Flatline (Med Rom Series)

by Kristine Dugger

  Hold up. Wait a minute. Did he just say he delivered my niece?

  My attention went to Leo. “Leo, you delivered my niece?”

  Exuding confidence, he smirks, “Yes, I did.”

  My sister looks at me and then at him. “Wait a minute. Do you two know each other?”

  Leo grins. I am speechless.

  Leo answers with his eyes gazing at me. “We’ve run-into each other in the hospital. I can’t remember, what unit do you work in?”

  “I, uh.”

  Moving her head back and forth between Leo and me, my sister says, “She works in the ICU.”

  Leo rubs his chin with his left hand. “Interesting.” Leo’s attention went back to my sister. “Well Margo, I need to head back to the Emergency Department. You never know when someone is going to deliver another baby in the ED.”

  Margo belts out a deep within her gut laugh.

  Great, my sister loves him. Not good.

  Leo looks at me. “It was good seeing you again, Paige. I hope to run-into you soon.”

  I answer with a not so enthusiastic tone, “Yeah, bye.”

  We all watch as he leaves the room. Oh my goodness, that was so awkward. I can’t believe he works at the same hospital as me and then to throw the doctor thing on top of it. This is my fucking luck. The one time I have a one-night stand, it happens to be someone who works at the same damn place as I do. FML

  Deep in my own thought, my sister says, “Paige, um Paige.”

  I shake my head back and forth. “What?”

  Margo looks at Bryan and asks, “Hey honey. Can you get me some water and a decaf coffee from the coffee shop?”

  He looks at her and smiles, “Sure, whatever you want honey. I will be back in a minute.”

  I sit down next to my sister as Bryan walks out the door. My eyes shift to my sister. Margo has the biggest grin on her face I have ever seen. Good lord, what is she going to say to me? I can see the wheels spinning her head.

  She comments, “You so had sex with Dr. Davis!”

  Disgusted. “What?”

  Margo starts to chuckle. “Oh my goodness, you did. That is why you were acting weird. You haven’t seen him since that night.”

  “Really Margo. How could you tell?”

  She laughs harder. “The way you two looked at each other and then tension filled the room. Give me your hand.”

  “Why?” I give her my hand.

  She laughs again. “Your hands are sweaty. I can’t believe you had sex with the guy who delivered your niece.”

  “Margo, please stop. Don’t make this any weirder.”

  “He is pretty darn good looking. Good job, little sis. Please give me the details. He had to be good in bed.”

  “Margo!”

  “What? I just had a baby, I feel gross. I need details.”

  I look down, feeling uneasy. “No details. We had a one-night stand. I left him in the morning because that is all I wanted. I had no idea he worked here.”

  Still laughing. “Little sis, this is too freaking funny. Well, one thing I noticed, he could not keep his eyes off you. You two must’ve had a great time together.”

  Blushing. “It was fun.”

  “Well Paige, I’m glad you finally met someone else. But why did it have to be a one-nighter? I mean I’m glad you finally took the plunge and had some fun but you are more than that.”

  I sigh, “Margo, you know I’m not like that. It was something different and I honestly didn’t plan to run-into him again. It was just fun, that was it.”

  “Okay. Well, I have a feeling he will be hunting you down now. He knows where you work, now. You need to keep me posted if sexy Dr. Davis hunts you down.”

  “Okay, sis. Can we stop talking about this? I want to see my baby niece.”

  My sister smiles, grabs her daughter and hands her over to me. This new life in my arms, she is beautiful, with jet black hair like her father, perfectly round, plush face, with crystal blue eyes. She is perfect. My gaze focuses in on her sleepy complexion.

  Okay Miss Kinley, why couldn’t you wait until you were up on the floor to have another doctor deliver you? Why did you have to have Leo deliver you? You are too much like your mother, finding a way to make my life crazy and even more awkward.

