Healing the Doctor (BWWM Interracial Romance) (10 page)

Isaiah looked at his mother and sister, and knew something was wrong by his mother’s tone. Without complaining, he slipped outside and closed the door behind him. Mary swiftly locked the door and walked into the adjoining bathroom. Hailey didn’t ask what she was up to. Her mother always knew what to do, and she was always right.

Her heels clicked on the tiled floor of the bathroom, and Hailey sat at the edge of the bed, staring out the window. The long limbs of a tree that had drooped with its own weight reminded her of her.

“Hailey, get inside the shower,” Mary said and Hailey looked up as if she was seeing a ghost. It took a moment for her to get out of the fog of self pity that had overtaken her.

Mary’s face twisted in shared sorrow at whatever her daughter was suffering with, and she took her hand to make her stand.

“Mom!” Hailey moaned as her mother began undressing her like a small child the pushed her toward the bathroom.

“I’ll take out some clothes for you,” Mary simply said. “You have a very annoying habit of not showering when something’s bothering you. It has to change. You’re stronger than that,” she chastised with an affectionate glare.

Hailey smiled shakily and walked into the bathroom, slipping into the shower. The warm water cascaded down her bare back, and she soaped herself slowly, her arms aching.

With one towel wrapped over her head like a turban, and another towel wrapped around her body, she stepped out to find her mother shuffling through her suitcase.

A set of clothes were spread out on the bed, freshly ironed.

Her mother’s sense of discipline and perfection was not swayed. “How have your interviews gone so far?” Mary asked as Hailey sat on the bed.

“I got a job at Brandon Memorial,” Hailey announced after a pause.

“Oh that’s great, dear. When do you start?”

“I don’t think I’ll take it. I’ll keep looking for something else."

“Why? It’s a good hospital. Is the package not good enough? In this economy, you can’t pay to be too choosy,” she said, sitting beside Hailey and pushing her wet hair off her face.

“No, it’s good. I just don’t feel like working there.”

Mary quieted at the look of sadness on her face, and pulled her daughter’s head down onto her lap. Hailey clenched her eyes shut, feeling the forbidden tears urging their way past her lids.

Mary saw it too. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, and Hailey instantly shook her head, sniffling to fight the torrent of tears.

“Okay. Do you want to see your father now?”

“Only because I have to,” Hailey murmured, and Mary bit back a smile. She had always found the daughter-father relationship a bit amusing.

Jack Baster was an intimidating man, and the similarities in Hailey’s and his personalities meant that more often than not, they clashed together. Although Hailey was always respectful towards her father, Mary knew that sometimes she was seething inside.

“Your friend Kate called this morning, wondering where you were,” Mary began.

“Yeah, I switched my phone off. I didn’t feel like talking to her, or anybody else.”

Mary processed that information. “What would you like to do now?”

“I don’t know.”

“When was the last time you ate?” Mary asked.

Hailey sighed dejectedly. “I don’t know, Mom. I don’t know,” she said. She was just too exhausted to think about it.

Mary pulled her daughter up and pointed to a pair of ballet flats lying on the floor. Hailey stepped into them and was dragged out of the room. Hailey had given up and surrendered to her mother. She would be taken care of, she knew.

She didn’t need Greg or another man to love her, to take care of her, to worry about her. She had a family who was there for her.

***

After having a steaming serving of lasagna, Hailey sat out on the lawn and stroked the faithful dog that had glued itself to her feet. Koop had gotten old, and wasn’t as active as he once used to be.

She turned around to see her father walking towards her, dressed to the nines in his tailored suit.

“Hailey,” he said with a fond smile, and Hailey stood up to hug him. “I was planning to call you. I heard that you interviewed for Baster and Company.”

“Jack,” Mary chastised, but Jack continued. “So you decided to work for us when you didn’t find a job anywhere else?” he said. “You couldn’t have just told me you needed a job? I would’ve hired you.”

Hailey burned inside, but ignored his sarcastic comment.

“Hailey got a job at Brandon Memorial,” Mary announced proudly. “Tell your father about it, sweetie.”

“I was hired at Brandon Memorial,” she repeated like a robot, making Isaiah stifle a chuckle.

Hailey smiled at him, and saw her father’s face turn sour. “So when do you start?” he asked.

Hailey didn’t want to discuss this with him. “I’m not sure yet. Maybe next month,” she evaded.

Her father nodded, and although Hailey refused to acknowledge it, there was hint of pride at his daughter’s accomplishment on his face.

Hailey took Isaiah’s phone off the table and dialed Kate’s number. She didn’t want her friend to worry about her.

Kate was fuming when Hailey refused to tell her anything. Being the determined problem solver that she was, she guessed exactly what had happened. “Did Greg do something? Last I heard from you were out on a date with him, and then you disappeared. Did you sleep with him?” It was a barrage of questions that Hailey refused to answer.

“Just let it go, Kate. I don’t want to talk about him.”

Kate quieted on the other end of the line. “Your phone’s off. I’ll call you on Isaiah’s phone when I need to talk, all right. Tell the little annoying brat to give you his phone.”

Hailey smiled. “Yeah, I’ll tell him,” she said, rumpling her too tall seventeen-year-old brother’s hair.

He growled at her, and she received a surprised stare from Mary. Kate and Isaiah had always had a love-hate relationship, which had been very entertaining for the whole family.

***

Two weeks later, Hailey had fallen into a routine with her family. She went out shopping with her mother, at Mary’s urging. An annual charity event that her mother hosted to raise funds for an animal shelter was scheduled the next weekend, and Mary was adamant that Hailey join her.

