All morning, Hannah was the first student to finish her assignments, after that she made sure everyone else had what they needed. The kids all colored an outdoor landscape that had the letters of the objects in them and after she’d completed her worksheet, she walked around and made sure everyone had the colors they needed. She’d also hopped up and got a tissue for Viraj when he sneezed, and snot bubbles came out. The rest of the class laughed but she helped.
Even if she wasn’t Maddox’s daughter she would have stood out and made an impression on me. The fact that she was such an incredible student only made my decision of what to do harder. I wanted Hannah in my class, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not.
When the last student exited the room and the door shut, I flopped down onto the chair behind my desk and tried to process the events of the morning. I’d heard the phrase it’s a small world before, but what were the chances of me getting this job, and Maddox’s daughter being in my class? I’d thought seeing him would be one in a million. This was ridiculous.
Unable to stop myself, I pulled out my phone and texted Leo.
Me:The Elephant’s offspring is a student in my class.
After sending the text I exhaled for what felt like the first time since Hannah had said the cupcakes were from her Aunt Sadie. The simple act of telling someone had eased some of the tension that I was feeling.
My phone buzzed on my desk. I picked it up to see that Leo had texted back a GIF of Chris Pratt’s character Andy onParks and Recturning around in his chair looking shocked and excited.
Another message came through before I set it down. This one was a GIF of a casket being lowered into the grave with the words I’m Dead written across it, which was the term that Leo used when he thought something was unbelievable.
Which this was.
A third message came through in rapid succession.
Leo:On rounds now, will call tonight for all the tea.
It still blew my mind that Leo was an actual medical doctor. It wasn’t that he wasn’t smart, he was brilliant, it was just that I could never see him taking anything seriously. How did he deliver bad news to patients?
The one and only time I’d seen him in action, I’d felt very proud. It was like something out of a movie. We were having dinner. A man at a table in the back of the restaurant collapsed and someone called out asking if there was a doctor there.
Leo jumped right up and got into action. He calmly instructed everyone what to do. My job was to call 911. While he administered CPR, he had a server bring him the defibrillator. Then he’d cut open the patient’s shirt, slapped some pads on his chest and side, and shocked him. Three times.
The man had had a heart attack and if Leo, or another health care professional, hadn’t been there, the man would have ended up like the GIF and being lowered into the ground.
Once the paramedics arrived Leo stood up, went back to the table, sat down and finished eating while they wheeled the man away. He acted so nonchalant about the whole thing. Like it was no big deal. And, I suppose to him, it wasn’t. It happened while he was doing his residency in one of the busiest ERs in Manhattan, so it was just a Tuesday.
I scrolled up in my messages, just to make sure I hadn’t missed a text from Maddox. The only message I had from him was the one he’d sent after the reunion. I figured he would have reached out after this morning, but I guess he was respecting my boundaries.
The fact that it made him even sexier and more irresistible was probably not healthy.
“Hey!” Bianca stuck her head in the doorway. “Just wanted to check in and see how your first day was going.”
“Um, yeah, it’s, yeah, yeah it’s good!”
A slow grin spread across Bianca’s beautiful face as she stepped completely inside and shut the door. “That was one too many yeahs. What’s up? Did the helicopter parents scare you off? Did Tommy Reynolds pick his nose and wipe it on you? Was there a meltdown?”
I couldn’t help but smile at her accurate description of the morning. Tommy Reynolds had picked his nose, thankfully he’d only wiped it on my desk. There were two meltdowns, would have been three if Hannah hadn’t intervened, but I was able to coach both the melt-downers through it by using the smell the soup, blow the soup breathing technique. And the helicopter parents were in full hover mode this morning at drop-off, but none of that was the reason for the extra yeah.
Most of the time, it took me years to trust people, if I ever did. It was probably because I’d had to travel around so much growing up that I never really knew what people’s true intentions were. I left before I ever found out. But I liked Bianca. A lot. And I needed to tellsomeoneabout this and Leo was on rounds.
“Actually, the dad of one of the kids in my class is my ex.”
Bianca’s mouth opened in a perfect O. She walked over and plopped down on a bean bag in front of me. “Holy shitake mushrooms! Did the wife go nuclear on you?”
“Uh, no. He’s not married.”
“Then the ex-wife, baby mama?”
“No, I didn’t see her, um. I haven’t met her, yet.”
Crap, I hadn’t even thought about that. What would Hannah’s mom think about me teaching her daughter? At the reunion, Maddox had said that the two were close and that she was happily married, so it would probably be okay.
I was most likely safe there, at least.
