Chapter 1

Catherine

The exhaustion is bone deep as I take a deep breath and remove the bloody vinyl gloves from my hands. But through the exhaustion there is a feeling of accomplishment shining through. Another successful emergency surgery. There was a large car accident with several injured and I have been in surgery for seven hours straight. The last person in need of surgery was not as critical as the others, so the little girl had to wait three hours with a badly broken leg before I could mend it back together. At least we managed to save her leg from being amputated and now she can start healing from this horrible ordeal.

“Good job, Dr. Ross!” I jerk as my assisting doctor, Dr. Martin, slaps his large hand on my shoulder. I inwardly cringe at his close presence but I turn to him with a smile that I hope doesn’t show how much I want to run away. He is always touching me, placing a hand on my shoulder, rubbing my neck, following me around with a hand on the small of my back. Nothing too offensive but uncomfortable. I have spoken to him about it but he doesn’t seem to have understood that I have a need for large personal space.

“You too, Dr. Marvin.” I shrug off his hand to remove the bloody scrubs and throw it in the trash.

“You’re off now?”

“Yeah. Have been here since Tuesday afternoon so I think I deserve a couple hours at home in my bed.” Dr. Marvin hums in response while he rips off his bloody scrubs. “How long do you have?” It’s not as if I’m interested but I have been brought up to be polite so polite is what I will be.

“I’m having an hour break now but I’m on until ten tonight. Wanna get something to eat in the cafeteria?” 

“Sorry, Elias. But I’m beat. I need to get home and rest.” It’s not really true that I’m going home since I am visiting my mother at the caretaking home she lives at. She is ill with dementia so she can’t take care of herself and with my working hours I can’t have her living with me. I try my best to visit her once every week or every second week. She is fastly deteriorating and soon there won't be anything left of the mom I once knew.

“Maybe another time.” He smiles at me and I give him a smile back. Then I quickly leave the room. 

Back at the locker room I collect my private clothes and head to the shower. I am so exhausted and very tempted to skip my mom and just head home to sleep. It’s not like she’ll recognize me anyway. 

Maybe she has a good day and I can actually speak to her!

I groan at my bad conscience knowing I could never neglect mom no matter how lost she is. I won’t stop seeing her before I know there is absolutely nothing left of her.

The car ride to her home takes about one and a half hours. By the time I get there I have changed the fast pace of the inner city to quaint townhouses and bungalows. The home is situated in the outskirts of town with a beautiful park right at the fence. No hard traffic, no shouting and violence of any kind. It was the most expensive home in the city because of its location, but the money was never any concern. My father left us with a generous amount of heritage when he passed away four years ago, but my mom had her own money as well.

I could be just about anything growing up with both money and intelligence to back it up. Anything but popular and gorgeous. Fat girls can never be gorgeous. That I have been told since first grade by all the pretty and popular girls and boys. Even now, all grown up, I get picked on by slimmer and more pretty girls. I can’t even count all the times I have been cheated in the club or bar by handsome men that have made a bet with their equally handsome friends of who can woo the fat chick.

I guess someone like Elias Martin is my only choice when it comes to having a boyfriend. He is pretty handsome but there is something about him that makes me feel uncomfortable. The leering smiles, the hungry glances he sends every woman that walks by. The small touches that by no mean is close to sexual harrassments but still. He touches my arm or my shoulder, strokes a piece of hair behind my ear.

I sigh as I pull into an empty parking spot in front of the two story brick building. As I get out I take a deep breath, smelling the faint scent of flowers and trees in the warm spring air. Inside I greet the nurse at the desk.

“Hi, Emily. How is she today?”

“Hello Dr. Ross. She is a bit confused and she hasn’t recovered from her attack on Monday evening. She is outside on her patio at the moment.” She gives me a sad smile and I wave as I make my way to my moms room.

She is sitting in a sunchair on her tiled patio drinking in the sun's warmth. Her pale skin is wrinkly and looks to be three sizes too large. She has lost almost all her weight in the past four months. The gray hair is matted but clean so I guess they managed to shower her in the past few days. I blink away the start of my tears and swallow through my tight throat. Even though she is a shell of her old self I smile at the serenity on her face. This is why I chose this home for her. To allow her to sit outside in the sun, listening to birds, insects and the laughter of playing children.

“Hi, mom.” I say softly as I sit down in the chair next to her. She turns her face towards me and immediately I see the emptiness behind her eyes.

“Hello sweetheart. Who are you?” Her voice is hoarse and dry, but she has a small smile on her lips.

“I am Cathy.” I say and hold back my tears with a lot of effort. “I am here to see how you are feeling.”

“Oh, dear child. I am feeling wonderful. The sun and the birds are so nice to take care of me on this beautiful day. All that is missing is my lovely sister. But she is coming over for some coffee later this afternoon. She always comes on Sundays, you see. And she would never miss such a beautiful day as this.” 

“That sounds lovely.” She turns her face forward to look out on the park. The playground is a bit away but you can see the children running around and playing. We sit silent for a few moments before she turns her head towards me again.

“Oh. Hello my dear. Who might you be?” Her eyes show no recollection of speaking with me just a minute before.

“I am Cathy. I am here to see how you are doing.” This time I can’t prevent the tears from falling but I quickly dry them from my cheek.

“Oh sweetheart. There is no need to cry on a beautiful day like this. You know what will make you feel better? A cup of coffee. My sister is on her way over here for coffee. She always has the tastiest pies with her. You could have a piece. It will cheer you up.” She smiles at me and turns forward again. The smile disappears a minute later and I know the conversation has disappeared with it.

Before she has the chance to see me again I stand and leave the patio with my tears falling freely. There is a bathroom right before reaching the reception and I slip in there to cry. Sure I was devastated when my father passed away suddenly without warning. But I think I would rather choose that loss again instead of seeing the person you love turn into someone else because of sickness.

Emily greets me at the reception with a sad smile again, obviously seeing my red rimmed eyes.

“I will come and see her again next week. Will you please call me if she has another attack or her condition deteriorates?” I can still feel the tears in my voice and I have to sniffle to keep my nose from running.

“Of course, Catherine.” I smile at the use of my given name instead of my surname. I ask them almost every time to call me Catherine but their policy is to be professional and formal. But when a relative comes out crying they always use their given name. “We always call if there is something you have to know about.”

“I know you do. I have to thank you all for the wonderful job you’re doing, taking care of my mother. I can see that she likes it here.” She smiles at me and we wave as I leave through the entrance.

I don’t feel ready to make the drive back to my posh apartment in the city so I decide to take a walk in the beautiful park. My thoughts are cloudy and I don’t really keep my mind on where I’m going. The walkway I take takes me through a small coppice. The silence surrounds me, only broken by the occasional tweets from small birds and the low hum of insects.

There we have the first chapter of The Mafia's doctor. Catherine might have had a privileged upbringing with loving parents and money to live a comfortable life but she still has had it tough through school with other children bullying her.