Hurts So Good (Neil Melendez (The Good Doctor) x OC)

Here We Go

*MARCH 2021*

"Jade Miller?"
A young nurse calls my name. Here we go, it's my turn.
"Yeah, that'd be me. Hi."
"Hi, please follow me, Miss. Doctor Young is waiting for you."

I get up from my chair in the waiting room and follow her down the corridor. The smell of disinfectant hits my nose even more. My steps are slow, and while I walk I think about how I've been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time and I've been saving lots of money in order to do this for an even longer period of time. And no matter how scared, excited, sad and happy I am, today is the day.

If everything goes as planned.

The nurse opens the examination room door for me and I step inside. The brightness of the sun hitting me in the face. I squint my eyes at the giant ball of fire in the sky and walk around the desk searching for a shaded spot and I sit down, facing the doctor. 

"Ms. Miller, it's a pleasure to see you again. I see you've finally chosen your donor!" she starts, as I'm still taking off my coat.
"The pleasure is all mine, doctor," I huff out as I finally settle down, then my tone lowers, "and well... I didn't really choose him myself," I say with a sad little smile on my face, "I actually let my mum choose for me. That was... Her dying wish, so I guess I'll know everything when the baby arrives... Or when they'll grow up." I try hard not to let a sob escape from my throat. But then tears suddenly pool in my eyes. The pain of losing her just a few weeks ago overwhelms me. I don't have it restrained yet and even if I know it is healthy to cry it out, not being in control of my feelings makes me anxious.
"I see, I'm so sorry for your loss, Jade," she reaches for my right hand squeezing it gently, "it's an important choice to make, you must have loved your mother dearly to let her make this decision," she smiles at me.

"I did. We all did," there's a moment of silence filled with unsaid words, then I say, "can we start?" I'm fidgeting with my fingers, my gaze unable to reach the doctor's eyes, "I'm sorry I - I just need to think about something else right now." Dr. Young warms up her hands as she answers, "Absolutely. You took all the meds I gave you, correct? Has there been any problem?", she gets up from her velvet covered armchair and starts for the back room. I raise my voice just a little bit so she can hear me.

"Took them all and no, no problem at all thankfully. I'm... ready, as ready as I'll ever be." I take a napkin from her desk and take advantage of her being away to dry my eyes and try to get the streaks of black mascara off my face.
"We shall see that in a couple of weeks," she says as she walks into the examination room again, and she winks at me, "So... the dad?"

I hurry to get the envelope from my bag sitting on the floor. I dive my hands in and after a couple of seconds blindly searching for it, my fingers graze the coarse paper and I take it out. I lay my arms on the brown leather bag and take one last look at my mum's closed letter. I turn it over and read the elegantly written sentence on the back:

"To doctor Young, the first (and maybe only) person who gets to know who the father really is"

The  sage green paper is heavy in my hands as my eyes glide over my mum's signature at the bottom-right corner. This letter... she wrote it five weeks ago, for this exact appointment. I stretch out my left hand and give the envelope to the doctor. She unfolds the note and then chuckles for a second, giving me a side eye.

What the heck did you write in there, mum? Is the first thing that crosses my mind. You were always the funny one of the family and we loved you for it. I watch as Dr. Young folds the letter back in the envelope and bends down to put it into one of the drawers of her desk. 

"Okay then Ms. Sheila," she says as she gets back up, "let's get your daughter... father number 849."