Cocky Doc: A Hero Club Novel

by Samantha Lind

  COCKY DOC

  SAMANTHA LIND

  Copyright © 2020 by Samantha Lind and Cocky Hero Club, Inc.

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  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the authors’ imaginations. Any resemblance to actual persons, things, living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

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  Editor: Amy Briggs ~ Briggs Consulting LLC

  Proofreading: by Nicole Bailey ~ Proof Before You Publish

  Photo Credit: www.TheStockAlchemist.com

  Created with Vellum

  For Christine

  Thank you for everything!

  CONTENTS

  Introduction

  1. Drew

  2. Megan

  3. Drew

  4. Megan

  5. Drew

  6. Megan

  7. Drew

  8. Megan

  9. Drew

  10. Megan

  11. Drew

  12. Megan

  13. Drew

  14. Megan

  15. Drew

  16. Megan

  17. Drew

  18. Megan

  19. Drew

  20. Megan

  About the Author

  Also by Samantha Lind

  Acknowledgments

  INTRODUCTION

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  Cocky Doc is a standalone story inspired by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s British Bedmate. It's published as part of the Cocky Hero Club world, a series of original works, written by various authors, and inspired by Keeland and Ward's New York Times bestselling series.

  1

  DREW

  “DR. MONTGOMERY to the children’s wing. Dr. Montgomery to the children’s wing.” I hear the page over the hospital’s intercom. I glance down at the pager attached to my scrub pants and see the message was sent two minutes ago.

  It’s never a good sign when I get called on the hospital’s intercom system, so I quickly take off from the ER and head for the stairwell. I see I don’t have time to wait on the elevator since there are at least ten people waiting on it as I push the door open and bolt up the stairs. It takes me ninety or so seconds to reach the pediatric floor and arrive at the nurses’ station. “Talk to me,” I call out to Brianna, the lead nurse working today.

  “Your patient in four’s vitals are all over the place the last thirty minutes. I’ve tried everything I can think of and they won’t stable out.”

  “All right, I‘ll go take a look,” I tell her before turning and heading down the hall to room four. “Knock, knock,” I say as I rap my knuckles against the door before pushing it open. “Mack! I hear you’re giving the nurses a run for their money today,” I greet my five-year-old patient.

  “Something like that,” she wheezes from the hospital bed.

  “Thanks for coming, Dr. Montgomery,” Mackenzie’s mother, Heather, says from her daughter’s bedside. She looks nervous as the monitors’ alarms are going off with the current rhythm of Mackenzie’s heart.

  “Of course. Let’s take a look and see what we can do to make things work.” I reach up and silence the alarms on the monitors, then place the tips of my stethoscope in my ears, rub the end against my palm to help warm it up, and slip it beneath Mack’s hospital gown. Her breathing is labored, and the rhythm of her heart is not normal. “I’m going to up her oxygen support and adjust her meds, for now. Hopefully that will stabilize her today,” I say, doing my best to assure Heather.

  “Any news on her placement on the transplant list?” Heather asks as she pushes the hairs that have fallen into Mack’s eyes back.

  “Nothing new today. I’ll make a call and see if we can get moved up at all with today’s changes.”

  “Thank you. As much as I wish for a heart to become available today for her, it breaks my heart knowing what has to happen for that to take place.”

  “I know. It’s never an easy situation, but I’ll see what I can do about her placement on the transplant list,” I assure her as I document everything in the computer, sending my new orders to the nurses so they can get the medications adjusted. “Has the child life department been in to see you guys yet?” I ask, knowing that when they visit patients it can help with their spirits, and that can do miraculous things with helping stabilize vitals.

  “Not yet,” Heather tells me as she takes a seat in the chair next to the bed.

  “I’ll see what I can do to get someone up here. Maybe once Mack’s vitals stabilize, they can take her down to the playroom for a bit.”

  “I’m sure she’d enjoy that,” Heather tells me, just as my pager vibrates against my hip. I finish up my last note and sign out of the computer before looking down to see who’s paging me. I close my eyes so that Heather nor Mackenzie see me roll them after reading the page. It’s a nurse from another department paging me for a quick fuck in the on-call room. Unfortunately for her, I’m no longer interested. I went there once already and regretted it immediately. She’s been nothing but clingy since and won’t leave me alone.

  “Don’t hesitate to call the nurse or have them page me if anything changes. I’ll be back this afternoon to check in and see how Mack’s adjusting to the med change, and hopefully have news on the list.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Montgomery,” Heather says to me before I leave the room.

  2

  MEGAN

  I ENTER the staff locker room, stopping at my locker. I still can’t believe that I’m here and working my dream job. Child Life Specialist my badge reads. Having been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at eighteen months, I’m no stranger to hospitals or child life specialists. I used to love it when they’d visit with me during my hospital stays, or even just routine visits to the doctors. The really good ones had a way with helping keep me calm when life got me down, and that is exactly what I aim to do for the kids here. If I can make an impact on just one child going through something hard, I’ll have fulfilled my goals.

