~ Mine ~

Tis the Season Comes Around Again

"Good afternoon Miss McEntire?" A young doctor said as he entered Reba's hospital room swiftly, his piercing blue eyes smiling back at her as he looked up from his paperwork.

"Good-"

"Who the heck are you?" Reba answered back in shock, the last time she'd talked to Dr. Saura she thought that he had informed her he would be her official doctor from here on out.

"Dr. Saura." The man replied with a brilliant smile, causing Reba's eyes to widen in confusion. She did a quick double take, looking the young doctor over, his stature was a bit smaller than the man she remembered, leaner for sure, he wore the same dark blue suit, and his dark black hair matched that of the other doctors, but he lacked the graying edges. That and he was obviously at least twenty years younger. Was she going crazy? She was sure Dr. Saura had been older.

"Pardon my manners but you can't be!"

"Just a week ago you were older!" She replied back, still in great confusion. Laughing softly the doctor pulled out one of the rolling stools, from under the computer desk, which was to the right, and sat down on it, bringing it right in front of the bed Reba was on.

"Oh I'm not THAT Dr. Saura, I'm his son, Kai Saura." He explained with a small chuckle, a hint of a British accent evident in his voice. He hadn't meant to scare her. His father had left his patient list in the back office and he'd swiped it from him while he was preparing for Reba's checkup.

"Is this like a family patient swap?" Reba said as she looked around the room a bit, she still wasn't understanding why Ezra wasn't here.

"No, no, my father's been trying to get me and my bride to finish my training here instead of in England, so I've been staking out the hospital." He responded softly, causing Reba to shake her head as she slowly began to understand.

"I hope you don't mind."

"After all, according to the chart you are my father's number one patient." He slightly teased as he took one more look at the front page of his father's booklet. He didn't dare read any further, as that would be breaching patient confidentiality but it never said anything about making conversation.

"Number one?" Reba pressed as she turned her head slightly to the side. What did number one mean?

"You even made his name list." He added with another small chuckle before quickly realizing what he'd said and immediately regretting it. Whoops, maybe that was too personal.

"Name list?" Reba questioned further, her voice squeaking a bit at the end. She shifted a bit uncomfortably on the bed, her legs suddenly becoming very heavy.

"It's nothing bad!" Kai quickly reassured, waving his hand a bit as he noticed her growing concern.

"My late Aunt used to have this thing with names, every unique name he encounters he adds to her list, kind of keeping her memory alive in a way." He continued to explain with a soft smile. It was becoming evident to Reba that he really revered his father.

"Oh." Reba replied with a small smile. It was actually kind of sweet then, right?

"You said late Aunt?" Reba repeated curiously, she didn't mean to pry but since he had offered up the information first, she couldn't help but ask.

"She had leukemia at eleven, passed shortly after diagnosis." Ezra's voice interrupted causing Reba to jump.

"I see you've met my son." Ezra gritted through his teeth with a strained smile. Motioning for Kai to rise from the chair, he extended his arm out, inadvertently asking for his booklet.

"You can excuse yourself, I'll take from here." He mumbled once Kai had handed it over, his eyes cast downward, trying to hide the timid smile that was still playing on his lips. Just by watching the two interact, Reba could tell that Kai kept Ezra on his toes, much like she remembered Shelby doing.