  Chapter 4

  Monday morning, I was walking into work. I haven’t told my goofy friends about my run-in with Leo on Saturday. I just want to forget all about it. I didn’t even tell Del. She will find it just as hilarious as my sister did. Plus, she has been kind of in the dumps since she hasn’t heard from Greg. Del knew what my intentions were that morning I left Leo’s after our night of orgasmic sex. She knew I didn’t want to hear about him or see him again. Even with her seeing his friend, she didn’t bring it up even though she probably felt I should hook up with him again. I know Del too well. She is all about having fun, taking names and keeping those names, just in case.

  It is 6:30 in the morning, I just wanted to get my work done and head out of this place. My biggest fear is that Leo is going to walk into my unit looking for me. It would be a disaster.

  I sit down at my desk and pull up my email. Of course, I have a gazillion to read and answer. I really didn’t have time for this. I walk over to my mailbox and notice I already had five consults to complete in less than twenty-four hours. From my crazy weekend of being on call, I knew the hospital was full. This could be good and bad. For one, it will be a great distraction from what I know is hanging around in the Emergency Department waiting for his run-in with me; and two, it is job security. The bad, I am going to be completely exhausted by the time I leave and it is only the beginning of the week.

  ***

  Once again taking the stairs up to my floor, 4th floor, heading to my unit, rounds were about to start in an hour. I was hoping to see and chart on a few patients before the ICU rounds began.

  I walk directly into my unit and see Delilah and Britnee standing next to a patient’s room. With a smile on my face, I said hi to my friends. Del winks at me and Brit says, “What’s up? How was your weekend?”

  I answer, “It was good. I was busy.” I looked over at Del. “Anything yet?”

  She smiles, “Actually, yes! Greg called me Saturday night.”

  “Did you see him?”

  “Hell no. Making me wait, thinking he lost interest in me so quickly. The boy needs to wait for me now”

  I laugh, “You are too funny. Del, you so like him.”

  “Yeah, I do. But seriously, him being an ass and making me wait to hear from him, not cool. If he wanted to see me so bad and talk to me so bad, he would’ve texted or called me two days earlier. Now, he has to wait until I decide if I want to see him again.”

  “Which you do.”

  “He doesn’t need to know that. I might go out tonight and meet another guy. I don’t know.”

  Brit shakes her head. “She’s crazy.”

  Del argues, “So what? I actually show interest in this guy and he is like wait and see. No time for that shit.”

  I laugh, “I love you, Del.”

  “I love you too. Oh hey, I heard you ran into Leo.”

  Completely shocked. “Wait, what? How did you find out?”

  Brit asks, “You ran into Leo?”

  Ignoring Brit’s question, I ask Del again, “How did you find out?”

  “Greg. He called me that night asking what we were all doing. Greg was having people over to his house and said Leo wanted to know if you were showing up. I, of course, don’t talk about my friend’s relationship with the men I see but this intrigued me.”

  “Okay Del, get to the point.”

  “I’m trying. I asked why all of sudden did he bring up Leo and you. Well, he said Leo saw you at the hospital and wanted to talk with you but you were busy seeing your sister. How does Leo know your sister?”

  For the love of God, first thing Monday morning I am getting drilled with questions and the talk of Leo. I sigh, “Leo delivered my niece. He is a doctor in the
Emergency Department.”

  Their eyes widen in surprise with their mouths practically dropping to the floor. Then Brit starts to snort. Del follows suit with a belly filled laugh. Raising my finger to my mouth, I whisper, “Shush, you two. We have patients trying to sleep. Remember quiet zone, this is the ICU.”

  Del chuckles harder. “The guy you up and left after mind-blowing you know what, delivered your niece and he works here. Girl, you can’t write this stuff. This is funny stuff right here.”

  Brit laughs too, “She has a point.”

  Sighing. “You guys. Please don’t add to the weirdness.”

  Del continues, “So, what did you say to him?”

  “Nothing, but he knows I work here in the ICU. My sister told him. He said he hopes to run into me again.”

  Still laughing, Del says, “He hopes to run-into you, as in running his friend into you. You know what would be hot?”

  I roll my eyes at her. “Do I want to know?”

