“That’s it. That’s all you said before the ambulance came and, boy, was I happy to see them.”
Sweat coated my back. “I’m just glad you’re all right.”
The words worked to distract her. Giggling with delight, she told me about her return to work, and how everyone had been so nice, and how she was “super hoping” we could “finish our date” after I was “all better.”
“I’ll call you.” Hell, I might even do that.
It wasn’t as if Paige was breaking down the door in a rush to reconcile.
After hanging up, I wrote down Daisy’s account of my words. Round taillights. I underlined the two words over and over, until I made a hole in the page.
The ping of an incoming email broke my intent focus on the notebook, and had me glancing at my watch. “Shit.”
I got moving and made it to Dr. Binchy’s surgery five minutes before my appointment. My good leg bounced as I sat there waiting in a large glass-and-chrome cube lined with a plush carpet, while a neat middle-aged woman sat behind the reception desk.
I hadn’t looked at the lettering on the door when I walked in, but now got up and hobbled over to pick up one of the business cards on the reception desk. The middle-aged woman smiled at me. I smiled back, the reflex automatic.
I didn’t look at the card until I was sitting down.
Dr. Marcell Binchy, Neurosurgeon
A jumble of letters were listed below:
BHB (Hons), MBChB, FRACS, F—
“Mr. Rai?” The receptionist smiled. “Go on through.”
Shoving the card into my jeans pocket, I got up and began to make my way to the office. All the while, the monkeys in my brain were screaming. Dr. Binchy was as I’d remembered him—thank fucking God—a tall fifty-something man with a small potbelly in an otherwise trim frame, a thick head of silvered brown hair, and a clean-shaven face. His hazel eyes were bright behind black frames, his skin winter pale.
Then who was the grandmotherly woman with brown skin and no bedside manner?
“Aarav,” he said, rising to shake my hand. “Onto a cane now. That’s a good sign. Dr. Tawera will be pleased.”
Dr. Tawera. Of course that was her. My orthopedic surgeon with the unexpectedly strong hands. “I’m not sure when I’m seeing her next,” I said past the gibbering monkeys. “I probably have it on my phone calendar.” Though when the fuck I’d entered all these dates was lost in the black hole of my mind.
“I have it here, too,” Dr. Binchy said as he took his seat. “All part of your overall care. Let’s see . . . ah, you’re booked to see her in a week.”
He turned from the computer. “So, how are you?”
“Fine, I think.” The words just came out of my mouth.
“That’s what you say every week.”
I couldn’t remember being in this office every damn week. “Doc, what the hell happened to me?”
“This is the first time you’ve asked that question.” A faint smile. “So I think you really must be getting better.” Shifting to his right, he picked up a file, but the action seemed to be more out of habit than anything else, because he spoke without looking at it.
“Bare basics—you took a serious blow to the head in the accident. A heavy metal card case—it turned out to be a promotional item you were given that night. Anyway, it flew up from your dashboard during the accident and embedded itself partially in your brain.”
My hand lifted to the scar at my hairline.
“Yes, that’s where.” Dr. Binchy nodded. “A real freak accident that it flew up at exactly the right angle and speed to do so much damage. The young lady with you kept a calm head and stopped you from pulling out either that or the branch embedded in your chest. It was lucky you had a veterinary nurse in the car. You’re not her usual patient, but she did exactly the right thing.”
Of course bubbly giggly Daisy worked with animals. The information would have been catnip to my cold, bastard heart.
“Yeah,” was all I managed to say, my voice a croak. “How long was I in hospital?”
“Five weeks. Some of it in an induced coma. You’ve been home a month.”
That, at least, lined up with my memories. It also told me that my foot must’ve been seriously pulverized. “What are the long-term effects?”
“Hard to predict. I’m continuing to work together with Dr. Varma on your case,