Dr. Feelgood (34 page)

After a moment, I grabbed a couple of things from my desk, my cell phone, some of my expenses
I needed to review, and in particular, I picked up my nameplate, and tossed everything into my briefcase.

I then exited my office, cutting off the lights and carefully shutting the door, focusing on slow and easy, for a moment, and then walking ninety miles an hour past the reception area and into the elevator without even blinking.

Oh, yes, actually there was one particular long blink of my eyes just as the elevator doors joined together. A single, slow-moving tear that ran from the outside of my left eye rolled on down my cheek, to my chin, and down my neck to somewhere around the left side of my chest area. It stopped there.

I sniffed for a quick second, rubbed the right side of my nose with my hand, centered my shoulders and headed on down into the parking lot to my awaiting car.

I spoke out loud to the heavens as I pulled off onto the freeway and into the night air, the darkness and the stillness of the night.

“Fonda. I’m still talking to you, baby sis. I miss your big eyes and big smile and big laugh and big hugs. You did everything big. How horrifying it must have been to have your own father lie on top of you and attempt to violate your existence. I’m so sorry that I didn’t know. I had no idea. Your life was so short and so tragic, yet so memorable. I won’t rest until he pays for what he did. We were born to a man who had some serious problems. That was not your fault, any more than it was mine. I miss you desperately. I think of you always. I think I stay busy just so I don’t think about how much you not being in my life has affected me. Hey, I have a little girl now. She’s
beautiful, with big eyes like you. She was a little sick, but she pulled through.

“I will love her like I love you. You will be proud of the father that I will become. Watch me. And I will see you again. That much I know. I’ll talk to you again soon. Your big brother loves you.

I stopped myself just as I was about to pop in a CD when the Stevie Wonder song that played on the local radio station from my car speakers was
“A Place in the Sun.”

I smiled at the sensation of the words and the melody. The tune took me back to the many memories of the good times I had when I was a child. Back to putting on funky dance shows for Mom to some Jackson 5 song as she sat in her peach-colored button-up house robe, and coming home from school eating syrup sandwiches on fresh white Wonder bread, or having first dibs on the old-school banana pudding Mom would make, and playing tag and then playing Twister with Fonda after school in our stockinged feet … back to the days when my life was simple and my childhood was innocent.

I accelerated down the road, with my personalized license plate following behind me as a moniker that I couldn’t shake, reminding me and the world of who I was.

In spite of that, and even though I wasn’t proud of where I’d been, I was finally feeling really good about where I was headed. My taillights disappeared into the night as I sped down the main highway, on my way home after one quick stop.

“H
ey, baby, how’d it go today?” Mary Jane asked as I stepped into a house that finally smelled like a home. Mary Jane was rinsing out a few glass baby bottles in the kitchen sink. She was wearing a peach-colored pair of silk pajamas. An old school Aretha tune played on the CD called “Natural Woman.”

“Okay.” I put down my briefcase and car keys. My first stop was to plant a kiss on Mary Jane’s cheek and hand her two dozen roses.

Her face beamed my way as she reached out to accept them. “Oh, Makkai, thanks. But, you didn’t have to.” She thanked me with her wide, ebony eyes.

“Yes, but I wanted to.”

She sniffed a freshly blossomed bud and hugged me. “They’re beautiful. I love red roses. Wow, Makkai.” She inhaled them again. “I’ll put them in some water.” She kissed me on the lips, gave a lingering release of her lips from mine, and headed toward the sink. “Hey honey, my brother
called today. He and his wife want to drive down from the bay area so that my niece, Yardley, can meet the baby. He’s so happy for you, for us, for all three of us, and he wants us to spend some real time together. If you have time, that is.” Her eyes searched for approval.

I nodded and gave a green light smile. “I’ll make time for that. Just set things up and make sure they know they’re welcomed to stay here.”

“That’s nice of you, baby.”

“You’re my girl,” I said as I turned from her, heading straight over to the white wicker bassinet in the family room. I peeked in and carefully picked up my tiny bundle of a daughter, who was cradled in a pale yellow receiving blanket with tiny white lambs throughout.

