“Abby, this is Rebeccah Meyers. Her family and mine have been friends for years.”
Mark introduced me to a pretty redhead in a slinky little black dress. I’d read about those dresses, but I’d never felt I could pull off the look like it was meant to. Rebeccah pulled it off very well. She was older than Mark and I guessed her to be in her early thirties.
“It’s nice to meet you.” I said as we politely shook hands.
Mark and I had been walking around the Benjamin Franklin Room in the Harry S. Truman building where the State Department was having its annual award ceremony, when we stumbled across Rebeccah. The Hannah Foundation was getting the Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Jake and I had been invited to accept the award on behalf of the foundation. My invitation had an ‘and guest’ next to my name. I had wanted to bring Mom, but she was only a few weeks away from her due date and wasn’t allowed to fly anymore. Instead, I had to go with my second choice, Mark. He made good filler and looked very dashing in his tuxedo.
“Is she a part of the Peyton Place families?”, I asked Mark.
Trying hard not to laugh, Mark answered, “Yes and how do you even know that show? I thought I was the one who used anachronistic words and references.”
Rebeccah was looking at us like we were slightly off. “I’m lost. Care to explain Mark?”
Mark obliged. “Abby met Thomas last month. He wanted to introduce her to Isaiah. Jake put down the ban-hammer and I had to explain the whole grandparents interfering in our lives thing to her. Peyton Place is an old tv show with all sorts of drama and family intrigue. It’s from the sixties.”
“Well, the comparison fits our families perfectly then. Being one of the oldest grandchildren in the families, there wasn’t anyone for them to force on me, so I lucked out. I do remember Mark having to go out with my sister Lilly a few times before they gave up on them. That was a big mistake on their part. Lilly is not the easiest person to get along with.”
I raised my eyebrows at Mark.
“In a way, I owe Lilly a debt of gratitude for being so...challenging. That matchmaking attempt was so bad, Jake left me alone for six whole months after that.”
Rebeccah laughed apologetically at that. I got the feeling that her sister was a source of embarrassment for her.
“So, are you here with anyone tonight, or are you on hospital business?” Mark asked.
“Mom’s here for the hospital politics. I’m here because my boyfriend works for the state department and he dragged me here tonight. I’m don’t even know what this is about. People getting trinkets for sucking up to people in power. It’s all a bunch of political bullshit.”
I squeezed Marks hand. I felt sorry for whoever her boyfriend was. That’s then Ethan came over and handed Rebeccah a glass of wine.
“Oh, thank you, Ethan. Let me introduce you to Mark and Abby. This is Ethan, my boyfriend.”
The shock must have shown on my face because Rebeccah asked, “Abby, are you ok?”
While I gathered myself, Mark answered for me. “I’m sure Abby is just surprised that Ethan’s your boyfriend. We met him the summer before last.”
“Oh. It seemed more than that.”
“I’m sorry. My mind had to readjust. I thought Ethan was...sorry Ethan, but I thought you were gay.”
Ethan’s eyebrows rose a few inches. “What? Why would you think that?”
Mark tried to hide his grin, while Rebeccah openly laughed out loud.
“It’s just that every time I’ve seen you since our first meeting, you’ve walked in and out with Alexander. You two seemed...close. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Not at all. Two men can..”
Now Mark was doubled over and Rebeccah was turned away, desperately trying to get control of her features.
“Abby, stop! We get it. Alexander is married and has three children back home. Rebeccah and I have been together for almost two years now. Alexander and I have a working relationship. That’s all.”
Rebeccah finally calmed down enough to say, “It’s ok, Ethan. No need to explain. I won’t stand in the way of your bromance!”
And she was off again, taking Mark back with her into their fit of laughter.
“I’m sorry, Ethan.”
Ethan shrugged in resignation. “It’s ok, Abby. My fragile male ego can handle it. At least you didn’t accuse me of being a Steeler’s fan. That, I would have taken offense to.”
Mark returned to the conversation. “I’m sorry too, Ethan. I really wasn’t laughing at you. I was more entertained by Abby’s distress and subsequent explanation.”
Rebeccah piped it, “I was laughing at you.” and proceeded to give Ethan a peck on the lips by way of apology. “Ethan is definitely not gay. He’s very manly!” Rebeccah continued.
