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.