If she ran away again, it would probably take the rest of his life this time around to find her.
He pounded his fist against the steering, the horn blaring in protest until the fear of destroying his hands finally came through to his head. They were bloodied and bruised from the blows, but if he continued on, his life as a surgeon would be in jeopardy too. So he got out of the car and raised his head to the heavens with a cry of fury. He cursed at it, the rain camouflaging the tears that ran down his face, but then blinding headlights shone directly at him. He raised his head to see that it was from a bus that has just stopped by the side of the street to let off some passengers. At first, he stared at it without thought, but the moment comprehension dawned on him. He ran up to the bus just before its automatic doors slid shut.
“I am the last round for the night,” the driver said to him upon his inquiry. “There are no more passengers at the bus station, so you’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow to check. If you go now, all you’ll see are litters and a few homeless people that shack up by the walkways, or on the waiting benches.
Caleb turned around and was about to descend the bus when it occurred to him. His head darted back to the driver’s. “Homeless people?”
The aged man nodded. “They take advantage of the shed, so you will see a few of them there.
At first, he didn’t want to believe the possibility, but since it was the last lead he had, he headed for his car and a few minutes later, arrived at the bus station. True to the driver’s words, he looked around and saw people clothed in black scattered across the wide shed. He scanned the few people until he came across one that was huddled in a corner.
The person was completely covered from head to toe but when he glimpsed a banana yogurt drink by the person’s side, his heart did a little flip. It was a drink that currently held up quite some space in his refrigerator and one that brought recognition to him in an instant.
He jumped from the car and ran over to the person, his clothes a damp, rumpled mess from his night’s misfortunes.
“Aisha,” he called as he approached, but there was no response.
“Aisha.” He stopped when he reached the walkway, but then he saw the person’s head falling over, and rushed to catch the person’s shoulders. Pulling away the blankets and the parka’s hood, he revealed the person’s face, and his heart plummeted into his stomach.
For a second, he could not believe that he was seeing her and all he could hear was the furious beating of his heart. But then he came to his senses and realized that she was not conscious. He instantly panicked.
He placed his fingers to the pulse in her neck and almost collapsed when he was assured that she was still alive. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her into his car and flattened the front seat so that she could rest.
He sighted her bag then, a black duffel that she had been seating on and quickly retrieved it. Soon, they were on their way. He kept glancing at her and tried his best to keep his eyes on the road, the tears now falling silently down his face. He thought of taking her to the hospital, but at the last moment he changed his mind and brought her home.
When they arrived, he laid her in bed and set up an IV line for her. Then he fed her medicine through the IV, changed her damp clothes and fell into bed without changing his to watch her.
The next time he was conscious, the morning had come and there was no one by his side.
Caleb instantly jumped out of bed. He grabbed his phone from the bedside table to see countless missed calls and messages, but he ignored them all and sprinted down the stairs. When he was almost at the bottom, he began to hear movements in the kitchen so he slowed his steps and looked ahead onto the ground floor. Past the living room was the kitchen and dining area, and there she was rummaging through the refrigerator. Eventually, she lifted her head and smiled at the stout bottle of banana yogurt in her hand.
He headed towards her, however, only when his phone began to vibrate in his hand, did she realize that he was around. He picked it up just as she turned around to meet his gaze.
“Caleb Pace,” he said without taking his eyes from her. He could not remember the last time he had felt this way- warm and hopeful. It was such a tiny sliver, but as he watched her place a small batch of pastry into the oven, he realized that her mere presence intoxicated him to such excitement.
“We have a burn victim!” the resident said. “We have been trying to reach you all night, where did you go?”
“Something came up,” was all the explanation he gave, as he watched her wash her hands under the running faucet. She was dressed in the pair of shorts and shirt that he had changed her into the previous night, and as she cleaned her hands and then pulled her hair into a ponytail, he could not believe how in the space of just a few hours, this place that had been nothing more than a house to him, had begun to feel like a home.
“The burn victim,” he said into the phone, “speak up.”
“He was just brought here with third-degree burns, what do I do?”
“Third degree?”
“Yes!”
“First of all calm the hell down. Secure his airway first and begin intubation.”
“The trachea is already swollen,” the resident reported a few moments later.
