“SO, HOW WAS YOUR SUNDAY?” Lucy asks over lunch.
“Good. The usual, laundry, groceries, prepping for the week,” I tell her nonchalantly.
“So, you wouldn’t know anything about my cousin skipping out on dinner at my grandmother’s house?” She smiles as if she already knows something.
I can instantly feel my cheeks heating in what I’m sure is a lobster-red blush filling my face and giving me away in a second flat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feign my innocence, shoving a bite of my sandwich in my mouth.
“Mhmmm,” she mumbles around a bite of her own lunch. “Tyler said they got together in the morning for a six-mile run, but Drew said he had plans with someone for the afternoon. Said it was a date.”
“Oh that. Yeah, we might have had dinner together last night,” I tell her once I’ve swallowed down my bite. The date was so simple, but amazing. Drew showed up with some takeout that we shared as we talked and got to know one another more, between make out sessions like we were two teens trying to sneak in moments while our parents were in the other room.
“I knew it!” she exclaims, smacking her hand against the table. “You better thank me and make me your maid of honor when the two of you fall in love and get married.”
“Slow your horses there, it was one date,” I exclaim as I look around to see how many people are staring at us. Thankfully, I don’t find anyone looking our way as I turn my attention back to Lucy.
“Two,” she says, holding up her fingers. “In two days,” she enunciates. “I’d say the two of you are pretty enamored with each other. I saw how you both looked at each other all night Saturday night. I could almost see the heart eyes above both of your heads.”
“Dramatic enough?” I ask, trying to hold in a giggle and failing after a few seconds.
“Nope,” she pauses to take a sip of her drink, “just happy in my handiwork. Both of you deserve the best, and I think you’re perfect for each other. Like I said before, don’t forget to thank me when things are a happily ever after for the two of you. I’m calling it now. You’ll have a ring on your finger in eighteen months, tops, and a new last name within, oh, twelve, maybe eighteen months from then. Mark. My. Words,” she says, a shit eating grin on her lips.
“What are you marking your words for?” Drew asks as he stops at our table. He pulls the chair out next to me and takes a seat, and flashes me a quick smile. One that tells me that I’ve been on his mind just as much as he’s been on mine since we parted ways last night.
“Oh nothing,” Lucy singsongs. “Just a little thing between Megan and me,” she tells him, that huge grin still plastered to her face. “So, you skipped out on dinner last night. Where might you have been?” she asks him, turning the spotlight onto him.
“Busy. I had other plans,” he says as he gives me a questioning look. I just nod at him, hoping he understands my nod as approval to confirm that we were having dinner together.
“She already knows that we had dinner together. Apparently, your brother already filled her in,” I tell him, pausing her little information quest.
“Did he now?” he says, looking at Lucy, his eyebrow raised in question and a grin on his face like he’s onto her game.
“Ok, fine,” she says on a huff. “He might have let it slip that you had a date and I put two and two together.”
We all look at each other, and I stay quiet, waiting for who’s going to crack first.
“So, where’d you go? What’d you do?” Lucy finally asks, looking between the two of us.
“Just the basics, dinner and getting to know each other more,” Drew tells her.
I look at him and can see the lust in his eyes. I assume his thoughts are going back to last night, just as mine are. I can feel the blush creeping back up my cheeks as I think more about last night. Of how he left me feeling and how I had to take matters into my own hands when he left me ready to burst with sexual frustration.
“Do I need to leave the table? Or better yet, do the two of you need to go find an empty on call room? You’re undressing each other with your eyes and it’s a little uncomfortable,” Lucy says from across the table.
Drew breaks our eye contact and looks across the table at her. “Really, Lucy?” he says, annoyance filling his voice.
“Sorry,” she says, biting her lip. “Guess I took that a little far. But in my defense, the two of you were basically eye fucking each other.”