  “Are you Megan?” a woman asks from my left. She has a bounce to her step, one of those always happy and bubbly people, who can’t help but brighten any room they enter. She’s got shoulder-length hair that bounces with each step she takes toward me and appears to be in her mid-thirties, if I had to guess.

  “I am, you must be Lucy. It’s nice to meet you,” I tell her, reaching my hand out to shake hers. “HR told me to find you this morning.”

  “Yep, I’m excited to show you around and get you out on your own. We’ve got some great patients up here.”

  “I’m excited to work with them. All the new-hire paperwork and classes last week were boring, but I knew they were necessary for me to get to the fun parts of the job.”

  “Ugh, don’t remind me of all of those videos,” she groans. “How about we get going and get to that fun?” she suggests.

  I place my backpack and jacket in my locker and grab my water bottle from the holder hanging off the side of my chair.

  “I’m just going to fill my water bottle quickly,” I tell Lucy as I roll over to the water fountain and top off my bottle before heading out to the nurses’ station to get my assignments for the day. I was released to work with patients just this week and still need to learn my way around the children’s wings.

  “Hey, Brianna,” Lucy calls as we
approach the nurses’ station. “This is Megan, our new CLS for the wing. I’ll be showing her around today and then she’ll be on her own.”

  “Hello, nice to meet you,” I greet Brianna.

  “Oh, hi! Nice to meet you! I heard we finally hired someone, so welcome.”

  “Thank you, I look forward to working together.”

  “Do you have a list of patients for us?” Lucy asks Brianna.

  “I do, and Dr. Montgomery just asked if we could make sure that his patient in four can have someone visit her once her vitals stabilize.”

  “Absolutely, just let me know once they do and I’ll make sure one of us makes it in to see her. Anyone else a priority today?” Lucy asks, scanning the list on the tablet before she hands it over to me to look at.

  “The little boy, Stanley, in room one, loves playing Legos, so just be prepared for that,” Brianna tells me. “Otherwise, I think seeing them in any order should be fine.”

  “Got it!” I pull up Stanley’s chart to take a quick look at things and get a quick overview of his case. “Should we start with Stanley?” I ask Lucy.

  “He’s the perfect patient to start with. Let’s grab some Legos and head to his room. Did HR give you any kind of tour yet?”

  “A short one. I was shown where the staff locker room was, and the supply rooms, and that was about it.”

  “Okay, perfect. Let’s head to the supply room for the Legos,” Lucy says as she heads down the hall.

  I pull out two tubs of Legos and balance them on my lap.

  “Do you want me to take one of those for you?” she offers.

  “I’m good. Plus, I need to be able to do this on my own when you’re not with me.”

  “Of course,” she agrees with me, smiling.

  We stop at the partially open door and knock against the frame before pushing the door open and rolling in.

  “Hi! Who are you?” a little voice greets me from across the room.

  “Hi Stanley, I’m Megan. I heard you like to play Legos, and I wanted to know if you’d like to help me build something today?”

  “Legos!” he says excitedly, popping up from the side of his bed.

  “That’s right, Legos!” I match his excitement.

  “Hi Lucy!” He adds as an afterthought.

  “Hi Stanley. How are you today?” she asks him as I roll over to a small table in his room and place the two bins on a chair next to it.

  “Come on over and we can play,” I tell him as I motion him to join me. He reaches behind him and grabs his IV stand, pulling it behind him as he walks over to the table. I take in his gait and appearance. Thanks to a quick look at his chart before, I know he’s here as he undergoes chemotherapy for a rare immune deficiency. According to his chart, he’s responding well to the treatments so far, which is great.

  I uncover the two bins and start pulling out some of the building blocks, setting them on the table in front of me. “What’re your favorite things to build?” I ask.

  “Towers. I once built one that was taller than my bed!” he eagerly tells me.

  “Wow! That’s really tall. Do you think you could build one that is taller than me?”

  I watch as he looks me up and down before giving me his answer. “I’m sure I can,” he says confidently.

  “Let’s give it a try,” I encourage him. I pull out one of the larger base plates and start lining it with different size bricks, building it up layer by layer.

  “We might run out of Legos,” Stanley comments after we’ve been building the tower for a good solid twenty minutes. Lucy sits to the side just observing us, letting me take the lead on the visit, which I greatly appreciate.

  “I happen to know where to get some more, if we do,” I tell him. “If you want to keep building, I’ll go get us a couple more tubs.”

  “Okay,” he agrees.

  “I’ll stay here unless you want my help,” Lucy offers as I turn my chair around.

  “I’m good, thanks!” I tell her cheerily.

  Stanley’s focus stays on the Legos as I leave his room and head back to get more bricks. I do as before and grab us a few tubs, stacking them on my lap before turning to head back to his room.

