I blurted, “I think he’ll be fine. Modern medicine can conquer most things these days.”
Why in the hell did I say that?
There were so many things modern medicine stillcouldn’thelp. Since when did I give meaningless platitudes to people? Even so, as her expression changed from completely dejected to mildly hopeful, I couldn’t find it in my heart to tell her that her husband might never return to his old self. I just couldn’t seem to force those words from my tight throat.
She nodded. “Okay. It comforts me to hear you say that, Dr. Thornton.”
“I… I’m glad,” I mumbled.
In LA, no one would ever have accused me of having a good bedside manner. In the past, I’d never seen the point of it. Why tell people things unless you knew with great certainty that it was true? But it was slowly dawning on me that people needed hope just to continue the battle. If you cut them off at the knees, then they’d definitely lose the fight. Itwaspossible that with treatment, Tim would recover fully. It was also possible he’d never be the same again. But either way, the two of them were in for a fight. Might as well go into it with a great attitude rather than a defeated one.
“I’ll have Girdy set you up with an MRI in Dallas. We’ll get to the bottom of what is going on with your husband.” I smiled, although it felt stiff.
“Hey, Doc,” Tim said brightly. “I once tried playing hide-and-seek in the hospital, but they kept finding me in the ICU.” He giggled happily.
Patricia sighed. “Thank you, Dr. Thornton.” She gave a weak laugh. “At least we have some hope.”
They left the office, and I watched them go. Patricia seemed less gutted than when she’d arrived. That was a good thing, right? Hope. They had hope. How could having hope ever really be wrong? Why had it taken me so long to understand that?
I wiped down the examination table and put a fresh paper over it, and since Tim had been the last patient of the day, I went out front, where Girdy was finishing up her chores for the day.
She looked up guiltily when I approached, and I noticed she was munching on a cookie. “It was the last two cookies. I figured, why waste a plastic bag on just two cookies, right?”
“How very prudent of you, Girdy.” I smiled.
She grimaced. “Yes… I’ve always been very… prudent-ish.”
I moved to the stairs, once more marveling at how damn convenient it was to live where I worked. “I thought I’d hurry and take a shower. Royce said he’d try and be home early tonight. I’m going to take him out to dinner.”
“Aww, that’s nice of you,” she said.
“Well, goodness knows he feeds me often enough.”
“Is he all moved in?”
I paused on the bottom step. “Mostly. There are a couple of pieces of furniture he wants to keep, so he’s moving them to storage. We don’t have room here.”
“I see.” She brightened. “Hey, I heard he’s keeping his house and renting it out. Do you know what he’s asking for rent?”
I hesitated. “Not sure. Why?”
She bit her bottom lip. “Well, me and Todd were thinking maybe we’d rent his house.”
I lifted my brows. “You two are moving in together?”
She nodded. “Yep. You and Royce inspired us.”
“Really?”
She shrugged. “Todd has been pushing for that for the last year. I’ve dragged my feet a little. I didn’t want to buy a house together, and there aren’t that many rentals in the area. When I heard Royce was going to rent his house out, I thought we should jump on it.”
“Do you want me to tell Royce you’re interested?”
“That would be awesome.” She winked. “Maybe he’ll give us a deal since I’m such an important person in your life, Maxwell.”
“You are important in my life, Girdy.” My face warmed as those words left my lips. But she was important to me. Why hide it?
She widened her eyes. “That’s… that’s so sweet of you to say.”
