Not the Rebound Guy by Abby Knox (popular books of all time .txt) 📗

know how to answer that, Mom; you’ll have to ask Dr. Palmer.”

“That’s right, I keep forgetting you dropped out of medical school.”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re reminding me of right now?”

“And drinking! At her age?”

“Last time I checked, there was no reason for her not to do the things she likes to do.”

She mumbles something about another doctor being able to take her orthopedic surgeries for the rest of the week and then hangs up.

I sit there for a few seconds, my phone in my hand, my eyes on the floor, going over this conversation in my head.

“Hey,” says a familiar voice. I look over, and Garrett is there, holding out my unfinished coffee. “Here.”

I take it and inhale the aroma.

“That sounded like a kind of harsh conversation,” he says.

“Yeah,” I say. “You think?”

“Come here,” he says, wrapping me up in his strong arms. I’m so drained just from that one conversation with my mother that I couldn’t escape from Garrett’s embrace even if I wanted to.

I look up at him. “Prepare yourself, my mom be here in about an hour, and she’s kind of a handful.”

He’s silent for a moment, and I know what he’s thinking. “I know you’re stopping yourself from asking why she never visits.”

“Maybe,” he admits.

“She and my mom have a complicated relationship. Grams always spoiled me, and that’s why I dropped out of medical school. When I did that, I went to live with Grams, which was the beginning of the strain between mom and me. But looking back on it, there was always something off about our relationship.”

“You want to sit and tell me more about it?”

“I’ve been sitting all night; I feel like walking.”

The ward is laid out in a circle around the nurses’ station, and we walk a loop as I tell him the whole story.

“Mom and Dad divorced when I was a teen. He and I still have a decent relationship, but he has a whole new family now. Mom never remarried, which was fine by me. She pushed me to go to medical school and looking back on it, I think it was the one way she saw me being able to support myself if I ever found myself in her shoes.

“But halfway through medical school, I realized I never enjoyed studying that stuff, but I loved getting the syllabus at the beginning of the year. I loved plotting out every semester, every week, every day. It made me happy. I did really well in college not because I liked studying, but because I was really good at time management and planning ahead.”

I’m deciding whether to try to press him on his family history when we’ve made our way back in a circle to Grams’ room. The nurse is waiting for us with a smile on her face.

My heart lifts as she says, “She’s asking for you.”

I run into Grams’ room, and she waves at me.

“I guess it’s not as bad as we thought!”

“They can’t keep me under control. They said I’m supposed to stay sedated until the surgery, but I don’t follow the rules.”

I grab her hand. “Grams, don’t you dare scare me like that ever again.”

“I promise,” she says, and weakly squeezes my hand. “When can I go home?”

Just then, Dr. Palmer walks in and gives us the breakdown of what happens next. “After surgery, we’re going to keep you here for a few days, maybe a week, then we’ll make sure you’re ready to go into a rehab facility,” she says.

“Why do I gotta go to a rehab facility? I’m fine! I can recover at home.”

The doctor patiently nods and says, “We’re going to make sure, okay?”

“Yes, Grams. And I’m staying for as long as I need to. I can do my business anywhere. I just texted Debbie that I won’t be back for another couple of weeks, maybe months, because of a family emergency.”

“Oh boy, I’m sure that drip is excited about that,” Grams says.

“She’ll have to learn to do things on her own,” I say. “And I can use the time to build up my planner business. I have lots of ideas, and I can do them anywhere as long as I have my laptop.”

“You’re so good to me. I’m not going to stop you from staying. I’m sure Garrett isn’t going to stop you from staying either.”

He places his arm around my waist and nods to Grams. “No, ma’am. I learned pretty quickly there’s no sense in arguing with Eliza. Or you. And I would be happy if she stayed a little longer.”

“I always told you she’s a nice girl.”

I feel myself blushing from head to toe. “Laid up in a hospital bed and still matchmaking.”

“Oh no,” she says, spying how close Garrett is standing next to me and how he has his hand on my waist. “Looks like my job here is done.”

Chapter Eighteen

Garrett

If I thought Eliza and Grams were their own forces of nature, Karen is ten times the whirlwind of both. But not in an endearing way.

She walks in wearing a trench coat over her business suit and immediately starts asking questions. “Mom. How long were you alone before the EMTs found you?”

“What?” Grams looks confused.

She turns to Dr. Palmer, who has popped in for an update, and rattles off a long list of questions and requests to see Grams’ chart.

The nurse looks at Grams’ file on her clipboard. “I’m sorry, ma’am. You’re not authorized to look at her chart.”

“I’m her daughter and a surgeon. I think I’m entitled.” She snatches the chart away, and everyone gasps.

This nurse may be tiny, but she’s not to be trifled with. “Great!” she says to my mother with a vicious smile, snatching the chat back. “Then you are aware of confidentiality laws. Your name has to be on the release forms, and it’s not.”

Karen places a hand on her hip and scoffs. “Whose names are on there? I mean, besides my daughter’s. What little good that does, she couldn’t tell me a damn thing.”

Grams