‘A good enough reason, I suppose.’
The interior of the restaurant was a little underwhelming. Whataburger was a Texas institution, but the decor was very bland — almost surgical.
‘I’ve never been to one of these before,’ Tammy said. ‘What’s good?’
Conor looked at the menu. ‘I’ve got no clue,’ he said. ‘But, we’re in Texas, so, I guess, the one that comes with Texas toast?
They ordered their food — Tammy went for a patty melt, Finn got a Whataburger meal, and Conor settled on a Triple Meat Whataburger.
‘Triple meat?’ Tammy had said, screwing up her face.
‘Double’s not enough for me,’ Conor replied jokingly.
For some reason, Tammy blushed.
For a minute or two, things felt fairly normal. The food was good. Not the transcendental experience that he was sure he’d heard people online describe, but good, solid food. While they ate, they chatted, keeping everything light-hearted. Then, when they’d nearly finished, Finn said: ‘So, you wanted to know if there was anything about us you should know?’
Tammy nodded. ‘There’s a lot that a family doctor gets to know about their patients,’ she said. ‘And I’m fully aware that the Hippocratic oath stops my father divulging any personal information about you. Frankly, the fact he said anything to me at all is a serious blurring of professional boundaries.’
‘I don’t think your father cares a jot about boundaries,’ Finn said.
‘That might be true,’ Tammy admitted, ‘butIdo. You don’t have to tell me anything. And if you do, I sure as heck won’t pass the information on to anyone else.’
‘You think you should continue to be our doctor?’ Conor asked. The question felt faintly ridiculous. Maybe even offensive. Tammy was so much more than just their doctor. But Conor knew just how important it was to Tammy that she practice medicine, and that she remained professional. Being in a relationship with one another could well make things challenging. Probably already had done.
‘I think I’m OK with it,’ she said. ‘I don’t exactly know if it’s… ethical, though. Pretty sure the General Medical Council would frown upon it.’ She absentmindedly stirred her milkshake with her bright pink straw. ‘It’s probably malpractice.’ She sucked up some milkshake. Tammy was such a contradiction — so childlike and adult at the same time.
It was why he loved her.
Feck. Dangerous thoughts, again.
‘Look,’ Conor said, ‘we don’t care about patient-doctor confidentiality. We’re hoping to be much more than just your patients, Tam-Tam. We’re desperate to be your Daddies. To share you. And Daddies don’t keep secrets from their Littles. So… what is it you want to know?’
Tammy scrunched up her nose, thinking hard. He wondered what she was thinking about. How to phrase her question? Something else? Only thing he knew was that she looked damn cute like this.
‘If I looked at your patient records,’ she said finally, ‘what’s the most shocking thing I’d find out about you?’
Conor inhaled deeply. ‘Well. Um. When I was a kid, I kind of swallowed a screw.’
Tammy’s eyes widened. ‘Ouch.’
‘I suppose it’s something that could happen to any kid, but… our ma wasn’t exactly what you’d call attentive. In fact, she was the exact opposite.’
It was his earliest memory. The taste of blood. The ambulance siren. The strange smell of the emergency room in St. John’s Hospital — just a stone’s throw from their house in Coonagh.
‘You could have died,’ said Tammy, a look of concern on her face.
‘The doctors said it was unlikely, but yeah…’ he scratched his head, ‘possible.’
He felt Tammy’s hand on his. ‘If I’d never got to meet you…’ she trailed off.
‘Yeah well, it’ll take more than a screw to finish off Conor Healy.’
‘Sadly,’ Finn joked.
For a moment, Conor tried to think about what Finn was going to say. He couldn’t think of many times that Finn had had medical issues.
‘So what about you Finn?’ Tammy asked.