“Would you like me to wait for them to come back so I can repeat what I just told you?” he asked.
“I’m sure you have other patients…” I shrugged. I knew my parents would be worried about what the doctor had said while they were out of the room, but I knew he couldn’t just wait around in my room.
“I don’t have any other patients today.”
“How?” I asked incredulously.
“I was on call.” He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t need him to.
“Griffin.” I groaned.
He smirked, “Is that the husband?”
“No, that’s my brother’s business partner and friend… and someone who is used to getting his own way. I’m so sorry you got called in on your day off for a fainting spell.” My head flopped back on the pillow. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. I would rather be called in for an easy case and some light conversation with a beautiful woman than called in for a case that would keep me up tonight.” His face and tone conveyed nothing but sincerity, and I let myself relax a little.
“Is Griffin here today?” he placed one ankle on his knee and leaned back in the seat.
“No, he’s in Seattle.” I shook my head as I answered.
“I see, is that where you are from?”
“I was born here but I live in LA.”
We slipped into an easy conversation for a few minutes while we waited for my parents to return. I learned that Dr. Teller’s first name was Max, and he was the oldest of his siblings, had been married once but divorced early, had one ten year old son from the marriage—and that it wasn’t his weekend with his son—which made me feel better.
“Knock-knock.” A chipper voice chirped as they knocked on the door.
“I hate when people do that.” He mumbled barely loud enough for me to hear. I stifled a giggle and tried to keep my face blank when the cheerful young technician bounced into the room with a portable ultrasound.
“Thank you, Natalie.” Max said and smiled patiently. “I can take it from here. I’ll be sure to page you when I’m done with it.” She looked confused for a second.
“You want to perform the ultrasound yourself?” she asked.
“That’s correct.” He tilted his head just slightly with an amused glint in his eyes.
“Oh…” she looked around the room for a second and then stared at me. “Do you know her?”
What’s with all the questions?
“I’ll page you.” He repeated slowly.
“Of course.” She shook her head and hurried out of the room.
“That was…” I started and then trailed off.
I wasn’t really sure what that was.
“Natalie is… energetic. She’s a very competent technician, enthusiastic, and a little particular about protocols... but your parents should be back any moment and I felt it was better to keep the energy levels and the number of people in the room to a minimum.” He explained.
As if he had sensed their return, my parents stepped back into the room without knocking.
“Everything okay?” My father asked. “We just saw a young woman leaving this room looking very perplexed.”
We both laughed, and I waved a hand to dismiss his concerns. “Nothing to worry about. You guys are back just in time; he’s going to do the ultrasound. Are you ready to meet your grandchild?”
“Actually, we found a couple of stragglers on our way.” My mother stepped around my father and made room for someone to enter.