  “What if you guys have a run-in, in the on-call room, like in Grey’s?”

  Brit is still snorting.

  Annoyed, I shake my head at Del. “That doesn’t happen in real life, only on T.V.”

  “God, that would be so hot if that happened. Please have sex with him here.”

  “Del. Stop it. Why would I do that and risk my job? That is stupid.”

  “Not stupid, that is hot.”

  Brit nodding her head in agreement.

  “Okay, well, I’m so done with this conversation. I need to start charting on some patients before rounds. Thanks for being my friend, ladies. You know how to make a girl feel good about herself.”

  In unison, they laughed, “Anytime.”

  ***

  After rounds, I was talking with one of the attendees, Dr. Yolstein, about tube feeding recommendation for one of our patients. We were discussing why I chose a concentrated formula with higher kcal to volume ratio compared to a one calorie formula. I hate having these discussions with providers. Seriously, I know my shit. Stop asking why?

  Dr. Yolstein looks up from our conversation to acknowledge a colleague. I wasn’t paying much attention to who he was saying hi to. He says, “Well, what a pleasant surprise. Leo, what are you doing up in the ICU?”

  I looked up from my notepad.

  Leo! Oh shit!!!

  “Hey, George. I came to ask your Dietitian a question.”

  You have to be kidding me.

  “Oh, Paige. Well, let me finish up with our discussion and she will be all yours. She knows her stuff, Leo. I’m pretty sure she can answer any question you might have. “

  Crap.

  “Thank you.” Leo looks in my direction. “Paige, I will be over talking with Britnee. Once you are done, signal me over.” He walks over to Britnee’s nursing station.

  “Okay.” Really, not okay.

  I watch as Leo walks toward Britnee. She looks up at him, confused and surprised. Brit mouths, “What the-?”

  And let the awkwardness begin.

  I finish up with Dr. Yolstein. He walks away from me and moves onto the next patient. I was trying my hardest not to make contact with Leo.

  Then I feel his presence behind me. My heart starts to race, sweat forming on my spine, I have no clue how I am going to handle this, but I need to think quickly, very quickly.

  He speaks, “Well hello there, Paige.”

  I inhale, then exhale. “Hi, Dr. Davis, what can I help you with?”

  He flashes that boyish smile at me. “I have a nutrition question for you?”

  I was very skeptical of his question. “What nutrition question do you need help with in the ED?”

  “Well, not so much a question related to Emergency Department issues. It is a personal question?”

  I was slightly annoyed, okay, very annoyed. “Dr. Davis, if it isn’t a question related to work, can you please email me the question you have?”

  “Well, I kind of need to know now.”

  “So, personal nutrition question that is urgent? There is no such thing.”

  “It’s urgent.”

  I sigh again. “Fine, what?”

  He leans into me, whispering into my ear, “What’s the protein concentration of cum?”

  Flabbergasted, no clue how to respond to that question, I feel my face flush. I was hotter and sweating more. He grins, knowing he is getting me all hot and bothered.

  What the hell is he doing?

  I am trying my hardest to keep this professional. “Well, Dr. Davis, since this is a very personal question and we’re both on the clock, I don’t feel this is an appropriate place to discuss the grams of protein in bodily fluid.”

  He leans in closer to me, giving me a whiff of his antiseptic cologne. “This is very important and I need to know.”

  My body reacted, stepping back in complete shock that he was invading my personal space. “Well, I’m not the one to ask.”

  “But you are?”

  “How is that?”

  “The night we spent together, I know you consumed a lot of protein that night. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t go into renal failure.”

  With a big smirk on his face, he walks away.

  What the fuck?

  From the pit of my stomach to my lungs, I inhale and exhale slowly. Still in shock how out of line Leo was, I slam my pen in anger on my work binder. My hands move to my face to wipe away the sweat from my forehead. Still breathing heavy, I am completely unraveled. I can’t believe Leo walked up to my unit all nonchalantly and asked a very inappropriate question that left me damp. What the fuck? My wonderful one-nighter, works at my hospital and now knows where to find me. I have a feeling this will not be the end of my run-ins with Leo. How am I going to handle this? Clearly, my one night with him has left a lasting effect on not only me but him. I need to come up with a game plan to stay away from him. I’m not mixing business with pleasure.

