Miraculously, there are no organ injuries. About eight minutes after delivery, the baby gives her first cry. Eventually, Evie and I have Hannah closed up and ready to form new scar tissue.
Breathing is suddenly easier.
Did someone turn down the oxygen in the room just for the surgery or something? Not good form.
Evie’s gloved hand touches mine, and I meet her eyes. “Good work, Doctor,” she says.
“And to you.”
We share a silent moment of understanding, a commiseration that only people who’ve suffered the same trenches can comprehend.
Yes, surgeries like this suck, but everyone is alive. Probably because of Evie’s help and a dash of luck. But still.
As soon as that thought occurs, my therapist’s voice rises from the depths of my brain.Try not to attribute your successes to external factors.
Yeah, yeah.
Behind the sterile blue drape, Jocelyn raises an eyebrow at me, then points at all the blood spatter around the room. “You went fullDexter.”
“No judgment allowed.” I snap my gloves off and slide thesoiled surgical gown off my body. “Everyone lived. You’re welcome.”
Blood soaked through the gown and stains my right arm nearly to my elbow. The mirror in the physician locker room is a bit of a shock. I’ve had a serial killer makeover. Blood on my face, my neck—anywhere that was exposed—but a quick shower erases the evidence.
Dressed in clean scrubs, I’m towel-drying my hair when someone knocks on the door. “Asher?”
I throw the towel down and lean around the lockers to see the door. “Joss?”
“Is anyone else in here?”
“Um. No—”
She launches into the room and attacks me with a bear hug.
“This is the men’s locker room, sugar bee.”
“I don’t care. You didawesome, and you need a reward hug.”
I laugh. “If you say so.”
The door opens again, and Joss gasps. She leaps into the wet shower I’ve just vacated and slides the curtain closed. A laugh bursts out of me. “I feel like hiding is somehow worse than being caught in here.”
“Shhhh.”
“Doctor Foley.” The resident, Ashesh, peeks around the corner. He’s obviously confused who I’m talking to, but I don’t bother explaining. “Heard that was one hell of a section.”
“Yeah. Shit show galore.”
He laughs. “Surprised Doctor White didn’t help you.”
I fight the frown, but seriously? What the hell. Even residents doubt my abilities now? “He was otherwise engaged.”
A sneer I wasn’t expecting pulls up Ashesh’s top lip, andhe snorts. Is that...derisionI detect? “Probably had a tee time he couldn’t miss, right?”
And I’m off-kilter. Because that—that sounded like judgment against Dr. White. Not me.
“But you didn’t need him, I guess.” Ashesh raises a hand for a bro high five, which I supply with a smile.
Little boost feels quite nice. Will it last?
