“Great, I’ll let them know,” Jenna says. “Kate, follow me.”
Hours go by, patients are in and out. Kate is already manning the front desk of our small clinic while Jenna and I are going over patient files in my office.
“I left a few folders in the front, let me go grab them,” I say to Jenna.
I’m in the hall looking through a stack of folders. I can see the back of Kate’s head from where I am, but I can’t see the other side of the front desk. I hear the door jingle.
That’s weird, I don’t have any more patients today.
“Hello, do you have an appointment to see the doctor?”
“The doctor?” It’s Dani’s voice. “Yeah, tell him his five o’clock is here.”
I dart around the corner and come face-to-face with Dani.
“You have them calling you ‘doctor’ now?” she says with her signature condescending humor.
“Kate is new, as of today, Dani. She’s filling in for Jenna, whois about to pop, if you recall.” I look at Kate, who appears confused. “Kate, this is Dani, my…my…”
“Baby mama,” Dani says with a laugh. She seems chipper, which is odd.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Nice to see you too, Alex. Am I not allowed here now?”
“Let’s go talk in my office.” Dani is carrying a large Target bag. I take in her appearance as I follow her down the long hall. From behind, I barely recognize her. She’s thinner, with the light brown hair that I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.
“Jenna!” she says exuberantly as she enters my office. Her arms are outstretched. Jenna stands and approaches Dani for a hug.
“Hi, oh my god, you look amazing! Your hair looks fantastic!”
Dani shrugs with feigned humility. “I don’t know if I’m gonna keep it, but it’s fun for now.”
Fun. Why would she say it’s fun?
“So is it true what they say? Blondes have more fun?”
“Enough with the love fest, ladies,” I say.
Dani looks at me and scowls, “What’s your problem?”
I just stare. She turns her attention back to Jenna. “Not sure I would call this blonde, but anyway, I’ve always thought that redheads have the most fun. But look at you! You areglowing.”
Jenna has red hair and she isn’t glowing, she’s perspiring. I’m exasperated. This is exhausting. “Jenna, will you give us a minute? Actually, you can head out, we can finish this training tomorrow,” I say.
Dani and Jenna hug one last time. “I want to hold that baby soon,” Dani says.
“Of course. Good night, guys.”
“She’s such a pro,” Dani says to me.
“Yeah,” I say. “She acts like she’s not even pregnant. By yourthird, I guess it’s old news.” I catch myself, realizing that Dani’s third pregnancy ended with a second-term miscarriage. She’s staring at me, her smile fallen. “I’m sorry, Dani. I wasn’t thinking when I said that.”
“Thinking about what?”
This is where I start to lose my footing with her. I can’t read her expression and I don’t know how to tread. Is she testing me? Or did she really not get the connection? For so many years I have held my tongue. In this situation, I would normally shrug and change the subject, but I’m no longer trying to avoid her wrath. I don’t need to anymore. I can leave, or tell her to leave if she gets pissed.
“About your third pregnancy,” I say. She’s still just looking at me, her expression inscrutable. “The little girl we lost.” My tone is sympathetic but still guarded.