“Thanks for the very belated show of support, dear.” The term of endearment was said in a manner that suggested it was anything but.
“Anytime. So what did you meet about? And how come you’ve never mentioned them to me before?” Rebeccah queried.
“Because you would have asked me questions the answers to which that I am not allowed to discuss, honey.”
“You don’t have that excuse, Abby. You never mentioned meeting up with Ethan and Alexander again.” Mark mentioned casually.
“It must have slipped my mind.”
“Why are you turning red? The only time I’ve seen you turn red is when...oh! Ethan, is there a video that I might want to see?” Glee had returned to Marks face.
I shook my head at Ethan. Seriously??! Am I that easy to read? This wasn’t happening.
Seeing my head shake, Ethan tried to help, only to fail miserably. “I cannot confirm or deny the existence of any video.”
I face-palmed and said, “That was the worst denial ever. Didn’t they teach you any spy craft at all when you were studying to be a diplomat? Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby and OJ were more credible that that. You totally suck!”
“Ethan. I need it for my collection!” Mark wasn’t giving up.
“I really can’t help you. All this goes well beyond my pay grade.”
“Ethan, what’s this all about?” Rebeccah insisted.
“Sorry, work rules.”
“Hmmph! Fine, keep your little secrets.” Rebeccah answered frostily.
Feeling that he might have caused a rift in their relationship, Mark rushed on to change the subject, but I knew that he wouldn’t give up on seeing the video.
“Anyways, Abby, Rebeccah’s family owns and operates the top-rated hospital in Raleigh, Mercy Hospital. It’s one of the few privately owned hospitals in the state. Rebeccah’s mother, Felicia, runs the place and Rebeccah works as a doctor there.”
“She’s actually the best general surgeon at the hospital. Probably in the state.” Ethan’s pride at his girlfriends’ accomplishments shone through. He also wanted a change in subject.
“Thank you, Ethan. Although, when your parents are both doctors and you come from a long line of doctors, it’s hard not to pick up enough to be a good at it.”
“What about Lilly?” Ethan asked casually.
“Good point. She never was one to listen to anyone else. I guess we’ll find out. She just started medical school this fall. Mother says she’ll be a great doctor because she won’t form any emotional attachments to her patients. Pure dispassion.”
Wow. I completely disagreed with that sentiment and felt the need to add in two cents. “I don’t know about that. I’d never want to be treated by a doctor that didn’t care about me; who treated me like an appliance that needed repair. I’m a person, not a toaster. Nobody cares if they can’t fix a toaster. I want my doctor to be passionate about my health.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Well said, Abby! I couldn’t agree more. Some doctors don’t see it that way though. My father for example. He’s at the top of his field, but he’s a heartless bastard. He cares about the patient only insofar as the patient outcome affects his surgical statistics. Lilly takes after him.”
“Abby’s taken an interest in medicine lately.”, Mark chimed in.
“That’s nice.” Rebeccah seemed disinterested at this. She probably heard that a lot.
“Yeah, I’ve been reading a lot of books, watched hours of videos and tried out some techniques.”
Ethan choked a bit, like he’d been startled.
“Well, that’s a good start.” I could tell that Rebeccah was trying really hard to be polite about my ‘efforts’ and didn’t want to hurt my feelings.
Still sputtering slightly, Ethan said, “Uhm, you may not want to dismiss Abby’s efforts. She has a tendency to downplay her abilities. If she says that she’s read a lot of books on medicine, I’d put her up against any med student you’ve got. Probably even second or third year residents.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ethan. This isn’t like your job where someone can fake their way through a meeting. You either know your stuff or patients die. It takes years of constant study to get where my residents are. If Abby’s interest blossoms and she gets into medical school, she will get there eventually.”
“Knowing and working with people is my job, Rebeccah. I stand by my observation. Why don’t you ask her some questions and see?”
“Fine, but when I prove you wrong, I expect an apology from you.”
Until she said that last bit, I wasn’t going to be participating in any testing. Now though, there was no way that I was going to let Ethan apologize for being an excellent observer and for trusting in me.
