a black turtleneck, looking ready for the runway all the time. She looked like Mom, but she had the same energy as Dad, like she owned every room she stepped into.
Daisy smiled at me. “Glad you pulled your head out of your ass, bro.”
“So glad you’re here, sis,” I shot back.
Dad rose to his feet and greeted me with a hug and a pat on the back. “Take a seat.”
I sat in between them, happy that the mood in the room was what it used to be, a warm and safe space, a place where we had so many family dinners.
Mom put the plate of tacos in the center along with rice and beans and chips. Dad had the jackfruit tacos, while we had a bigger selection. But Mom didn’t join us. She took her plate down the hallway like she intended to eat and work in her office.
“Mom, where are you going?” I turned to look at her.
“Gonna work in the office.” She turned back to me before she continued down the hallway. “You guys have a lot of work to do.”
I turned back to my dad and sister. “What’s she talking about?”
Daisy filled her plate with tacos and stayed silent, letting Dad have the floor.
Dad grabbed his food before he grabbed the folder sitting beside him and tossed it at him. “We’re gonna get to work on this case.”
I lowered my gaze to the folder and opened it, seeing Mr. Torres’s information.
“Three doctors are better than one, right?” Daisy asked after she finished chewing her bite.
“And we both know you haven’t even glanced at his paperwork,” Dad said, not in accusation, but simply matter-of-factly.
I looked down at the first page, his most recent lab work. “I appreciate the offer, but I can handle this on my own.”
“I know you can,” Dad said confidently. “But sometimes we need help getting back into the water. So, let’s start.” He grabbed a pen and rolled it toward me along with an extra notebook.
Instead of resisting, I took a breath and got to work.
Daisy looked over her notes and all the red ink she’d added to the tests. “With his cholesterol being as high as it is, it really makes no sense to have this abnormally low blood pressure. There’s definitely something more to this, that his heart is being compromised by a bigger issue. I think the heart surgery is necessary, absolutely, but I think he’s either got a lot more going on, or his cardiovascular and pulmonary problems are contributing to disrupting the normal functioning of his body.” She lifted her gaze and looked at me, expecting me to elaborate.
“I’m in agreement.” When I turned to look at Dad, he was looking at Daisy.
She dropped her gaze and reached for the bottle of wine to refill her glass, so she was oblivious to the way Dad stared at her.
Like he’d never been more proud.
I knew my parents didn’t have a favorite, but Dad definitely treated Daisy differently from Derek and me. It wasn’t necessarily favoritism, but he was more impressed with the things she did, even if her successes were similar to what Derek and I had accomplished in our careers. There was just a different kind of affection there, probably because she was his only daughter.
Dad spoke before turning his gaze back to me. “That’s very insightful, sweetheart.”
Daisy shrugged and took a drink of her wine, never taking compliments too seriously because she knew perfection was the expectation set for each of us in medicine. Dad raised us to be the best every single time because mistakes led to malpractice, which led to untimely deaths.
Dad’s treatment of Daisy never bothered Derek and me because we were the exact same with her. She was probably the perfect sibling, inheriting Dad’s brilliance but also Mom’s sass and fire. She was a brilliant diagnostician who saved lives when no one else could figure out the problem, but she expressed herself with the same ease that Mom did. But also, she didn’t take shit from anybody. “I agree with Mr. Torres’s previous assessments, that without this surgery, he won’t live long. After looking at his scans, I know exactly where I would make my incisions and replace his valves, all the while keeping in mind his pulmonary issues, but…” I dropped my gaze and looked at my paperwork. “I’m not sure if I can do it.”
“Son.”
I wouldn’t look at him because I didn’t want to see his disappointment.
“Dex, come on,” Daisy said. “You’re