A Heart Healed

Chapter 11

Naomi

“Hey, Mimi,” Julian called to her from the other side of a large crowd of people who walked in front of her. She tried to peek over the heads that passed by her, but there were way too many people who blocked her view to see where her brother had gone.

Naomi had been surprised when she had gotten a call from her brother asking her if she wanted to hang out. Just the two of them. Although he had claimed this was just because he had missed her and wanted to her out for a change, she didn’t really feel up to it. Besides that, the whole situation was much too out of character for her brother for her to believe.

It had taken him actually banging on the door of her apartment and barging into the place when she had answered to get her to move anywhere. It was, for lack of a better word, weird.

For one thing, he hadn’t brought Nate along with him, claiming that he had found someone trustworthy to watch over his son who wouldn’t charge him anything. The other thing was the way he looked. Her brother seemed to be gaining weight, not to an obese level, but he seemed a lot healthier than the last time the two siblings had seen each other.

Julian had even dressed better. The clothes looked they had been bought semi-recently and he had claimed that Nate had gotten some new clothes lately as well. There was something going on with her brother that she hadn’t noticed in the time she had started tuning out the rest of the world and it made him better.

Naomi took a quick glance around her before she walked headfirst into the crowd, weaving through all the people who seemed to be out with their romantic partners and friends for something going on somewhere nearby. Once she had broken through to the other side, she spotted her brother on the other side, holding a couple of soda cups in his hands.

“I got you this,” he said, holding out one of the sodas to her. “Cherry is still your favorite, right?”

She took the drink with a faint smile. Her brother really did know her the best. The two of them walked down the street, sipping their sodas through their straws as they glanced through the store windows at all the different new clothes that were being added for the season.

“Jules?” she asked. He hummed in response, glancing at her. “Did something happen to you that you’re not telling me?” Julian raised a brow and she panicked a little, waving a hand in front of her. “Not to say that something bad happened, quite the opposite actually…” Goodness, she was carrying on like a kid lately. It was already bad in the past, but it seemed to be a lot worse since her and Marc…

No, she shouldn’t dwell on it so much. It was her choice after all.

She had even spoken to Dr. Adamson regarding her transfer, and if she wanted to, she’d be heading out there in January. Naomi had even spoken to him and the director regarding the attitude that some of the nurses seemed to presenting when it came to her promotion. Not only that they were spreading hate speech among the rest of the staff regarding not only her relationship, interracial or not, but other factors.

It was if they all had something that they had to say when it came to her, whether it was regarding her background, her private life, or even her race.

The director had listened patiently as she had reported each and every single thing that she had overheard over the past few months. Her mouth even felt like she needed to brush her teeth again once she was done. Dr. Lincoln was a good listener at least as he allowed her time to say everything before he asked questions about who had been doing this.

With the promise that he and the rest of the management staff of the staff would take care of the matter and find out where it had started, Dr. Lincoln had granted her a week off. Unpaid leave, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, that she could use to relax for a change. Apparently, someone had seen her panic attack on the hospital security system and reported this to human resources.

She wasn’t the first doctor to go through any of this, but she had to count her blessings where she could get them. This is why she was out with Julian during a weekday, much to her surprise.

“There has actually been something good that happened,” he replied with a casual sip of his soda, “but I’m not entirely sure if I’m going to tell you yet. This day is supposed to be about you.”

Oh. He had heard about everything then.

She eyed him questioningly. “What have you been told?”

He shrugged. “Just that you and the rich boy broke up, which I’ve been debating on whether I should trash his car or not, but clearly there’s been something else if you’re having that reaction.”

Naomi avoided his gaze, finishing the last of her soda before tossing the cup and straw into the recycling bin they passed. “Just some trouble at work. Olivia and I are taking care of it though.”

“Yeah, she told me about that,” he started before his eyes went wide when he realized what he just said. “Uh, nothing. I said nothing.”

He tried to make a quick escape before Naomi grabbed the back of his shirt. “Oh, no, you don’t. Spill. You’ve been talking to my best friend without me knowing?” He struggled a bit before he realized that she definitely wasn’t going to give up this bit of information without a fight.

“Damn it, Mimi. What do you eat that you’re this strong?”

“Vegetables,” she huffed. “You’re dodging the question.”

He let out a reluctant whine before he gave up. His sister won this round and would live to fight another day anyway. She was just like that as far as he remembered. “Olivia and I have kind of been seeing each other,” he admitted. Naomi should have sworn her hearing malfunctioned for a moment. Her older brother and her best friend are dating?

“And when were you going to tell me?” she demanded, slapping his arm with a frown, making him spill his soda all over his hand. “I would have liked to have known about these things! Just because I’m not in a relationship anymore doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for my brother and my best friend. What kind of person do you think I am?”

Julian shrugged, grabbing an old napkin he’d stuffed into his pocket from lunch. Guess he was right when he had said just in case. “To be honest, we were worried about you. Via had said that you were a little depressed over the past few days. You weren’t answering your cellphone whenever we tried and not to mention the state of your apartment when I came in this morning.”

“I wasn’t expecting guests. How was I supposed to know that you’d burst in?”

“Would you have answered if you knew I was coming?” To be honest, she probably wouldn’t have. After she had said her goodbyes to Marc, Naomi found herself in something that she could only call a rut. Phone calls were often left to voicemail as she hoped that at least one of them would be him, but it was never the case.