Mark led us to our table, where Jake was sitting and nursing a whiskey with a stern looking woman around his age, with shoulder length grey hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Before we could be introduced, Rebeccah started in with her questions. She didn’t expect much and started with basic anatomy questions. Things that were covered in high school biology courses. When she saw that she couldn’t stump me with those, the questions got more advanced. I made sure to keep any expression from my face, as I answered question after question. At Jake’s inquiry, I heard Mark give him a quick rundown of the conversation that led us to this impromptu inquisition. Both Jake and the woman leaned forward and listened attentively.
I have to admit, as her questions got more complicated, I found myself enjoying the challenge. Soon she was throwing out symptoms and we were discussing possible diagnoses, which tests should be ordered to rule out or prove the diagnoses and potential treatment options. At one point, she corrected one of my treatment plans, but I referred her to a recent paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine that touted the effectiveness of my suggested course of treatment.
After fifteen minutes of the oral exam, Rebeccah wound down.
“Satisfied?” Ethan asked. Maybe with just a tad of smugness.
Rebeccah wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. “There’s no doubt that Abby knows her theory. She’s very impressive. However, it’s quite another thing to work with patients.”
Ethan sighed. “Rebeccah, Abby mentioned that she practiced too. Given that, if I needed a surgeon, Abby would be my second choice, behind you.”
Rebeccah’s eyes bugged out. “You can’t be that stupid. She’s just out of high school. It would take her a decade to learn enough to even be a descent surgeon. Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”
“You just finished admitting that I was right about her and now you’re questioning me again. Would you care to wager on it?”
“It wouldn’t be fair taking your money when you make so little of it.”
What the hell?! How was Ethan putting up with this from her? I kept expecting him to call her on her behavior. Instead, he just kept looking down at his hands when she twisted the knife in.
This time, he at least glanced up at her and continued his challenge. “One year of salary. Mine against yours. That’s significant to both of us.”
Holy cow! Things were escalating too quickly and I wanted out.
“You’re on. I normally wouldn’t take your money, but in this case, I think you need the lesson. Anyone can read books, but you can’t homeschool your way to becoming a surgeon. It’s not possible. You can’t bullshit your way through it. It’s not like being a liaison; sipping your wine and stroking everyone’s egos while all the big shots play ‘King of the Castle’.”
I barely stopped myself from slapping her. Turning abruptly to Mark, I said, “Mark, would you please ask me to dance?”
“As you wish, Abby. Would you like to dance?” Mark stood up and held out his hand to me.
“I would love to.” I got up and took his proffered hand.
“Wait? What just happened? Where are you going?” Rebeccah was confused at the sudden change.
“Nothing happened. Mark wanted to dance. That’s all.”
“Abby, I may not know you very well, but it’s not hard to see that something I said upset you. You’re not great at hiding your emotions yet. Your upset with me. Why?”
“It’s a party, Rebeccah. We’re here to have fun, right?” Deflection. I just need to calm her down enough for me to get away.
“I’d rather know why you’re about to blow me off. I have a feeling that you’ll make sure that I won’t see again once you go dancing.”
“Rebeccah, even if I thought it was a good idea to talk with you about it, I would talk with you privately.”
“I know everyone here and they know me. I’m a big girl. I can take it.”
So I took a deep breathe and told her exactly what I was thinking.
“Ok. I’ll tell you why I’m pissed off at you. I’ve listened to you put down Ethan on three separate occasions tonight. Not in a teasing way, but in a way that denigrates him and makes him feel small and inferior. Every time you’ve done it, I’ve seen him look down at his hands in embarrassment. Meanwhile, he’s complimented you several times and said how amazing you are with your patients and how you’re the youngest surgeon at your hospital. The pride he says it with breaks my heart, because I can see how he feels about you and I see how you treat him. Do you think that being a strong, independent woman means that you have to be superior to your boyfriend and not take an interest in him or his accomplishments, while he has to glory in yours? You’re supposed to be a team. Working together and helping each other. Every single great relationship that I’ve seen is between two strong individual who build each other up. They have their own interests, but they also take an interest in what the other is doing.
I bet Ethan could name every member of your surgical team and every nurse on your floor. Besides Ethan’s immediate boss and Alexander, can you name anyone in his office? Can you even say what tonight’s party is for and why Ethan is here? Did you go meet with his boss and talk him up? Did you show any interest in furthering his goals? I’m willing to bet that he’s done that plenty of times at your hospital functions.” Rebeccah seemed uncomfortable at my words, but I could tell that I’d hit the mark. I didn’t let up though.