“On that note, I think I’m going to get back to work,” I say, placing my things back in my lunch box and moving back from the table. “Are we still on for after work?” I ask Drew before I leave and head to the locker room so I can put my lunch box away before I see my next patient.
“Of course,” Drew replies.
“See you guys later,” I tell them before rolling away as quickly as I can. I need to get away from this table before I completely burst into flames from embarrassment.
I make it over to the elevator and am waiting for it to arrive when Drew comes up beside me.
“Sorry about that. She can get a little over the top sometimes. I hope she didn’t embarrass you too much. I asked her to chill out about the two of us.”
“I’ll be fine,” I tell him, and it’s true. I’ve dealt with people gossiping or teasing me my entire life. Kids can be either really nice or really cruel, and sometimes they can be both. Nice to your face and completely opposite when you’re not around.
“Megan,” he says, the frustration evident in his voice. He rubs his hand over his face as the elevator opens and I roll into it. He steps in with me and reaches for the button for the fourth floor. The doors slide closed and thankfully we’re the only two in here. “I really am sorry about whatever Lucy said. Please don’t hold what she said against me.”
“I’m not, Drew, but I also don’t want to become the laughing stock of the hospital. I’m the new one here. I’m replaceable. You’re the golden boy, the bad-ass doctor. If HR needed to fire one of us it would be me in a heartbeat, and I can’t lose my job.”
“I completely understand that, and your reservations. Isn’t that why we agreed to take things slow last night? See where this goes. See if this even will work between the two of us. I know it feels fast, hell, last week I was pissed when my family members were trying to hook me up, but the more time we spend together, the more that I get to know you, the more I want to be around you. Talking to you, spending time together, kissing you.”
“It is,” I agree with him. He lowers himself so he’s more at my eye level rather than me having to crane my neck to look up at him. He’s done this since the day we met, without me ever having to ask him to do so, and it still catches me by surprise. It’s such a thoughtful move on his part. “She just came on kind of strong today.”
“And that stops today,” he assures me. He reaches his hand out and links our fingers together, giving mine a quick squeeze. The elevator comes to a stop and he stands, letting go of my hand at the same time. The doors slide open and he waits for me to exit first. We both head for the locker room. I put my lunch box in my locker, then fill my water bottle.
“What’s your schedule like this afternoon?” I ask Drew once I’m done getting myself ready to see patients again.
“I’ve got a procedure this afternoon, then some office hours to finish up my day.”
“Sounds like a busy afternoon.”
“Yep, the best kind,” he says, smiling as he sits on the bench in front of me. He reaches out and hits the joystick on my chair, moving me slightly closer to him. “Are we good?” he asks, concern evident in his question as he grabs both of my hands with his, holding my fingers in his large hands.
“Yeah,” I tell him. His compassion and concern as to how I’m feeling is so new to me. Granted, I’ve never had a real serious relationship before, so all of this is new to me. I just didn’t expect it from him. Thinking that he would be the type to be in a relationship makes me feel like a real asshole. I don’t like it when people
stereotype me, but here I am doing it to him. “Just a lot of change in a short amount of time. I’m not used to any of this,” I tell him honestly. He knows that this is all new to me, we talked about it last night over dinner when we decided to give things a go and date exclusively.
“I know, and we’ll go as slow as we need to. I’m here to tell you that we’re both human. We’re going to mess up. We’re going to have bad days and good days. I’m going to have to get used to making time for someone in my life that isn’t a patient or family member, so trust me when I say that I’ll probably do something to piss you off. I’m sure there will be a time that I have to miss something because I get called in for an emergency. My job has always been my first priority, and while my schedule is a little better now that I’m no longer a resident, I still have to be around an ungodly number of hours. Comes with the Chief of Pediatric Cardiology title they think I deserve to have around here.”
“I completely understand that. I’d never ask for you to give up something with your job. I know how much the patients mean to you and how much you mean to them. I’ve seen you at work. I see how much the kids love you. Mack, especially,” I say, a smile on my face at his patient who’s in-patient, probably until she gets a new heart.
