Doctor Gets a Visitor by E Walk

The Doctor Gets a Visitor
by: E Walk

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Chapter 1

The Meeting

It was two o'clock on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was sitting at my desk writing notes on the last patient of the day. I had decided to close the office early so my staff could get some extra time off for the holidays. Everyone had gone home except for my office manager, Jane, who doubled as my bookkeeper. She had volunteered to stay and answer the phone until 2:30. She said she would work on the accounts and bring them up to date. Jane had worked for me for 15 years, ever since I had opened my practice and had proven to be my most loyal employee.

I guess I had better tell you a little about myself. I am Doctor Jack Wilson. I am 38 years old. I was married when I was 18 just after my first year in college where I was in the pre med program. My fiancé announced that she was pregnant, so I agreed to marry her in a nice, quiet ceremony. It turned out to be a false alarm, but we were already married. We decided to stay married, but we had very little sexual contact. I had dedicated my time to making sure that I would get into medical school.

One evening in my junior year I came home and my wife and her belongings were gone. She had left a note saying she was pregnant and was going to live with some relatives who lived out of the area. She told me in the note not to try and find her because it would not do any good. Needless to say, I did try to find her but was frustrated at every attempt. The result was that I almost failed out of college.

My sister Nancy, two years older, came to my rescue. She convinced me that I hadn't really loved my wife, Linda, but had married her only because she had framed me with a false pregnancy. She even had me convinced that Linda was pulling the same trick again to make me feel guilty for not paying attention to her.

Anyway, I settled down and finally became a board-certified general practitioner. I moved to Fremont 15 years ago and struggled at first. Jane had come to work for me when I opened my office and stuck with me through the lean years. In fact, I am sure she brought many more patients to the office than I would ever realize. My practice flourished and I was even contemplating not taking any more new patients.

Listening to Christmas music on the classical music station, I had just put the last folder aside when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in Jane. Are you leaving now?" I asked.

"Dr. Wilson, I just put a young man into Exam Room 1. His name is Jeff Smith and he is desperate for some help. He doesn't have any insurance, but he showed me that he has enough money to pay the consultation fee. He really seems like a nice young man. I am leaving now. Merry Christmas."

She turned around to leave but turned back and said, "Make sure to set the alarm and lock up when you leave."

How odd I thought. This is not like my efficient Jane. I decided she must just be excited about Christmas. I got up and went to the occupied exam room and knocked. As I entered, I saw a very handsome young man sitting there. He looked to be a little over six feet and probably weighed about 175 pounds. His hair was dirty blonde. I couldn't see his eyes yet.

I walked to him, put out my hand, and said, "I am Doctor Jack Wilson. How can I help you?"

He looked up at me and shook my hand and said, "I am Jeff Smith. I am eighteen. I have several problems that are bothering me and I am in a strange city,"

"Okay Jeff let me get your vitals." I did the usual thing like weight, temperature, blood pressure, and pulse. Everything showed that he was in wonderful health.

"Jeff everything looks really good. What exactly are your problems?" I asked.

"Well I have a pain around my heart and I have an itch in my rectal area that won't stop," He answered and then he added. "I am alone in a strange city and am afraid to be alone at Christmas."

"Okay, let's start with the easy questions," I said. "Why are you here in a strange place on Christmas Eve?"

"Well, my mother and stepfather thought it would be better for me to get out of their lives because I told them that I think I am gay. They were afraid of how that might affect my three younger half-brothers," he answered.

"My question now is why did you come to a small city like Fremont, Nebraska?" I asked.

"I was hoping to maybe find my dad and go to college here at Midlands Lutheran College," he answered with a nod.

"Okay where are you planning to stay until this happens?" I asked.

"I thought maybe you might feel sorry for me and offer to put me up in your four-bedroom house until I can get settled," Jeff tossed back.

"That's rather presumptuous isn't it young man?"

"I was told that you are a very lonely person with no one to share Christmas with, since your sister and her husband are on a cruise with their children. I was also told that you are gay and might enjoy some company. Can't I spend the holidays with you, please?" Jeff said with a glint in his eyes.

"Jeff for all I know you are a con artist waiting to rob me blind. Why should I take you into my home when I know nothing about you?" I responded.

