“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.”
“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.”