“My parents each had their own careers when they started dating, but my dad took time to teach at her center and my mom took time to help my dad get his art into new galleries. Helping each other didn’t mean they were weak. It’s the opposite. They grew stronger together. When my friend Bobby and I were dating, I went to cheer him on at his football games and in the off-season he came to my Kung Fu classes. We supported each other and even though our relationship didn’t work out, we’re still good friends. The same is true with Mark. He’s interested in mining and geology and soil remediation so I read a few books and articles on those subjects so that when he tells me about his problems, I might have something useful to offer or at least I’ll understand what the issues are. I want to support him and his career. That doesn’t make me weak. For his part, when I told him about my studies, he was ecstatic for me and encouraging. He told me that he’d been worried that I hadn’t been trying reaching my full potential. He didn’t knock me down and tell me that I couldn’t do it. I had his unquestioned support and it means the world to me.
Now don’t get me wrong, we’re not perfect and we tease each other plenty. He picks on my eating habits and I make fun of his archaic word choices. I’ve may have even send a flying pudding his way once for his comments, but we do it in fun. We laugh with each other. We’re building stories that we could tell our kids about one day. We’re building our story. We never step on each other on purpose and if we go too far, we back off and apologize.
Since you know everyone here, then I’m sure you know Jake and his wife Nancy. I never had the privileged of meeting her, but from the way Jake speaks of her, I can tell they had a once in a lifetime love affair. He still talks about what she would have loved or how she would have felt about certain things or people. At a time when women were encouraged to be nothing more than be hood ornaments for their husbands, a mere trinket, she was his true partner. When he went mining, she’d go with him and cook for him and the crew. They raised their kids together, as a team. When she took an interest in charity work, he was there for her with all the resources at his disposal. Does Jake seem weak to you? Was Nancy weak? Love isn’t about your triumphs over each other. Its about your shared triumphs over the world. It’s not mind games or domination games or some contest. It’s about sharing your life with each other.
I don’t know how you really feel about Ethan. Maybe you like him. Maybe you even love him. Whatever your feelings, I can see that you’re getting what you need out of your relationship with him. He supports you. I don’t see what’s in it for him. I don’t know him very well, but it seems to me that he deserves more than you’re giving him. And that’s why I’m so pissed off with you. You’re treating someone I consider a friend like shit.”
I finally ran down. Until I’d started speaking, I hadn’t realized how much her casual dismissal of Ethan had bothered me. I looked around the table and saw big, surprised eyes looking at me. The woman sitting with Jake had a worried expression on her face.
I’d expected Rebeccah to be furious with me and attack me for the things I’d said. Instead, Rebeccah’s face was a mixture of agony and wonderment and she turned away from me and towards Ethan, who had a stunned expression on his face.
“I didn’t see it, Ethan! I swear I didn’t. I’ve been treating you like...like...”
“Like your father treated me?” The woman sitting with Jake suggested.
Rebeccah turned around and faced her mother. I thought that I detected shame on Rebeccah’s features and it made me feel mean for the things I’d said.
“Yes! Exactly like that. I’ve hated him for it all my life for what he did to you and I’ve been doing it to Ethan.”
She turned back to Ethan. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how I didn’t see it. Abby spent half an hour with us and she saw it. Give me a chance to do better. Please! I love you, even if I’ve been doing a terrible job of showing it.”
“I know you do, Becky! I love you too. I have since we were kids. I know all about your father. Abby was wrong about one thing though. I wasn’t embarrassed when I was looking down. I was angry. Not at you, but at your piece of shit father for setting such a bad example for you to learn from. Your mom and I were planned to talk to you about it when I got back from my trip Germany next week. We didn’t know how you’d take it. We know that you’ve been doing it unconsciously, barely aware that you’re even doing it, and that it’s been getting worse. For what it’s worth, you were rarely doing it six months ago.”
“I should never have been doing it at all. And Abby’s right about never supporting you or learning anything about what you do.” Ethan took Rebeccah into his arms and let her away for a much needed private conversation, leaving the rest of us with the awkward residue of their open psychological wounds.
I was about to say, “Awkward silence”, when Mark squeezed my hand and shook his head. I kept quiet and Jake filled in the void instead.
“Abby, I’d like to introduce you to Rebeccah’s mother, Felicia.”