No One But You

“Anything.”

“Get your ID fixed.”

She looked me over with a pout as she walked past me to the door. I had to shake my head to clear it of all thoughts of her and her lacy underwear. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to look away from the doorway.

“Shit, does Richard know about you and his missus?”

My eyes snapped to Raj, the grin on his face making me want to knock his teeth out. “She’s not his wife and we’re just friends.”

Just friends.

“She doesn’t look at me that way.” He licked his lips as his eyes locked on the door she’d just walked out of.

“That’s because she doesn’t care about your existence.” I bit back.

“Ouch!” He threw a lollipop at my head as I walked to the door. “That stung.”

“Why are you carrying sweets around with you?” I unwrapped the Blackcurrant lolly and stuck it in my mouth.

“Easier to get the kids to comply, and it’s a Friday. Do you know how many drunk Uni girls will be coming through tonight? This is my favourite shift; they always remember the good doctor that gave them something to suck on.”

“You’re actually sick, you know that?”

“Yeah, so is banging your best friend’s ex-wife.” I gave him the finger as I walked out of the room to his hysterical laughs. “You’re not even a proper fucking Doctor anyway.”

And therein lies the issue of working in the same place as your ex-wife’s fiancé. Everybody knew our business. At least the nurses had stopped throwing me pitying glances every time I walked into the room. Or whispering amongst themselves every time Richard and I had a consult together. It was an awkward situation and at times it made doing our jobs difficult. Of course, it could’ve all been avoided had Dick kept his cock in his pants. Well away from my wife.

I sat in the staff room for most of the evening. I finished the paperwork I’d started earlier and then I went over the toddler patient’s scans.

His name was Jack Davies. He was almost three years old and he was slightly underweight. His birthday was in three weeks. And I hoped to God that he would live to see it.

I sat there and stared at the mass, building a 3D image in my head so I could twist an

d turn it and learn it. It was my thing. That was my ritual. I’d learn all there was to know about the tumour and then I’d figure out a way of cutting it out with as little impact on my patient as possible.

The problem with this type of tumour was that it had the potential of going from sleeping to hyper progressive in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t the first time I’d treated a Paediatric patient with one of these buggers. They were more common in children than adults, so I’d met my fair share of Posterior Fossa tumours. I knew these fuckers inside out. The problem was the part of the brain it was growing on, and unfortunately for this kid it was right on top of his spinal cord. It explained all his symptoms and a couple of other issues in his history such as his weight. The most frustrating part of all this is that if any Neuro specialist had come across his notes, they would’ve known exactly what was wrong with him. Or at least they would’ve suspected it, unlike a Trauma Consultant or General Practitioner.

I gathered up his notes and the iPad with his scans and headed to the 24-hour McDonalds across the street. I wasn’t ready to go home just yet, not to an empty apartment, so I needed something to keep me going and that was the only place to get a decent enough coffee at three in the morning.

Quincy

It was my first day off in six days. It had been a tough four weeks since Jenna and Jamie’s divorce finally came through. Although they’d been separated for over a year he still took it like a slap to the face. Which was understandable, but at the same time it stung. And I know I didn’t have any right to feel anything at all about the way he was taking it, but in the last few weeks things between us had shifted. The way he lingered every time he touched me was excruciating. I wanted more of it but at the same time I knew that that’s all there would be, because he was still dealing with the divorce.

Shortly after their divorce had come through Jenna and Richard set their wedding date, and that made it all worse. It was car crash television every time Jamie and Richard were in the same room. The death stares and glares were verging on idiocy. Twice over the last three weeks I’d had to practically pry them apart in the staff room. The pair of them were out of control and I was about ready to collapse on my bed and sleep for the next three days straight.

After I’d taken Pippa to school.

Bloody school run.

I’d barely made it up the stairs to the second landing when her humming reached me. I couldn’t help but smile even though it was ridiculous o’clock and every muscle and bone in my body was whinging at me.

She was sprawled on my king-size bed with her dolls around her and a small cushion stuffed up her nightie. She jumped as I walked in the room and quickly started yanking it out like she’d been caught red-handed.

“Hey sweetie, what are you doing up so early?” I dropped onto the bed beside her, propping my tired feet up on my pillows.

She looked at me sheepishly from under her lashes.

“What are you playing? Is nanny still asleep?”