Page 33 of The Do-Over
“Any time in the past five years?”
“Well, no.”
“And that’s why, again?”
“Because it’s hard to leave my patients,” she said defensively. “They get used to having me around. For some of them, seeing me is the high point of their week. I can’t just abandon them, you know that.”
“Right,” Carlo said. “I mean, personally, I think you can take more breaks than you do. You know that. But you can’t expect me to believe that you’ve suddenly gotten on board with the idea of doing something for yourself. This isn’t about wanting to travel. You’re running away from him.”
She sighed. “Okay,” she admitted. “What if I am?”
“Don’t,” he said. “There’s no reason for you to do that.”
“I don’t want to hang around and listen to everyone in town sing his praises,” she said. “And why should I? It’s annoying. Everyone in town is obsessed with him, but he’s not so great. Just because he won a few basketball games—”
“He took Larrimore to the Final Four. It was historic. And you know that’s not all. He’s a military doctor. He saves lives.”
“All doctors save lives,” Thea said wryly. “And we have plenty of doctors right here in Deer Ridge.”
“We have two.”
“Two’s plenty in a town this size. My point is, why does everyone act like they’ve never even heard of modern medicine before the moment Rob’s name gets brought up? Like he invented the concept of treating a patient or something.”
“It isn’t like that and you know it,” Carlo said. “Deer Ridge is right to be proud that he’s from here. I’m proud of it. He’s the biggest success story to come out of this town in generations, between his basketball career and his military service.”
“Well, color me unimpressed,” Thea said. “It’s great that he’s gone into medicine, but I work with doctors every day.”
She didn’t add what she was thinking—that she herself was a nurse, and that nurses did most of the same work doctors did, but for less glory. No one was ever going to give a fancy medical award to a nurse. And it wasn’t that Thea wanted an award—that wasn’t why she did the job. But she did feel pretty strongly that Rob Honeycutt wasn’t any better than she was just because he’d gotten a more prestigious degree.
“Look, promise you won’t take off,” Carlo said. “Come over to the restaurant tonight and we can talk about this more. It’s not like you’re even going to have to see him.”
“No, I know that,” Thea sighed. “And you know I won’t really go anywhere. At the end of the day, my patients are my priority. I’m not going to skip town just because the Rob Honeycutt Fan Club is going to be here.”
Carlo laughed. “I’m sure he hasn’t got a fan club.”
“I’m sure he does. Don’t you remember how nuts everyone went during that basketball season? And now he’s the golden boy of Deer Ridge because of his medical record.”
“Do you want to come in for breakfast?”
“No, I have to start my rounds.” She was already struggling into her scrubs. “Thanks for letting me know what’s going on, though. If you see Mom and Dad, you can tell them I already know. I don’t want to have this conversation over and over.”
“I’ll tell them.”
They said their goodbyes, and Thea hung up the phone. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and tied her hair back quickly. She had her first appointment of the day in just fifteen minutes, and she couldn’t be late.
The drive to George Welch’s house was short, thankfully—there wasn’t much time for Thea to get lost in her thoughts about Rob. She got out of the car in front of his house and unpacked the new mobility aid she’d ordered for him to try out, a walker that had a seat attached to it. The thought of the difference this would make in George’s day-to-day life was a welcome distraction, and she smiled.
He was waiting for her at the kitchen table, as he always did. “Pancakes?” he asked, gesturing to them.
“I’m good,” she said, even though she had skipped breakfast.
“You never eat a meal with me,” he complained.
She laughed. “One of these days we’ll have dinner, George. I promise.”
A smile lit up his face. Thea felt a great sense of validation. Of course she would stay in Deer Ridge. How could she have considered leaving, even for a short time? How could she go when her patients needed her?
She unfolded the walker on the floor and positioned it in front of his chair. “What do you think?” she asked. “Pretty good, right?”
