Page 27 of The I Do Over

“Hey! Are you on your way home already?”

Before she’d made the decision to come to Raleigh and see Knox, she had shared her situation with Babette. They weren’t only co-workers; they had become good friends. “Actually…”

“Oh my goodness! Are you staying for a little while longer? Did it go okay?” Then she laughed. “What am I saying? Of course it went okay if you’re going to stay another day!”

“Um…”

“I had a feeling no matter what happened that you weren’t going to want to see patients today, so all of today’s appointments have either been rescheduled or Jenna and Heather were able to take them.”

“Oh, okay. Good. Thanks.”

“Sooo…are you alone and able to share the juicy details or do I have to wait?” Babette asked and there wasn’t a doubt in Maddie’s mind that she was grinning from ear to ear.

“I am alone at the moment, but I’m not sharing any details—juicy or otherwise.”

“You’re no fun.”

Clearing her throat, she got a little more comfortable on the bed. “I am going to stay a little longer,” she began carefully. “Like…a couple of days.”

“Mm-hmm…”

“Three. I’m thinking three days.”

“Mm-hmm…”

Rolling her eyes, Maddie knew what her assistant was trying to do, but it wasn’t going to work. “Can you see if Jenna or Heather have any availability? Or I can call them, if you’d like.”

“No, no…,” Babette replied coolly. “I’ve got everyone’s schedule right here in front of me so it’s no bother.” She paused. “If you’ll just give me a minute, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

On the other end of the phone, Babette was either humming softly or quietly talking to herself about how to move appointments around. Maddie had a couple of ideas. “You know, I believe Mrs. Reed was also coming in on Thursday. We can just…”

“I’ll call her and tell her she can skip today’s appointment and remind her to be doing her exercises at home.”

“Um. Yes. That’s what I was going to say.”

“Mm-hmm…”

“And Stephen Flynn will definitely need…”

“I already moved him over to see Jenna, but I’ll call and let him know before he gets here.”

Maddie let out a loud sigh. “Babette, come on. I’m just not ready to talk about all of this because it’s a lot to wrap my head around!”

“All the more reason for you to be talking to someone about it! If you don’t want to share the intimate details, then just tell me what you’re feeling! We’re friends, Maddie, and I’m worried about you!”

Slouching down again, she let out a long breath. “I’m worried about me too.”

“There. Was that so hard?”

“I’d hardly call that a juicy detail.”

“No, but it’s honest.” She paused. “Are you okay? Like really okay?”

“Honestly? I think so. Knox asked me to stay so we can have some closure and…”

“And I think that’s a great idea,” she interrupted. “It’s time, Maddie. Maybe now you’ll be able to move on.”

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