Family Recipe

Chapter 3-2

It took less than five minutes for the doctor to diagnose Scarlett with an ear infection and give her a dose of something to ease the pain. Ten minutes after she was slumped in Justin’s arms, breathing heavily as she slept. She was as heavy as lead, and so quiet that Justin’s eyes pricked with tears of relief. He listened carefully as the doctor explained how to give her the ibuprofen and amoxicillin he was prescribing her, and shook his head when the doctor asked if she was up to date with her vaccinations.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Probably not. I only just got her. Custody of her, I mean. I only just got that.”

He saw the nurse mouth the word at the doctor: O’Dwyer.

The doctor’s expression shifted into one of realization, and Justin couldn’t help wondering how many times Mom had fronted up here with some imagined pain, writhing and wailing theatrically and seeking drugs.

“I’ll find out,” Justin said, unable to meet the doctor’s gaze. “About the vaccinations.”

Another f*****g thing to add to the list.

When the nurse showed him back out into the waiting room, Harper had given up pacing and was sitting beside Wyatt. The neighbor was reading a magazine, but he put it aside the moment he saw Justin and Scarlett and rose to his feet.

The nurse moved forward to collect the clipboard. Her mouth pursed. “Sir, you haven’t filled any of this in.”

“I don’t actually know these guys,” the neighbor said, a slight smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. “Sorry.”

The nurse held the clipboard out to Justin, and he stared at it helplessly for a moment. Like, did she want him to take it in his third hand?

“She okay?” the neighbor asked, waiting for Justin’s nod. “I’ll hold her for a bit.”

Justin bundled Scarlett over to him, his arms feeling impossibly light once he was relieved of her weight, and took the clipboard. There was a lot of stuff on the form that he wasn’t sure how to answer, like the insurance stuff. He thought Emily the social worker had said something yesterday about the kids being on the Oregon Health Plan, but he’d been hit with a deluge of information at the time and he’d already forgotten most of it again. He’d meant to go through all the paperwork, but he hadn’t had time yet because everything was still too much. He’d barely slept in the past four days, let alone got anything done.

So he wrote in what he thought were the right answers, and f**k it, if he got a bill he’d phone Emily and ask her to help him with everything.

He shoved the clipboard back at the nurse when she came to collect it, and eyed her warily as she slid her gaze down the form.

“You haven’t put in her Social Security number,” the nurse told him.

“I don’t know it,” he said. “It’s at home.”

The nurse pursed her lips, like that answer somehow wasn’t good enough and if she just waited Justin would suddenly blurt the number out.

“I don’t know it,” Justin repeated. “I told you, I just got custody.” His voice hitched. “Our mom only died four days ago.”

Beside him, he felt the neighbor straighten up. Justin couldn’t look at him. He couldn’t bear the weight of someone else’s pity right now. Pity or sympathy, or that strange sort of look the nurse was giving him like he was somehow making her sorry for him against her will. Like he was manipulating her into it, because everyone knew the O’Dwyers were a waste of feelings that would be better saved for other people or something.

“I filled in everything I know,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “I can phone back with the other stuff later. It’s all at home.”

The nurse opened her mouth like she was going to argue with him.

“You’ve got the baby’s medicine?” the neighbor asked suddenly, sweeping in to stand beside Justin.

The nurse snapped her mouth shut.

Justin nodded, his throat aching.

“Okay, great,” the neighbor said. He smiled tightly at the nurse. “I’m going to take these guys home now, and you can call Justin tomorrow if you need anything else. Good night!”

And then he put a hand on Justin’s shoulder and steered him out the door before the nurse could say anything else. Harper and Wyatt hurried along behind them.

“Thanks,” Justin said numbly as they headed for the neighbor’s car.

“It’s no problem,” the neighbor said. “I’ve been dealing with a messy divorce for the past couple of years. Trust me, I know how to stonewall someone.” He smiled, and this time it felt real, genuine. This time it made the skin at the edges of his eyes crinkle, and Justin’s heart tumbled over a few beats. The neighbor shook his head ruefully. “Government bureaucracy has nothing on my ex-husband, believe me.”

Ex-husband. Husband. Husband. Husband.

Justin’s brain caught on that one word—so casual, so normal, but so breathtakingly terrifying at the same time—all the way home. He knew he was weird and awkward about it, because he didn’t get another genuine smile from the neighbor after that. Just the same one that he’d given the nurse at the hospital whenever Justin mumbled an answer to something he asked. His voice though, was still kind when he dropped them off in front of the house.

“If you need anything, you know where I am.”