Page 98 of The Cajun Doctor

“Don’t you need to sleep first?” Daniel asked, which he should have known would be a mistake.

“I already slept,” Aaron said, standing to stretch with a wide yawn, “although sleep is overrated, as you well know, bro.”

“How come I’m bro only when you’re leaving a mess for me to clean up?”

“That’s because I’m your older brother.”

“By two minutes.”

Aaron shrugged. “Besides, this is your mess, not mine.”

After Aaron left, Lily Beth remarked, “It’s nice to see two brothers so close.”

Which was true, despite their constant ragging on each other.

“My two brothers fought all the time.”

They all turned as one to stare at Lily Beth. This was the first time they’d heard she had any family. Her parents died in a car accident last year and Daniel assumed . . . they all assumed . . .

Even Angus looked surprised.

“Lily Beth, you didn’t tell us you have brothers,” Daniel said.

“Didn’t I? I have two. Paul and Vic.”

“Do they know what’s going on? What’s happening with you and Angus? Why didn’t you go to them for help?” Samantha asked, apparently not caring how insensitive that sounded at this point.

Daniel could see that the stress was getting to Samantha.

“Vic is in I-raq. Too far away ta help. And Paul is a minister in a really conservative church in Alabama. He would never approve of mah having a baby out of wedlock, or giving up mah baby ta Dr. Coltrane fer adoption.”

Well, big fucking deal! Daniel thought. It’s okay that strangers get involved in your problem, but don’t bother blood relatives.

Lily Beth started to cry, realizing . . . a bit late, if you asked him . . . how her secret impacted all of them.

Softening at the tears, Samantha patted Lily Beth’s shoulder and said, “That’s all right, honey. You might have to contact them, though, depending on how things pan out.”

“The authorities might insist on notifying them,” Daniel guessed.

“No, I’d rather go ta jail or get beat up by Dr. Coltrane than go ta Paul.”

Beat up? Is that what Nick threatened her with? Beat a pregnant woman? I’ve heard that Nick is a loser, but that is low, even for him.

“And I jist caint tell Vic, not when he’s in such a dangerous place. Last time he got bad news, when his wife left him fer her gynecologist, he went out and got himself wounded, bless his heart.” Lily Beth sobbed loudly now.

That is just great. A gynecologist screwing his patient, who in turn was screwing her husband while he was away at war! Women did that all the time. Otherwise, Dear John letters would have never been invented. But this is another doctor to add to Samantha’s list of sleazeball physicians.

In fact, he saw Samantha’s lip curl with disgust.

Angus gave Samantha and Daniel dirty looks for making Lily Beth cry and helped the heavily pregnant girl get up and walk outside with him. He was trying to reassure her with remarks like, “Don’t worry. They can’t make you call your brothers.” Or “They’re just old farts who don’t know what it’s like to be young.” Or “We can always run away, except I don’t have a car anymore.”

Lily Beth sobbed louder.

Which left Daniel alone with Samantha in the kitchen, facing a bunch of dirty dishes, and an old-fashioned Philco radio on the counter suddenly playing some twangy Cajun version of “Jolie Blon.” The radio only worked intermittently.

“Well, that went well,” Samantha said.

“Did he really call us old farts?” Daniel said. “We’re not that old.”