Page 31 of Gideon’s Gratitude (Love in Mission City #5)

Chapter Fourteen

Archer

D r. Tenisha Yeardley was a striking woman. Her dark complexion shone in the fluorescent lights of her office, and her dark-brown eyes were incisive. “I don’t like being ignored.”

I shrank in my seat. The woman’s husky words hit me square in the chest. “I apologize.” I was sorry. Probably not as sorry as I needed to be, though. This woman’s time was valuable, and I’d wasted it.

She held my gaze for a moment before glancing at her laptop. “You were admitted to the hospital with chest pains, Archer. That’s serious.”

“I know. At least I went to the hospital.” I hadn’t wanted to.

An important client had been due at any moment, but the pain had been too severe to ignore.

I’d grabbed a cab and headed to St. Paul’s.

Well, the second time the pain had hit. The first time I’d been alone in a hotel after a particularly bad attempt at a hookup had gone terribly wrong.

This second time, though, I’d been at the office and unable to hide my crippling pain from my receptionist and paralegal.

“Well, hallelujah. You want a gold star?”

No missing the sarcasm. “I did all their tests.” I had to try.

“And left before getting the results. Checked yourself out against medical advice and disappeared.”

“I felt better.”

Her perfectly manicured left eyebrow arched.

“I did.” And I had. Enough to feel ridiculous for having gone in the first place. I’d wanted out of there, so I’d gone.

“You could have put yourself in grave danger.”

“I was fine.”

“But you might not have been.” Her scowl intensified. “I presume you took a cab back to the office and then retrieved your car?”

I nodded.

“And if you’d had something else happen? While you drove? That could’ve impacted you, and you might’ve taken out other people.”

Wow, the doctor was on a tear. I shrank back farther. “I was fine. I am fine.” Or so I asserted . Yes, but is that true?

Dr. Yeardley pointed to her computer. “All the tests came back clear. Had you remained, the emergency room physician was going to refer you to speak to a social worker.”

Wait…what?

I didn’t understand. “A social worker?”

“Or a counselor. You admitted how much stress you’re under. After running all the tests she could, the doctor determined you likely suffered a panic attack.”

It sure hadn’t felt like one. My chest had felt like it was being squeezed too tight. I hadn’t been able to breathe properly. Had honestly believed I was dying .

So why’d you walk away?

Because I hadn’t wanted to die in a hospital alone.

You could’ve called someone.

But that would’ve led to more questions. More fussing. My family descending en masse at the hospital.

You might’ve died alone.

Much as how I chose to live. I’d considered calling Jean-Michel for about ten seconds and hadn’t given Thea another thought.

“So what you’re saying is I’m fine. I always was fine.”

She glared. Yes, glared.

“You’re not fine. Your bad cholesterol is bad. Your blood pressure is regularly too high. You keep in shape, but your diet isn’t great.”

“Hey—”

“You consume far too much red meat, and your consumption of vegetables and fruits, or lack thereof, is worrying.”

“I take vitamins.” I wasn’t a huge vegetable fan. So what?

“Archer, you know it’s not the same thing. If you don’t get your blood pressure down and your cholesterol in better shape, we might have to resort to medication.”

“No drugs.”

“Which is what I assumed you’d say.” She tapped her fingernail against her desk. “Healthier food would go a long way, but it comes down to your stress level. You can’t keep going like this.”

And I’d known that. Lying in the hospital, hooked up to machines for the tests, I’d come to the realization I couldn’t continue in my life as I’d designed it. Something had to give. That was why I’d driven up to Mission City. To find answers Vancouver would never provide. “What if I do cut back?”

“And see a dietician and perhaps a counselor? All significant steps.”

“A counselor? Really? ”

She shrugged. “The panic attack was genuine. You need to find a way to deal with stress, and I think finding someone to talk to would be good. Have you spoken to anyone since your divorce?”

“You mean like a professional?”

“Or family. Or a friend. Someone with whom you can share your grief.”

