Page 25 of Fractured Reunion

Yeah, nice try, he thought. “Monday morning. My office at seven a.m. Don’t be late.” Aaron quickly ended the call. After setting his cell phone aside, he scrubbed his hands over his face. Why had he taken a leadership role?

Oh yeah, because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

With a sigh, he sipped his coffee. Then he sent a flurry of emails. First, he made sure to remove Fullerton from the call schedule, then he made sure the chief of staff, Dr. Rob Kent, would be able to attend the Monday morning meeting. Finally, he went back through his notes to document the four times in six months that Fullerton had not answered his calls.

When those administrative tasks were finished, he downed the last of his coffee and rose to his feet. He’d make rounds on the cardiac surgery patients, then head home.

To his empty house.

Turning away from his troubled thoughts, he ran a report of all cardiac surgery patients within the hospital. Then he began making rounds, pleased to note that most of their tiny patients were doing fine. One patient happened to be on Joey’s unit, and he had to force himself to walk past the little boy’s room without poking his head in to see Maggie.

He needed to stop letting her mess with his head. She wasn’t in town to see him. She’d attended a conference, responded to a bus crash, and jumped in to help support a scared and injured little boy.

If not for the crash, Maggie would be back in Boston right now doing whatever she did on her weekends off.

Dating? He hid a wince as he logged into the next patient chart. Why wouldn’t she be dating? She was beautiful, smart, and single.

The next few hours dragged by with excruciating slowness. Knowing Maggie was there made it difficult to get back into his usual routine.

At home, he flipped through TV stations to find the Big Ten college football game. But after several minutes, he realized he had no idea who was playing or what the score was.

When his phone rang, he startled badly. Expecting the call to be from the hospital, he was surprised to see Alec’s number on the screen. “Hey, Alec. Don’t tell me you found something on Oliver Chism already?”

“Bro, it’s been five hours since you called,” Alec drawled. “So yeah, I spent time digging into your guy. And you’re right about his history of drug abuse. I found a court-ordered rehab from last year after he crashed his car into a tree.”

He took a moment to digest that information. “I guess he could be clean since that happened.”

“Doubtful,” Alec drawled. “He was arrested six months ago with possession. He wasn’t carrying a lot of weight, just a couple ounces of crack cocaine, but he spent another month in jail before he was released on parole.”

“What impact does his being on parole have on his ability to be granted custody of his son?” To Aaron’s mind, it should be a no-brainer for the judge to rule against giving Chism custody of Joey. Why take the risk of Chism falling back into his old ways? And how did a drug addict support himself anyway?

“Depends on the judge,” Alec said. “If custody is granted, someone from Child Protective Services would be expected to make frequent home visits to make sure Chism was treating his son well.”

“Home visits.” He shook his head in disgust. “Anyone can pull it together long enough to pass a home visit.”

“Not if he’s using again,” Alec said. “And my impression is that the home visits are not scheduled ahead of time.”

“Yeah, okay.” He didn’t like it, but getting mad at Alec wouldn’t help. “Would the judge mandate drug testing too?”

“Yes, that’s part of being out on parole.” Alec was silent for a moment. “I wish I could reassure you that Chism won’t get custody, but there are too many variables at play to know how things will shake out. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I know.” It was Joey who would suffer the most if things didn’t work out with his father. “I appreciate you digging into the guy for me. I feel bad taking you away from your family on a Saturday.”

“No problem, I took time off for Shannon’s soccer game.” Alec chuckled softly. “Gotta say, she plays with heart, even if there isn’t a whole lot of skill.”

“She’s young, give her time,” Aaron said. He’d liked being closer to his parents, but seeing the happy families of his siblings was bittersweet. Yet he had nothing to complain about, seeing as Andrea had lost her husband.

He and Andrea had bonded over their respective losses at the last family dinner. Andrea had her two kids, Bethany and Ben, to help keep her busy.

He didn’t have anything but his work to distract him from his loss.

“I’m not complaining,” Alec said. “If Shannon is happy, that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, I hear you.” He thought briefly about the kids he’d never have. “Hey, do you mind throwing a quick summary together on what you’ve discovered about Oliver Chism? I think that might come in handy down the road.”

“Sure thing. I’ll send it along later today,” Alec agreed. There was a brief pause, then Alec added, “Be careful, Aaron. You’re allowing yourself to get personally involved with this kid. Much the way Adam did last Christmas with baby Joy.”

“I know. It must be something in the Monroe DNA, though, because I can’t turn my back on this little boy’s situation. Thanks again, Alec. Spend the rest of your day off with your family.”

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