Lakeside Hospital Box Set

by Cara Malone

  “I am, too,” she answered. “How does it feel to be a doctor?”

  “Amazing,” Megan said. She grabbed Alex’s hand and said, “Now I have everything I ever wanted.”

  “Barf,” Ivy interjected as she led Chloe and their parents over to join the group. “Get a room.”

  Megan laughed and kissed Alex’s hand, where a sparkling diamond ring circled her finger, and then they all pulled a second table over, joining the two so everyone could sit together. Ivy and Chloe introduced their parents to the group and Krys was amused at how much they mirrored the girls.

  Ivy’s family – except for her rambunctious brother – was stoic and reserved like Ivy had been when Krys first met her. Meanwhile, Chloe’s mom, dad, and teenage sister were all very expressive, hugging her and jumping right into the conversation with vigor. That was going to make an interesting family dynamic if one day they all became in-laws.

  “What do you two think?” Lily asked the new arrivals Krys’s question. “How does it feel?”

  “Terrifying,” Chloe said with a nervous laugh. “I’m allowed to practice medicine all by myself now. I can’t believe it.”

  “I’ll be right by your side,” Lily said. “You’ll do fine.”

  “Of course you will,” Ivy agreed. “And I can’t wait to do some cutting.”

  “Surgeons,” Krys said. “You’re all alike. What about you, Megan? Where are you doing your residency?”

  “At the coroner’s office,” she said. “I’ve been keeping in touch with Dr. Markovich ever since our medical school rotations and he agreed to mentor me on top of the usual residency. Although that might have to happen in my sleep for the first couple of months because I don’t know when I’ll find the time.” She linked her arm in Alex’s and added, “Wedding planning is way more work than we were expecting.”

  “I offered to plan it for you two,” her mother said. “I did warn you.”

  “And we appreciate the offer, but we want to have our wedding,” Megan said with a smile. “Not yours.”

  “July, right?” Krys asked.

  She’d been surprised and honored when she received their Save the Date in her hospital mailbox, and that was another date she’d been happy to request time off work for, although she suddenly realized that her RSVP card had gotten buried under a pile of medical journals in her apartment.

  “Yep,” Alex said, giving Megan a quick kiss on the cheek. “And you better not show up stag.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Krys asked. She hadn’t even begun to consider the possibility of bringing a date. The idea seemed preposterous, in fact. When would she have the time to find someone?

  Megan put on an act of hardship, ticking off all the reasons why Krys should bring a date. “It throws off the caterers and the seating arrangements will be a mess. Everything we order, from party favors to linens, seems to come in even numbers…”

  “You’re just trying to couple everyone up because you’re in love,” Krys said.

  “And what’s wrong with that?” Megan asked, putting her arm around Alex. “Everyone should be so lucky.”

  “Seriously, you’re nauseating,” Ivy said, but she scooted her chair a little closer to Chloe’s and slid her hand more covertly into her girlfriend’s beneath the table.

  The conversation turned to Ivy and Chloe’s plans next. They’d finally decided after half a year of bouncing back and forth between their two apartments that it was time to take the plunge and move in together, and their families were going to help them relocate while they were in town this weekend.

  Ivy was just discussing the challenges of moving in together and beginning a rigorous surgical residency all in the same week when Krys felt her phone vibrating in the pocket of her pants.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, excusing herself from the table. She didn’t get many phone calls. Her parents called from Denver once a week, but never on a Saturday afternoon, so that meant only one thing – either the hospital or the clinic needed her. She could feel her heart rate increasing already.

  It turned out to be Russell, asking if she could come in and cover the free clinic after one of the other doctors got called in to work an extra shift at his day job. Krys said she’d be happy to, and then she went back to the table to say goodbye to the new graduates.

  “I’m sorry to bow out, but I’ve got some patients waiting for me at the free clinic,” she said, trying to ignore the disapproving look Lily was giving her. “Congratulations, everyone. It was so good to see you graduate, and I’m proud of all of you.”

  Megan, Ivy and Chloe had come a long way since Krys met them in the early years of their medical education, and she had no doubt they’d go on to become fine doctors. As such, she knew they would understand why she needed to leave.

  They all said goodbye, and then Krys headed out of the tent. Behind her, she heard Ivy saying, “It just made sense to move in together, although I do have a study carrel reserved at the library in case I need to get away to catch up on my reading.”

  Krys smirked and just before she got out of earshot, she heard Chloe quip, “We haven’t even moved in together yet and she’s already making plans to escape.”

  2

  Darcy

  “Are you still having pain when you wake up?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Darcy Cosgrove said, her words partially obscured with a groan. She was laying on her back on a brightly colored mat and her physical therapist was pushing on the sole of her foot to bend and stretch her leg.

  The pain had slowly transformed over the last few months from a sharp, searing one to more of a dull, annoying ache – both upon waking and during her sessions with the therapist – but it still wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world. After eight sessions, Darcy knew exactly what to expect from physical therapy, but she’d be glad when she didn’t need it anymore, along with the embarrassing cane she had to lug around with her.