“I’m not grieving.”

“Archer, I appreciate you putting on a brave face. Divorce is one of the most stressful life experiences. Even if you can shrug it off, it’s still good to talk to someone.”

I had talked to someone. I’d spoken about this several times with Gideon over the past few days.

Honestly, I didn’t need more than that. “I appreciate your concern, I really do, but I’m good.

” I sat straighter. “I’ll see a dietician and try to cut back on the red meat.

” I held up my hand when she began to speak.

“I know I’ve been pushing too hard. Wednesday was a wake-up call for me.

I appreciate you seeing me on the weekend. ”

She pursed her lips. “My patients don’t keep nine-to-five hours. I was doing a few hours at the clinic near one of the homeless shelters in the Downtown East Side, so fitting you in wasn’t tough.”

Find out which clinic and make a donation.

“Can you honestly cut back?” Her skepticism was obvious.

“I can.” I pressed my sweaty palms against my trousers. “I’ve met someone, and I think spending more time with them—with him—would be good for me.”

Another arched brow.

“I’m, well, I suppose bisexual would be the correct term.”

“I’m not big on labels. Be safe is my primary message.”

“He is. I am. We both will be.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Which reminds me…I need to be tested. ”

She tapped her keyboard. “Last results were three months ago, and they were negative. Have you been with anyone since?”

“No. And I just want to be safe, you know?” I met her gaze. “My wife wasn’t good at being faithful.”

Another few taps of the keyboard and the printer whirred to life. The doctor snagged the paper. “You know where the lab is. I’ll email you the results. I also want to see you again in a few weeks.”

“That’s hardly necessary.”

“How about you let me decide what’s necessary? I want to be certain you’re following my orders.”

I met her gaze. “I plan to. Honestly.”

Her gaze was unwavering.

“Okay, I’ll make an appointment.”

“On your way out. Don’t leave it up to Jean-Michel.”

Well, crap. That’s exactly what I’d planned to do.

The doctor rose, so I did as well. I gave a curt nod and headed for the door. I placed my hand on the handle, but before turning it, glanced over my shoulder. “A panic attack?”

“I read over all the results myself. Honestly, you’re a pretty healthy guy.

Except for those eating habits. For a guy who prides himself on his appearance, take more care with what you eat.

Fresh fruit and vegetables might be expensive, but something tells me you can afford them.

” She raised her eyebrow. “Three weeks. If you have any more issues, of course come back sooner.”

Fair enough.

I exited her inner sanctum and headed over to the reception desk. Less than five minutes later, I was back in my SUV and headed home. My mind spun with all the things I needed to do. My phone had buzzed many times, but I’d flatly ignored it. Jean-Michel was my top priority. Then I needed to—

Cars lined Point Grey Road. All clustered around my house. I could pull into my driveway but would be sharing it with several other vehicles. Everyone is here. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

The temptation to keep right on driving was strong. Overwhelming, even.

You can’t.

If I didn’t face them now, it’d only prolong the complete debacle and make them more anxious. I hadn’t meant to keep them at such a distance over the past few days. Well, okay, maybe I had. Maybe I’d needed a break.

A panic attack.

Okay, so checking out of the hospital AMA hadn’t been my brightest idea. Logic had played no part in that decision. I wanted to get away. And I had. Spectacularly. And now I was going to pay for running away.

I debated whether sneaking in through the garage was even possible, but suspected the kitchen was likely full as well. So I sucked it up and went through the front door.

The chatter ceased. I removed my coat and hung it in the closet. I toed off my shoes. Finally I stepped into the living room.

And faced the firing squad.

It’s as bad as you expected.

No…wait… Chelsea’s here. Yeah, that makes it even worse.

“Aren’t you on house arrest?”

She sat resplendently in my favorite chair.

She yanked up her jean leg, showing a bare ankle.

“Judge took pity on me yesterday. Well, actually, the prosecution decided they couldn’t make the charges stick, and so withdrew them.

