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The Doctor's Undoing (Doctors in Training 3)

Page 43

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“Well, except my brother Tommy. He’s not eligible for parole for a couple years yet.”

She still didn’t know what his brother had done to be incarcerated, but she figured that was none of her business, so she didn’t ask. “What about your other brother?”

“Yeah, Mom said Mick was going to try to make it. It’s off-season for carnies, so he’ll probably be able to take a few days.”

“And you’ll be there, of course.”

“Not sure. I told her I didn’t know what my schedule would be that weekend.”

“You should be able to take that one weekend off. You’ll be almost done with your surgery rotation.”

“I’ll need to be studying for the surgery shelf exam.”

“You can spend extra time before and after studying. Your family is reaching out to you, Ron. Shouldn’t you at least make the effort?”

His short laugh held little humor. “Trust me, it’s not going to be a Rockwell family reunion. Dad will drink the whole weekend, same as he always does. He gets quietly smashed, then just sits and stares at the TV, throwing an occasional insult around. Mom will bitch about how no one ever comes to visit, and then about how much work it is for her when we do. Mick will do some drinking, then he and Dad will get into it over something and Mick’ll storm off. And at some point during all that, Deb will burst into tears and rush out of the room.”

“And you?” she asked, inwardly cringing at the dispassionate prediction.

“I’ll crack some jokes. Sometimes the others will laugh, other times they’ll get ticked off, but that’s what they expect from their youngest kid.”

“You should go.”

“Oh, yeah, sounds like a riot, doesn’t it?”

“Seriously, Ron. You should go see your family. It will never get any better between you if you don’t even try.”

After a moment, he nodded. “I’ll go—if you’ll go with me.”

“Um—me?”

“I’m going with you to your family gathering,” he reminded her.

Well, yes—but she wasn’t asking him to serve as a barrier between her and her family. “You don’t think it would be awkward to have me there?”

He shrugged. “No more awkward than it ever is. And maybe they’ll behave a little better if we have a guest.”

“I haven’t even been invited.”

“I told Mom I might bring my girlfriend. She said you’d be welcome.”

His girlfriend. The term made her swallow, but then she told herself it had probably been the easiest way to define their relationship to his mother. She supposed it was true enough. For now.

She had to admit she was curious about Ron’s family. She would like to see the people who’d shaped him, who’d made him the man he was now. She found it hard to believe they were quite as bad as he implied, since he’d turned out so well.

“All right,” she said, turning on her blinker to signal her upcoming exit from the freeway toward her parents’ house. “I’ll go with you.”

“You will?”

“Sure. I’d like to meet your family.”

“No. Trust me. You won’t like it.”

She rolled her eyes. “I still want to meet them.”

“Okay, fine. If I decide to go, I’ll take you with me. Be prepared for a lot of hours on the road that day, because if I go, I’ll leave early Saturday, make the three hour drive, stay a few hours, then head back. I have neither the time nor interest in spending the night.”

Six hours in a car seemed like a rather stiff price for satisfying her curiosity about him, but she’d already committed now. She didn’t go back on her word. “Okay, then. We’ll bring materials and study in the car together during the ride.”



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