“Dr. Thornton, your mom called and left you a message,” Jackie, one of Harrison’s nurses, said as he finished a patient’s chart.
He sighed. “What did she want?”
“She said that she and your dad want to go out to dinner with you tonight. She said that unless you call and tell her you’re unavailable, she’ll see you at the Fainting Goat at six.”
Jackie recited the message in a bland tone, but Harrison knew she was restraining herself from saying something sarcastic. A hard-working but blunt-speaking woman, Jackie was Harrison’s best and most capable nurse, and also a loyal friend. Ten years older than him, she was married with two teenage sons, and she always had some crazy story about one or both of her kids doing something ridiculous and, as she always termed it, something “only boys as d
