Page 19 of Paging Dr. VanRyan

Dinner and time with Maddy were exactly what I needed. Her pasta was rich with garlic and red wine, delicious and filling. I hadn’t eaten all day, and I polished off two huge portions. The salad was crisp and fresh, and the banana pudding after, perfect. Light, creamy, and sweet. She talked about the bakery and her aunt, sharing amusing stories of cakes that toppled over, dropped pies, and a particularly funny incident involving a customer who tried to return the cookies she’d bought, stating they were inedible, but every single one was missing at least half the cookie.

“She insisted they were so dry they had crumbled into the box. Not been eaten.” She widened her eyes dramatically. “When I held up one that obviously had a huge bite out of it, she insisted it came that way.”

“Did you question the lack of crumbs?”

“She blamed mice in her car where she had put the box overnight.”

“Those mice must have had some party.”

She made me laugh, which I needed. But she also listened when I wanted to talk later. I found her incredibly attuned to my needs, and her desire to help was touching.

At one point, I yawned. Loud, unmistakable, and long. Instead of getting upset as some women would, she laid her hand on my arm. “Go home and sleep, Matty. You need it.”

“Matty?” I questioned with a grin. “My sisters called me that when I was a kid.”

“Oh.”

I leaned closer. “I like it coming from you.”

I yawned again. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I understand.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You really do. Thank you. I hate leaving, though.”

“I hate for you to leave, but I would rather you get home safe and be able to see you another night.”

She stopped speaking, realizing what she had said. “I mean…if you want to.”

“I want. Wednesday still a good night?”

“Yes.”

“How about Sunday? I have the whole day next week.”

“Don’t you want to see your parents?”

“I’ll see them for dinner this week. I would rather spend the day with you. Maybe we can take a boat out on the water or something nice.”

“I would love that.”

“It’s a date.”

CHAPTER 6

MATTHEW

“Dr. VanRyan?”

I looked up from the chart I was finishing on the iPad before I, hopefully, headed to lunch. The ER was actually calm—at least as calm as it ever got—and I was hoping to take a lunch break, a proper one. I needed to clear my head. The fact that a nurse was looking for me didn’t bode well.

“Yes, Nancy?”

“You have a visitor. Can I send him in?”

“A visitor?” I asked. “Who⁠—”

My dad’s voice spoke up behind Nancy. “Of course you can let me in. I brought all you girls treats. Now let me see my son.”