Page 22 of The Doctor's Surprise Family

I smiled. “Not exactly. But you’ll feel better soon. Once you get your cast on, it won’t feel as bad, and we’ll give you some medicine to take the edge off. What’s your name, hon?”

He sniffed again. “Eddie.”

“Okay, well, Eddie, you’re doing great. Dr. Muller’s just going to check out your arm, so why don’t you tell me about, uh, your dad? What do you guys do when he’s not at work?”

“We play ball,” said Eddie. “We—ow!”

“You’re okay.”

“We go on hikes sometimes, and he makes us s’mores. And he taught me to fish last year, and we caught a marlin.”

“A marlin! That’s huge! And… hey, hey! You’re done. The nurse’ll come take you to do some X-rays.”

Eddie’s lip wobbled, but he didn’t cry. He grabbed my hand. “Is Dad on his way?”

“I’m sure he is, but I’ll have someone check.” Eddie’s dad sounded great from the way he described him, and how he lit up when he talked about their trips. But what if his boss hadn’t passed on the news? Or decided to wait till he finished his shift? “Actually, you know what? I’ll check that myself.”

Muller wasn’t best pleased when I did just that, took my break to go off and call the man’s work. But all I could think was, what if that was Oli, alone in the ER, crying for me? He’d want to know I was on my way. Which, as it turned out, Eddie’s dad was. He ran up and caught me on my way to the phones.

“Excuse me, uh, sorry, I think my kid’s here? Eddie Morris? Fell down at school?”

I pointed him to radiology to catch up with Eddie, and went to the machine to grab a coffee for Muller. She wasn’t the type of doctor who made her first years run errands, but I’d found a fresh coffee softened her up. I was fixing it for her — two coffees, two creams — when a strained conversation rose over the chatter, two people trying hard not to shout.

“She’s just a kid. She’ll be hurting for months.”

“But if we wait, it’ll only get worse.”

“Maybe, the surgeon said. It’llmaybeget worse.”

I clapped the lid on Muller’s coffee and hurried away, not wanting to eavesdrop on a family’s private pain. I’d overheard dozens of conversations like that one, families at odds over how to help a loved one, but it always felt harder when it was a kid. An adult, at least, could speak up for themselves. A kid was at the mercy of their parents’ decisions, and the weight of those choices, I couldn’t imagine.

“She’salreadyin pain!” The shout rose behind me.

“Don’t yell. I can’t think.”

“Don’t yell, yourself!”

I couldn’t think either, when it came to Oli — to let him meet Blake or close that door on him. If they met, then Blake left, would Oli’s heart break? Or would it be like when his great-gramps would visit — fun while it lasted, and he’d miss him for a while, but his going home wasn’t the end of the world? But Gramps always came back. What if Blake didn’t? He had years of experience dropping folks from his life, all his old teachers andclassmates and friends, foster brothers and sisters, his moms and dads.

I pushed through my shift, but I was distracted. I kept thinking of how Eddie looked up to his dad. Blake was a man a kid could look up to. He was a soldier. A surgeon. He cooked. I didn’t know if he fished or he’d ever gone hiking, but I bet if he hadn’t, he’d try it for Oli. He’d make him some s’mores and catch him a marlin. He’d be Oli’s hero, but for how long?

That night in the on-call room, I couldn’t sleep. I lay on my hard cot and stared at the ceiling, at the network of cracks across the concrete. Call Blake or block him? Let him in? Shut him out? I texted him at three a.m., not expecting an answer:Do you want to meet Oli or be in his life?

The dots popped up instantly, then his response:BE IN HIS LIFE AS MUCH AS YOU’LL LET ME.

I rolled my eyes. I’d forgotten his old-man texts — all caps, no emojis, no text speak ever. I realized I was smiling and bit my lip hard.

I don’t want to lie to him, or to confuse him. If you two meet, he’ll know you’re his father. If that’s not what you want, I need to know now.

I WANT THAT,said Blake.SO CAN WE MEET?

I took a breath, let it out, and made my choice.

Tomorrow at three, we’ll be at the park. I’ll tell him you’re coming, so don’t let him down.

I closed my eyes, praying I’d picked the right path.

CHAPTER 10

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