“Then perform a cricothyroidotomy. When you’re done, set up IV lines with 2 liters of warm saline hydration. Then immediately start to dress the burn. Tell the Head Nurse to immediately contact the burn center to get them out of there. Make sure you take note of his blood circulation as you work. If burn contracture begins immediately perform an escharotomy.”
He kept giving out instructions as he guided the resident until she came over to the table with plates each filled with some biscuits and eggs. She flashed a smile at him as she sat down and for a second, it cost him his train of thought. Only when the resident began to bark into his receiver did he recover himself. He rounded up the instructions and drew the plate to himself.
“Thank you for the meal,” he said to her, and after a few moments, she responded.
“Thank you for helping me out last night. How did you find me?”
“I searched for you,” he said and kept eating. Soon he was done and rose with his plate to head over to the sink. He subconsciously began to clear all the mess that she had made, and the reminder of her messy kitchen habits made his heart swell with emotion.
“I’ll do it.” She stood up, but he sent her a cold glance. She immediately fell back into her seat before it occurred to the both of them that he had scared her.
A strange silence ensued before he began his questioning. “You seem to like that drink,” he said, just as the hollow sound of the emptied bottle began to come through her straw.
She shyly out it away. “You have so many of it, do you drink it every day?”
“Not really, but I always ensure I have a supply in my fridge. It’s an old habit.”
“Oh, you must really like it then.”
“I don’t… but my fiancé did. Seeing it and consuming it reminds me of her. It’s a little token of her presence that I need to remain sane.”
“Oh,” she said in a remorseful tone. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
He didn’t respond.
Soon he was done and came over to take his seat. Just as he expected, she began to speak before he did, wringing her hands in anxiety.
“I’ll leave in a few hours,” she said. “And I truly didn’t intend to run away without paying for my bills. I just wanted to secure my job and then return.”
“But you lost it,” he said. At first, he saw the flash of suspicion in her eyes that he was mocking her, but when she met his gaze she saw that he was not.
“You found out.”
“I did.”
Silence.
“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.
“I’ll get another job, I don’t have much savings but I’ll be able to scrimp together as much as possible. I’ll sign an agreement if I have to
with the hospital, but I will pay them back… and you. Thank you for your kindness.”
He stared at her, and when she finally found the courage to lift her head, he said. “I’ll recommend you for a job at the hospital.”
“What?”
“The pay there is decent and much better than whatever you may make working anywhere else in this town.”
A few moments passed yet again, and then he rose to his feet. “Take your time to consider it,” he said. “I have to return now.”
“What could I possibly work as?” she asked. “I have no medical training.”
“Leave that to me,” he said and walked out of the house. It was only when he’d entered his car that it occurred to him that she might run away again. He tried to dig deep into his memory of his understanding of her personality, but when he couldn’t find any assurance, he sighed deeply and hoped for the best.
Chapter 9
Joan took the rest of the day to make her decision. But few hours after Caleb left, the symptoms of a fever began to plague her. She found some medicine for it in his cabinet and went to sleep. When she awoke, a fear gripped her heart at the decision that she knew she was going to make.
“It’ll be for just a little while,” she told herself and placed the call to the hospital to speak to Caleb.
“Do you want me to come over now?” she asked after she had relayed her choice to him.
“No need,” he said. “I’m already home.”
She jumped up from the bed and confused at what to do, she just went to stand awkwardly by the kitchen table as he came in. She hurried to take a bag of groceries from him and then went to place it on the counter, rummaging through the bag to see what he’d bought. It was all the essentials and some things that she particularly liked but she didn’t say a word.
“I forgot to remind you to restock,” she said and began to arrange the produce in the empty fridge. “You had very little food left.”
“Hm,” was his response, and she watched as he went over to the sink to wash his hands.
“What do you want to eat?” she asked him, and he glanced at her.
“What do you want to eat? I’ll order in.”
“Uh, no need. I can just cook something. I…”
“Joan,” he called and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Do you not realize that you’re still a patient?”
She shut her mouth then and listened as he placed the call. She told him what she wanted when he asked and soon they were sat at the table, eating in silence.
“About the job,” she began.
“What about it?”
“Can I ask of what it will entail? I can clean the wards, or help out the nurses.”
He was silent for a while before he spoke. “You’ll work as a resident doctor,” he said, and her fork clattered from her hand and onto the plate. He looked up at the clash of steel against ceramic.
“A resident doctor? Are you joking?”
He shook his head. “We need more doctors,” he said.
