Come lunch time, I'm at the hospital to grab Lirael and walk into the ladies offices. I hear the girls silent stares as I smile and say hello to Jim, Lance's uncle.
"Hey, Brian. What brings you here?" Jim shakes my hand and pats my back.
"Taking Lirael out for lunch, as the best man, I have to make sure our plans will work with timing."
"Good job, alright. Take her, I won't complain. Just don't forget to include me in your stag party plans." Jim throws us a wink before we leave.
"Oh the ladies are never going to stop talking about seeing you again. Janet has the hots for you big time." Lirael laughs as I just shake my head.
When we get in the car I tell her to open the glove box. She takes out a pregnancy test and looks startled up at me.
"So you'll find out for sure or not. We can stop at my house so you can use it there. I thought you had an IUD?"
She nods, " I did. You remember when we were having our fun Friday?"
I nod slowly, "Yeah, the goddess night. What about it?"
She smiles grimly, "Well I woke up the next day and it had worked it's way out somehow."
She sniffles, "Guess it's a good thing that Dawn called otherwise we'd be in a real pickle right now, wouldn't we?" She smiles through the tears that begin to fall.
I place my hand on hers, holding it. "Hey, hey... everything happens for a reason. Besides you don't know if you are yet anyways. That was only a few weeks ago. You could be getting upset over nothing."
I pull up to my apartment and she agrees with me as we head inside. She heads straight for the bathroom and I open my fridge to see what I could make in a short amount of time.
I'm making us hot turkey sandwiches when she comes out and sits down.
"So?" I ask her.
"I have to wait fifteen minutes." She informs me.
"Alright. Hot turkey sandwich, chips and salsa good for you?" I inquire.
She laughs, "That's fine but you need to stop buying bachelor food, Brian."
In mock offense, I scoff in a French accent, "Pardonne-moi? I am a bachelor, Madame."
She starts to laugh, "Okay, Lumiere!"
"Seriously though, when are you going to stop being a bachelor? It pains me to see you lonely sometimes. I thought something was beginning with you and Sarina... but she came back in last night after you left and just went to bed." Lirael takes her plate I offer her.
I grab us each a bottle of water as I gather my thoughts, "I like Sarina but I thought she wasn't interested in a relationship with anyone right now?"
Lirael clears her throat and informs me, "you know why she was all dressed up yesterday?"
"For work?"
She shakes her head, "She met with her ex fiance yesterday. She gave him back his ring and told him she had found someone who made her feel wanted. I think she was talking about you. So last night when you told her to dress up for Dr. Huller, Dr. Huller.." She gives me a pointed stare, "I think she may have been hurt and second guessing her decisions."
I feel guilty, but smile sheepishly, "Well, that's going to change when I take you back and she finds out, I'm Dr. Huller."
She chuckles, "Yeah, but I have a question. Do you want to get to know her and see where things will go or is it just sex?"
Her phones starts ringing at that moment, and she starts to breathe heavier.
"The test is done." She looks down the hall to the bathroom and I see the parade of emotions that move through her.
"Lirael, no matter what that says in there, either way, you know things will be okay, alright." I reassure her.
She swallows and nods and walks to the bathroom. It's quiet for a moment and then I hear a little sob.
I run in there and she's crying holding it.
"Lirael?"
She looks up at me a bright smile through her tears, "Looks like you're going to be an uncle." Her laughter breaks through the sobs, and I wrap my arms around her and squeeze her firmly.
I kiss her head, before sighing to the ceiling, "Thanks Dawn, otherwise we'd be in a really weird situation right now."
Lirael bursts into laughter and smacks my arm.
"Hey!" I clasp my stinging arm, "You said it, I merely repeated it." Laughing though, she wraps her arms around me really quick, before pushing away from me.
"Okay, okay. Now, I've got to figure out how to tell Lance." She wipes her eyes and takes a few calming breaths. She chews on her bottom lip and begins to mess with the skin of her thumb nail as we head back to sit down.
"Brian, do you think I'll be a good mom?" She asks as we sit to finish that last few bites of our lunch.
