Part 472
By the time the doctor reached her waiting room, it was impossible to tell that there was a baby anywhere in the building. All attention in the office seemed focused on something or someone over on the far side of the room, but all she could see was the backs of her nurses as they made ridiculous cooing sounds and giggled. She stood for a moment or two, taking in the scene, but finally cleared her throat to make her presence known.
"Ahem. Excuse me? Is anyone in my office still working today?" She folded her arms and tried to glare, but once the nurses all jumped guiltily she couldn’t hide the laugh that she’d been holding back. She shook her head and smiled. "Such slackers you all are, it’s a wonder anything gets done around here."
"But he’s just so adorable!" Rochelle was completely under Garrett’s spell and giggled when he tried to pull her finger into his mouth.
Nancy moved closer and peered down at the squirming bundle in Becca’s arms. Stroking his soft cheek, she glanced at Becca just as Becca looked up at her, a funny look on her face. "How are you, Rebecca?"
"Fine, Dr. Grizzard," she whispered.
"Not acceptable. None of my patients call me ‘Doctor’, remember?"
"Sorry," Becca smiled. "I’m fine, Nancy."
"You look tired."
"I am tired. I have an infant and a tour schedule to keep up with, but it’s all part of the package."
Nancy looked around to find Nick basking in his son’s limelight, thoroughly enjoying not being the center of attention for a change. "It looks as if everything worked out for you, Rebecca."
"Oh, it did!" she replied, but maybe a little too quickly.
"Then what’s wrong?" the doctor asked quietly. "And don’t tell me ‘nothing’. I know too much about you and your situation to buy it."
Becca sighed and looked at Nick and the nurses, obviously not wanting to talk in front of them. Nancy solved her problem.
"Rochelle, here." She took Garrett from Becca and handed him to the nurse, who was excited to finally get her hands on him. "Now, come over here so we can talk." She took Becca by the arm and led her to a more private corner of the waiting room. "I understand you had a rough time with that little boy. How do feel now? Aside from the tiredness?"
"How did you know about Garrett’s delivery?"
"That nice young doctor in Toronto called me after you were admitted. We had a three way conference call that night."
"Three way?" Becca looked confused.
"Me, Dr. Anthony and Dr. Warren, your doctor back in Orlando. He was very thorough and didn’t want to leave anything to chance."
"Wow," Becca sighed. She’d had no idea what had gone on behind the scenes that horrible night.
"You seem to be healthy, so tell me what’s wrong."
"Nothing. Everything. I don’t know, Nancy, it’s just … coming back here, to Denver. I had no idea it would bother me this much."
"It’s understandable. This place represents a very difficult time in your life. The way you left home and settled here, and then to find out you were pregnant? I’m amazed you didn’t have complications with your pregnancy right from the start."
"You don’t count throwing up a million times a day as a complication?"
Nancy laughed. "No, unfortunately not. But you got better and then you obviously worked things out with Nick."
"He’s wonderful, Nancy. When Sarah came to get me, after I finally told her what was going on, he took me back as if I’d never been gone."
"He loves you very much." She watched as a look passed between Nick and Becca, and even across the room, with no words exchanged, she knew she was right. "May I make a suggestion?"
"Sure, I guess so."
"Before you leave town, take Nick around and show him everything. Show him your favorite places, where you shopped, your church. Take him to you apartment. He missed out on all of that with you, and until you can truly share that with him then you’re never going to be able to move past it."
"But that would mean reliving all of it." Becca had a horrified look on her face.
"You need closure, Rebecca. You left in the middle of the night and never said ‘goodbye’ to anyone or anything. I know it sounds foolish to say goodbye to something inanimate like an apartment, but what you did was to run away twice: once from Orlando, and once from here. You need to do this for yourself, for your son and for your marriage. Nick deserves all of you, Rebecca, not just the parts that aren’t locked away and in hiding."
"You really think so? It’s not going to be easy." Becca frowned, clearly not looking forward to doing any of it.
"I know so. And I need to get back to Sarah’s ultrasound." She patted Becca’s knee. "It was good to see you again, Rebecca, and good to see that things have worked out for you. I like happy endings just as much as anyone, you know."
"Me too," Becca smiled.
"At least think about what I said, all right? And let me know how it goes. You’re not my patient anymore, but I’d like it if you’d consider me a friend. Give me a call or email once in a while." She stood up and stretched. "AND, I expect regular updates on the little heartthrob over there."
"I promise, I will. I’ll send pictures. Thank you, Nancy."
"Any time, and I mean that." The two women hugged tightly, and Nancy shook her head at her staff, still wrapped up with Garrett. "All right ladies, we have an office to run, so I’m going back to work now." No one even replied and she laughed again, winking at Becca before heading down the hallway to where Sarah and Howie were waiting.