"Well sir, my parents were married when they were very young. I was born when my father was in college. My father never saw me because my mother left him when she found out she was pregnant. My mother realized that my father was gay, so she decided to leave him and go live with relatives. Anyway after I was born, my mother and I lived in a rather meager environment until my mother met my stepfather," he answered.

"Pops really loves her and has been very kind to me. Even when I told them I was gay, there was no ranting or raving. They both were concerned about my well-being and how my activities might impact the other three boys, though. They even have set aside enough money to get me through the first year of college. I graduated from high school in December and have been accepted at Midlands to begin in January. I was even awarded a substantial scholarship," he sighed.

He continued, "Sir, I am a quiet, reserved person and don't make friends easily."

At that point the telephone rang. I thought about not answering it but decided it might be important. So I answered by saying simply, "Good afternoon, may I help you?"

"Jack is that you?" a voice asked.

"Yes this is Doctor Jack Wilson. How may I help you?" I answered.

"Jack this is Linda. Is Jeff Smith there?" the voice inquired.

"Yes Jeff is here now," I answered.

"Jack, take care of our son please. He really needs you at this point in his life. He probably knows more about you than you do. Please be good to him. May I speak to him please?" she asked.

I stood there feeling like I was on a roller coaster. I just handed the phone to Jeff not saying a word.

I heard him say, "Hello. Oh hi, Mom. Yeah I am here with Dad now. We were just discussing the possibility of my going home with him. I will, Mom. I'll call you soon. Tell the boys and Eric I miss all of you and have a Merry Christmas. Thanks for my birthday-Christmas-graduation present. Bye Mom I love you." Jeff handed me the phone.

I stood there holding it, just looking at it and then at my patient. Suddenly I began to get very angry. "Young man what kind of con are you pulling here?" I practically yelled.

He jumped down from the exam table and hugged me. "Dad I am not trying to pull any scam. I am your son. Aunt Nancy and Jane have kept us advised of what is happening in your life. I was graduated from high school a semester early and they helped me arrange to get here this afternoon. Dad, look at the two of us standing beside each other. Don't you see any resemblance?" Jeff asked.

I looked at him and then pulled him into another room where there was a full-length mirror. I pulled him beside me and looked at what was reflected. I grew pale and my knees felt weak. Jeff put his arms around me and held me. He then patted my stomach and said, "Except for this little extra body fat here, we could pass for twins. We will just have to work on that won't we? Now, can we go home, Dad?"

It suddenly hit me that he had been calling me Dad. How strange! Then I became skeptical and said, "You still haven't convinced me that you are my son. We could just look similar and not be related."

"Okay Dad, perhaps these will convince you." He pulled out two envelopes. He handed me the first one, which I opened. It was a certified copy of a birth certificate for Jeffrey James Wilson, born on September 4th, 1986. The father's name was James Charles Wilson and the mother's name was Linda Louise Robinson Wilson. The place of birth was Lincoln County, Minnesota.

The second envelope had my name on it. It was from Nancy. It read,

"Dear Jack,

If you are reading this I can assume that Jeff has arrived and is there with you. I know that you must be in a state of shock but Jeff truly is your son. He has been waiting for this day for a long time. I have talked to both him and Linda many times. I am sorry that we aren't there to help you celebrate but we will take care of that when we return next week. The kids are anxious to meet their cousin.

Love, Nancy.

P.S. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

I just fell into the chair behind me and looked up at Jeff. Then I said, "Since you seem to have everything under control and well planned, I guess we had better get your things."

"Everything is in my car. I'll follow you home and then we can get my things settled and get something to eat. I am famished," Jeff announced.

I started for the door and was ready to go out when Jeff said, "Dad, you're supposed to lock everything and set the alarm, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I guess I have other things on my mind," I answered as I finished the chores. I put on my jacket and we headed toward the parking lot. "Where are you parked?" I asked.

"Jane had me park in her space right next to you," he answered.

When we arrived at the cars, there sat a sparkling new red T-Bird right next to my four-year-old white Camry. We got in our cars and I started leading us to my house. Jeff pulled around me and waved for me to follow. He led us into the crowded parking lot at Super Target. We were lucky and found two parking spaces together.
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When we got into the store, Jeff gave me a cart and then he took another one. He nodded for me to follow him and away we went to the Christmas decorations. He picked out a small tree and some assorted trimmings and other decorations and filled his basket. Then he gave that basket to me and took off with the other toward the food section. He methodically filled the second basket and my mind was just spinning at watching him move.

