I cradle her hand between both of mine because I need to be touching her.
“You know all about my family, but what about yours?” she asks. “Do you have siblings?”
“One of each, both younger. My illness put my whole family through hell while we were growing up.”
“What’re their names?”
“Audrey and Liam. She’s a retail manager in Phoenix, and he’s a firefighter in Scottsdale.”
“Are they married?”
“Liam is, with his first child on the way.”
“That’s exciting.”
“It is. I’m looking forward to being an uncle.” I stroke the back of her hand, fascinated by how soft and silky her skin is. “I was almost an uncle a long time ago. My sister got pregnant in high school, but she had an abortion. My parents don’t know that. And my brother had drug issues for a while, but he’s been clean for more than ten years. Everything was about me back then, and they paid the price, too.”
“How old were you when you started having problems?”
“Eight. At first, the doctors thought I had the flu, but it quickly escalated from there. I went from being a perfectly normal kid on Friday to having a life-threatening condition by Tuesday. Nothing was ever the same for any of us after that.”
“Jeez, it’s kind of scary to think something like that can even happen.”
“It was a nightmare. My parents have never recovered. When I came here, my mother texted to make sure I’d brought my meds. I’m thirty-four and a doctor.”
Her smile does amazing things to her gorgeous face. “That’s sweet.”
“It’s annoying! She’s going to lose her shit when I tell her I’m moving to Miami. If I get the job, that is. She’ll be calling me every day to remind me to take my meds. I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved here to live near me.”
“Aw, that’s adorable.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s smothering.”
“They love you.”
“They do,” I say on a sigh. “The only reason I’m alive today is because of everything my parents did for me. They sacrificed everything. So I can’t exactly tell my mom to F off and let me live my life.”
“You’d never do that anyway.”
“No, I wouldn’t, but sometimes I want to.”
“They must be so proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
“They are, although at first, my dad couldn’t understand why I’d want to work in the cardiac field after what I went through, but it was the only specialty I considered. It’s what I know. While I was in the hospital, tied to machines and hoping for a transplant, I started studying everything I could get my hands on about my condition. I wanted to know what was happening to me, you know?”
“That makes sense.”
“My deep dive led to an obsession of sorts that led to me finishing college in three years so I could go to medical school somewhere far from home. Three years after the transplant, I had to get out of there, away from the concern of my poor parents, who were so traumatized by it all. I needed to be with people who didn’t know my story. That’s when I started the pattern of not telling people. If no one knew, they wouldn’t treat me like a special snowflake. I was so sick of that by then. I just wanted to be normal.”
“So no one knew about the transplant?”
“My parents and the doctors insisted that one person in North Carolina needed to know in case I ever had a problem. After I was there a few weeks and got to know Jason, I decided to tell him, but no one else knew about it. It was such a freaking relief after years of everyone hovering over me.”
“You must’ve loved that.”
“I did. Med school was the first real freedom I ever had. Other than the constant studying, it was fantastic. Made some great friends, had all the fun.”
“Slept with all the girls.”
I sputter with laughter. “I didn’t say that!”
“I’m sure they were like flies on honey when the handsome med student came to town.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Of every single one of them.”
“You don’t need to be. I never felt all the things for any of them.”
“Not one of them?”
“Nope. Not until I was in my buddy’s wedding and met the cousin of the bride, sexiest bridesmaid ever.” I lean in to kiss her neck. “I almost swallowed my tongue when Jay told me you were my bridesmaid.”
“When Carmen said, ‘That’s Jason’s friend Wyatt from medical school,’ I was like, oh, tell me more, please. And PS, please don’t swallow your tongue. That’d be a crying shame.”
She makes me laugh. She makes me want. She makes me feel.
“When did you get the tattoo?”
“Before med school.”
“Did your doctors freak?”
“I cleared it with them first. They said it wasn’t a good idea because of the risk of infection. Still, I was determined to hide the scar, so they put me on preventive antibiotics beforehand, which is something they probably wouldn’t do now that doctors don’t give out antibiotics like candy anymore. It worked out fine, but it’s the riskiest thing I’ve done since the transplant.”
“And it helped to keep your secrets.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you know where your heart came from?”
“A nineteen-year-old woman named Emma, who was killed in an accident. I still hear from her mother every year on her birthday.”
“That’s amazing. I’m sure it’s a big comfort for her to know her daughter’s heart lives on.”
“It is. She listened to it through a stethoscope once, about ten years ago. Cried her eyes out.”
“Wow. That’s so cool.”
“It was. You know what else is cool?”
“What?”
“That I can talk freely about this with you, and it’s not making you treat me differently.”
“If I do that, will you tell me?”
“Sure.” She’s turned in her seat, making it easier for me to stare at her gorgeous face. Thick lashes that other women pay for frame her dark eyes. Her skin is golden brown, her lips full and lush, and her smile dazzling. Being with her is the single greatest thing I’ve ever experienced, and the thought of leaving here on Monday without her, even if it’s temporary, is unbearable. That gives me an idea. “If I get the job, do you want to come to Phoenix with me to pack up my place and drive my car back to Miami?”
“I’d love to do that, but I might not be able to. I help take care of my mom. My brothers are on duty this weekend, but I’m usually there every day.”
“Ah, right. Well, it was just a thought.”
“If I have a little notice, I might be able to work it out.”
“I’d love that.” I tuck a strand of silky dark hair behind her ear. Her hair was straight the first time we met, but the humidity has it curling tonight, and I love the curls. “I can’t believe we’re making plans and diving into all this.”
“It’s fun.”
“Yes, it is, but what about…”