{"id":3081,"date":"2017-12-03T06:12:07","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T06:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/?p=3081"},"modified":"2023-02-14T02:46:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T07:46:06","slug":"doctor-patient-confidentiality-chapter-twenty-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/doctor-patient-confidentiality-chapter-twenty-five\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor-Patient Confidentiality: Chapter Twenty-Five"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rambunctious laughter erupts from the living room, and I immediately recognize the boisterous sound; Karl Vallemosso, grandpa’s life-long best friend. A moment later, I hear Gran’s hearty laugh as well. I take a peek in their direction from the corridor and I can’t help but smile in gratitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m glad she has so many good people around her who love and support her. I’m also glad to finally see a genuinely happy smile on her face after so long. I haven’t seen or heard her smile and laugh like that since before Grandpa passed\u2014not since my dad, and her only son, was still alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

I head back into the kitchen and my eyes dart over to the antique clock hanging above the sink. Its chrome pendulum swings back and forth in a slow and steady rhythm. It’s almost eight, and after several hours of good food, great music, and lengthy conversations, there are only a handful of people left, and from the looks of it, they’ll probably be leaving in the next twenty minutes or so.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just then, the doorbell rings, removing my attention from the clock and its ever-swaying pendulum.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’ll get it,” I say as I spot Gran getting up from her chair.<\/span><\/p>\n

What the hell?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Who could be coming over at this hour? The day’s practically over.<\/span><\/p>\n

I walk over to the front door, figuring it must be Theodore coming back for something he’d forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I open the door, however, my eyes tell me otherwise. I feel my eyebrows rising in an obvious show of surprise at the sight of the figure standing in front of me.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ramona? Who is it, darling?” Gran calls out amidst the swarm of voices from the living room.<\/span><\/p>\n

The figure cocks his head slightly to the side, and more of his face is illuminated by the porch light. It only takes me a second to figure out who it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liam Burrows: the youngest grandson of the late Jim Burrows, grandpa’s first mentor and close friend. Liam’s a musical prodigy in his own right, and as a result, is also the heir to his grandfather’s fortune and legacy despite the fact that he has three older brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’d had something of a crush on him way back then\u2014when I was still young and fairly stupid and naive\u2014but even then I knew that guys like him were out of my league. But even if\u2014by some ridiculous chance that I know never existed for several reasons\u2014he had wanted to date me, it never would have worked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if he wasn’t seven years older than me, or if I hadn’t been immensely jealous of his musical talents or intimidated by his family, it never would have worked. Some people just aren’t compatible with each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Behind my frames, I continue to regard him. After almost ten years, he looks exactly how I remember; tall, handsome, and arrogant. Even his features\u2014from his dirty blonde hair to his forest green eyes\u2014are exactly the same. He’s even in one of his signature brown suits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gosh, he doesn’t look like he’s aged one bit. Life’s obviously been very good to him; the same way it’s good to all rich and powerful men, I suppose.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last I’d heard, he\u2019d gotten married about four years ago and had his first kid the year after that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liam’s expression seems to be one of surprise as well, only a lot less mild than mine. He slowly narrows his eyes at me in curiosity as he steps forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ramona?” he asks with one of his eyebrows arched so high that I swear it’s a second away from merging with his hairline.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Hi, Mr. Burrows,” I offer with a smile. I haven’t seen him since I was in junior high. He wasn’t even present for grandpa’s funeral last year. Which makes me wonder why he\u2019s here now. And after the memorial is already over, no less.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Well, look at you, little Miss Gallo. Wow\u2026you’ve certainly grown up, kid,” he says with a smile and a stare that lingers two seconds too long.<\/span><\/p>\n

His gazing throws me off a bit, but I quickly get my wits about me. “Please come in,” I offer, opening the door completely and moving to the side so he can pass. I turn to face him once the door’s closed again.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Well, this is quite a surprise,” I say, arching my brows and animating my facial features more than necessary. “I think you’re the last person we expected to walk through here today.”<\/span><\/p>\n

He nods in agreement. “I know. I wish I could have been there for the funeral, but better late than never, right?” he says with a wink.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can’t believe this dude’s nonchalance! He really is still as arrogant as ever. Maybe even more so now. I can only manage a slight, forced chuckle that I’m pretty sure sounds uncomfortable and insincere.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I suppose,” I say with a tiny, almost invisible shrug.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So\u2026how’ve you been, Roni?” he asks, removing his coat and hanging it over his elbow. “I’m assuming people still call you Roni?”<\/span><\/p>\n

I nod. “A few. Except Gran, of course,” I add with another forced smile. “And I’ve been good, Mr. Burrows. Thank you for asking. You?”<\/span><\/p>\n

He waves his free hand in a dismissive motion. “Please, enough with all the formalities. And call me Liam. We’re all family here,” he says with a wide smile right before he engulfs me in a hug that I’m not prepared for.<\/span><\/p>\n

The awkward embrace lasts a little longer than I think it should, and I’m pretty sure the discomfort I feel from being enveloped so abruptly like that is written all over my face, but I do my best to hide it behind the most convincing forced smile I can manage.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Liam,” I say with a concurring nod, and the forced smile still glued to my lips.<\/span><\/p>\n

He continues to stare at me even after I’ve freed myself from his grasp. I may not know Liam that well, but I certainly know that he isn’t the quiet or innocent type\u2014not even remotely\u2014and his silence now, as brief as it is, rings pretty strange. Strange and\u2026discomforting.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can’t stand the awkward tension, and so I say the first thing that comes to my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Uh, I can take your coat,” I offer, my eyes darting to the long brown overcoat hanging over his elbow.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Oh, that’s fine,” he says with another dismissive wave. “I won’t be here very long. Your gran in the living room?” he asks.<\/span><\/p>\n

I simply nod.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that, he heads into the living room, greeting the few people still there before I see him and Gran head out to the balcony, presumably for a private discussion. Just as I start to walk back to the kitchen, the doorbell rings again.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ugh, who the hell is it now?” I grumble under my breath as I stomp back to the front door.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my irritation, I swing it open with more force than I mean to\u2026and I immediately wish I hadn’t.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rambunctious laughter erupts from the living room, and I immediately recognize the boisterous sound; Karl Vallemosso, grandpa’s life-long best friend. A moment later, I hear Gran’s hearty laugh as well. I take a peek in their direction from the corridor and I can’t help but smile in gratitude. I’m glad she has so many good people around her who love and support her. I’m also glad to finally see a genuinely happy smile on her face after so long. I haven’t seen or heard her smile and laugh like that… Magbasa pa<\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"series":[99],"class_list":["post-3081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary-2","series-doctor-patient-confidentiality"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-1024x341.jpg","blog_images":{"medium":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-300x100.jpg","large":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/DPC-Wattpad-Header-1024x341.jpg"},"ams_acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3081"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emendedhearts.com\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=3081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}