YOU BEFORE ME

Chapter 5

Carl

Finally, it was time for me to get off work. Sandra was settled in for the night, all my affairs at the hospital were taken care of for the moment. There shouldn't be any emergencies, and I wasn't the doctor on call for the week anyway, so I should have free time.

I stopped by my office to change out of my lab coat, exchanging it for a suit coat. I tugged at my tie and undid the top button of my shirt, then picked up my briefcase, phone, and keys, and left. I locked the office behind me, greeting the nurses other doctors and patients that I met on the way to the exit. I was in low spirits as I walked to my car, but it wasn't anything unusual. It was rare to get a good day at a hospital with no bad news. The best one could hope for was no news, but that just meant news to come later, that could be good or bad.

I got to my car and unlocked the door, then sat in the driver's seat. I sighed as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes momentarily. I didn't think I had any food at my place. I had a small apartment that I was renting for my stay in town, and it was total luck that I got it at all, though it was arranged for me. My parent's house wasn't too far, I could easily just stay there but with my parents and there desire to fight at any opportunity. I needed to sleep at nights, even in the mini mansion, they still found a way to disturb me at the worse of times.

"All right, then," I muttered to myself, lifting my head and opening my eyes. I put the key in the ignition and started the car. "Let's go see how Mom and Dad are doing seeing as its been a while since I saw them."

It was a bit late, and they probably had dinner already, but I'd never known them to go to sleep early, and it was only about eight. I turned on the radio to a random station, just so there'd be some sound as I drove down the dark streets. Being in a small town was so different from living in the city. When I was in the city, I didn't even bother to drive most days, because chances of stalling in the streets in traffic were too high. So in the end, I usually took the subway or used taxis. Out here, aside from me, there were barely any cars out on the road, and I only met two on my drive.

When I made it to the cut off to get to my parents' mansion, I slowed down. There was a short drive; then I made it to the gates. They opened automatically, as they did to any car that belonged to the family. Strange cars would have been stopped at that point. I drove up closer to the drive, the landscape and the fountain just in front of the building was well lit with lights placed all over the grounds that stayed on all night.

I parked close to the house, then got out of the car with only my car keys and phone. I jogged up the front steps and pushed the front doors open. The house was usually locked down before Mom and Dad went to sleep, and lights inside turned off. If I were late, I'd have to ring the bell for one of the maids to open the door for me, but it wasn't as if I would sleep there. It would be too much of a hassle to get back to work in the morning otherwise since my apartment was only a ten-minute drive away.

I strolled through the large foyer, heading for one of the parlors on this floor, and as usual, I found them there. It was a pretty large room filled with furniture and some art pieces my parents owned. They were both in the same room, but at two separate ends.

Dad sat in a single seat, legs crossed with a bottle of alcohol and a short glass on the table in front of him, a newspaper in his hands. Even though he had a tablet and he knew he could just read the news online, Dad was old fashioned like that.

Mom, on her end, was sprawled on a chaise lounge with several bottles of liquor in front of her and no glass. I sighed as I looked at them both. Dad didn't look up, and I went over to Mom since she was closest.

"Hey, there, Mom," I said softly, taking the bottle she held in her hand, already raised to drink more from it.

The bottles on the table weren't any one brand of liquor, but a mix. Some beer, vodka, whiskey. Everything but brandy, which happened to be Dad's favorite. This was a common scene for me every time I came here this late. Sometimes, when I came earlier, I could meet Mom when she was sober, but with how time-consuming work could be, I couldn't even remember when the last time that happened and tried not to think about it. One thin about my family, we were good at sweeping things underneath the carpet. A little too good at that. I didn't like it, but even I had to admit she was an alcoholic at this point. If only she could admit it herself.

"Carl," Mom said, blinking dazedly up at me. "You're here. How was work? We haven't had dinner yet, so how about joining us?"

My eyebrows arched up. "You weren't waiting for me, were you? I didn't get any calls..."

"Not waiting. I just hoped you'd come. I think it should be about time now, so why don't we move to the dining room?"

She smiled at me, but it looked so vacant that I couldn't even smile back. Instead, I frowned and watched as she stumbled to her feet. She was in a loose, maxi black dress and heels, and she waved me away when I tried to give her a hand. Her hair was done up well, and so was her makeup, but she looked as unhappy as ever. I was worried, at least until I saw some house staff show up in the room, a couple of them following her as the others waited.

"Carl, good to see you!"

