Page 4 of Hello Dr. Christmas

ChapterTwo

As I sit in the airport, waiting for my flight, I watch the happy families passing by. Little kids are playing games on their tablets, and others are rushing to catch their planes with their parents, holding hands. The worst are the happy couples, cuddled up together everywhere. I keep thinking about what David said about me. Am I broken and unable to love, like a normal person? I feel so out of touch, like I’m watching a movie and on the outside of everything.

At least I have my family. Mom and Mary have called me many more times to check up on me, since the hospital. They have filled me in on lots of juicy family gossip that I missed out on, to distract me from the pain. I never realized that everyone kept so much from me, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re the youngest. I can’t wait to be home with them. I am grateful when I see a phone call from my other sister.

“Hey, Evie,” I answer softly.

“What happened?” she asks frantically, sounding half-awake. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I just smashed my ankle and needed to quit the production,” I tell her. When I hear her make a noise of surprise, I explain further. “I really wanted to finish every performance ofThe Nutcrackerwith the company… but it looks like my understudy is going to take over, just like she wanted. She and the other girls have been trying to get me injured badly enough for this to happen for like two years.”

“That’s terrible, Clara. What are you going to do?”

“I’m already on my way home. I’ll see you soon. But what’s going on with you? When I spoke to mom and Mary, they said you were a drunken mess. Why are you acting like a sorority girl, Evie?”

“Ughhhhh,” she responds, sounding vaguely hung over. This makes me smile. “Adam and I slept together, and then he totally ditched me. Classic dude move.”

“Mom says Adam fell from the sky?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, there was a plane crash. And that’s why he ditched me—he couldn’t get on the plane. So, I guess I’m never going to see him again, and I’m an idiot, and that’s that.”

“What does Adam do?” I ask her, reaching for a newspaper that was on the chair beside me, and leafing through it. I try to skip over the headlines about a certain ballerina’s terrible injury. “What’s his last name? Is it Wintergreen?”

“Yes. How did you know that?”

“Because there was a newspaper article about his charity and the plane that disappeared—he was missing for a good sixteen hours before he was able to get his phone out of the plane and text his family that he was safe. It was enough time for the whole country to freak out.”

“The whole country?” she responds with surprise.

“Don’t you know who the Wintergreens are, Evie? He’s heir to a massive fortune. They are oil money, and he’s a philanthropist who flies all over the world, doing good deeds for people. He’s like… the greatest catch you could have possibly caught. He’s on all those most-eligible bachelor lists.”

“So, he’s likereallyrich,” Eve whispers. “That’s why he didn’t want me to know who he was. And he’s not married or anything? Is he a major playboy?”

“No! He’s a prince. He’s basically a monk. I really don’t think Adam Wintergreen would screw you over, Evie. He’s the real deal. He’s not the kind to run around breaking women’s hearts.”

“But he did break mine,” she responds glumly. “And I’m probably never going to see him again. And he doesn’t even have my phone number.”

“Well, we’ve both got problems. I’m never going to dance again, in the career that I dedicated my whole life to training for. And you lost Mr. Right, possibly the most perfect man on the planet for you, who would have made the most epic name to have beside yours on a wedding invitation…”

“That’s exactly what he said,” Eve grumbles.

“So I’m going to come home,” I tell her, “and we’re going to be a drunken messtogether?Got it? No more drinking without me, loser!”

Eve chuckles. “Sounds good to me.”

“And we can trash talk Mary and her perfect new boyfriend with his perfect muscles—I saw on Instagram. How does our girl manage to upgrade from a super hot professional hockey player to evenhotterdude? Mom told me he’s super nice, too!”

“He is nice,” she agrees.

“Did you know they had sex on the plane ride over there?” I whisper, looking around to make sure that no one can hear me in the airport. “Onthe plane.”

“Oh, isn’t that just perfect,” Eve says in the grumpiest voice I’ve ever heard. “I got abandoned by my guy on the plane ride over here, and she got lots of orgasms from hers.”

“And I havenoguy and will just be in shit tons of pain on my plane ride!” I say, lifting my puffy, bandaged ankle. “Screw Mary.”

“Screw Mary,” Eve agrees.

Then I hear Mary’s sweet voice in the background. “Did you call my name? Glad to see you’re awake. Did you need anything?”

“No, thanks, Mar. Love you!” Eve responds quickly and guiltily.

I laugh softly at this, feeling bad for nearly getting Evie in trouble. It feels a little like we are kids again, teaming up on our big sister. “Okay,” I announce to Eve. “You, me, drinks, soon. And we will stay drunk all Christmas to get through this painful holiday season.”

“You’ve got yourself a misery buddy,” she responds.

We say our goodbyes as my plane begins to board, and I feel a bit more cheerful to know that I have loved ones waiting for me at home. Screw David and Amy—I am not a robot.

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