  “That’s to be expected,” her therapist said, releasing her foot slowly to the ground. “It’s just a result of your muscles tightening while you sleep. Are you doing your exercises every day?”

  The therapist – her name was Amanda but Darcy always called her Miss Blackburn– extended her hand to Darcy and helped her get up from the floor. They’d just spent the last forty-five minutes running through a series of exercises designed to strengthen and restore Darcy’s thigh muscle after it had been sliced open by a large, unfortunate piece of shrapnel in her final tour of duty.

  Darcy was doing everything she could to restore her body to full functionality, but no matter how many times she did the exercises Miss Blackburn gave her, she was never going to be fit for active duty again.

  “Yes,” she said with a little more edge in her voice than was warranted. Darcy was frustrated by the situation and her bad luck more than by the therapy itself, but sometimes intense physical strain caused her emotional strain to rear its head as well.

  She was lucky that Miss Blackburn turned out to be a pretty good shrink as well as a physical therapist, and she was always ready to listen while they worked together.

  “Sounds like you’re reaching your limit for this session,” she said. “Why don’t we call it a day?”

  “Sounds good,” Darcy said, reaching for the water bottle she’d brought along with her. Physical therapy wasn’t exactly like boot camp, but it wasn’t entirely unlike it, either.

  “What have you got going on for the rest of your day?” Miss Blackburn asked as she grabbed a tablet and started jotting down a few notes from their session.

  “You’re going to laugh,” Darcy said.

  “At what?” Miss Blackburn asked.

  “You know how my brother’s been pestering me to get out there and make friends?” Darcy asked. In truth, she’d been the one who had pestered Daniel to help her make connections, but Darcy thought the story was funnier – or maybe just less pathetic – if it sounded like he was forcing her hand. Miss Blackburn nodded and Darcy said, “Well, he sugg
ested I try some of the meet-up groups around Evanston and Chicago. I found some people who call themselves the Adventurers, and they do something different and quirky every week.”

  “Why would I laugh at that?” Miss Blackburn asked. “That sounds awesome.”

  “This week’s outing is rock climbing,” Darcy said, picking up her cane from where she’d rested it against the wall and waving it at her therapist. “How do you think I’m going to do?”

  Miss Blackburn didn’t give her the satisfaction of laughing at her situation. Instead, she responded with a very reasonable therapist’s answer. “People make accommodations for all sorts of disabilities, you know. As long as you’re not in pain, it’s okay to push yourself a little bit, and rock climbing is a great way to work on developing your upper body strength.”

  Darcy smiled and said, “You’re no fun.”

  “You won’t have that cane forever, you know,” Miss Blackburn reminded her. “It’s just a tool – not a crutch.”

  “Very clever,” Darcy said.

  The rock climbing group turned out to be a bunch of thrill-seekers. Darcy wouldn’t have been out of place among them before her injury – being a combat medic in the army necessitated a certain degree of affinity for adrenaline – but thanks to her reduced mobility, they left her literally in the dust.

  The group met at an indoor rock climbing facility in Chicago and Darcy recognized a couple of them from the meet-ups she’d gone to before. She found the idea of making friends in this way silly, and so far it had been less than productive, but her brother was right – she had to try something to get her out of the house.

  Darcy had been home from Iraq for three months, living in her dad’s spare bedroom while he flew all over the country as a commercial pilot and was hardly ever home. Going to physical therapy once a week was hardly enough to keep her mind occupied, and being honorably discharged from the military - where she’d built her career over the last decade - was a hard thing to wrap her head around.

  It wasn’t until her leg started to heal and she was able to take her mind off the pain that she realized that not only had her career been ended, but also her friendships. Every relationship she’d built over the last ten years had been severed the moment she was forced into retirement.

  So she went to movie night, played coffee house chess, attended a book club, and now she was sitting at a table pushed up against one wall, watching a bunch of strangers climb up a rock wall that she didn’t feel physically ready to tackle herself. All in the name of getting back out there and figuring out what kind of life she was going to lead next.

  The people in her meet-up group were perfectly nice.

  Amy, the soccer mom who dropped the kids off with a babysitter once a week to try new things, stuck around the table with Darcy for a few minutes to chat. Freddie, who Darcy could tell was absolutely dying to conquer the rock wall the moment they stepped foot inside the building, did his best to keep her company for a while. But in the end, she sent them all away and told them not to worry about her.

  She’d sit this one out and have real fun at the next outing.

  Darcy stayed for about an hour, just long enough to see Freddie spider monkey his way up the wall and then holler in triumph as he repelled back down. Then she said her goodbyes, picked up her cane, and was secretly relieved to head home.

  The little ranch house was empty as usual and as soon as Darcy climbed out of her truck, leaning on her cane to keep her balance, she could hear her dog barking inside. That never failed to put a smile on her face, and Darcy ambled up the stone steps to the front door as fast as she could.

  As soon as she opened the door, a thirteen-year-old golden retriever jumped up and put his paws on her chest as if he was still a spry little puppy.

