You guys can't get rid of me :) I wrote this story in the beginning of the summer and then forgot about it. Seeing Earl in the promo for the premiere reminded me of it. It's only a few chapters so I hope you enjoy it.

"Come on Zoe, we don't have all day. I have to be at work in 5 hours. We need to get our shopping on."

"Ok I'm coming. I don't know which purse I want to use."

Gigi just rolled her eyes. Zoe's phone started to ring and Gigi ran to it.

"It's Wade. I thought you said you haven't talked to him in a month?"

"I haven't" she said snatching the phone from her friend "Hello?"

"Hey Zoe, are you busy?" he asked very distant and nervous

She could tell something was wrong. "No, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, it's Earl. I went to check on him today and the old man had fallin off a ladder and broke his wrist. I brought him to the hospital and Brick suggested he get a physical since he hadn't had one in years. So they did and um they think he has some kind of heart condition, they're not really telling me what it is and I don't really think they even know much. I was hoping you might know something."

"What is it?" she asked very concerned about Earl

"Um they think Alcoholic Caridothr.."

"Cardiomyopathy?" she asked

"Yeah, that's it. What is it and is it curable?"

"I had a patient with it a couple years ago. It thins out the heart muscles and enlarges the heart due to the large consumption of alcohol. That causes the muscles of the heart to function inefficiently. There isn't a cure but I would have to see his test results to see how serious it is. It can be treated though to keep it from getting worse."

Wade was silent for a moment. "Thanks, I'll let you go"

"Woah, hold on. Who's his doctor?"

"Not sure. Right now it's just Brick and the ER doctor. He says that the best heart doctor in Mobile is away right now and they are waiting on a call back from someone in Birmingham. They aren't sure how long that will take."

"I'm coming home! He's my patient, I'll be there tomorrow."

"Dammit, Zoe! No, that is not why I called you. You can't just up and leave your job there because of Crazy Earl. I just wanted some more information than what they were giving me. I knew this was a mistake."

"This is not a discussion Wade and not a mistake. I will text you later with my flight information and you better be at that airport."

Wade sighed, he had a feeling arguing with her would do no good and he really didn't have the energy. "Fine, but if you can't leave, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I will see you soon. Tell Brick I'm coming and to cancel that other doctor."

"Fine, see you soon...Thanks Zoe"

"Anything for you, Bye"

"Bye" he hung up and went to find Brick.

Gigi stared at her friend. "What's going on?"

"Wade's dad has a heart condition, if you didn't gather that. I have to go home to take care of him."

"Wade or his Dad?" Gigi asked with a smirk

XXX

"Brick, I just got off the phone with Zoe and she said she's coming home. She's hoping to be here tomorrow."

"I was going to suggest you call her or I was going too. The doctor from Birmingham is good but he's no Zoe Hart. I bet she knows exactly what to do."

"She seems to know a lot about it, said she had a patient with it."

"Even better. I'll go tell the doctor, why don't you go see your Dad."

Wade walked down the hall and into Earl's room.

"Hey" Wade said walking over to the bed

"Hello Son, come to give me some more good news?"

"Actually" he laughed a little "You are getting the best doctor any of us could ask for."

"The guy from Birmingham? They didn't seem to convinced he was very good."

"No, Zoe's coming home, hopefully she can be here by tomorrow."

"You call her?"

"I did."

"Thanks." Wade just nodded "That girl is something special. Didn't you say she has a fancy surgeon job up there?" again he nodded "And she's coming home just because I have a little problem? I doubt that. She's coming home because you called her."

"I don't think so."

"Oh I do, If Brick called her, she would have given him advice on what to do and that would be the end of it."

"No, you're her patient and she's coming home because she knows exactly how to handle your condition."

"Like I said she could do that over the phone."

XXX

"Dr. Thompson, I need to speak with you." Zoe asked knocking on the Chief's door

"Dr. Hart, please come in, sit"

"Thank you" she said sitting down in the chair across from him "There is a medical emergency with one of my patients back in Alabama. He might have Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy and I need to go and see for myself what is going on."

"Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy is usually only diagnosed in the later stages right before heart failure. There might not be anything you can do."

"I know that and that is one of the main reasons I need to get down there fast. It seems to be found by accident. He broke his wrist and was brought to the ER. Doctors did some tests and found it. They aren't the best heart doctors down there."

"Well you can't just leave here unless you plan on not coming back. You can't be a doctor in two places at once."

"I know that and I honestly wasn't planning on returning. If he has this and I can treat it, I will need to be there 24/7."

"Alright, I don't think arguing with you is going to change your mind. You can finish out your day and you can be done. I've seen this condition twice before and one time it turned out fine, the other, he was gone in 3 days. I had a feeling you wouldn't last the whole summer here anyway. Your heart is not in New York anymore. Good luck Dr. Hart."

"Thank you for the opportunity and you're right. My heart is in Alabama." with that she got up and left. She called her mom to have her set up the first flight out of there tomorrow and back to Alabama.