  Just as I’m exiting the supply room, someone catches one of my wheels and trips over me, falling on top of the bins in my lap. I quickly stop my chair, not wanting to run the poor man over or potentially hurt him if he was to fall.

  “I’m so sorry!” I exclaim. “Are you hurt? Do you need a doctor?” I ask rapidly. My pulse skyrockets as I worry that I’ve just hurt him. He stands and I place the tubs on the floor next to me.

  “I’m fine, it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. It will teach me to text and walk at the same time,” the man says as he stands next to me. I take in his white coat and inwardly groan. He’s obviously a doctor. A very handsome doctor. A very handsome, young-looking doctor.

  “Are you sure?” I ask, still skeptical that he’s not telling me the full truth.

  “I promise,” he says as he lifts his hand up, “scouts honor.”

  I look him over once again and don’t see any bleeding or broken bones protruding anywhere.

  “I’m Drew,” he says, dropping his hand, offering it to me to shake.

  “Megan,” I reply, accepting his hand.

  “Nice to meet you Megan. Are you new here?”

  “Yes, just started this week. I’m the new Child Life Specialist.”

  “Oh, great. I need you to see one of my patients. She can use some cheering up.”

  “Sure, what room is she in?” I ask, pulling my tablet from the pocket in my seat.

  “Four. Do you have a second, I can tell you all about Mack?”

  “I was actually in the middle of working with the patient in room one, we were almost out of Legos and I challenged him to build a tower that was taller than me, but Brianna already told Lucy and me that you’d requested someone go visit her later today, so we have her on the list.”

  “Sounds exciting. I can tell you all about Mack another time. It was great to meet you,” he tells me before heading down the hall. “And sorry about not paying attention. It was totally my fault.”

  “Nice to meet you, as well!” I call out at his retreating back. I watch as he disappears down the hall and around the corner. Once he’s out of sight, I reach down and pick up the bins, once again balancing them on my legs. I carefully roll down the hallway to Stanley’s room.

  3

  DREW

  I STROLL UP TO THE NURSES’ station in the ER, grab a tablet, and look over the patient’s chart who I’ve been paged to give a consult on.

  “Dr. Montgomery, nice to see you, mate,” Dr. Simon Hogue greets from the other side of the counter.

  “What the hell are you doing around these parts?” I ask.

  “Ah, they needed someone to fill in a shift and rang me this morning. I guess the stomach bug is working its way through the ER.”

  “Yes, yes, it is,” I agree with him. “Everyone has been dropping like flies. How’s life treating you? The girls doing well?”

  “They’re doing great. Eleanor just started crawling the other day and Elizabeth is not far behind her. Has made my life bloody hell, stressing over keeping them safe. I’ve been baby proofing the house like crazy the past few days,” he tells me, a big goofy grin filling his face.

  “Fatherhood looks good on you, man.”

  “Thanks, mate. I think it fits me well.”

  “So, what’s going on with the patient?”

  “One year old, male,” he jumps right into work mode, giving me the run down on the young boy and what’s going on. We walk together to the exam room he’s in, along with both of his parents.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Brown, this is Dr. Montgomery. He’s the Chief Pediatric Cardiologist here at Memorial. I’ve asked him to consult on Bradley. I’m worried he has what is known as CHD-Congenital Heart Disease, but need Dr. Montgomery, here, to confirm that for us.”

&nb
sp; “Heart disease,” Mrs. Brown says on a gasp.

  “I know the name can be a shock and scary, but let me be the first person to tell you that people with CHD have a long life expectancy. While there isn’t a cure, we do have treatment options available, depending on the severity. Before we can give you the official diagnosis, we need to run some more tests on Bradley.”

  “Okay,” Mr. Brown says as he wraps his arm around his wife and pulls her into an embrace. “Please, do whatever you need to do to help him,” he tells me as he holds back his emotions. I’ve seen this exact scenario more times than I can count in my career. Delivering this type of news is never easy, but part of the job that must be done.

  “Absolutely, we’ll start with another EKG and go from there. Has he been a healthy baby since birth?”

  “He’s always been susceptible to getting sick. Mostly just colds that linger.”

  “And what was his birth weight?” I ask as I press my stethoscope to his chest so I can listen to his heart.

  “Seven pounds,” Mrs. Brown informs me.

  “And how has his weight gain gone?”

  “Slow, our pediatrician had us supplementing with formula since he was about a week old.”

  “Do you still breast feed?” I ask as I place my stethoscope back around my neck.

  “I do.”

  “Good, and are you still supplementing with the formula?”

  “Yes, he also eats a few things. It’s been a slow process introducing foods to him the past few months. We waited until he was nine months old to start.”

  “Not a problem. His slow weight gains, along with being susceptible to colds, specifically if any affected his lungs, are both signs of CHD.”

  “How long will the tests take?” Mr. Brown asks.

  “I’ll get the order in now and place a rush on it. Hopefully we’ll have the results within an hour or so. I’ll be back once we do,” I assure them before following Simon out of the exam room.