Page 106 of Indiscretion

“Do you think you can notarize some papers for Frannie? I lost my notary license along with my law license. She’s updating her will and medical directive and stuff. Her lawyer mailed her the papers to sign, but his office is all the way uptown. This is much closer.”

“No problem. I can also drop by the apartment, if that’s easier for her. I’m sure she has a bunch of stuff to do to get ready before such a long hospital stay.”

“That’s sweet of you to offer, but she’s going to the lab a few blocks away this afternoon. I have to run out later to pick up the files you managed to get back from the feds on the Langone case, but I’ll tell the receptionist my sister might stop by in case she comes while I’m gone.”

“I’ll be around all afternoon.”

Naomi smiled. “I know. I checked your schedule online.”

I chuckled. “I have a conference call in a few minutes. After that, I have to prep for the Wren hearing tomorrow.”

“I thought I saw that on the calendar for Monday?”

Shit. This was the difficulty of working with your girlfriend while trying to keep a secret. Your life was pretty much an open book. But I couldn’t tell her I’d rescheduled a hearing because I was going to be in the hospital all day on Monday, so I had no choice but to tell a white lie.

“I’m, uh, I’m meeting with the ADA to talk about a potential plea deal for the kid who was here last week, Jared.”

“Oh, that was quick. He was only charged a few weeks ago, wasn’t he?”

What was I thinking? Of course a former ADA would know it was too early for plea discussions. “Yeah, I thought the same thing. Maybe Will Archer used his pull from working there.”

I was definitely going to have to put something else on the calendar for Monday so Naomi wouldn’t wonder why I was out the entire day. Luckily, the procedure required very little downtime for a donor, and the tiny scars would be on my back and easy enough to hide.

I escaped to my desk so I didn’t have to tell any more lies about next week and dove back into my work. Around four thirty, the receptionist buzzed to let me know Frannie had arrived. Naomi was still downtown at Federal Plaza, so I went out to greet her sister and brought her back to my office.

I motioned to the visitor’s chair and opened my drawer to take out my notary stamp.

“How you feeling?”

“Overwhelmed.” She forced a smile.

“I can imagine. Naomi was telling me about the process earlier.”

“I have so many errands to get done, yet I keep thinking I should be home with my kids. What happens if things don’t go well and this is the last time I’ll spend with them outside of the hospital? And here I am running around to make sure they’re registered for camp because the deadline is in three weeks and getting Ryder batteries for a game he hasn’t played in almost a year.”

I shut my drawer, walked around to the other side of my desk, and sat next to her. “You’re in the cootie phase.”

“The what?”

“It’s the time before you go into the hospital for anything serious. I had a friend who was in and out of the hospital when we were teenagers. Whenever she was nervous about an admission, she would avoid her mom and me by loading up on schoolwork or cleaning out her closet. Once she even spent the entire day before a procedure going door to door to get signatures for a petition to change the color of the town’s recycling bins to green.”

Frannie’s nose wrinkled. “Who makes recycling bins any other color but green?”

I laughed. “That’s what she said. But whatever she threw herself into was never about it needing to be done. It was about not wanting the people she loved to see how upset and nervous she was. She was trying to protect us by treating us like we had the cooties.”

Frannie’s shoulders slumped. “The kids are worried enough.”

“Of course they are. You’re their mom, and they were dealt a shit hand losing their dad. But the last thing you need is to get run down dragging yourself around town and stressing. Maybe you can find a way to keep your mind occupied while you’re with the kids. I bet Ryder would keep you on your toes playing a few rounds of cards with him.”

“That he would.Especiallyif there was ten bucks at stake.”

I shrugged. “I don’t have any kids, but doesn’t all your money wind up spent on them anyway?”

She smiled. “Good point.”

I gestured to the thick envelope in her hand. “Let’s get your papers notarized so we can get you home.”

It took less than five minutes for me to stamp and sign a half-dozen documents. When I was done, I tucked them all back into the envelope and held them out to Frannie. “Here you go.”

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