“Yeah,” he says, smiling at the sound of her name. “Some patients are a little more special to me. I think it’s because of Tyler. If they remind me of him, as Mack does, then they just worm their way into my own heart. I’ve been her doctor for a while now and it kills me a little inside that I haven’t been able to fix her completely yet. I’m also very well aware that for me to fix her, another doctor has to deliver the devastating news to a family that their child has died. It’s the double-edged sword with being a cardiac surgeon. To save one life, another one has to end,” he says as he lightly squeezes me hands, and I return the gesture.
The pager clipped to his hip goes off, and he breaks our connection as he sits up and looks at it. “Looks like they’re ready for me in the procedure room.”
“Good luck,” I tell him. “Time for me to go see our favorite little Mack.”
“Have fun, let me know how she’s doing.”
“Of course. I hope she’s feeling up to going down to the playroom today,” I tell him.
“I think that’d be good for her,” he agrees. “Have a good afternoon, I’ll see you later,” he tells me before leaning forward and dropping a kiss to my lips. I sit here, slightly shocked he kissed me at work, and slightly still in shock that we’re dating. I’m still getting used to it, that’s for sure. I’m excited, yet nervous about everything, but willing to see where things can go between Drew and me.
9
DREW
I PULL the protective garb from my body, tossing it into the biohazard trash can just outside the procedure room. Operation complete, and my patient will get to go home tomorrow, as long as his vitals stay stable overnight.
The high I get each and every time I complete a procedure on a patient that goes textbook perfect is what fuels me. They definitely don’t all go this easy or smoothly, but if I was a betting man, I’d suffice to say that it’s more around forty to fifty percent of cases go textbook perfect. Many will have some hiccup, even if it’s just something minor going wrong. When you’re dealing with the heart, things can go from good to bad in the snap of your fingers. In my first few years, each and every case that I lost a patient, or things didn’t go right, would bring me down for days at a time. One of my best teachers and mentors, Dr. Bennington, sat me down and helped me process and deal with those losses. Taught me how to handle them going forward. I’ll never not take the loss of one of my patients hard or personal, but I’ve also learned how to deal with that grief and not allow it to affect my care for all my other patients who need me to be on the top of my game.
“Dr. Montgomery,” I hear my name being called as I walk down the hallway.
“What’s up?” I ask Brianna, the nurse who was calling out to me.
“It’s Mack. Her vitals have been all over the place today. We had to cut her time with Megan in the playroom short. She was very short of breath, wheezing pretty badly. She’s back in bed now, on full oxygen and attempting to rest. I’ve maxed out her meds per the orders you have on file in her chart.”
“I’ll head in to check on her now. Can you get the transplant coordinator on the phone for me please? We need to get her moved up to top priority if she isn’t already there,” I tell her.
I pull my stethoscope from my pocket; I sling it around my neck as I knock on Mack’s door and push it open. Her mother, Heather, is lying in the hospital bed with her, cradling her as they watch a movie together on her iPad. “Sorry to interrupt,” I tell them both as I rub the hand sanitizer all over my hands that hangs off the doorjamb.
“No, please come in,” Heather says, sitting up a little straighter in the bed.
“Don’t move on my accord,” I tell her as I approach the side of the bed. I start my assessment as soon as my eyes land on Mack. Her shortness of breath is very noticeable, as is the bloating of her abdomen. “How’s her appetite been today?” I ask Heather.
“Nonexistent. She hasn’t taken more than a few bites here and there,” she tells me.
“Can I take a listen?” I ask Mack, holding up the end of my stethoscope. She looks up at me, the life that I normally see in her eyes is almost gone, but I can still see the fight. She reaches up to unsnap the hospital gown where it snaps at her shoulder. “No need to take the gown off,” I tell her, placing my hand over hers to stop her. I place one end against her chest, over the gown, and the other part in my ears. I listen to her heart beating. It’s fast and abnormal in rhythm, both typical symptoms of her cardiomyopathy.
