A Heart Healed

“Was that handsome brother of yours?” Olivia asked with a slight grin on her face that just made Naomi want to laugh.

“I do have a brother, but I didn’t know I had a handsome one.”

The two of them shared a laugh, teasing each other about Naomi’s older brother, Julian, and Olivia’s supposed crush on him before the cab pulled to a stop in front of Naomi’s apartment building. The driver cleared his throat to catch the duo’s attention as he watched them in the mirror.

The two of them realized that time seemed to have vanished without them knowing. “Well, this is me then. I better head in and feed Iris.”

“I’ll see you back at the hospital in the morning then.”

“Right.”

Naomi dug out a couple of bills from her bag and handed it to the driver before climbing out of the bright yellow cab into the warm evening air, the breeze blowing around her and rustling the hem of her white coat as she waited for the cab to drive off before walking into the apartment building.

It only took a few minutes for her to walk up to the second floor and get into her apartment, much to her relief. There were some evenings where her neighbors liked to appear out of thin air and want to have long conversations, especially the elderly man next door who always seemed to have questions about his medication or about some new pain he had in his left toe when he woke up.

Just because she was a doctor didn’t mean she was everyone’s doctor.

“Iris, I’m home,” she called out to her silent apartment as Naomi locked her door behind her and started kicking off her shoes as well sliding her coat from her shoulders, hanging the white garment on the rack on her right next to the bowl for her keys.

A few seconds later, she heard the bell she had fastened to her cat Iris’ collar start tinkling from the direction of the bathroom. Looks like someone finally decided to move for the day.

Naomi walked into the small kitchen space and opened one of the cabinets next to the stove, grabbing the bag of cat food and a gravy sachet so she could make Iris’ dinner. She had to say that she was glad that the feline wasn’t as fussy about her food as most cats she’d owned in the past. After bringing the cat home from the shelter Naomi had adopted her from, she seemed to be happy to just have anything as long as it wasn’t too dry.

That didn’t mean she’d pass up the chance at something expensive, but Iris and Naomi seemed to come to their own little agreement.

By the time Naomi grabbed one of the small metal bowls in the corner of the kitchen, the sound of Iris’ bell came around the kitchen counter and she felt that familiar batch of fur starting to circle around her legs.

Another pair of scrubs with cat hair, great.

“Hey, little miss,” Naomi greeted as she looked down at the black streak of fur moving around her, moving her hand down the cat’s smooth fur as Iris went by. “Ready for dinner? Just how you like it.”

She picked up the dish and placed it on the tiles, watching as her cat moved on to a more interesting target in her eyes. Naomi was free to go. “Oh, right,” she let out as the thought of calling her brother Julian back came to mind. She quickly refilled Iris’ water bowl and walked off to the living room, grabbing the handset of the telephone and propping herself on the larger brown sofa under the window.

After dialing his number, she pressed the headset against her ear. It only rang for a couple of seconds before Julian answered the phone with a winded, “Hey, Mimi.”

“So, what’s going on that you couldn’t tell me in the car?” she asked.

A sigh echoed through the speaker. “Just another message from Mom and Dad. They asked if you were coming home soon.”

“Was that really it?”

“Also, I need a favor.”

The next sigh came from Naomi. She loved her brother, but there were sometimes she really worried about him. Since last year, the elder Bennett sibling seemed to fall into a string of bad luck. First his divorce from his shrew of an ex-wife, who left him to raise his son on his own, to losing his management job at the accounting firm that he was at because he had missed work too many days due to his responsibilities towards his son.

Julian loved his son with all he had, and Naomi hated to see her brother going through all this, but lately, he seemed to become a little too attached to his little sister, especially since their parents refused to help them.

“How much do you need this time?” Naomi asked, letting her free hand trace patterns along the suede material of the sofa arm.

“Just enough to get Nate’s kindergarten fees up to date for now. I can’t miss work again because I don’t have someone to look after him.”

“Which is how much?”

“Eight hundred.”

Her hand froze. “Jules, that’s months behind.”

“I know. They cut everyone’s pay here so food and having a place to sleep was the main priority so that the school wouldn’t call child welfare.”

Naomi’s teeth bit down on her lip, thinking of the infinite number of things she wanted to do to her brother’s ex, especially since she ran off with all of his money and none of the responsibility.

“All right. I’ll send it through with a little extra, so you can get Nate some new clothes as well. I know he’s been growing again and probably needs a pair of shoes.”

“You don’t know how much I appreciate your help, Mimi.”

Naomi’s hand tightened a little around the headset. “We’ll talk in the morning. Good night.”

“I’ll give Nate a kiss for you. Good night.”