This Life

Chapter 2

Derek was glad to get out of his office. Even with the air conditioning on it was still hitting the high 90's. All he wanted to do was get home and rescue his daughter from his mother – or was that the other way round?

He glanced at his watch and figured that it would just be quicker to walk from his office to his apartment – and it would probably be a lot cooler too.

Forty five minutes later Derek strolled into Boston Common. By this time on Friday afternoon the park was packed with tourists, young families enjoying the good weather and tired workers on their way home. He searched for a quiet spot that he could sit and play with Beth. His mom had said that she had been restless and grouchy all day – most likely because of the intense heat. That and the fact that she was teething and not really sleeping at night probably did not help either.

He found a quiet spot close by the entrance to City Hall. A group of tourists taking the Freedom Trail tour walked past and as he was sitting on the grass he noticed a young woman lying sunbathing nearby. He silently hoped and prayed that Beth would not start one of her very loud temper tantrums. He just wanted to sit and relax in peace and quiet and think about his options. He could not believe how much his life had changed in the past year.

Derek Christopher Shepherd was at 35 one of the most successful neurosurgeons in the US. He had his own private practice which he co-owned with his wife Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd and his best friend Mark Sloan.

His neurology clinic was the busiest in Boston and he had job offers from every major hospital on both the East and West Coast. His close friend Mark Sloan was the go-to plastic surgeon on the East Coast and his wife Addison was one to the top neo-natal and gynaecologists in the US. The three of them had created a very successful partnership.

Now Derek could not but help but wonder how they were ever partners in medicine or even friends in the first place.

Derek came from a large family. He was born and raised in Boston to fantastic parents. Cathryn Shepherd was a former army nurse and his father Michael a retired head school teacher. Although born in Hyannis Michael moved to Boston to attend university. He had lived there for a few years before he met Cathryn and it was love at first sight. They were married a year later and together raised their five children – all of which were doctors and surgeons in their own right, Kathleen – a psychologist, Nancy in gynaecology, Derek a neurosurgeon, Jennifer a general surgeon and Samantha who was one of the youngest cardiologists at John Hopkins.

When Michael retired from teaching he and Cathryn decided to leave Boston and move back to Hyannis in the old Shepherd family house. All of their children helped to pay more an extension to the house and restore it back to its full glory of a typical Cape Cod property. The best thing about the house was the small walkway between the gardens and the beach. After a few months Cathryn had redecorated some of the spare bedrooms and opened up a small Bed and Breakfast for tourists during the holiday season.

When Derek thought back to his childhood five words would describe it best. Mad. Crazy. Noisy. Loving. Comfortable.

His relationship with his sisters could be heated and argumentative but he knew that no matter what they all cared deeply for each other and at some point had helped each other out in the darkest of times. Derek would have been lost without his sister's support over the past six months.

Derek had quickly learned during his teenage years that his sisters were always right, he was always wrong and most importantly how to get in the bathroom first in the mornings. His bedroom was the first in the house with an en-suite bathroom. His parents took pity on him, however his sisters now two bathrooms to fight over.

He was close to all of his sisters especially Samantha or Sam for short. She was the baby of the family and was often left out of his sisters activities when they were younger and Derek usually took of her. Many afternoons would be spent making sandcastles on the beach and during the week looking out for her at school.