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Those sandwiches probably kept me alive more times than she knew.
That was the thing about cardiology—most of my patients were chronically ill and needed to see me on a regular basis for checkups and maintenance medications.
“So, what have you been up to lately, Mr. Carmichael?” I asked him.
“Oh, Derek came over with the boys last week!” he exclaimed. I watched as his eyes lit up when he talked of his son, Derek, and his three grandsons. “We had so much fun! We did all the things Derek and I used to do when he was a lad.”
“And you didn’t overexert yourself?”
“Nope, Doctor!”
I turned to Mrs. Carmichael, who subtly confirmed it. I smiled and pulled away from him, allowing him to button up his shirt.
I went over to the table, where one of my assistants had left his ECG tracing. Everything appeared to be alright so I smiled in relief.
“What about you, Dr. Compton?” he asked me, hopping off the table. For a man in his seventies, Mr. Carmichael was still quite spry. “When will you be planning to have your own children?”
“Charles!” his wife admonished him.
“What?” he said with an innocent expression.
I laughed at them. “Don’t worry. I don’t take offense to it. The thought has often crossed my mind, though.”
“Well, do you have a young lady by your side?” he asked hopefully. “A girlfriend? Or a wife?”
That question brought up images of a gorgeous young woman with a halo of loose golden waves and the most breathtaking sea goddess eyes. Whenever I saw that smile, I never failed to feel something sore in my chest.
Amanda, I thought miserably, with no small amount of longing.Always Amanda.
“No, I don’t,” I managed to answer with a soft smile.
“Whyever not?”
At that point, Mrs. Carmichael had given up on trying to hold off her husband’s inquisitiveness and Mr. Carmichael—God bless his curious old soul—thought that was all the leave he needed to probe further.
“Because the only woman I have ever loved—and am still loving—is back in my hometown in America,” I answered simply. “She has her own life there.”
“Well, blimey!” Mr. Carmichael looked at me in astonishment. “Whatever is keeping you here in London, Doctor? It can’t be our gorgeous weather!”
I looked at him and grinned. “I’m here for the fish and chips!”
He looked at me like I had gone out of my mind, that I had actually traded in the woman I loved for fish and chips.
“Just kidding,” I told him. “The truth is that I am staying here because it is my duty as a doctor to attend to my patients and it is my greatest honor and pleasure to serve all of you.”
“No offense but it seems to me like you’re wasting your life, Dr. Compton.”
I looked up at him and found that he was looking at me rather seriously.
“Life is too short to just work and work and work,” he continued. “You’ll only end up being unhappy, unhealthy, and old. There’s more to life than that. You’re here to collect as many happy moments as possible!” he shook his head. “I was once like you when I was younger and believe me, I regretted it. I missed very, very precious moments in my children’s lives, with my wife, and my family. Now, I’m making up for it in my old age with these creaky bones!”
Mrs. Carmichael chuckled softly in the affirmative. “That you are.”
I laughed at him. “Your wife and children love you very much, Mr. Carmichael. I could see how much they all dote on you.”
But old Mr. Carmichael wasn’t done yet.
“When I finally retired, the company I worked for didn’t even bat an eyelash,” he told me. “They let me go, just like that.” He smiled at me. “Take the advice of this old man, Doctor. We appreciate the work you do here—we really do! But London is a big city and there are a lot of good doctors here so you don’t have to worry about the lot of us. You can live your life and we will still be in good hands.”
