Page 38 of Trick of Light

Bethany arranged to meet Felix again for a checkup. Because of her standing as a top surgeon in Savannah, she was able to rent a hospital room on Nantucket with just a phone call.

“We don’t have anything heavy scheduled this week, anyway,” one of the nurses explained as she led her through the glossy hallways. “We know all about you and are pleased to host you. Just let us know what you need.”

Bethany thanked her and closed the door behind her, locking herself away with Felix’s files. Again, she imagined what it would be like to operate the Nantucket surgical ward. It wouldn’t be as frantic and stressful as the Savannah surgical ward, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe she needed to take a breather for a few years.

Besides, once word got around that Bethany Sutton was located on Nantucket, people would probably come from miles around to be treated by her. She’d experienced that frequently in Savannah. She’d become someone essential, someone sought after.

She wished she could tell her seventeen-year-old self this would happen one day. She would make such a startling difference in the medical community that patients would come to her rather than the other way around. She wished, too, that she could tell this to her previous colleagues and bosses from that heinous internship in Manhattan. That was the summer when she’d officially given her soul to the medical field. And not a single person in that community had believed in her.

Rod, Renee, and Felix arrived five minutes before their appointment was set to begin. This was normal. People needed answers; they didn’t dally.

“So good to see you again,” Bethany said, ushering them into the hospital room, trying not to stare at Rod for too long. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to seeing him like this again.

Renee’s eyes were tinged with red, and Rod looked tired and rough around the edges. As though unsure of how to proceed in a professional setting, he stuck out his hand and shook Bethany’s. A shot of electricity went up her arm.

Felix looked tired and pale. Bethany inspected him succinctly, using the hospital equipment in the room and speaking to him gently and happily. Felix smiled at her, his eyes following her head around as she moved.

“He likes you,” Renee said. “I can tell.”

Bethany was accustomed to patients liking her. Even back in medical school, when she’d had no friends and her life had been a whole lot of nothingness, the doctors in charge of her wing in the hospital had said she had a way with patients, and a remarkable bedside manner. “You have wonderful compassion for your patients,” another doctor had written on her report. “Make sure you don’t lose it.” Apparently, it was common among doctors who’d worked for too long to lose empathy.

But it always warmed her heart when little kids liked her. She wanted them to feel safe most of all.

After she’d finished the examination, Renee held Felix as they talked logistics.

“We’ve already booked our flights,” Renee explained of the trip to Savannah. “And we have a hotel room right next to the hospital.”

“Perfect,” Bethany said. “I normally recommend that one. A hallway connects the hospital with the hotel, so you don’t even have to go out into the sweltering heat.”

“I looked at the humidity percentage,” Renee said with a wry laugh. “I don’t know how you handle it down there!”

“My skin got used to it after a few years,” Bethany remembered.

“You became truly Southern,” Rod joked.

With the surgery fast approaching, Bethany outlined what Renee and Rod needed to do for Felix during the days prior to and after the big day. Rod took notes on his phone as Renee nodded so much that her hair shook. Felix babbled happily and eventually fell asleep on Renee’s shoulder. The sight of it made Bethany’s heart ache. She remembered when Phoebe had fallen asleep so easily, as though all she’d needed was her mother’s warmth. Nobody told you that that would one day go away, that they would grow up and want to run away from you.

After the appointment, Renee thanked Bethany for everything, carried Felix into the hallway, and glanced back at Rod with a knowing look in her eyes. Rod remained in the hospital room, his hands in fists.

“Do you have plans for the rest of the afternoon?” he asked.

Bethany’s heart quickened. “I don’t.”

“Would you like to grab a coffee?”

Bethany gathered her things in her arms and put Felix’s files in her purse. “Sure. Coffee sounds nice.” She felt on the verge of fainting.

Rod and Bethany walked through the empty halls of the hospital to the parking lot. Rod’s truck towered over many of the other vehicles. Bethany remembered how he’d previously talked about wanting a truck for fishing and long trips across the East Coast. It suited him.

“I could drive us,” Rod said quietly, eyeing her. “If you want.”

“Okay.”

Bethany followed Rod to his truck, where he opened the passenger door and helped her up. Bethany tried to laugh even as her stomach twisted in knots. When was the last time a man had opened a door for her? Nick was supposed to be Southern, with Southern-minded manners, but he’d never done that.

Rod’s car smelled like peppermint, presumably from his gum. He drove with his hands at ten and two, and the radio played songs from the nineties. They were the same songs they’d loved in their youth—Nirvana and Incubus and Alanis Morissette. Bethany’s throat was tight. She told herself not to cry.

“Brings back memories, huh?” Rod finally said, interrupting the silence.

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