“What’s the verdict?” Heather asks me once I place my stethoscope back around my neck. The news isn’t great, and I’ve never been a doctor to beat around the bush or sugar coat anything. Doing so isn’t good for anyone involved. The patient, or in this case, her parents, need to know the god-honest truth, even if it isn’t the greatest news right now.
“Where’s David?” I ask, not wanting to give Heather the answer by herself, knowing that it will be hard to accept.
“He’s at work. What’s wrong Drew?” Heather pushes me harder.
“Can you call him, have him come down here. I just think it’d be better if you were both here for me to go over things,” I tell her, holding back my own emotions. Life isn’t fucking fair, and that is evident seeing that my five-year-old patient is going to die in a matter of weeks if she doesn’t get a new heart.
“I’ll call him now,” she says, grabbing her cell off the bedside table. I wait while she does. “He’ll be here in ten minutes, fifteen tops,” she says as she sets her phone back down a moment later.
“Okay, I’ll be back as soon as I know he’s here. Maybe we can discuss things down the hall,” I suggest. They’ve always been pretty open with Mack, but I try and not deliver bad news in front of some of my patients. They don’t need to stress over some of the things that are going on, thus causing more strain on their hearts.
I leave Heather and Mack to wait on David’s arrival. I head for the nurses’ station and work on some charting that I need to finalize from my morning patients. True to Heather’s word, David arrives about ten minutes later. “If you want to grab Heather, I’ll meet you both in the consult room,” I tell him as he passes the nurses’ station.
I’m already in the room when they enter, both taking a seat across from me. Once they’re settled, I launch right into things. “She’s not improving. Brianna is getting the transplant team on the phone for me. I’m going to make sure she’s first on the list if a matching heart becomes available. She needs one now.”
“Be honest with us, Drew,” Heather says, holding back a sob. David wraps his arm around his wife and pulls her into his side as best as he can with them sitting in chairs. “What are we really looking at? A few days? A week? Month?” I’ve known Heather and David since we were a
ll kids. We attended the same schools from kindergarten until high school, so the informal and more personal way they both address me has never bothered me.
“She needs a new heart as soon as possible. I’d say we have a max of two to three weeks for that to happen before hers gives out.”
I listen to their sobs as the news I just dropped hits them like the bomb that it is. “I’m so sorry. I’m doing everything I can to make her better and I’ll continue to fight for her to get the next heart that is a match.”
“Thank you, Drew. We know you’re doing everything you can. It still doesn’t make this any easier,” David tells me as he wipes tears from his own cheeks. Heather is crying against his chest, her tears soaking his dress shirt. I grab a box of tissues from the shelf behind me and pass them across the table to them.
“I’ll leave it up to the two of you to decide how much to tell Mack and when to tell her. The least amount of stress we can put her under, the better. For now, I’m going to put a stop order on leaving of her room unless medically necessary. She needs to stay put. If she’s feeling up to CLS visits, I’ll have them stay in her room, and keep things calm and relaxing.”
“Okay,” David answers for both of them.
“Dr. Montgomery,” Brianna says my name, opening the door and interrupting our conversation, “I’ve got the transplant coordinator on the phone for you,” she tells me.
“Excuse me for a moment, I’ll be back once I’m done with this call and let you know what they say,” I tell them both as I stand and head for the nurses’ station to take the call.
Fuck I chant in my mind as I hang the phone up. I pinch the bridge of my nose with my fingers as I let my head fall back for a few moments. I was successful in pleading our case and got Mack moved up on the transplant list. She’s been moved to the number one spot for her requirements, so now we just sit and wait and hope that the heart becomes available before hers gives out. This waiting game is never fun, and once again my mind wanders back to the reality that for my patient to live, another doctor’s patient has to die. Life really isn’t fucking fair sometimes.
Cocky Doc: A Hero Club Novel Page 6