“But I’m not a doctor.”
“I’m sure you are,” he said, and she stared at him.
“Do you accept?”
“Of course I do not! Are you setting me up to kill someone?”
“Okay then,” he said.
“What do you mean by okay?”
“You have to figure out some other way to pay for your bill as that is the only job available to you.”
She was astounded. “What kind of hospital do you run? How can someone be put in such a position without proof of capability?”
He had the audacity to smile, as though he had just recalled a private joke in his head. “That’s one of the perks of working in such a small hospital,” he said, the bureaucracy rampant in bigger ones are non-existent here. Did you take any medicine today?”
“Yes, I did,” she answered absentmindedly. “Are you serious about this or are you just toying with me?”
He ignored her question, but she was too distracted to notice. “Which ones did you take?” he asked.
She informed him, but then lifted her gaze to his when she saw that he had suddenly gone quiet. “How did you know to take those drugs?” he asked. She opened her mouth to respond but no words came to her.
“I guess I just know,” she eventually responded. “My mother used to be a nurse.”
“That’s a lie,” he said.
“Why would I lie to you?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Yet.”
“I do not accept your offer,” she said.
“Then be prepared to pay every dime you owe.”
Joan felt tears fill her eyes, but she lowered her head to hide them from view. “You’ll be given a supervisor for a few weeks,” he said. “And if by then your expertise is proven, you can stay on for as long as you like. And if not, I’ll let you go.
She perked up at the clause. “You’ll let me go?”
“Was that all you heard?” he sounded amused.
“Will you let me go if I’m not up to standard?”
“I will,” he said and she brought out her hand for a handshake agreement. “I’ll do as you say.”
Chapter 10
From his peripheral vision, Caleb watched as Joan adjusted and readjusted the collars of her white coat.
It had been three full weeks since her surgery, and he was quite confident of her physical state, however, she seemed so nervous and it worried him that perhaps he was making a mistake. Regardless, he refused to change his mind.
When they arrived at the ER, he called together all the present nurses and residents. She stood behind him just as he was about to begin speaking, but when he noticed it, he stepped to the side and gave her a stern look. She raised her head then and plastered a smile on her face for the world.
“This is Doctor Joan Kim,” he said, and looks of astonishment reverberated throughout the room.
He stated Aisha’s medical qualifications, right from the schools she attended to the experience she had gained over the years. When he was done, the whole room had their eyes on her but Joan didn’t even notice. She had widened her gaze on him. He turned around to leave and she went after him.
“Dr. Pace, Dr. Pace!”
He didn’t stop, so she grabbed his arm and jerked him around. Caleb gazed calmly down at his wrinkled coat and reached out to straighten it before turning his gaze to her.
“What is the matter?”
“How could you introduce me that way?” she asked. “Are you trying to turn me into a fraud?”
He stared into her eyes, his heart aching so much for both himself and her, but none of this he could show. What was the truth? Was she truly pretending or had she really forgotten it all? Was he even doing the right thing by forcing all of this on her? What was he to do?
Without a thought, he lifted his hands to her face but at his touch, she flinched and took a step back.
“Where is the supervisor you promised me?”
“He’ll be watching you,” was all he said.
Her voice went up a notch. “When do I meet him?”
Caleb opened his mouth to respond, but then sirens and screech of an ambulance drew their attention towards the entrance doors. Three nurses came running out of the ER to meet the ambulance, and soon a gurney was rolling in a patient.
“Dr. Caleb,” the Head Nurse hurried up to him. “The patient has a hemorrhage from a ruptured spleen.”
“His vitals?” he asked.
“Blood pressure is 70/40, and heart rate is 140.”
He turned his gaze to Joan. “Congratulations Dr. Graves, you’ve just received your first patient.”
“What?”
Caleb turned around and began to walk away. “Dr. Pace!”
He could hear the despair in her voice, but he refused to turn back. It was only after he heard her footsteps run into the ER that he turned around and saw the Head Nurse watching him.
He spoke to her with his eyes and she nodded, before hurrying into
the ER.
Call me the instant she is unable to handle it.
Chapter 11
Joan headed over to the man with an ultrasound machine at hand, and almost collapsed upon his examination. He truly had a fatal hemorrhage from a ruptured spleen. Cursing Dr. Pace and everything he was in her mind, she tried her best to remain calm and called over one of the residents.
Taming The Billionaire Page 11