I turned back, to see Dad had snuck up on me when I wasn't looking, a wide smile on his face. Dad and I looked alike. Both my parents were tall, but Dad and I were the same height, and had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, while Mom was dark-haired with green eyes. Though Dad's hair was more gray than blond now because he was getting on in years.

"Hey, Dad," I said, smiling more genuinely as he pulled me into a hug, patting me heartily on my back. "It's good to see you, too."

"Let's go and eat. We're a bit late today, but I guess it's a good thing. You can eat with us for once instead of getting leftovers from the kitchens."

I was silent as we walked back to the dining room. There, the table was already set, and Mom poured a glass of red wine before she even touched her food. We sat down to eat, me seated beside Dad and Mom seated across from us. Dad and I chatted lightly about hospital matters as we ate, but I kept a side eye on Mom and noticed how she drank more than she ate.

For a long while, I held my tongue, until I couldn't anymore.

"Mom, please let go of the wine and eat more."

She looked up at me, even as she reached for the wine bottle to refill her glass. The bottle was already half gone, and it had all been her. My hand shot out, faster than hers, grabbing the bottle and pulling it to my side of the table.

"Please, Mom," I said calmly.

Mom frowned at me. "Carl, I know you're a grown up now, but that's no excuse to treat your mother this way. Give me back that bottle. This is my house, and I'll drink as much as I damn like. If you don't like it. You know where the door is..."

I didn't want to ruin the mood and part of me was f*****g angry that as usual, Dad just sat there as if none of this was happening. Sure, our family wasn't perfect, but it was tolerable. Only, what kind of son would I be to her if I kept quiet now?

"I can tell you're unhappy. You're always unhappy when I come home, and you turn to drink because of it, but it's not good for you. If you really can't keep up with Dad's extra affairs, then why don't you leave him if it'll make you happier and stop drinking?"

Dad didn't say a f*****g word; I could still hear the clinking of the cutlery on his plate as he continued to eat. Mom frowned at me, then sighed and held her head in her palm. Then, she looked up at me, her eyes hard, and pressed her hands to the table.

"I've said this before, but I'll keep insisting, Carl. Mind your own business!"

She pushed herself up and left the dinner table, and I could only watch her as she left, and sighed. With her gone, Dad and I were silent for a while, and there was some awkwardness in the atmosphere. I did have some reason behind coming today, so I turned to Dad because I knew that talking to him about Mom was a waste of time, but Sandra on the other hand. She was the main reason I came here this evening, to talk to him about her.

"Can I ask you about something? It's about a patient." Dad retired a few years ago, but he was a doctor at heart and kept in touch with everything that was going on in the medical field including the nurses.

"Of course, son," he said, looking up and lowering his hands. "What's on your mind?"

I waved a hand at his arched eyebrow and suspicious look knowing that he thought I was trying to get into her panties and get myself in trouble again. I wished that I could have a conversation about mom and what happened, but I knew if I did then he would get up and walk out the same way that he did a few minutes ago.

"No need to be so suspicious, Dad, her case is just a bit special."

"That better be all this is," he said warningly, frowning. "I hope you still remember what happened with the last patient you got close to."

"I'm not going down that road again," I said in reassurance. "You don't have to worry. And Sandra's case is a bit special. We did some tests, and I have the results of some of them. Some good and some bad, but I do not like what I've seen so far..."

He watched me and listened intently as I explained the whole thing to him. We bounced some ideas of off each other as I thought of a way forward. As her attending doctor, she was now my responsibility, and I wasn't sure how to go ahead yet.

At the end of dinner, I still didn't have much of an idea. There were other tests I would probably have her try in the morning if the results of the remaining tests had come out by the time I got there. I could only hope, for her sake, that this case was a lot simpler than I was making it out to be.

Dad walked me out to my car, and my heart was feeling even heavier than when I left the hospital. I opened the door to get inside, only for his voice to stop me, and I turned back.

"What is it?"

He had this thoughtful look on his face as he looked at me.

"Check her organs," he said.

I frowned. "Her organs? Why?"

"In my experience...if a patient comes in with her symptoms and lack of appetite? The problem could be in the organs. Maybe they're fucked."

I blinked, wondering why I hadn't considered it before. I'd done some blood tests, but that wasn't enough to tell me the condition of her organs. Maybe focus on her liver and kidneys?

"Hmm," I hummed. "Thanks, Dad. I'll look into it."

He waved as I got in the car and I wanted to say something about mom. Anything but I didn't know a f*****g coward and did what I was good at doing, leave. And drove away.