Page 35 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

She clicked her tongue. “Mags, I told you. Just fucking tell the father. He should be helping you.”

“I can’t do that,” I whined. It was unbecoming, but Gypsy was a friend and I’d shut her out for long enough. I needed encouragement and support, and I hadn’t found a single person I connected with in Evansville. “It would not turn out well.”

“You need me to come visit? I can come spend the weekend or something. We can get our nails done and eat ice cream.”

I thought about it. It wouldn’t be horrible if I had a friend to talk to. I just didn’t want Derek to find out where I was. That was the last thing I needed. Things would get too messy, and fast.

“Okay, but you have to swear you will tell no one. Not even Derek. No one knows where I am.” I bit my lip.

“I swear.”

I had anxiety sending her my address, but I trusted that she understood how delicate my situation was and would keep my confidence. If she didn’t, I was in trouble—and so was Derek.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

Derek

“So,do you think you’ll come?” Curt’s invitation felt like a strange ironic twist to my life which was not going at all how I wanted. Saying goodbye to Maggie would have been difficult—that much I would admit. But not having gotten to explain what I really felt before she left, right when I had the epiphany that I wanted more with her—that was torture. Now, Curt wanted me to attend a party with the same group of friends, in the same place where I first started realizing there was something there.

“I don’t know, man.” I leaned back in my chair, watching the sports headlines scroll across the bottom of the TV screen. “Will Maggie be there?” I was fishing, but I tried to make it sound like I was just questioning his guest list. So I added, “Brittani, Steph, or James?”

“Yeah, the gang will be there. Not Mags, though.” Curt sounded a little hurt. “She moved.”

“Moved?” I played stupid. The less he thought I knew, the more information I could get casually. If Maggie had told her brother not to discuss her new life plans with me and I pressed it, he would get suspicious. I played it cool.

“Yeah, she didn’t tell you? Of course, she didn’t tell you. She acted weird on the day she moved.” I tried to imagine Curt helping Maggie pack boxes in a moving van. They probably had words about me, at least as her boss and the notice she’d have had to give me.

“I mean, we got her notice but no plans. What’s going on?”

Now I was prying. It was only natural that as a family friend, I’d be interested in what was going on with her. Maggie may have tried to keep everything a secret, but for three months I’d been on the hunt, waiting and hoping I’d somehow find a way to contact her.

“Yeah, she took some job in Evansville. Said there were too many ‘ghosts’ here in Yellow Springs. Listen, you coming or not?” Curt was relentless, but he’d given me the exact answer I needed. Maggie had moved to Evansville.

“Nah, man. I can’t make this one. Maybe next time. Alright? Listen, something came up and I gotta run. I hope the party goes well.”

Before he’d even hung up, I was typing into my phone’s internet browser. Evansville was just under two hours away, so far enough to put distance between her and me, but still close enough to be around for her family. Just like her to make a plan like that. My heart felt energized now, like I could breathe again.

I pulled up the Wikipedia page for Evansville and saw the population and square miles of the town were less than half the size of Yellow Springs. They had a hospital too, a dinky one that was hardly more than a Band-Aid station, but it was something. When my searches became frustrating on my phone, I strolled to my home office and sat behind the computer.

After more than an hour of searching, I found a link to the careers page for the hospital. They were looking for a new director for their obstetrics department. The pay was about half what I was making here at Mercy General as an OB, and despite the title I’d have, it would really be a demotion. Here, I was in queue to be director someday, already the head of the department.

A year ago, that would have mattered. Hell, six months ago, that would have mattered. But now, the only thing I could think about was finding her and telling her I loved her. I had been such an idiot to treat her so poorly, and every day that passed, I had to face the fact that I had messed it up. I didn’t even know if she felt the same way as me, but I had to at least find her now and tell her how I felt. Even if she had moved on—or never had feelings for me to begin with—she had to know.

I filled out that application and added my resume, then sent an email to a friend of mine who sat on the board of the health group that owned the hospital. If he could pull some strings and get me in, I’d have a great way to at least be in the same city as Maggie. The chances of our somehow running into each other would be high.

Two weeks later...

I watchedas Patrick Larger shut the door behind himself as he left my office. I had just offered him the position as attending physician over my current patient roster in my absence as I took on the new role of interim director of obstetrics at Hudson Valley Medical Center. The board at Mercy knew I was taking a six-week sabbatical here to open a new practice there, and I had told everyone else that I was taking some time off work. They didn’t need to know what I was doing.

I found a nice studio apartment to rent for cheap, fully furnished too, which made it easy to move. Hammer would care for my horses and home. Peter was out of town. The only person left to inform was my father.

I held the phone to my ear waiting for him to pick up. It was a Sunday afternoon, so it was likely he was rubbing elbows with parishioners. Part of me hoped that he would support my decision, even if he didn’t know what had motivated it. The spur of the moment application had been catalyzed by my need to see Maggie, but over the past few weeks, I’d put thought into it. Evansville was close enough to have my practice extended and run two offices.

Not only was it a good move for my career, but it would offer more excellent medical care to a community sorely in need. I’d even tossed around the idea of helping them spruce up their birthing suites with the money I had just sitting in a bank drawing interest.

“Derek?” Dad sounded a bit concerned. That was likely due to the fact that I never called, so if I did, there was usually bad news. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, Dad. I’m calling with some good news.” He seemed to heave out a sigh of relief, and I continued. “I’m going to spend some time in Evansville. The hospital there needed an interim director while they search for the perfect candidate, and I accepted the position.”

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