Unfriending the Dr by Piper Sullivan

Persy

“Well that was awkward as hell.” Ferguson’s poorly timed words did not help the hurt, and the anger, coursing through my veins at Ryan’s dismissal.

“Shut up, Ferguson.” I wanted to go to Ryan, to run to him and explain that whatever thoughts were running through his pretty little head were ridiculous at best, insulting at worst.

“Hey, what are you mad at me for? I didn’t do anything.”

I let out a grunt and shook my head. Titus needed me and he was my primary focus. He needed me and I needed to know everything about what happened tonight.

“Mom? You’re here.” Titus sat up with a sleepy smile and looked around the hospital room. “Where’s Ryan?”

Good question. “I think he went to get your things from the campsite, I’m sure he’ll back soon.”

Titus accepted my answer with a nod and I felt my shoulders relax a fraction as I sent up a thanks that little kids were so trusting. “Okay. Who’s that?” He pointed at Ferguson and that tension returned ten-fold.

Nobody. That’s what I wanted to say, but that wasn’t the truth and I couldn’t lie to my little boy. I wouldn’t. “He’s a friend. Kind of.”

“But I thought Ryan was your boyfriend.” There was a hint of defiance in his voice as he puffed out his little chest and glared at me. “I saw you kissing in the kitchen on movie night.”

I sucked in a breath and nearly choked on it at his accusatory words. “You did?”

He nodded.

“Why…never mind.” I couldn’t believe he’d seen us together on movie night, but Titus was a ninja when he wanted to be. It was more surprising that he’d kept the news to himself for so long.

“Why is your friend here?”

I had to bite back a laugh at his tone, so protective. I wasn’t sure if it was for me or Ryan. “We were having an important talk when I got the call you were in the hospital.”

“You didn’t answer. Ryan called you. Lots.”

Ouch. “You were camping and perfectly safe with Ryan, Titus. I had no reason to think it was him. Or you.”

Slightly mollified, Titus folded his arms and glared over my shoulder at Ferguson. “Who are you?”

Ferguson opened his mouth to speak and I held my hand up to stop him. I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of revealing his identity to Titus, to get the pleasure of saying those words. I’m your dad.

“His name is Ferguson and he is your father.”

A small gasp escaped from him and Titus took in the man whose absence had occupied so much of his mind. Sure, he had Ryan and he loved the man beyond all reason, but that sense of abandonment didn’t go away easily. I watched my son take in the details of the man who had contributed half his DNA. I expected to see excitement, or at the very least, curiosity. What I found instead was indifference. “Can I call Ryan now, Mom?”

Ferguson let out a strangled choking sound, which I presumed was shock that Titus wasn’t jumping up and down in childish excitement that the father who’d abandoned him had shown up out of the blue.

“Titus, don’t be rude.” Everyone in town complimented me on how polite he was and I refused to let that change. My kid was nice and polite, even when the situation was strange. Awkward. Unexpected.

“Sorry, Mom. But I really just need to talk to Ryan.”

Ferguson released a huff of annoyance and walked away. Serves the jerk right for walking away in the first place.

“Sorry.” Titus apologized again, this time sincerely. His small shoulders drooped forward and he let out a sigh that was far too mature.

“It’s okay, honey. But Ferguson came a long way to meet you and you were just asking me about him. What’s wrong?”

He shrugged. “I just need Ryan, Mom. That’s all.”

I handed Titus my phone and went in search of Ferguson. He was just a few feet from Titus’ room, eyes closed with his head tilted back and shoulders deflated. “Ferguson?”

He opened his eyes and flashed a disappointment smile. “I shouldn’t have expected more.”

“This was not a good time to meet him for the first time, Ferguson. This was his first big medical scare, and he knows Ryan. Has known him all his life.” I didn’t bother to tell him that Ryan was the only man Titus knew for certain he could rely on. No need to plunge the knife down to the bone. Yet.

“But I’m his father,” he growled angrily. “Shouldn’t he be excited to meet me? Curious about who I am and where I’ve been all this time?”

“He is curious about you, but showing up wasn’t the best choice on your part. You should have given me time to talk to Titus, to get him used to the idea that you might actually want to be part of his life.”

“So I’m the bad guy now?”

I shook my head. “No, not just now. Don’t forget that it was you who walked away, Ferguson. He doesn’t know you, he knows Ryan and Oliver and Cal and Antonio, men who aren’t related to him, but who have been around all of his life. You’re just an idea to him, but you puff your chest out like you expected a parade. He’s not one of your kids back in Canada. You’re a stranger to him because that’s how you wanted it. So just…grow the hell up, Ferguson.”

“I’m not a stranger.”

“No, you’re worse. You’re nothing to him.”

I watched as his disappointment turned to anger and he pushed off the wall, taking a few steps away. “I don’t need this.”

“If you leave now, don’t come back. I won’t be as friendly next time.”

“I just need some air, Persy. That’s all.”

I nodded, taking him at his word because Ferguson was many things, but not a liar. At least not the Ferguson I used to know. “Be sure that you want to know him. If you have any doubts at all, go home and forgive your wife. Go to counseling and make it work with her and the kids you already have.”

Ferguson turned to me with his heart in his eyes, the picture of a defeated man, and nodded. “I have a feeling I won’t be thinking of much else for a while. Talk soon, Persy.”

I watched my ex walk away with a sigh, hoping that his unexpected arrival hadn’t totally screwed things with me and Ryan.