“GOOD MORNING!” Lucy calls as she walks down the row of lockers, stopping at hers, which is just a few from my own. “Did you have a good weekend?”
“Morning, I did. Did you?” I reply as I get all my things situated.
“Yep. Lazy Saturday followed by Sunday lunch at my grandmother’s.”
“Sounds like a good time,” I tell her as I turn my chair around.
“It always is. It was only Drew, my boyfriend Adam and Grandmother. Drew and I almost always find ways to pester each other. You get the two of us together and it’s like we’re little kids all over again. I might have thrown him under the bus and made a comment about him making an ass of himself when he literally ran into you last week.”
“You didn’t,” I say, laughing at how animated she’s getting.
“I did. It was great. But then he turned the tables on me and dropped the news that my boyfriend and I are moving in together. I think he figured that’d be a huge bomb to drop, but Grandmother took it much better than either of us anticipated she’d take it, so it kind of fell flat if he was expecting a bigger response to the news.”
“Sounds like a fun lunch,” I tell her, loving hearing about her family’s dynamics.
“Even with all the crap we give each other, we really do get along and love each other. He’s one of my best friends and one of the best people I know. He’d give anyone the shirt off his back, if needed. Has a heart of gold and is one of the best doctors this hospital has ever seen, and that’s saying something.”
“I can’t attest to all that you’ve said, but what I’ve seen on the doctor front is spot on.”
“He’s the best, I promise,” she says again. I enjoy learning little tidbits about her family, Drew especially. Even if he’s so far out of my league, a girl can dream.
“Who’s the best?” the man himself asks, popping around the corner, scaring Lucy just a little.
“You scared the shit out of me, Drew!” she yelps, turning quickly and smacking him on his chest.
“Sorry?” he says, not sounding very sorry at all and grabbing her wrist to stop her from hitting him a second time.
“No, you’re not,” she says, laughing at him. I’ve only been around the two of them a few times so far, but I love watching the dynamic between them, they’re hilarious.
“How are you today, Megan?” Drew turns his attention my way and asks.
“Good, and you?”
“Can’t complain. I finished rounds for the morning. Headed to my office to take care of some charting and see what pops up for the day.”
“Sounds like an easy day.”
“Eh, normal for a Monday morning. I’m sure it won’t stay that way,” he tells me as we both head for the exit. He beats me to the door, which he opens and holds for me to pass through, Lucy directly behind me. He follows us to the nurses’ station where he stops at the computer station that is there for the doctors to use. I grab my tablet and pull up my schedule for the day. I’ve got a fairly light schedule, as well, so far. A few patients with tests that need assistance and some in-patient visits.
“I’m off to radiology,” I tell those gathered around the station.
“Want to grab lunch together?” Lucy calls out to me before I get too far down the hall.
“That’d be great. I should have a break around twelve thirty if everything goes well this morning,” I tell her.
“Sounds good, I’ll just meet you down in the cafeteria if that works for you?”
“Works for me,” I tell her and then take off for the elevator to get down to radiology.
“HOW WAS YOUR MORNING?” Lucy asks, dropping into a chair across from me.
“Pretty good. Everything stayed on track, all my patients were in good spirits this morning. How about you?”
“Rough one. I had a new patient getting labs drawn and an IV placed, and she was scared of needles. Took a few of us to hold her down and took most of my techniques to get her distracted long enough to forget about the IV line long enough so they could get it secured properly so she can’t pull it out.”
“Poor girl. Is she doing okay now?” I ask.
“Yep. I got her all set up with a tablet filled with movies for her to keep for the afternoon. I think the meds they were finally able to start giving her helped calm her down, as well. Hopefully she’ll only need a day or two in-patient before being able to go home.”
“That’s good.”
“I know you just moved here and started working here, but are you going to the benefit this weekend?” Lucy asks as she digs in to her lunch.
“What benefit?” I ask, chomping on my carrot sticks.
“The hospital hosts a benefit every year for the children’s hospital. My grandparents started it in honor of my cousin, Tyler. He’s Drew’s younger brother. His heart issues are one of the main reasons Drew picked pediatric cardiology as his specialty when he went to med school.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that. And to answer your first question, no, I’m not going. I didn’t even know about it, nor could I probably afford a ticket to an event like that.”
“Hospital employees get a free ticket to the event. You should come, it’s a great event! I can see if we have any open seats at our table and you can join us.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t have anything to wear to a fundraiser, and I don’t think I could afford anything they’d be selling or auctioning off.” Attending something like this sounds fun, but nothing that I’ve ever dreamed about going to. It just isn’t something that would ever be on my radar to attend.
“It’s more than that. Trust me. Yes, they’ll have a large auction going on, both live and silent, but it’s more about celebrating all that the foundation has done for the hospital and the kids that have benefited.”
“I’ll think about it,” I finally tell her, just to appease her. On one hand, if the hospital provides staff with the ticket, why wouldn’t I go and enjoy myself, but on the other, I don’t really know anyone other than the few people I work with here on a daily basis, and I don’t want Lucy to feel like she has to be my babysitter and keep me entertained.
“You’re going to have so much fun. If it’d make you feel any better, you can be Drew’s date!”
I sputter, spitting out a mouthful of water. “I don’t think being his date would be a good idea,” I say between sputters. I attempt to wipe up the mess I’ve just made.
“Why?” she asks.
“Um, well, first off, shouldn’t you leave him finding a date to himself? And two, I try not to mix my personal life with my work life. Nothing ever good comes out of dating a co-worker.”
“Tomato – tom-ah-to,” she sates. “I think you’d be a good date for him. And that boy hasn’t been on a date in months, maybe even more than a year. He’s always so focused on work that he doesn’t necessarily think of these things or pay much attention to his personal life. So, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and help nudge him along.”
“I’m sure he’ll just love that,” I tease her.