I smiled lovingly toward Mary Jane and then smiled close to my tiny baby’s face as she slowly opened her eyes, trying to focus while coming out of her newborn slumber. She yawned and stretched her teeny arms above her head. “She looks so peaceful and innocent.” I inhaled her baby powder scent. “Hey, little-bit.”

Mary Jane placed the burgundy flower vase onto the kitchen table. “She’s such a calm and sweet baby. She just eats and sleeps all day long.” She again smelled the blooms.

I looked down at my daughter. “Oh, good girl. And how’s her scar coming along?”

Mary Jane told me, “It’s fine. I just put some antiseptic on it and changed the bandage. Just keeping it clean is working wonders.”

I spoke close to my baby’s little face, touching her soft, peachy chin with my index finger. “That’s
good. Just a physical reminder of what a little miracle you are.” I could have sworn she smiled at me in confirmation. My smile was automatic.

Mary Jane kept her sights on me as she heard my home office phone ringing repeatedly. “Baby, that’s your emergency line.”

I tried to tune out the demanding sound. It rang on and on like an annoying, unrelenting tap on my shoulder.

I stepped toward the reclining chair. “I need to just sit for a minute. Just need to sit with my baby daughter for one minute, don’t I?” I took a seat, protectively and carefully cradling my little one in my arms.

“Dr. Worthy’s line,” Mary Jane said after she took the initiative that I should have taken, pressing the speakerphone button.

“Is Dr. Worthy available?” a female voice asked. “This is the head ER nurse.”

Mary Jane immediately picked up the cordless. “Sure, hold on.” She swiftly brought the phone to me. “Here, honey.”

I carefully adjusted my hold on my little bundle of joy, carefully releasing my grip as Mary Jane accepted the handoff. My baby girl began to whimper. I inhaled and then exhaled. “Her breath smells like peaches,” I told Mary Jane. And then I put the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

The nurse asked, “Dr. Worthy, sorry to bother you at home. I tried your cell but immediately got voice mail. You’re on call tonight, correct?”

“Yes, I am. I must’ve had my phone on silent in my briefcase. What’s up?”

“We have a pregnant woman. Actually, she’s
nineteen years old and going into premature labor after just twenty-four weeks. The OBs are here, but the young woman has had mitral regurgitation for years and it’s worsened recently. Her mitral valve is not functioning, and we need to do valve replacement surgery as soon as possible. She’s being sustained artificially.”

I immediately responded, “I’ll be right there.” I hung up quickly.

Mary Jane inquired as I took a step toward my car keys, “You have to go?”

“Yes. Prosthetic valve surgery on a young mother.”

“Oh, my goodness.” She shook her head and smiled down at the baby. “This is your daddy’s life, so get used to it. The life of a life-saving surgeon.”

I stepped back toward them. “I’ll be back,” I told my lady. I looked down at my new daughter. “Did you hear that? I’ll be back.” I spoke in baby talk.

“We’ll be here.” Mary Jane took a seat in the recliner.

“And, Miss Cherry, I want you both with me when I join Pastor Smith’s church on Sunday. And, if you have time tonight, when I get back, we have to talk.” I patted Mary Jane on top of her head.

She aimed her eyes up at my face. “Okay. But, about what?”

“Just about some things. And hey, did you ever get approval for that leave we talked about?”

“Yes, it’s all done, starting two weeks from Friday. Your mom said she’d baby-sit until then.”

“Good. I love you.”

Mary Jane’s eyes expanded. She looked down and cleared her throat and swallowed an audible gulp. She glanced up toward me again and then down again at our baby girl while tightening her embrace. She postponed her response as though sheer shock had locked down on her tongue. Her delayed reply was accompanied by a soft smile. “You too, Makkai.”

I urgently needed to leave but seemed to linger. I gently rubbed my daughter’s tiny head full of thick, dark hair. I spoke into her miniature ear. “And Daddy loves you, little Fonda Corrine Worthy. I’ll never stop talking to you, little Fonda. Never stop talking to you. We’ve gotta get you a little brother.”

Little Fonda eyed me without even a blink.

Mary Jane didn’t blink either. Her face played tattletale. It was as though she was willing words to pop into her mind, at least enough to form a quick sentence, if only to distract from my comment. And so she asked, “Hey, did you ever call your dad back?” “I did.”

