How Much I Feel - Marie Force Page 0,24
table, so that hasn’t changed anything.
What’s our first order of business, boss?
I want to speak to the free clinic. Can you check on your insurance?
Will do right away.
I’ll hit you up shortly.
Sounds good.
I grab my purse, keys, phone and coffee and head out of my office. “I’ll be out for the rest of the day.”
“Mr. Augustino said you’re working on a special project.”
“That’s right.”
“Is he tall, blond and handsome?”
“Bye, Mona.”
“I won’t tell anyone. Don’t worry.”
I roll my eyes and walk out of the executive office suite into the hallway that leads to the elevator. As I walk to my car, I place a call to my cousin Maria.
“Hey, prima. How’s the new job?”
“It’s been rather interesting so far.”
“In a good way, I hope.”
“Jury’s still out. I have a question for you. Are you guys still looking for a doctor at the clinic?”
“God, yes. We’re so slammed, and with only a part-time nurse practitioner who can write scripts, we’re dying over here.”
“I may have someone who can help.”
“Fantastic.”
I tell her about Jason.
“What the hell does a pediatric neurosurgeon want with a free clinic in Little Havana? He knows we can’t pay him much, right?”
“Here’s the thing. He’s willing to volunteer.”
“What’s the catch?”
“He’s had some challenges in his personal life that have the board at Miami-Dade questioning whether they want him on their staff.”
“What kind of challenges?”
I lean against my car, close my eyes and say a silent prayer to my late grandfathers, hoping they can help me out here. If the clinic doesn’t work out for whatever reason, I don’t exactly have a plan B waiting on deck. “He had an affair with the board chair’s wife in New York.”
“Ugh, Carmen . . .”
“Wait, there’s more.” I tell her the rest about how the woman used him and that Jason didn’t know she was married, least of all to the chairman of the board of his hospital. “He had real feelings for her and was crushed by the whole thing.”
“Why doesn’t he just say so?”
“Because she has kids, and he’s being sensitive to what it would do to them if he came out and said their mother used him for sex so she could get rid of their father.”
“I guess it’s true what they say,” she says with a sigh.
I’m not following her. “What is?”
“There’s no such thing as a free neurosurgeon.”
“He wouldn’t be doing it for the money, Mari. He’s determined to make a new life for himself down here. He wants to get to know the community and make an impact.”
“And if the end result is that Miami-Dade grants privileges, all the better, right?”
“Will you meet him and give him a chance?”
“Let me talk to my boss and see what she thinks. It’s her call. The good news for your guy is we might be desperate enough to overlook the scandal.”
“Call me when you know?”
“Will do.”
“Thanks for this. I appreciate it.”
“How’d you get involved?”
“That’s a story for another day and requires vodka.”
“I can’t wait to hear it. I’ll get back to you shortly.”
“Thank you again.”
“Yeah, yeah. You owe me big for this.”
“Whatever you want.”
Maria is laughing as the connection goes dead. God, I hope she can make this work. If not, I’ve got to come up with something else he can do in the community that would have the same impact.
CHAPTER 7
CARMEN
I put the key in the ignition of my car, an old Honda that Tony and I bought when we were first married. I’m suddenly overcome by an unexpected flood of emotions that take me by surprise. Why am I so invested in Dr. Jason Northrup and his career? Why has his cause become mine? It’s not just because of the money I owe him. I wish it were that simple.
It’s also because of the integrity he’s showing in not wanting to harm his ex-lover’s children. That really gets to me, especially after he shared what he endured growing up with a cheating father.
The scorching South Florida sunshine quickly makes it necessary for me to turn on the car and the AC, but I sit there for a long time, staring out the window, trying to make sense of everything that’s happened over the last twenty-four hours.
When I arrived for the first day of my new job this time yesterday, I was still blissfully unaware that Dr. Jason Northrup was about to upset my well-ordered existence in every possible way. While driving a Porsche and my two trips to jail would be banner headlines at any other time