Page 16 of Chase the Sunset

Birdie

My days off were amazing.

I did absolutely nothing, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Alf was playing on the TV in the background while I mixed up a batch of fudge brownies.

Perfect.

My phone dinged with a message and started ringing immediately after. I licked a smear of batter off my finger and grabbed it. A number I didn’t know flashed on the screen, and I hesitated to answer.

Most of the time, it was someone calling to tell me my car warranty was expired or about buying a timeshare. I connected the call and put it on speaker ready to tell whoever it was to screw off and take me off their call list.

“Birdie?” a low, male voice called.

“Uh, yes. Who is this?” I had zero idea who was on the other end of the phone.

“Easy.”

I tipped my head to the side and blinked rapidly. Not at all whom I was expecting. “Really? Why?” I asked bluntly.

His low chuckle rumbled through the phone. “Yes, and I need your help.”

“Help? Is something wrong?” Greta had told me the surgery went well, and Easy had just a couple of days left in the hospital. She did mention his vision was worse than before he had surgery, though.

“Uh, well, I wouldn’t say wrong, more like confused.”

I tipped my head to the side. “Confused? About what?”

“Dr. Gus totally knows what the hell he is doing, but...”

“But what?” I asked.

“He’s too fucking smart for a bunch of bikers and their ol’ ladies,” someone called.

“Uh, okay?” I was trying to process Easy calling me, and I didn’t really get what he and the guy in the background were trying to say.

“Gambler, shut up,” a woman hissed.

His mom and dad must be with him.

“Birdie,” Easy called.

I cleared my throat and leaned closer to the phone. “I’m still here.”

“Are you working today?” he asked.

“Uh, no. It’s my day off,” I explained. “I’m home.”

“Damn,” he muttered.

“I think we need to start from the beginning, Easy. You shocked me by calling, so I didn’t really listen to you. What help do you need from me? Did you get the results from the biopsy?” He shouldn’t have gotten them yet, but stranger things had happened.

“No results yet. Have you ever talked to Dr. Gus?” Easy asked.

“Uh, yes. Multiple times before.” We worked in the same hospital, and he was kind of a legend around there. He was a brilliant surgeon.

“And did you understand what he was saying?” Easy questioned.