My ankle jewelry was off less than an hour later.

My lawyer wanted to go out for champagne, but I told her I needed to track down my wayward older brother.

Who’d been in the hospital two days earlier but had disappeared. ”

“And how did you know I was in the hospital?”

Mother raised her hand. “When you left, they called to make sure you did follow-up care.”

“Doesn’t that break confidentiality rules?”

She shrugged. “Quite possibly. I wasn’t going to argue. I told your father, who called Cherish…”

Neither my sister nor my father looked the least bit cowed. In fact, Cherish’s brown eyes sparkled. She’d won this round.

I glanced around. “Where are all the kids?”

“Pia has them all corralled downstairs.” Chad ducked his head. “Practice, you know?”

My heart stuttered. “I thought…” I glanced around the room. This was so not the time or place.

Chad shrugged. “We saw a geneticist a few months back. She said the schizophrenia was likely not genetic and saw no reason we couldn’t have children.

” His dark-gray eyes—so like mine—were shadowed.

How much of this is Chad and how much is Pia?

Chad’d sworn he’d never have biological children in case he passed on a faulty gene.

His disease was well-managed with medication and vigilance, but that didn’t mean he might not slip.

He walked a hell of a tightrope, and having a child was a risk.

I flashed back to Gideon, and the man’s situation. I bumped up the need to look into that mess sooner rather than later.

Chelsea launched herself from the chair and strode over so she stood before me. She was a foot shorter, but it didn’t feel that way when she glared up at me. “Where the hell were you?”

Hmm, she stuttered on the word hell and had likely pulled back on the actual curse she wanted to use. Well, wasn’t this interesting. She rarely held her tongue when the children were around. For her to be circumspect with adults only in the room was…interesting.

“I was fine. The doctors cleared me.” What’s one little lie? “I just needed a break, so I headed out of town.”

Cherish, who stood behind the chair where Mother sat, planted her hand on her hip. “I grilled Jean-Michel.”

“He didn’t know—”

She shot up her hand and pointed.

I held still.

“I even called Thea.”

Ouch. “Really, I think that was unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary? You put us through all that worry, and you thought we wouldn’t move heaven and earth to find you?”

Was there a right way to answer that question? I doubted it. “Well, I’m here now. I’m fine. Everyone is fine. You can all…” I pointed toward my front door and made a shooing motion.

Cherry snorted, and Channing yawned.

The doorbell rang.

My father rose, a little unsteady. “Been sitting too long.”

Or those seventy years were catching up with him. Hard to tell.

He shuffled to the front door with Channing hard on his heels.

I used the momentary distraction to survey the room. Mother, the twins, their partners, Charmaine, Chelsea, Chad, Chuck, and his wife…yep, every member of the family was here.

The scent of pizza assailed me as Channing and Dad stepped into the room.

Mother rose. “I’m going to call the grandkids.”

Chuck pushed off from the sofa where he’d been leaning. “And I’ll get plates. We can put the kids at the kitchen table and the adults can eat in the dining room. ”

“Or we can just stand around. It is, after all, pizza.” To the best of my recollection, Pia was the only member of the family who ate her pizza with a knife and fork. That was considered sacrilege in the Chamberlain family. And if we stood, it’d be easier to corral them right out the door.

Chelsea laughed. “God, you’re so transparent. I’ll get the water and soda.”

Do I have soda?

Cherry smiled. “Don’t worry, we brought lots.”

“What if I hadn’t come home?” Not that I’d seriously considered going back to Mission City. But I’d been tempted.

Cherish snorted. “We knew. We have our ways, but we knew.”

Not known for her psychic abilities, that meant either one of my family members spoke to my doctor or they’d hacked into my NAV system. I didn’t put either possibility past them.

Does it matter?

No, it didn’t. They were here now, and I’d just have to cope.

But I had one thing to do before the kids tromped up the stairs.

“I’ve met someone.”

Multiple heads tilted in interest.

“A man.”

All hell broke loose.