"I don't think, I KNOW you'll be an awesome mom." I rub her shoulder and gather our plates, rinsing them off quickly before we take off back to the hospital. She's quiet but a tear drops once or twice that she's quick to dab away.
"What's got the pipes leaking?" I ask her, "I thought you were happy?"
She shakes her head, "I am happy, I was just thinking of when we tell mom." She pulls a tissue from her purse and wipes it away.
"How's my makeup?" She asks, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
"You're beautiful, Lirael. Now, how do you think you're going to tell Lance?" I try to get a feel for how she might approach the situation.
"I don't know... I'm going to wait till Friday, I think. Maybe you can take Sarina somewhere so I can have the house to ourselves?"
Thinking of having Sarina again has my heart racing, "I'm sure I can work something out."
"Thank you, I appreciate that." She sniffles, turns my AC up on high and leans her face forward against the artic blast that she's created.
"You should mess with his head, seriously. One of my patients, when she told her boyfriend he was working over the road and she only got to see him on weekends. Well, she told him that he had 'left' something there that they needed to talk about when he got there. He was clueless, asking what was it, are you breaking up with me, etc.."
Lirael laughs, "Oh my god, you can't be serious?"
I laugh, "Oh dead serious. She didn't want to tell him that over the phone, she wanted to see his reaction in person because that was all he's ever wanted was a good woman and a family to call his own and she was about to give him it."
"So how did he react when she told him?"
I chuckle, "He was stunned, he had been all riled up that week thinking it was something bad, when it was something that made him pick her up and twirl her around. They are still madly in love with each other with an eight year old little boy, by the way. They're one of the lucky ones, like you and Lance."
"Brian... you're going to make me cry again..." Lirael starts to tear up and I start telling her to stick her head back in front of the AC, laughing.
I walk her up to her office and wave bye to Jim, taking my briefcase and white doctor jacket with me. I toss on my jacket, attach my name plate and head to Jack Brown's office.
"Hey Jack, I'm here to talk to Mr. McNeal again before he's transferred to the psych facility." I inform him.
Jack who's working on paper work, looks up and waves his hand for me to carry on, "Very good, Brian. Thank you!"
I close his door so he can work and make my way to the ICU to locate Mr. McNeal. He's still in his original room, so I go ahead and let the nurse know I'm going to go in and talk to him.
"Hello, Mr. McNeal, I'm Doctor Huller, I hope you remember me?" I ask him taking my seat.
"Hey doc!" He exclaims, a smile lighting up his face. "I'm glad you came! My sister is on her way here to come see me. I think you two should meet, my sister is damn good looking woman too."
I chuckle, "Are you trying to play matchmaker, Mr. McNeal? What makes you think I'm interested?"
"No wedding ring, plus there's no way your gay. You don't seem to be at least." He shrugs.
"Well, I must admit your assumptions are correct, Mr. McNeal." I inform him as the nurse walks in a smile on her face.
"Seriously, Doctor Huller? You're single?" She asks smiling at me, shyly.
I'm thrown off by her flirty, doe eyes, but quickly clear my throat and give a shake of my head to the nurse, "I'm sorry, but there is someone I'm talking to at the moment. So I'm not exactly available either."
Her smile fades and she shrugs, "Figures. Mr. McNeal, your sister just checked in with the front desk. She's on her way up. Is there anything either of you may need, or may I take my break?" She asks.
I shake my head, "Enjoy your break, I'll be here longer than fifteen minutes so you'll be fine."
She walks out and I feel my anxiousness grow, knowing Sarina is on her way up.
"So Doc, is it true what you just said? That you're not available to take my sister out?"
I chuckle, "You are very adamant about me taking your sister out. What if she doesn't even like me?"
"Doc, trust me. She'll like you."
I shake my head, "We'll see I guess."
He shifts in his seat, "So tell me about this other woman that you fancy then, so I know how they compare."
"I ... Uh... well," I think about my words carefully, "I think this woman is amazing. She's incredibly beautiful. The first time I saw her, I was drawn to her. The second time I couldn't believe my luck. So now, I'm waiting to see what she just might think about me."
"Well, you just wait till you meet my sister. You're going to be amazed... In fact, I think I see her now." He smiles and waves at someone behind me.