Page 32 of Dr. Brandt

“Yeah, right. We know how hard and fast that rule is,” I teased. I’d always made it clear if she needed to reach me, she should do so no matter what.

“I was calling because Jessica Stein finally called to schedule that appointment for Jackson to meet with Lisa.”

I’d been ready to get out of here in an hour so I could sleep for twenty-four hours, but now, I was wide awake.

It’s about fucking time! I was beginning to wonder if Jessa had lost the number to the hospital or if I would have to hunt her ass down myself and figure out if I’d scared her and Jackson off so bad that they went into hiding.

“That’s fantastic news. Okay, I’m off for two days, but why don’t you see if Lisa can meet with them the day after tomorrow? I’ll come in on my day off. I really want this young woman to breathe a little hope into Jackson’s situation.”

“Sounds great. Ms. Stein said she was available any day.”

“Excellent. Then so long as Miss Lisa can make some time for us, we’ll be golden. Is there anything else before I go?”

“Some prescriptions for Haylee Brown need refills. Other than that, everything is buttoned up nicely over here at the office.”

“Send the scripts to me, and I’ll have them refilled. I’ll see you when I’m back in the office next week.”

“Perfect.”

“Also, text me the updates on when Lisa will meet with Ms. Stein and her son.”

“You got it, Dr. B.”

My long-ass on-call week had finally come to an end. I was too tired to think of anything besides sleep at this point, so I ordered an Uber because I was too sleep-deprived to get behind the wheel.

I was bone tired but relieved that Jessa and Jacks were moving forward. This was not an easy surgery for anyone to accept, and I was grateful that they were brave enough to hear Lisa’s story.

Chapter Sixteen

Jessa

This week felt like it’d lasted a year, and I hadn’t even faced the longest part yet—Jackson and me meeting with Cameron’s success story patient.

After Warren and I called off the engagement and ended our relationship, I had my ups and downs. I was grieving the relationship but was confident that it needed to end, and Warren agreed. We had become stale and stagnant in our relationship, the romantic aspect of it anyway. Something was missing, and it had been for a long time. I guess caring for a son with a medical condition while one caretaker was a workaholic was a recipe for disaster.

At one time, the chemistry between Warren and me was fire, but that flame had burned out long ago, and neither of us was prepared to do anything about it until now. We preferred to split amicably than to let our resentments grow into full-blown anger. Remaining friendly was important to me because Jackson didn’t need any undue stress.

Warren left for the airport in an Uber the day before I called to set the appointment to meet Cameron’s patient. Warren wanted to stay for the consult, but in the end, we both determined it was best if he stepped away now rather than involve himself and make it harder to separate after the surgery.

We were both young. He was a very eligible bachelor, and I knew it would be selfish of me to hang onto him when I was no longer in love with him.

By the goodness of his heart, Warren didn’t leave us destitute. So, here I was in the beach house he had rented for an additional week, giving me time to make arrangements for what came next. He was set on ensuring we found a place to live and making sure I had an income. He put me on his company’s payroll, which gave me medical benefits to cover Jackson, and paid me a ridiculous amount of money to transcribe ledgers and prepare notes and things for his weekly meetings.

I was acutely aware that most breakups didn’t happen this way—cushy, remote-work jobs with hefty salaries and benefits packages weren’t typical for broken engagements—and I couldn’t have been more grateful.

A clock was ticking on this beach house, so I perused rental listings in the area, rolling my eyes at the cost of living in Southern California.

I had to find Jackson and me a place to live for under two thousand a month, preferably in a part of town that didn’t take a million miles to commute to the hospital.

Not an easy task, as I was finding out.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Are we calling an Uber to get to the hospital?” Jackson asked.

“Already done,” I answered with a confident smile, feeling the best I had since the breakup.

“How much longer are we going to get around in an Uber when we should buy a car, Mom?” Jackson asked. “It’s not very cost-effective.”

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