Page 19 of My Heart's Doctor

“Hello, Alba, how are you?”

“Happy to see you, doctor. Come in, we have everything ready for dinner.”

Aurora tugged at me to enter, though what she really wanted was to go to the playroom, not to the table.

“Aurora, if you don’t sit down for dinner, Devon will leave,” Alba threatened, which was necessary because otherwise it would have been impossible to get her to sit at the table.

The little girl looked at her with a frown and then hugged my legs.

“No!” she exclaimed.

“Let’s make a deal. If you eat all the food Alba served you, I’ll give you a present I brought for you.”

“Yaaaay! Give me the present.”

“First we have to sit down for dinner, that’s the deal,” I said, taking her hand to lead her to the table.

Aurora let me guide her and then wanted me to feed her. Alba protested loudly because she wanted me to enjoy my dinner in peace, but for me it was a pleasure to share that moment with the little one. The three of us had dinner together and shared stories from our lives.

Alba told me she had three children and was a grandmother to three grandchildren. One grandchild was from her oldest son and the other two from her daughter. She saw them on her days off, and occasionally they came to visit her because Mr. Cavaller allowed her to receive her family whenever she wanted. Her youngest son was single and lived in Canada, so she didn’t see him much.

I told her I was divorced and hadn’t had children, but I omitted the part about never being able to have them. I also told her I wasn’t in a relationship and didn’t go out much, but that I had two friends who often dragged me out of my house.

When we finished dinner, it was already past nine o’clock, and Aurora needed to go to bed, so I accompanied her to her bedroom and gave her the gift I had bought for her. She jumped on the bed hugging the book, and seeing her so happy made me feel joyful and worth all the effort I had made despite my exhaustion.

“Now you should get into bed so Alba can read you one of the stories. You can save the others for the coming nights, what do you think?” I suggested.

“No, you read to me,” she said, taking my hand with a frown that reminded me of her father.

“It’s very late, little one, I have to go home, but we can see each other another day.”

“Nooo,Divon. I want you to stay.”

“Devon can’t stay, but she’ll come back another day. Now let’s read this beautiful book, and tomorrow we’ll call her and tell her what you thought of it.”

“Nooo, I wantDivonto stay,” she ordered, crossing her arms with an angry expression.

Like father, like daughter, I thought, smiling.

And why was I always thinking about her father?

—Devon can’t stay because she’s tired. She takes care of many children and needs to rest to regain her strength —said Alba, looking at me and giving me a wink.

What happened next was that Aurora burst into tears while hugging me. I knew it was a tantrum, but it broke my heart.

—If you don’t mind, I can stay a little longer, plus tomorrow is my day off —I said, looking at Alba.

—How could I mind! On the contrary, but I’m worried about you because I can see in your face that you’re exhausted.

—I’m used to being awake for more than 20 hours, don’t worry because I have stamina.

—That’s unhealthy, you shouldn’t work so much.

—I love what I do, it’s the driving force of my life —I said, smiling and lifting Aurora to put her in bed, while she hugged me and stopped crying.

—Forgive me if I’m being nosy, but I care about you and feel obligated to give you some advice —she said, looking at me with what seemed like compassion—, you’re very young, Devon, and you should go out and have more fun.

I smiled and said nothing, but I laid Aurora down, tucked her in and sat beside her. She hugged me around the waist and rested her little head on me. Alba handed me the book and told me she was going to organize something in the house.