“Oh my goodness,” Ari says gleefully, “I-I” she stutters, sounding similar to the way Charlotte does. “I’ve heard so much about you, too. Hunter gushes about you all of the time.”Gushes?Geez. Didn’t know I was going that far. Charlotte’s cheeks turn a scarlet hue and she backs away, moving toward the front door where Lance is now standing.Wow, this is awkward.
“Hey babe,” he says to Charlotte.Babe. Gross.He gives her a peck on the cheek and runs his hand down to the small of her back. I shouldn’t be watching, but I am, and now I know Ari is watching me watching them since she nudges her shoulder into mine before gripping the sleeve of my shirt and pulling me into the kitchen. This was such a bad—no this was a fucking horrible idea.
“Are you okay?” Ari asks me, grabbing the wooden spoon from the counter and stirring the bubbling gravy. “You haven’t met Lance before tonight?’
“Yeah, this is a little more stressful than I thought it would be. I’m just glad you came,” I tell her, trying to laugh through my words.
“Why? Because your ex-girlfriend invited her new boyfriend over to your house to celebrate her daughter’s birthday?” Ari’s eyes are squinting from her grin and her teeth are pressed firmly into her bottom lip. I can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic, or truthful. “Then you add me into the picture, the carrier of your wife’s heart, and things can seem a little weird.” Her laughter relieves some of my stress. “Relax. Everything is fine. There’s a reason there is no instruction manual for life.”
“Uh,” yup, that’s the only thing I can think to say right now because everything she just said is true.
“Hunt, not to make things more stressful, but I do have one question?”
With only a second of breathing freely, my chest tightens back up. “Yeah?”
“I’m pretty sure Charlotte is married to the chief of surgery at Brookhill Hospital. Or was, I should say...I mean, hewasthe chief of surgery.”
“What? She’s divorced.”
“Oh, well, that makes sense then,” Ari retorts.
“But, I didn’t think he was a surgeon,” I say. Although, I do remember the on-call doctor at the hospital recognizing Charlotte the day Olive fell at school. I never thought to ask how she knew anyone there because I was so wrapped up with Olive.I’m always so wrapped up that I never ask important questions.I also never thought to ask much about her ex-husband. Other than hearing he’s an asshole on a daily basis, I didn’t see the need to know more about him.
“Wasthe chief of surgery?” I ask her.
“Yes,” she says, her eyes scanning the kitchen, rather than looking at me.
“So, do you know Charlotte?” I ask, holding my focus tightly on her wandering eyes. I realize wives of surgeons aren’t typically found in the hospital but I can’t help but wonder, after their odd greeting in the living room.
Ari looks down to where her fingers are fidgeting with the hem of her black shirt. “Yeah, I mean, Dr. Don Drake was my doctor for years. He was the best there was and I was dying. I was practically living at the hospital with the amount of testing and episodes I had, and Dr. Drake seemed to always be on an endless shift so Charlotte was around quite a bit. Actually, a few times she brought me flowers. I’m just not sure she remembers me. I’m sure she visited plenty of his patients.”
It’s like this whole other side of Charlotte I don’t know. How could a heart surgeon of his status be consulting underground somewhere now?
“Charlotte!” I shout into the living room. I’m getting to the bottom of this.
“Hunter, what are you doing?” Ari, says, pressing her hands up against my chest. “Stop.”
It is several seconds before I even hear Charlotte’s feet moving across the floor and I’m guessing her hesitation is playing a part in her speed. “Do you need something?” she asks, walking over to the turkey.
“Hunter,” Ari says again.
“Look at her, Charlotte,” I tell her.
Charlotte turns on her heels and slips her hands into her back pockets. It takes her a minute but she lifts her chin, forcing eye contact with Ari who now looks incredibly uncomfortable. “Ariella,” Charlotte says. “How could I forget you?”
Charlotte places her hand gently on Ari’s shoulder. “How’s the heart?”
“Did you know about Ellie?” I ask Charlotte. “Your husband, he’s the chief of surgery over at Brookhill. Don Drake, is that his name? The surgeon who removed Ellie’s heart.” My words may be a little harsh considering Ellie died from an aneurysm, but for five years, I have had no one to blame and right now blaming him feels so damn good.
“Ex-husband,” she snaps. “And I don’t believe Ellie was a patient of Don’s,” Charlotte says softly, so softly I’m not sure she’s being truthful. “He was a heart surgeon and Ellie didn’t have heart problems, right?”
“No, she didn’t.” There is still a lingering explanation somewhere in this room and I don’t know who the hell to turn to.
“You know something, don’t you?” I take the wooden spoon from the counter and throw it across the kitchen. “Did you know I was the fucking reason Ellie died? Huh? Did you, Charlotte? God,” I laugh. You must have. “You fucking knew about Ellie, didn’t you? Clearly, HIPAA regulations don’t matter in your household. You know all that doctor-patient confidentiality crap. Is that why Don doesn’t have a job at the hospital anymore? Because he immorally broke laws?” As the words continue to filter from my unfiltered mouth, I hear Dad’s words ringing loudly in my head.You know what assuming does.
Tears are now spilling from Charlotte’s eyes, and she’s holding herself tightly as Lance steps into the kitchen with his gym-buff air-lats stance.Dude, you don’t fucking work out. You look like you just stare in the goddamn mirror all day flexing.
“What’s going on in here? Everything okay, babe?”Fuck you and your babe shit.