Hailey tried to get out of it, but it was no use. Although it was for an animal shelter, it was held at a swanky hotel ballroom and was attended by all the wealthy contacts her mother had. It ended up being more like a champagne party than a fundraiser, and the women dressed head-to-toe in their latest designer dresses and shoes.

Hailey decided that it was at least something to look forward to. If nothing else, plenty of money would be raised for the animals.

Chapter Sixteen

Greg paced in his apartment, his hair a disheveled mess. He had just gotten back from hospital, and he couldn’t believe the worry Hailey was putting him through.

He knew he had messed up big time and he was paying the price. He missed Hailey. He missed the sunny glowing sight of her face, and he missed holding her hand. In the few weeks since he had known her, she had become his partner in so many ways.

Yet, his subconscious reminded him, he had hurt Hailey terribly.

Greg dialed Hailey’s number for the thousandth time, and then remembered that Hailey had once used his phone to call her friend, Kate.

“Kate!” he hissed, and swiftly scrolled through the call logs on his phone. Finally, he found a number he didn’t recognize and called.

Kate picked up on the second ring, and Greg was stunned by the rudeness and fury that seemed to spill out from his phone. “What do you want?” she demanded.

“Uh, Kate?” he said and Kate scoffed.

“Of course. Who were you expecting? Hailey?”

“Oh, thank god. It's you. I’m sorry to bother you but I’m a mess, Kate. I need to find Hailey.”

Kate quieted, and then her tone was different when she spoke. “What did you do to her? She’s a wreck.” She stopped, loyalty for her childhood friend preventing her from revealing anything more.

“I’ll make it right, Kate. I promise I will, just tell me where she is. She isn’t at her apartment. I’ve talked to her neighbors and they say she left with a suitcase a few week sago. Has she gone somewhere?”

“Of course not,” Kate replied.

Greg sighed in frustrated anger. “What are you doing? Just tell me where she is and I’ll go talk to her. Surely you have a number where you can reach her?”

“She won’t talk to you,” Kate replied after a moment.

“Come on, Kate. I’m desperate. I need to find her.”

“What suddenly happened to make you so desperate?” Kate shot back.

“I love her. I love Hailey, and she doesn’t know. It’s killing me,” Greg said. “I need to talk to her. Please, tell me where she is.”

Kate didn’t reply and Greg realized after a few seconds that it was awfully quiet on the other end of the line. “Are you still there?” Greg asked, fearing she had hung up on him.

“Yeah,” Kate said. “I’m texting you an address. Go and talk to her,” she said, and instantly hung up.

Greg’s heart began beating frantically, and he waited impatiently on the sofa. His eyes glued to the phone screen. A new message flashed over the screen and he opened it.

An address in Misty Heights. He lurched to his feet. She was at her parent’s house in Misty Heights! It wasn’t that far, and he was suddenly electrified, full of adrenaline. He couldn’t wait to be on his way.

He grabbed a couple of suits from his closet and a pair of jeans. A few casual dress shirts followed and he swiftly called the chief at Brandon Memorial, who was also his dear friend.

“Henry? I need a favor,” he said and told him in as few words as possible that he needed a week off due to a family emergency.

Chapter Seventeen

Hailey and her father were sitting on the back deck when a gardener approached them.

“Miss Baster? There is a gentleman out at the gates who says he wants to see you,” the gardener said.

“Who?” Hailey inquired, knowing she wasn’t expecting anyone.

“He just said ‘Greg’ when I asked him, Miss Baster,” he replied, and Hailey shot out of her chair like a bullet.

She grabbed the elderly gardener’s arm and pulled him away from her father. Jack, however, had already heard the exchange. “What is it, Hailey?” he asked her, and Hailey clenched her eyes shut. This was a nightmare.

“No one you know. Please stay right here,” she said almost angrily and stomped off with the gardener’s arm still in her grasp.

“Tell him to go away, Carlos,” she said to the gardener.

“Yes, miss,” he said, and hurried off as fast as he could on his elderly legs.

She saw him open the gate a crack and step outside, and her heart missed a beat when she saw the denim clad leg that could belong to no one but Greg. Her eyes ached to see him again, but the wound in her heart had been scratched raw.

To her mortification, she saw Greg pull open the gate in an attempt to step inside. His eyes met Hailey’s at the same instant the gardener stopped him and a gasp escaped her lips when he tried to pull Greg away by force.

“You’re trespassing, sir,” the gardener said, and Hailey swiftly ran forward.

Greg’s jaw was clenched in anger at the gardener, but his eyes slowly softened at the sight of her.

“Greg,” she said with a straight, composed face, averting her eyes from his gaze.

Greg noticed her large eyes seemed almost exhausted, with shadows of dark circles beneath them. His heart flipped over itself in remorse.

“Can I talk to you for second?” he said when the gardener refused to let his arm go.

Hailey knew how proud Greg was and realized he didn’t want to create a scene. She looked up at him, and felt trapped. He was at her house with her father a few feet away, and this was a situation she didn’t want to be part of.

She nodded at the gardener, who let go of Greg’s arm, and he followed her inside. Hailey walked ahead of him, knowing there was no way to avoid her father now. Her mind worked frantically to solve this crazy dilemma. She didn’t want her father knowing about Greg. He would relish her failure whenever he could and she couldn’t bear the thought of him knowing about Greg and her doomed relationship.

She turned around as Isaiah and her father came into view. “Please not in front of my father, Greg. Just say you’re my boyfriend and you came to see me. I don’t want him to know anything else, please,” she said.

Hailey had no idea what Greg wanted to talk about, but still she almost begged him, even knowing she owed him nothing. In reply, Greg tenderly placed his knuckle along her cheek and stroked her face. “Okay,” he said and Hailey recoiled from his touch.