But it will only lead to yet another argument. It’s taken a day for them to get over the most recent one, which started when she told Zack about a patient who needed a psychiatry consult. The patient refused to talk when he saw Suhani but, seconds later, was all words when the white male medical student came in the room. Zack insisted that while it might have been about Suhani’s race, it also might not have been. Not everything is sexist and racist, honey. Suhani stormed out of their bedroom, which, now that she thinks about it, was a pretty anticlimactic move in their tiny apartment. She had to turn right back to grab her phone.

“What were you and Mom talking about?” Zack has a mixture of curiosity and anticipation in his eyes. He can gossip with Mom for hours if given the chance, something Dad and Anuj never do. Zack is the same way with his mom, Barbara, maybe because she and Mom share so many similarities: an emotional warmth that makes strangers want to tell them their darkest secrets, a need to make sure everyone is always fed, a tendency to know everyone’s business in a way that’s more curious than mean-spirited.

“Oh, you know, the usual.” Suhani gives Zack a look that says, Don’t ask anymore.

“I see.” Zack senses Suhani’s tension and hands her a skinny, spicy margarita, her favorite drink. “Sweetie, your colleagues are so fun. Shrinks are definitely the most interesting doctors around.”

“I’m biased, but I have to agree,” Suhani says. Only her husband can effortlessly mingle with a group of doctors who are obsessed with talking about their jobs. On their third date, Zack told Suhani he was always fascinated by doctors and believed this stemmed from his own dad, a family medicine physician who struggled with alcoholism and left Zack, Barbara, and Zack’s sisters when Zack was in elementary school.

“I threw in some therapy terms and they were impressed,” Zack says. “A little bit of ‘she sounds like she has some real self-sabotaging behavior’ and ‘his pathological narcissism seems to cloud his judgment.’ Pulled it off pretty well, if I say so myself.”

Suhani laughs. “Of course you did.”

She’s reminded of how she ended up with a guy who is fun. Fun! During his undergrad years at Dartmouth, Zack Kaplan went to parties, did keg stands, and cheered at sports games, while Suhani spent most of her time at Emory in the library.

“So, what’s going on? Are you getting excited about your award?”

“Eh, sure, not really.” Suhani shrugs. “It’s nice to have my work recognized but not a big deal.”

“Ah, my beautiful and humble wife. She just doesn’t know how to take credit for her accomplishments.”