Chapter Two
Jovan
“Give me a minute, Zoe.” I pushed through the door into my condo, greeted by the enthusiastic mixed-breed the rescue swore would never weigh more than twenty pounds. Try 120 pounds. Fortunately, she was the most loving, gentle giant ever to use four legs and a cold nose to knock down her doggy daddy when he returned from the hospital. “I’m happy to see you, too.”
My day had been sucky in the extreme, but just ruffling the fur on my Zoe’s multicolored head made me feel a little better. Not a lot—not on this particular day. Only a few hours before, it happened.
“Doctor, I know you’re on the way out, but can you see one more patient? They’re bringing him in now.”
My shifts often ran over, but today had been an exhausting one. Emergency medicine in a community hospital like ours was, to all accounts, a dying art. Many similar facilities had closed their ERs, meaning, people had to be taken miles away by ambulance or worried family members. We were proud to still offer the service, but the others closing had also meant that the area we covered had expanded, the cases multiplied, and administration was still trying to figure out how to handle that. Having been called in before dawn, I had been hoping to get out earlier than usual. Or at least catch a nap at some point, but the flow of patients didn’t even allow me a lunch break. If not for a protein bar tossed to me by a nurse, I’d have had nothing to eat all day.
Coffee…I did manage that because without it I wouldn’t have made it through the hours to that point.
“Isn’t there anyone else who can handle this one?” I’d gladly help any patient, but I’d learned in medical school that a doctor running on empty was not one at peak performance. “I’m beat.”
“I know.” Nurse Roddy, the same one who’d given me the protein bar, stood up from the desk and came around to me. “But it’s Doc Sherwin, and he doesn’t have the expertise.”
“He’s doing very well,” I protested, “for being so new.”
“Agreed, and he’s learning more every day, but this was a very bad traffic accident, and the injuries to the driver are extensive. Can you at least stick around to stabilize the patient? I’m so sorry to ask this of you.”
I swallowed a sigh. “Of course. If you think it’s necessary.” Nurses had instincts I’d learned never to ignore. “How far out?”
“Ten minutes.”
“All right. I’m running to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich and I will be back here in ten. That good?”
“You’re a prince, Doctor.” Roddy flashed him a pearly smile and sashayed back to his seat. “Try not to choke.”
“I’ve only done that once,” I protested, taking off down the hall. One of the disadvantages of being in a small hospital was the limited hours in the cafeteria, at least for freshly cooked food, but a glance at my watch showed I could still get something from the grill if I was fast. If someone was manning it—which they were. Hospital food had a bad reputation, but the juicy burger I gobbled while heading back to the ER was far better than any fast-food version.
“Doctor, you are just in time.” Nurse Roddy was standing in the doorway, and I joined him to see the ambulance attendants unloading the patient on the gurney. Unlike most TV shows, we did not dash out to run alongside, just instructed them what cubicle to take the patient to and followed along at a fast walk.
I hadn’t gotten a good look, but what I saw chilled me to the bone. The person on the gurney was unconscious, from what I could see, and it was a blessing because the wound to his leg…
“Can you save it?” Nurse Roddy stood at my elbow. “He’s so young.”
“What is Sherman doing? If he can be freed up for a few minutes, I’m going to want him in with us.”
“I’ll see, Doctor.”
Another nurse came into the cubicle, prepared to assist. Blood loss would almost certainly be an issue, and I questioned the EMTs and reviewed their notes before conducting my own examination.
I saw car accident victims several times per week, but rarely one this badly hurt. Multiple injuries that were far too similar to another person years ago. I was on my first emergency medicine rotation, late at night, at another hospital. And the patient was so badly hurt, as in no guarantee he’d even make it.
It was terrifying—and I couldn’t show it. The patient was wide awake, fully aware, and nobody had to tell him he was badly hurt.
A pathetic whimper from Zoe brought me back to the moment. My patient from today was still alive, having been airlifted to a trauma center and into hands with more equipment than mine. My last hospital had more resources, was a teaching facility, not like us. So, off he went. The doctor receiving him promised she’d keep me updated and insisted that only my work stabilizing him had made his future recovery possible. I told her Doctor Sherman had been an invaluable help—a slight stretch, but not a big one. He’d done his best. The patient it reminded me of, the one who’d been clutching that stuffie as if it was the only thing keeping him alive, had probably been luckier than I wanted to admit. With little more experience than Sherman, I could so easily have made a mistake. The thought chilled me,and it was partly why I had the newer doctor in with me. One day, he might find himself in a similar situation, and you couldn’t learn these things in school.
After the patient was gone, I sat the other doctor down and had a good talk with him, went over what did and why, what we could have done better, and what he thought about all of it. I had nobody to do that with the night of the stuffie. I’d reviewed the experience over and over, beating myself up and wishing I’d been better at my job. I did hear that he did well, but sometimes I wished I could have reconnected with him and heard it in his own words. Even in pain, scared, he was so gracious. By now, he was probably happily married with a family…and that should make me 100 percent happy. It did. Of course, it did.
A shame that I couldn’t even find a little to do more than a scene with. I didn’t expect a marriage or even serious relationship. My hours were terrible, my needs specific, and I didn’t have the time some other daddies had to give to both a little and a spouse. So…occasional scenes it was. And jealousy that some people got to have full personal lives.
My dog reappeared carrying her baby, a stuffie she’d had since the first day I got her. She set it at my feet and ran back for her leash.
“But I have you, Zoe.” I’d wanted to eat something first, but my pup and I were going to the dog park. The building offered a dog-walking service, so she wasn’t crossing her legs or anything, but the time we spent together in the evenings…priceless.
Chapter Three