Finally he said, "Okay, I guess we have all the essentials. Let's go home!"

I looked at the two carts and thought to myself, how are we going to get all this stuff home? Then it dawned at me that it had to be paid for. We pulled into the shortest checkout line but it still seemed to take forever. We finally got to the checkout stand and when everything had been scanned the bill came to $410.70. I went to pull out a credit card but Jeff put his hand on mine, "Don't worry about it Dad. I have it covered." He smiled at me as he swiped a card through the machine. It cleared and he didn't even have to sign.

I watched the young man at the checkout stand hand the receipt to Jeff and say, "Thank you for shopping at Target sir." Then he smiled at Jeff and licked his lips. Jeff seemed oblivious to what had just happened.

We pushed the carts to the cars and loaded everything into my car. It almost didn't fit. As I was getting into my car Jeff said, "We have one more stop to make." So I followed him and he stopped at a florist shop. He went in and he came back out, a young lady helping him. He had two poinsettias and the young lady was carrying a floral arrangement with two candles.

The young lady said, "Thank you for shopping at the Flower Patch, Jeff. See you around campus." She smiled at Jeff as he said, "Thanks for your help Jennie."

With that I led the way home. I pulled into the first bay of my three-bay garage and then opened the third bay for Jeff to pull into. He unlocked the house and then started to take the things from his car into the house. He put his belongings in the foyer leading upstairs and then helped me unload the rest of the things from my car.

"Okay lets put these things away so that nothing spoils," I said as I started to put the perishable things in the refrigerator. I opened the door and yelled, "I have been robbed. Someone stole everything that was in the refrigerator."

"Dad, calm down. I did that to get rid of all the outdated and moldy things that were in there. Your milk was a week out of date and some of the things looked like they had been in there ever since you moved here three years ago," Jeff admonished.

All of a sudden it dawned on me that he had opened the door when we got home. "Jeff how did you get a key to my house?" I queried.

"Aunt Nancy left her key with Mrs. Thompson for me. I came over when I arrived in town this morning after I stopped at your office to get the key. I needed to check to see what we might need after you said I could come home with you," he answered very calmly.

We finished putting food items away and then Jeff said, "Okay we have just enough time to decorate before we go to Christmas Eve service at the church."

"Jeff I haven't been to church on Christmas Eve for more than twenty years. I don't even know when the services are or where," I told him.

"Don't worry Dad. I know what we need to do. It's okay," he told me.

He went to work putting up the tree and before I could do much more than take the trash away, Jeff had the tree up, placed the poinsettias on either side of the tree, and had put lighted decorations in the windows. It looked quite festive. Then he put the floral arrangement on the dining room table and said, "Okay let's decide where I am going to put my things."

I watched as he walked around the three spare bedrooms and then he turned to me an asked, "Okay Dad, where is our bedroom?"

I showed him the master suite, which was the only room upstairs that I had put any effort into furnishing. I had a large-screen TV in the sitting area and a king-size bed. The bathroom was overlarge and had a small whirlpool tub. I thought he might be a little bit impressed. But instead he turned me and hugged me and said, "Right answer, Dad."

He added, "I have already checked the closet and the drawers, so we will be fine in here. We will make one of the other rooms into a study room for me and an office for you and then we will fix the other two rooms to be nice guest rooms. We also need to do something about the empty rooms downstairs and in the basement but we don't have time to talk about that now. Go take a quick shower and get dressed for church while I get the few things from downstairs that I'll need to dress for church. I will bring the rest of the things up later. There should be no problem though. I checked this afternoon and there is more than enough room for them."

Jeff left and went down to get some things and I got in the shower. I was just about done when he got in with me. "No messing around Dad, there isn't time or we'll be late," he laughed.

I got out of the shower and went to get dressed. Jeff came out of the shower looking like a young Grecian god. He nonchalantly dried his body and made sure he got his hair dry. When he saw me dressed in my blazer with a tie, he said, "Dad you sure clean up nice even if you do have a little extra pouch."

I went downstairs to wait for him. He came bounding down the stairs and said, "Let's go Dad. I don't want to be late." He looked like a movie star.

To be continued...