Page 6 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“Of course,” he said. “And if you need me or want me to come out and give you a word of encouragement, you tell Danica and she’ll come get me. I promise.”

Kathryn was nodding her head. “Thank you.”

He stood up and waved Danica over. “Are we ready for this?”

“Yes,” Kathryn said.

“Good,” he said. “You’ve got this. I know you do.”

He moved back down the hall but stopped when Kathryn’s husband called his name.

“Thank you. You were so good with her. I know she’ll be fine. It’s the fear of the unknown. I’ll make sure she isn’t bugging you too much.”

“She can call me as much as she wants today,” he said. “I mean it. Anything I can do to get her to start. She’s strong and in good health. She should tolerate the drugs well.”

Not that it meant it would happen. Statistics were there for a reason.

He returned to his other patient’s room and opened the door. “Everything okay, Dr. Mills?”

“Yes, Sharon. It’s all good. Some first-day jitters.”

Sharon had been cancer-free for ten years. It was her annual visit and he’d met her once last year when he was filling in here.

“I remember it as if it was yesterday,” Sharon said. “Glad to not have to deal with it again. They don’t know how lucky they are to have a treatment center here and not have to go off the island for it like I did.”

“I know,” he said. “But I don’t think she is thinking anything along those lines.”

“I wouldn’t want your job,” Sharon said, smiling. “Day in and day out of it. It’s depressing, I’ve got to imagine.”

Didn’t he know that!

“But it’s also rewarding,” he said. “Especially visiting with patients like you. So, how have you been feeling?”

“Wonderful,” Sharon said. “Loving life.”

“See,” he said, smiling. “Rewarding.”

He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

2

A TRIAL RUN

“You know,” Troy said when the good-looking doctor walked away leaving her some sugary treats, “Dr. Mills is a great guy.”

“So you made it seem,” she said, moving over to look at the box of donuts. There were six in there and only she and Troy working right now. Another tech would be in soon.

She found a jelly and pulled it out.

Troy laughed. “He’s great with the patients, but it’s not an easy job.”

“Oncology,” she said. “Got it.”

When she’d heard the name Mills, she knew there were several doctors with that last name in the hospital. But she had been too lost in his dark blue eyes to notice that he was probably a doctor, not some administrator trying to flatter her and dictate events.

Nothing on him shouted a doctor, no badge she could see, no lab coat, scrubs, or stethoscope. His close-cut beard, charming smile, and deep voice didn’t come across as someone treating patients but more likely a man causing a woman’s heart to stop.

When she finally pulled her eyes away from his face, she saw a gray Oxford shirt that had black stripes in it. She didn’t even know he had donuts until he moved them onto the counter. For all she knew he rode a desk and that was what she assumed.

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