“You sure you don’t mind covering the last half of my shift?” I asked Wes as I handed him a cup of shitty cafeteria coffee.
“Sure, no problem, but the least you could’ve done was gotten me Starbucks or something. Anything but this tar they call coffee.” It was true. The coffee was horrible, but he still opened the lid, blew away the steam, before taking a big sip of the stuff. “What’s soimportant anyway? You never miss work.”
He was right. Work was my priority. And I’d be lying if I said asking someone to help me out didn’t cause me a bit of stress. Anxiety was a bitch like that. But I knew this was as good a reason as any. Without answering Wes, I walked over to the park bench out in front of the hospital. It was shaded under a huge tree, and since it was an unseasonably coolday, I figured I would tell him out here, away from the ears of coworkers. The nurses were great, but man alive, did they like to gossip. And finding out their favorite doctor was dating someone… that was something that would spread like wildfire. “It’s for Chase.” Wes leaned back against the wooden slats of the bench. He crossed his leg so his ankle rested on his knee. A smug look spread acrosshis face as he took another sip of his coffee. “Oh shut up,” I said, elbowing him in his side.
“I didn’t say a word,” he defended through his light laughter.
“Right, like you had to with that look on your face.”
Making a “carry on” motion with my hand in front of me, I told him to go on and say what he wanted. “I knew you liked him. And I’m just glad you went for it. It’s nice to see you happy.”His smug face morphed into a more serious one. “I mean, this place is great and all—” He paused, tipping his head back at the hospital where I’d spent almost all of my time in recent years. “But it’s not everything.”
We sat in silence while he finished the rest of his coffee. “So, what do you two have going on that’s so important on a Wednesday afternoon?”
I knew I could have tiptoed aroundit, left him hanging and just walked away. But that was pointless. Not telling Wes about Benny, about their parents dying, about where they lived, it would somehow suggest I was ashamed of them. And that was the exact opposite of how I felt about it all. “His younger brother has a soccer game.”
“On a Wednesday? That’s weird. The kids’ games are usually on the weekends. At the crack-ass of dawn,too.”
“He’s seventeen. A high school senior. He’s pretty good, too. Even has some recruits going.”
“Wow. That’s great for him. So…,” he dragged out the word before finishing his coffee in one long gulp. “Does that mean you get to meet his parents or something?”
Fidgeting, I turned in my seat and twisted my hands together. “They’re dead actually. They died in a car accident a few months back.So Chase has been raising Benny ever since.”
“Holy shit. So he’s like a—”
“Single parent? Yeah, at twenty-three.” It was impossible to feel anything but pride for him and what he was able to do with the cards his life had dealt him.
Wes stood from the bench, and I followed his lead. We walked to the entrance in silence before he turned to me to ask, “What was their last name?”
I was ashamedto say, “I have no clue.” Guess I should work that into my conversation at some point today.
“Okay, have fun. I’ll talk to you later.” He walked through the electric doors after adding, “You owe me one.”
The spot next to Chase’s car was available, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of seeing him again. As I slid the car into Park, I thought back to my timewith Rob. There were far more than a few times that we’d gone four or five days without seeing each other and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t miss him nearly as much as I missed Chase in just these last two. “Enough of that,” I said to myself. I knew it was pointless to compare Chase to Rob. It wasn’t healthy, and Chase had done nothing to make me think he was anythinglike Rob. In fact, everything he’d done had gone directly against every instinct I’d had about Rob. It was time for me to bury the past and open up to the possibilities of a future.
With that in mind, I made my way to the field. It didn’t take me more than a second to find Chase in the crowd. He was by himself, standing off to the side of the bleachers. As I drew closer, I saw why he was allalone. Everyone there was a generation older than him, parents coupled together, holding signs and banners, cheering on their sons.
“Hey,” I announced my approach. I didn’t know how he felt about a public display of affection, so rather than wrap my arms around him and press my lips against his—what I really wanted to do—I gave him one of those half bro-hugs slash handshake things that no onewould mistake for anything other than two guy friends greeting each other.
I’d have to save the lip-attacking for later.
“You look good,” he choked out. Taking stock of my clothes, he looked me up and down. Just short of eye-fucking me, he made me feel as if I were standing there naked. “You know how to wear a suit, Doctor.”
I blushed. The fucker made me blush. “Thanks,” I rushed out, tryingdesperately not to give away just how good I thought he looked in his cargo shorts and tightly fitted T-shirt. I’d save that for later. “Game start yet?”
“They just took the field. Benny’s over there. Right forward Number 15.” Chase pointed across the field to where Benny was jumping up and down in his spot. He caught sight of Chase and offered him a quick wave. When he saw that I was there too,he smiled. It was slight, nothing that anyone else would have noticed, but it made me proud knowing he was happy I was there.
When the ref blew the whistle, the players came to life on the field. Benny received the side-kick from the center, and before my eyes could even adjust to all the movement, they settled on the name on the back of his jersey. Hansen. I’d have to tuck that away for Weslater.
“How was work?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the field.
“Good. Nothing too spectacular, which is always good in an emergency room.” My hands flew in the air as Benny just missed a shot to the right side of the goal post.
“Which hospital do you work at?”
“North Florida,” I answered as I caught sight of a man sitting on the bleachers. He was writing down something and he had that unmistakableair about him that he was someone important. The emblem for Syracuse University on his polo was a dead giveaway, too. “Did you introduce yourself, yet?” I asked, pitching my voice low so only he could hear. Tipping my head up at the scout, I watched Chase’s eyes follow.
Recognition dawned on his beautiful face, the sun covering it in a half shadow. “Oh,” he said. Our eyes met, and I hoped thelook I sent him encouraged him to make a move to introduce himself to the scout. And just as he was about to step up onto the bench, Benny received a pass. Right in front of the goal. The goalie took a step out of the box. The angle was all wrong, even I could see that all the way from the sideline.