“And? He seems nice.”

I put my foot down with my words, looking her square into her eyes. “Nice, huh? Well, he’s never allowed to call here again. And I mean that. Never. If you so much as see his name on the caller ID display, I want to know about it.”

She absorbed my expression. “Okay, honey.”

My face spoke louder than my words. It read serious and no-nonsense. I suppose wisdom told Mary Jane it was best to not push her man, and to
let it go. Sensibly, she shifted into another train of thought. She was feminine. I liked that about her.

“Wave goodbye to Daddy.” She took Fonda’s little hand and motioned toward me.

I leaned down to kiss Fonda’s tiny cheek. “Bye, my child.”

“I’ll be waiting up when you get home, Dr. Feelgood.” Mary Jane’s eyes were provocative.

“Oh, that reminds me. Trash this before I get back home.” I reached into my briefcase and handed her my nameplate while kissing her on the forehead. “And please remind me to get new license plates as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Makkai. We will.” My lips met hers and sounded a smack not once, but twice.

My new girls.

Out of the front door I stepped, glancing at my wristwatch, and then taking a split second to look back, snapping a visual of what would be awaiting my return. I locked and shut the door, turning the knob to make sure.

The image was etched in my mind as I approached my car that was parked in the circular driveway in front of Mary Jane’s silver Acura. A muscle flexed along the side of my mouth that spelled pleasure and contentment, and I allowed that smile free rein.

I adjusted my earpiece and took an incoming call.

“Hey. What’s good, man? I’m just reminding you, when am I going to get a chance to come by and see that sweet little daughter of yours?”

“Hey, Carlos, man. Soon enough. Look, I’m
headed out on an emergency. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Godfather’s okay with that. You know you my nigga, they don’t get no bigga.”

“Fa sho. Peace.”

The chirp of my auto alarm sounded just before I opened the driver-side door to toss my briefcase over upon the passenger seat. What caught my eye was something resting upon my windshield, tucked behind my driver side wiper. It was a dingy white envelope that looked like it had been through hell. I shut the door, mindful of my need to get to the hospital, and snatched it from its place.

On the front of the worn, torn envelope, written in what looked like pale purple chicken scratch, these words greeted my eyesight as my heart bounced like a rubber ball in my chest. For the second time in my life, my normally cool hands were shaking. With enlarged eyes, each word saturated my brain.

I will get my daughter if it’s the last thing I do. This I promise you, Dr. Feelgood. This I promise you. Love, Delicious.

I hope you enjoyed the ride inside of the life of a playboy! As you can tell, this story is part of a series trilogy.
Dr. Feelgood
is to be continued, so please stay tuned. The tentative titles are,
Chain of Fools
and
Freeway of Love.

For now, this story ended right where it needed to, but I do have an idea of the types of wild twists and turns that will take place in the lives of Makkai, Mary Jane, Monday, Georgia, Salina, Carlos, Corrine and Al, Roosevelt, and even Erskalene. More drama for yo’ mama!

In my first novel,
May December Souls,
I wrote about a hormone called
oxytocin.
It actually does exist, so please feel free to look it up if you’d like. It is sometimes called the
love hormone,
and it bonds us, particularly during sex. It can affect human attachment and make us sane girls, crazy girls. We end up with Mr. Wrong for years, breaking up and making up in an addictive fashion, without knowing why. (By the way, there will be a new relationship-type book that delves deeper into this theory.)

With
Dr. Feelgood,
I wanted to show how these four women, who’d definitely bonded to him sexually, behaved while possibly under the influence of an oxytocin bonding. So, even though Dr. Makkai Worthy has his own set of problems, these women
had their own issues, too. It’s not just the men who trip, okay?

Today, I heard it said that
to love is to risk not being loved in return.
Unrequited love or a relationship that ends is hard to handle once we’ve bonded. Sometimes, people literally trip out. And characters, just like real folks, are flawed and rejected and loose and dishonest and horny and caught up, all the while, hopefully searching for peace of mind. That is what brings about the fiction friction, as we authors call it.

I promise to deliver much more dramatic fiction, and even some sexy new erotica. Just give me some time to bring it all to you. And, I’ll definitely bring back more adventures of the ever popular and talented,
Dr. Feelgood.