I reach into my other pocket and pull out a small juice box, shaking it in front of him.
“Is that for me?!” His pale cheeks immediately pink up, and his eyes are gleaming at me.
“You bet, Champ. Had to wrestle nurse Kyle for this one. He almost beat me, but I wasn’t gonna lose a battle for cranberry-apple juice,” I tell him. There was no wrestling match. I keep a stash of juices for him at home and always bring one in. He likes thinking that I go through a gauntlet to get him these treats. It makes me seem like more of a superhero to him.
“Did you hit him with an elbow and then get him in a headlock?” he giggles, getting more animated by the second.
“Did I ever? Had him begging for mercy. It took two nurses to pull me off him and put an end to his misery,” I add in, earning another wave of laughter from him. It’s a funny visual because Kyle is about six inches taller than I am, and out weighs me by thirty or forty pounds.
“You’re the coolest, Dr. J!” He holds his small hand up for a high-five and the moment our hands clap, any fatigue I was feeling melts away.
I spend the next forty-five minutes convincing this small boy to keep fighting and eat some of the bland hospital food that he hates somuch. He picks at his vegetables, and by the time his mom comes back- looking more composed- Sammy’s already asleep.
“Still no transplant. I just finished speaking with Dr. Nash,” Wendy tells me, her voice flat, unwavering. She gently pushes a lock of Sammy’s dirty blonde hair off his forehead. “How much longer can he afford to wait?” The worry returns to her voice, and it’s moments like this that I wish I could cut my own heart out for this boy. Give him a chance for a life where he’s not connected to machines and tubes.
“Wendy…” There’s nothing to say in these moments. “I have a meeting with Dr. Nash this afternoon. We will look at some other options while we wait for a transplant to come through.”
Her eyes scan over his half-eaten tray of food and they focus on the juice box. “Thank you, Jon. We’ll see you tomorrow,” she gives me a half-smirk and pulls the blanket up higher over Sammy’s shoulders. I’ve been warned about letting patients and their families call me by my first name, but it helps them feel more comfortable around me, which makes it easier for me to treat them.
I hate and love my job. I’m in my final year of my pediatric medicine residency. I decided to apply for a fellowship in pediatric cardiology, and that will keep me here at Paramount Hospital for at least another year. Sammy’s one of the first cases that I got to take the lead on, and it’s the most depressing experience in my medical education. But Sammy’s a fighter and so I’m fighting alongside him.
I finish lacing up my shoes, ready to go home for the evening and sleep for the next nine hours until I have to be back here tomorrow morning.
“Oh good! I caught you before you left for the day!” I’m slammed back onto the stiff couch and my lap is crushed at the same time as my lips. “Mmm…You’re looking good today. Your hair is all messy and out of sorts,” Nicolette, my girlfriend, tsks as she kisses my lips, cheeks, and nose.
My hands find their place on her narrow hips, my thumbs resting on the elastic band of her light pink scrubs.
“Hey, babe,” I say trying to speak around her assault of kisses. “I’m pretty beat. Can you sto–”
“Aw, poor you. Your voice sounds so rough. You better go home and get some sleep. Can’t have the best doctor in this hospital sleep deprived,” she says, focusing her attention on trying to fix my hair back the way she likes it.
“I’ll be out the door as soon as you let me go,” I tell her dryly.
She sits up straight, arms crossed over her chest, and a downturned grimace on her face. “I’m sorry. Am I bothering you? I haven’t seen you in the last couple of days. I thought you’d be happy to see me after a long day,” she huffs, rolling her hazel eyes up at the stark white ceiling.
Guilt immediately claws at my insides, and I untuck her hands, folding her fingers through mine. “I’m sorry, babe. It’s just been a tough day.”
Her face softens and she presses a gentle kiss to my lips, her hair falls over my face. “Aw, Jonny. Is it that same boy? Stanley?”
“Sammy. Yea.”
“Aw. He’ll be okay. You’re the best doctor, babe. You’re just tired. I’d be able to take care of you and help you better if we lived together,” she says sweetly.
This is the hundredth time she’s brought this up. We’ve been together for eight months. I love her, yea. But it seems too soon to move in together. She’s a nurse in the labor and delivery department and is eager to move things along between us. I’m sure we’ll get there one day; I just want to get through the rest of my residency and this fellowship first.
“Nic, come on. You know I don’t have the bandwidth to think about moving in together right now,” I let her down as gently as possible. I also really like having my own place. Nicolette is great, but she can be clingy. If we move in together now, I know she would demand all of my free time when I’m home.
“I know. You’re so busy. You’re Paramount Hospital’s best Pediatrician. That’s why you should let me help you, babe. Let me make a comfortable home for us. Let me take care of you after these long days, so you can focus on what you do best.”
She doesn’t give me a chance to respond before she kisses me again, grinding her hips against mine. She probably would make my boring apartment more homey. Warm.
“Mmm…babe, we’re in my office,” I mumble between our lips. I share my office with the three other pediatric residents. It’s not like I can lock the door.
“Mmm. You just feel so good, Jonny. Let me make you feel good,Doctor,” she moans as she says my title. “Mmm. You’re the sexiestdoctorin this entire hospital. So sexy. Smart.” She continues swiveling her narrow hips over mine, effectively waking up my sleepy dick to a semi. “Mmm. We’re so good together, right, babe?” she coos as she keeps on dry humping me.
“Fuck…Yea, babe. We’re good. That’sso good,” I groan into her hair, getting lost in her expensive perfume. It’s true I haven’t seen her in a couple of days, and before that, she was on her period, and refused to be intimate during that time. So, yea. I’m a little backed up and suddenly feeling desperate to come. I’ll fuck her through her pink scrubs if she gives me the word.
“Mmhmm, imagine coming home and making love to me in our own bed. I’d be waiting for you every evening. Doesn’t that sound perfect, babe?” She rubs her hips into me harder.