  “Hey, Harvey,” Darcy said, ruffling his ears. “I’ve been gone three hours and you’re acting like I abandoned you. Don’t worry, I missed you too, buddy.”

  She let him lick her hands – her dad hated that and Harvey took advantage of Darcy’s lax rules whenever he could. She gave him a vigorous pet and told him he was a very good boy, indeed! because everyone needed to hear that once in a while.

  Then she grabbed his collar and led him back into the house. Ever since Darcy came home, Harvey stuck by her side everywhere she walked, and as long as she was home he would be on her like glue. It was a problem at first, when she was still recovering from her surgery and hadn’t graduated from a walker to her cane. She was constantly stumbling over him and trying not to go crashing to the floor on her bad leg, but Darcy couldn’t argue with Harvey’s enthusiasm.

  He’d been her dog when she was a teenager, a gift on her fifteenth birthday that she’d known at the time was an attempt by her father to buy her affections after her parents’ divorce. Not that he needed to make the effort – Darcy had always been firmly on his side.

  When she enlisted, though, Harvey became her dad’s dog and it had been almost as sad to say goodbye to him as it was to leave the rest of her family for basic training. Well, everyone except her mom, who didn’t even show up to see Darcy off.

  But when she came home, Harvey made it clear that he never forgot who his master was. The first thing he did when Darcy came home from the hospital was jump into her lap and lick her entire face while her dad stood aside and tried not to gag at the sight of it.

  Harvey was Darcy’s favorite part about this new civilian life. He was old, she was infirm, and they were two peas in a pod.

  She went into the kitchen and pulled a dog biscuit out of a jar on the counter, letting Harvey chomp at it and leaving crumbs all over the linoleum for her to clean up later. Then when he was finished, she grabbed the leash hanging on the hook by the side door and said, “Want to go for a walk?”

  The words were barely out of her mouth before he was jumping around her all over again. Darcy clipped the leash to his collar and they headed outside. This was how she spent most of her afternoons when her dad was out of town, taking leisurely walks around the neighborhood with Harvey.

  There was a dog park just near enough that Darcy could make it there with her cane in about twenty minutes, and she took Harvey there a couple of times a week. Now that the summer was coming into full swing, she’d gotten in the habit of stopping at a little ice cream parlor on the way home and buying them both cones.

  “Come on, Harvey,” she said as they headed up the sidewalk. “Let’s go to the dog park and see if we can pick up a couple of chicks. I’m a babe magnet, you know – I could probably help you out.”

  3

  Krys

  Krys had a nice time at the graduation ceremony, but she never felt more at home than when she was in the ER at Lakeside Hospital.

  The week following the graduation went by in a blur of patients, ambulances, and clinic hours. It was early June and that meant all sorts of warm-weather injuries to keep Krys busy. There were bee stings and broken limbs, heat exhaustion and poison ivy. Krys took great pride in her ability to fix it all, moving swiftly from one bed to the next all day long.

  Sometimes she thought of it as a dance between herself, the other doctors and nurses, and the patients - exquisitely choreographed and absolutely vital for everyone to carry out their own steps correctly. There was no room for a misstep here or a stumble there when a kid in bed three had a bee sting that swelled her face to the size of a softball and the teenager in bed twelve was hissing in pain from allowing a firecracker to go off in his hand.

  That was when Krys was at her best – as both a choreographer and a dancer, sending nurses to check on patients and triaging everyone as they came in to assess the severity of their issues. She’d gotten a reputation at Lakeside over the last five years – everyone knew her speed and efficiency, and a lot of the medical students admired her for the way she balanced patient care with bedside manner.

  Of course, sometimes it was a little less graceful than a dance.

  Sometimes there were half a dozen patient monitors going off all at once
while doctors and nurses hustled across the floor, bumping into each other as they went and forgetting everything in the world except what it took to save lives.

  Krys didn’t care which was the flavor of the day – she loved it all. There was the feeling of adrenaline in her veins and the responsibility of holding patients’ lives in her hands. Sometimes she didn’t have time to eat or sit down from the moment she hit the ER floor until she clocked out up to twelve hours later, and she barely even felt it until she crashed on her couch at home.

  The ambulance bay doors never stopped opening, and Krys never tired of running over to meet her newest patient, especially when someone interesting came through the doors.

  Krys was standing at the nurses’ station, jotting some speedy notes about her last case, when a set of paramedics came through the door with a man on a gurney and called for help. There was nothing unusual about that, until Krys got closer and saw that he had a Bic pen sticking out of his throat.

  “What the hell?” Krys said as she took her place beside the gurney to assess the patient.

  Her first thought was that he’d been stabbed in an office supply store, but the ink had been removed, leaving a hollow plastic tube, and the pen was meticulously placed two finger widths above the sternal notch. This was an intentional tracheotomy, and it looked like it was straight out of a ridiculous medical drama show.

  “Who’s playing MacGyver with this guy?” Krys barked, then pointed the paramedics to an open bed and snapped on a pair of gloves.

  “Me,” said a tall, trim woman who was following behind the gurney, looking concerned for the man. “He was having an allergic reaction to seafood.”