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, word traveled fast. “Who was the surgeon?”
“Dr. Qual.”
“She’s good. Really good.” I’d met her a couple times, and I’d witnessed a few of her operations.
“She’s not you.”
I never knew what to say when a patient preferred me over a colleague, especially a colleague I actually respected. “I’m flattered by the confidence, but she’s just as good, I assure you. I’ve just done more surgeries than she has, but her education—”
“Then you are better. And she’s not in the room, so who gives a fuck. I want you. I’ve still got music to make, I just had a daughter two years ago, and people may think I’m old, but I’m just getting started.”
I smiled. “I like your outlook on life.”
“Attitude is everything, man.”
Did Dylan Dubois just call me man? “Then shall we proceed?”
“Fuck yes.”
I turned to Sicily. “Get him on the schedule.”
“On it,” Sicily said, typing.
“Thank you so much.” Dylan got to his feet. “I fully trust you.”
I shook his hand. “I will do everything I can to take care of you.”
“I know,” he said as he walked away. “Why do you think I came to you?”
I’d just stepped out of the shower after my session at the gym when my mom called.
I’d had a long-ass day, and all I wanted to do was scarf down a snack and go to sleep. I was with the residents at the hospital tomorrow morning, and I needed to get plenty of rest. But it was my mom, and I couldn’t ignore her.
With the towel wrapped around my waist, I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge with the phone to my ear. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?” I squinted my eyes when I looked inside, seeing groceries I hadn’t bought. There was deli meat, cheese, a rotisserie chicken, almond milk, and a couple other things.
“I just wanted to see how things were going. Sicily says you’re quite the superhero.”
“Well, she’s the rock star. She hustles hard and gets stuff done. I wouldn’t be able to do as much without her help, and I probably wouldn’t eat if she didn’t feed me throughout the day.” I grabbed the meat and cheese and stood at the counter to make a sandwich. I put her on speaker and set the phone down so I could wipe the mustard on the bread. “You’d be proud.”
The smile was in her voice. “I already am.”
“So…Sicily showed me the apartment.”
Mom was quiet.
“It’s nice.”
“Do you like it?”
“Mom, come on, I love it. But you didn’t need to do that.”
“We know how stubborn you are, and getting you closer to work is going to make your life so much easier. Your father has to drive out to New Jersey every single day, and trust me, he wishes he could just walk across the street.”
“Yeah, Derek complains about it too.”
“Well, I’m glad you aren’t mad.”
“Oh, I’m mad,” I said quickly. “I just can’t be mean to my mom.”
The smile in her voice returned. “That’s sweet.”
“I just booked an all-cash patient, so I’ll pay you back.”
“You really don’t have to do that—”
“It’s gonna happen.” I knew my parents pitied me because I lost so much of my money in the divorce. Catherine knew exactly what she was entitled to as a lawyer, and she didn’t hesitate to bleed me dry. It was hard to believe she ever loved me when we sat in that courtroom and converted our beautiful life together into dollars and cents. But my parents wouldn’t pay for my stupidity, and I would make my own way in life. I could pay my parents back with a couple big clients, and then my apartment would be paid off. It would take some time to pay them back for the office.