and mouthed “what’s wrong?” to me.

I held up a hand to her.

“Your father has stage four melanoma. He’s… well, he’s being admitted to hospice next week.”

I felt dizzy. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

She was quiet for a minute. “He didn’t want you to come home and mess up your opportunity at Johns Hopkins. He’s very proud of you.”

I closed my eyes. He was proud of me.

He was dying.

“What’s his prognosis?”

“The doctor gives him anywhere from six months to a year, but he’s gone downhill quickly in the past couple of weeks. My personal feeling is that he might not have that long.”

I nodded then realized she couldn’t see me.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll make arrangements to come home. I’ll be there as soon as possible. I have to get packed up.”

“Oh, don’t leave your residency…”

“I actually finished today.”

“Today?”

“Yes.” The timing wasn’t lost on me. He’d somehow managed to hold up until I was finished. People were incredible. “Thank you for calling, Ms. Hansbury.”

“Of course. I look forward to meeting you.”

I hung up and turned to my roommate. “You remember how I couldn’t decide which job offer I was going to take?”

She nodded, her eyes wide.

“Well, the decision just got made for me. I guess I’m going home to Indigo Falls. I’ll be accepting the position at Halliwell Hospital.”

She smiled sadly. “Not here, huh?”

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