Page 36 of Pining for Pierce
“Doctor Singleton was a bit… cranky this morning,” I say, using his word. It feels appropriate, and I watch as Doctor Dodds lets his head fall into his upturned hands.
“What did he do this time?” he asks.
“He bit my head off when I got here, partly because you didn’t have your car, even though it seems there was no need for it, but mostly because he couldn’t find Laurel Hanson’s notes on the computer.”
“Why was he looking for them?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.”
He twists in his seat, tapping on his keyboard a few times. The computer screen changes, and although I can’t read what it says, I recognize the layout as a patient’s file. Presumably it’s Laurel Hanson’s and I wait until Doctor Dodds has finished reading.
“Laurel’s latest blood tests have come back in,” he says. “Not that there’s anything to worry about. They’re all completely normal, so I don’t know why Doctor Singleton needed to check them.”
I don’t know why he needed to look at them at all. I usually handle anything to do with test results, and Laurel is Doctor Dodds’s patient, so it’s got nothing to do with Doctor Singleton.
“Why couldn’t he find the notes?” Doctor Dodds asks, focusing on me again.
“Because he was looking for them under the name of Bradshaw. He’d obviously forgotten about her marriage, and her change of name.”
He lets out a sigh, rubbing his finger and thumb across the tops of his eyes. “He’s getting worse, isn’t he?” I don’t feel as though I can answer that, so I sit in silence until he says, “I’m gonna have to speak to him. We can’t carry on like this.”
I shrug my shoulders. “He seems to get in more of a muddle than he did when I first started.”
“Yeah.” He nods his head, leaning back. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with it.”
“Thank you.”
“Was there… Was there anything else?” The tears well in my eyes again, and although I’m more successful in blinking them back, Doctor Dodds clearly notices and leans forward again. “What is it, Harley?”
“It’s just… there was this guy I was seeing.”
He nods his head. “Do you want to talk about it?” I can sense he’d rather I didn’t, given the subject matter, and to behonest, he’s the last person I’d share my confidences with. He might be a doctor, but he’s not my doctor, and I work for him.
“Not really,” I say. “It’s over now.”
“And is that good or bad?”
“Good. Very good. He wasn’t a nice man.”
He frowns. “Did he hurt you?” he asks.
“No, but I think he might have done if my friend hadn’t come to the rescue.”
“I see,” he says, sitting up straight and looking a lot more like a doctor than he’s ever done in my presence. “He definitely didn’t do anything? Anything you didn’t want, or…”
“No.”
He tips his head slightly. “So, there’s nothing you wanna speak to me about professionally? I may not be your doctor, but if this guy did anything… or if you want me to call Brady Hanson, so you can talk to him…?” He lets his voice fade and I shake my head.
“There’s nothing to tell… not really.”
“In that case, it’s probably best to put it behind you,” he says.
“Yes, it is.” I say, getting to my feet. “Thanks for listening.”
“That’s okay,” he says with a smile. “And if you have any more problems with Doctor Singleton, let me know.”
“I will.”
