Examine

four

ASHLEY

"Ashley Scott?" A man calls out into the waiting room. I lurch forward in my seat and rub at my eyes.

The man begins to walk toward me, dressed in hospital scrubs and making them look good, if the way the fabric cuts against his defined pecs and broad shoulders is any indication. My eyes narrow on the frame that is eerily familiar and I blink my eyes a couple of times to see if I'm lucid enough to be seeing right.

That can't be... Kill me now.

"Scottie?" He says again looking straight at me, this time with recognition, as he stops and stares back at the information sheet in his hand. "It says you're the emergency contact of Emily Robinson."

"Hey, Michael," I say, too softly for my own ears, as I stand up and meet him halfway. "My mum changed her name back after the divorce."

I force myself to look him in the eyes. You have got to be kidding me. Now was not the time for a reunion with my first unrequited crush. "How is she?"

His expression pinches, and a crease forms between his eyebrows. "Why don't you come with me? We can talk in my office."

"Okay." I nod and follow him to his room. As we walk down the corridor I can't help asking, "When did you start working here?"

"I moved back a couple years ago to be closer to my parents," he responds, opening the door to his office. "I'm sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances."

"We would have met again sooner or later," I say, to which Michael gives a conceding nod. I'm actually surprised I haven't seen him sooner unless he has been avoiding me.

He takes a seat behind his desk and I take a seat across from him. "It's not good, Scot-Ashley. Your mother is having issues with her gallbladder. Which means that -"

"I know what that means," I cut him off. "Shit," I swear softly under my breath.

Michael raises his eyebrows in question at me.

"You're not the only one who did a medical degree," I answer his unspoken question.

Michael nods slowly, in complete doctor mode, I can tell.

"What's her treatment going to be?" I ask.

"We'll need to perform surgery, and then she'll need to be cared for to make sure that nothing goes wrong with her recovery."

I'm already nodding. "Who's going to perform the surgery?"

"Dr Maverick, probably," Michael replies thoughtfully.

"Is he the best?" I ask, my eyes locked on his face to see any signs of lying.

"No, that's Dr Peters."

"I want Dr Peters then," I say, demandingly. I know its pedantic but this is my mum's life on the line and I want the very best for her care. "I don't care if he charges more, I'll pay it."

Michael looks at me for a moment, his eyes solemn. "That won't be necessary, I'll ask him personally. He owes me a favour."

I wince. "No, Michael, you don't need to pull in a personal favour," I argue weakly, not wanting to be indebted to him this way. Being indebted to someone I don't know is fine, but Michael was a whole other ball game.

Michael brushes away my concerns with a dismissive wave of his hand and a small smile on his face. "Don't worry about it Scottie, that's what we do for family, right? And you're practically family now."

I swallow thickly at those words and avert my gaze from his. I wish I was still unaffected by Michael. As it is, I feel like I am betraying Jack by even being in the same room as him, or maybe it's the memory of how I used to misconstrue anything he said to me and imagine my own reality.