The Doctor Who Has No Closure - Victoria Quinn Page 0,17
Derek asked.
“We’re still doing that too.” When I rejected Sicily’s suggestion to get another assistant, it was selfish. I didn’t want to bother having another person when she was already perfect at her job. I knew that didn’t happen often, and if I had an assistant who just annoyed me all the time, I would never get anything done.
Derek shook his head slightly. “Dex, that’s insane.”
Emerson chuckled before she took a drink of her wine. “You’re one to talk…”
I grinned at my brother. “Have I ever told you I like your wife more than you?”
Derek looked at her, his gaze dark but slightly playful. “You may have mentioned it…”
“Man, this place is nice.” Daisy took off her coat and left it on the coatrack by the door before she came farther into my apartment, checking out the furniture on the rug shipped from Morocco and the other masculine sculptures. “Wish Mom and Dad would buy me a place.”
I glared at her for making the jab. “No, you don’t. And I’m paying them after I get my check.” I moved to the couch in front of the TV. The gas fireplace was on, the frost pressed to the windows with the view of the city.
“Got a big client?” She sat beside me and helped herself to the wine.
“Yes.”
“Who? Let me guess…” She tapped her fingers against her chin. “Politician?”
“No. A musician.”
“Ooh, anyone I would know?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t ask who because she respected her patient’s confidentiality and I respected mine. I didn’t even tell my family who I worked on, not that they would ever tell anyone else. I took my oath as a physician very seriously. Sometimes Catherine would ask, and I wouldn’t even tell her.
Daisy crossed her legs and got comfortable, sipping her wine as she looked at the TV. “Sicily did a great job.”
“She hired a decorator, so she didn’t pick out anything.”
“But still, she pulled this together. She really learned a lot from Mom, and she only worked there for a couple months.”
“Yes, she’s a smart girl.” I grabbed a handful of pretzels and leaned back as I popped them into my mouth, watching the game with my sister like she was one of the guys.
“Maybe I’ll get an assistant when I’m the director of Harper Clinic.”
“Is Dr. Levinson leaving?” I asked.
“He talks about retiring in the near future, so…” She sipped her wine. “It could happen.”
“And you think they’d hand over the reins to you?” I teased.
She nudged me in the side. “Come on, I’m the smartest bitch in that place. First one to get there in the morning, last one to leave at night. Always.”
“Why don’t you open your own practice?” She was smart enough to have her name on the door, and she had Dad to help her with the business side of things.
She shrugged. “I really like where I work. I like the collaboration with the other physicians. Sure, I have an ass that won’t quit, but I rely on the expertise of my colleagues to fix patients. If I started my own practice, I’d have to hunt for all the right people, and not because of their degrees and experience, but because of their grit and heart, and it’s hard to find that. It takes a long time, and I’m just not that ambitious. I like where I’m at.”
I could totally see Daisy doing her own thing, having a team of doctors that wanted to work with her because of her mind and heart. She was young, so maybe in a decade she would realize she didn’t need anybody else but herself.
“What’s new with you?”
Other than sleeping with my old mentor, not much. “Just work.” I didn’t tell anyone that Sicily had seen my old wedding picture. It would just make things awkward, and they would think it was weird that I still had that picture…because it was. I should have thrown it out with everything else, but when I stood over the dumpster with it in my hand, I just couldn’t do it. Something held me back. I didn’t know what. I’d shoved it in the back of my closet until it came time to move. “Patient care, research, residency… Never stops.”
“But you’re enjoying it, right?”
I nodded. “Definitely. I just…” I finished my pretzels but couldn’t find the words.
“Just what?” she pushed when I didn’t answer.
“I feel guilty for leaving in the first place. I see the way these patients need me… And there were patients who needed me, and I wasn’t there.”