  Chapter 5

  After a long and shitty week of work, sixties hours this week has literally kicked my ass. I’m exhausted - a little burnt out and wondering why I do this to myself. Oh right, I love my job. It is Saturday night and it was Delilah’s twenty-eighth birthday. Karrie and Britnee, along with Del’s sister, coordinated a gathering of all Del’s friends from work and outside of work. Typically, at the end of the work week, I just want to hang out at home or go to my sister’s house. But since Del is practically my best friend, I probably should attend her birthday party. She would kill me if I didn’t show.

  I look in the long, closet mirror to examine my chosen outfit for the night. While I examine myself, I notice the excessive amount of work I have been putting in has been affecting my appearance. My strawberry blonde hair was looking frayed and stringy, despite me taking my vitamins daily. My curves that I used to pride myself on are looking less voluptuous. Curves are still there, just a tad thinner.

  Clearly, stress and being overworked has taken a toll on my own nutritional status. I’m not a good representation of what my fellow dietitians preach every day. I skip meals and snacks to work and work. I need to start taking better care of myself or I will fall apart one day.

  Tonight is definitely the night to add a little more makeup to my natural look. I lace up my black Converse and take one last look at myself in the mirror. I was loving the skinny jeans I chose to wear along with my vintage Guns-N-Roses t-shirt. Actually, it was my mother’s shirt from back in the day. She was a little bit of a groupie.

  I miss my mother. After my father passed away many years ago, she decided she was going to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a traveler. She is exploring the world, learning about other countries’ heritage and cooking traditions. She has published numerous cooking books because of her travels.

  My father was quite a bit older than my mother. Yeah, I come from a family where my dad was fifteen years older than my mother. He was forty and my mother was twenty-five when they met. She was just out of culinary school and working at a high-end restaurant in Omaha. He
was with his business partners and wanted to meet the chef. They locked eyes and the rest was history, they fell in love. My mother was pregnant with Margo during their wedding. After they had Margo, eleven months later I came. Yep, my sister and I are Irish twins, which explains why we are so darn close. Margo is truly my best friend.

  My father passed away when I was twenty-years-old. He died of a massive heart attack. It was extremely hard on all of us. Dad was the backbone of our family. Losing him, my mother lost her way, forty-seven-years-old and a widower. She went into a deep depression, relying on Margo and me to take care of her when we were trying to become adults ourselves. Margo took on the mother roll for both my mother and I. It was a lot for Margo to take on so much burden. I don’t know how she completed pharmacy school while taking care of her mother and ensuring I stuck to my college work. Good thing, I’m competitive and wanted to be the best of the best with school. She didn’t have much work with me.

  Once my mother got out of her funk, she sold dad’s portion of the accounting firm to his business partner, paid for my sister and mine’s education and set out for the adventure of a lifetime. She is loving life in memory of my father. However, that adventurous lifestyle comes with some pain. She doesn’t see her daughters very often. She rarely Skypes too. We get postcards or letters with pictures from her frequently. If she is happy, we are happy. But I miss her a lot. At twenty-eight-years-old, I still need my mother. I lift my shirt up to my face. No matter how many times I washed it, it still smells like her. I hope my mom comes back soon, at least to see Kinley. This is another reason why seeing my friends tonight is a good thing.

  ***

  I walk into Bexter’s and head to the party room in the back of the bar. I scan the bar, looking for any familiar faces. Bexter’s was packed with people, making it extremely difficult to maneuver through. My mood wasn’t feeling it. I was nervous and worried, for whatever reason. Something in the air made me feel like I was destined for trouble but not really - more like another awkward moment.

  I look to my left toward the bartender, I see Britnee. She must’ve felt my presence because she looks up at the same time as I am staring at her. She waves for me to come over. I smile at her and head in her direction.