enough time for me to scarf down more than half a sandwich. “I just don’t know how you had time to do this.”
She gave a playful shrug but didn’t answer.
I set the food in my lap and ate, slicing the fork into the tender meat and placing it in my mouth.
She sat across from me and opened her laptop. “I thought we could take care of a couple things while you eat. I’ve got a few referrals from primaries, Roger from Kline Clinic sent over a couple of notes, and I have your surgery schedule for next week.”
“Alright.” I nodded and listened to everything she had to say, finding it much more relaxing to eat my dinner and talk to her about it than hunch over my desk and type all this out myself.
Having an assistant fucking rocked.
Made me realize I wouldn’t be able to do as much without her.
“Also, we do have one more client coming in today.” She finished typing and shut her laptop, wearing high-waisted jeans with a deep olive- green turtleneck, her dark hair pinned back loosely. She somehow managed to run around all day, take my notes, and still look like a supermodel while she did it.
“What do you mean?” I stopped eating because my muscles were stiff again. I was happy to help anyone who needed help, but I was looking forward to hitting the gym and then crashing on the couch right after I got out of the shower.
“It’s a VIP client,” she explained. “Wanted to come in when no one was else was in the office.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Was that on my schedule?”
“Yes.”
I must have been too focused on the next patient to care about the person coming in after hours. “Who is it?”
“They wouldn’t tell me. They had Andrea and me sign NDAs.”
“Do I need to sign one?”
She shook her head. “They didn’t ask. Your reputation proceeds you.”
I went back to eating. “When will they be here?”
“In about ten minutes. So, relax for a bit. I’ll let you know when they’re here.”
Sicily stepped through the open door with my new patient and his entourage.
With just one look, I knew exactly who he was.
Rock star, music legend Dylan Dubois. He got his start in the sixties, revolutionizing the music industry, selling millions and millions of records, going double platinum for all, and still selling out stadiums even though he’d just crossed into his seventies.
It was ironic—because I’d listened to his music last week on the treadmill.
But I couldn’t be a fan of my patients. I had to be professional, to make them feel like a regular person, that my focus was on their health and not their achievements. I plastered a smile on my face and extended my hand. “Mr. Dubois, it’s a pleasure.”
He took my hand and nodded. “The pleasure is mine, Dr. Hamilton.”
I just shook hands with a legend—no big deal.
Sicily moved to her corner chair, doing her best to push her lips tightly together to suppress her glee because she knew exactly who he was too.
A lady who liked rock music…sexy.
“Take a seat.” I gestured to the couch across from me.
He sat down and I did too.
His entourage excused themselves back to the lobby.
I nodded to Sicily. “This is my executive assistant. She takes notes so I can focus on our conversation.”
He gave her a slight nod in acknowledgment.
Her cheeks blushed bright red.
Dylan Dubois handed the folder of his paperwork to me.
I took it and opened it, looking through each page and organizing it on the coffee table. I normally had time to review all this before the patient arrived, but Dylan Dubois obviously didn’t want to risk faxing that over. “Just give me a couple minutes.”
Dylan sat with his arms on his knees, old tattoos on his forearms, and he scanned my office.
I grabbed the CDs of scans and popped them into the computer so I could pull up his imaging. I scrolled through, getting a good look at his heart, and then I returned to the couch across from him. “I agree with your cardiologist. A heart valve replacement is necessary. The longer we wait, the more at risk you are.”
Dylan gave a somber nod. “I know.”
“You want to move forward, then?”
He lifted his chin and looked at me. “I want to move forward with you. I was about to go under the knife with a surgeon in London, but I found out you were back in the game, so I pulled out at the last minute.”
Damn,