A Second Opinion

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

       “Yes thank you, I am most definitely interested. I’ll drive up to Bethesda in the next month to finalize the details.”

      Kate hung up the phone and squealed in delight. Her assistant came running to the door, an expectant look on her face.

      Kate nodded excitedly. “I got the NIH grant. They loved my proposal. They think my program could be revolutionary.”

      She hugged her assistant. “This is so incredible. Let’s bring out the champagne after the last appointment today.” 

      Kate couldn’t wait to tell Nick. Things were finally coming together for her. Her practice was doing well, and having an NIH study would attract even more patients to her center as well as let her expand business. She had been thinking of hiring an associate which would give her more time to focus on Nick and Lucas. And maybe, just maybe if things went well…. she stopped and giggled. She didn’t want to jinx it.

      Her phone buzzed. She frowned as she looked at the text. It was from Nick. He was going to pick up Lucas after all and asked her to meet him at his place after she was done. He wanted to talk to her.

      She smiled. Maybe it was okay to dream just a little.

      ***

      She picked up a bottle of champagne and a nice dinner on her way to Nick’s. She’d had one glass with her assistant so she could drive. She grinned like a lovesick teenager. She couldn’t wait to tell Nick about the NIH grant. They were very hard to get and she was one of the youngest researchers to get it on the first try. It normally took people years of applying to get such a prestigious grant.

      Her hard work had paid off. Someone believed in her program and maybe with this funding, she could take it national!

      She pulled into Nick’s building and walked upstairs. She knocked on the door. Her face fell when she looked at Nick. He looked closed and forlorn. Behind him she saw Suzanne. Her heart sank. 

      She pasted a smile on her face. “Suzanne, it’s nice to see you.” Suzanne smiled tightly. Kate stepped back. “I’ll come back, I know you guys want to talk.” 

      Suzanne shook his head. “Actually I am leaving.”

      She held Lucas in her arms. Kate’s heart contracted painfully. Lucas reached out his arms when he saw her. “Kate!”

      Kate reached out instinctively to take him but Suzanne turned her body, holding tightly to him. Kate dropped her arms. Lucas started crying. 

      Suzanne brushed past Nick. 

      “I’ll be back” he muttered.

      He picked up some bags. “Suzanne, wait, you need to take these toys, he won’t eat without this one, and he needs this when you’re reading to him.” His voice faded as he walked further down the hall.

      Kate stepped into the apartment. She dropped the dinner and champaign on the kitchen table and sank down on the couch. Her stomach twisted painfully. A sense of foreboding enveloped her. 

      Minutes ticked by. Eventually Nick opened the door softly. Kate stood up and stepped towards him. He hugged her and she held him tightly. Pain seared through her. His entire body was tense, his breaths coming fast. His face was buried in her shoulders, head bent. She squeezed him as tightly as she could.

      When they separated, his eyes were stormy, his face twisted. 

      He shook his head. “She doesn’t want me to have any part of Lucas.”

      A stone fell on Kate’s heart. “Oh Nick, I am so sorry.”

      He rubbed his head. “It gets worse, she’s fallen in love with someone overseas and wants to take Lucas and move there.”

      Kate reached for him. “Oh Nick.”

      “If she’d never have brought him here, I wouldn’t have known. I would’ve been happy with my life, I’d never have met Lucas, never have loved him. How am I going to live without him?”

      Kate rubbed his arm. 

      “You’re entitled to visitation Nick. You’ll fight this.”

      “What good is visitation if she’s living overseas?”

      “Then you fight for shared custody so he has to live with you some of the time. You’re his father, you have rights.”

      He rubbed his head. “I’ll talk to a lawyer. Heck, I’ll go live where she’s living.”

      Kate stepped back “What?”

      He looked at her. “That’s the other piece of news from this—beat up on Nick--day. I was fired from Coupland.”

      “What?”

      He told her the whole story.

      “Nick, you’ve spent so much time and energy building a patient base here, why wouldn’t you just open up a private practice here?”

      He shook his head. “What’s the point Kate? I am not sure I want to be doing bariatric surgery any more. I was so sure when I went into it that it was the right way to go. But Sidnee’s case reminds me that surgery is not some magic bullet. I can’t slice through people’s problems.”

      She bit her lip. This was not the time. He needed a friend. She couldn’t be selfish.  She couldn’t question his intentions. He needed comfort. She stepped close and hugged him, her heart already breaking.