Mitch and Amanda were taking their dinner break at Evening
Rounds, the local bar near the hospital. A plate of nachos sat
between them.
“Dig in,” Mitch said. The bar was crowded with doctors and
nurses coming off shift and stopping in for a drink before going
home. To Mitch, it felt like a buffer zone between work and
home, before leaving the city and driving home to face his wife
and two teenage kids. He had prep school bills, upcoming college
tuitions, and a high-maintenance wife, who was likely going to
divorce him once the kids were gone.
Mitch munched on the nachos and took a drink of his
O’Doul’s. “Amanda, tell me a little about yourself. Where are
you from? Do you have family here in the city?”
Amanda wiped salsa off her mouth. “No. My family still lives
in the woods of northern New Hampshire.” She bit into a guaca
mole-loaded chip. “Once I graduated high school, I left as fast as
I could. A nursing scholarship was the fastest way out of there.”
She licked her fingers. “And I’ve never looked back. Good rid
dance to that hick life.”
“Do you ever go home?”
She peered at him with a look that told him he was getting
too close. “Nope again. I haven’t seen them since I left eight
years ago, and I don’t expect I’ll see them in the next eight years
either. Or the next eighty-eight years, for that matter.”
99
THE VERY BEST OF CARE
Mitch stopped pressing for information. He turned to see
Adam Young making his way toward them through the crowd.
“Hey, Dr. Wagner! Is this seat available?” Adam asked, pull
ing out a barstool.
Mitch waved his hand over the stool, indicating it was free.
Adam climbed onto the stool, offering a smile and a hand
shake. “Budweiser, please,” he said to the bartender.
Mitch watched him carefully. Had Sophie said anything to
him?
Adam turned to Mitch. “Can I buy you two a drink?”
“No drinking while on call,” Dr. Wagner said, showing Adam
the label on his alcohol-free beer. Amanda shook her head no.
Adam nodded as he removed his hat and put it on the bar.
When the conversation turned to basketball, Amanda took
her cue. “Sorry,” she said to Mitch. “I have to get back.” She said
goodbye to Adam and left the bar.
“A Knicks fan?” Dr. Wagner asked, looking at Adam’s base
ball cap.
“You bet. Best team in the league.”
Mitch guessed that either Sophie hadn’t said anything about
Sheldon’s office or Adam had also agreed to keep quiet. Good,
thought Mitch.
They chatted more about basketball, then moved on to run
ning track.
“You’d never know it,” Mitch said, “but I was a track star in
high school.”
“No kidding! Just a few years ago I’m sure,” Adam joked.
Mitch laughed. “Thanks for the compliment, but it was a lit
tle longer than that. I still love to run, but it’s tough to find the
time anymore.”
“Hey, maybe I’ll see you out running one of these days once
the ice melts. Central Park maybe?”
Mitch smiled. “Yeah, you just might.”
100
JULIE HATCH
Adam ordered himself another beer and added a shot. He
held up his beer to Mitch. “You sure?”
“Yeah, no thanks. But don’t let me stop you.”
“Thanks, I won’t. I’m not on call.” Adam grinned.
Mitch stood to leave. “You take care and say hi to your wife.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
Mitch stepped out onto the sidewalk and texted Sheldon:
Don’t worry, we’re good
