I set my coffee down, shove some charts into her arms. “Here’s your initiative. Find two cases in here that you aren’t familiar with and have questions about for rounds.”
And then I grab my coffee, dig out my phone, and hide in an empty patient room to fire Garrett a quick message.
Rory
Hey, so I still have your green flannel shirt
Garrett
Have you been wearing it to bed for the last two months?
You wish
I prefer to think of you sleeping naked
We aren’t flirting
That’s for later, then?
Don’t you think the long stretches of time in which you don’t hear from me would be a clear message that I’m not trying to get something going again?
Don’t worry, Roar, I know that we aren’t getting back together
You broke up with me
And we don’t need to rehash why that happened when there are more urgent things to talk about, like the fact your pussy can’t spontaneously combust without the right accelerant
He attaches a photo, but it doesn’t load because the signal sucks in this part of the hospital.
Rory
Do not send me a dick pic at work!
Garrett
You’re the one pre-booking me for a booty call later like I’m an airport town car hire
It’s not a dick pic
It’s worse. It’s a selfie, taken in the garage. It looks like he’s flexing, like he knows that the forearm porn is even better than a dick pic.
I can’t fall for that propaganda.
Rory
You know what? I’ll just mail you the shirt
Garrett
Keep it, the days are getting colder
I shove my phone in my pocket and head to rounds.
The rest of the day is slammed, and I’m run off my feet. We have two straightforward surgeries and one with some complications because it’s the patient’s fifth section, which should be a great teaching opportunity. But the consultant on call wants to get through it quickly, which makes it shitty for the junior residents who have scrubbed in.
And then as we’re scrubbing out,I’mthe one the junior resident takes it out on.
“You could have advocated for us!” Her voice cracks. “We’re here to learn.”
