Unexpected Love Story (Love 2)

“This is the patient roster for the day,” she says, pointing at the whiteboard. There are three columns: Dr. Walker, Sr., Dr. Gabe, and Emergency. The whole day is filled up, so at least it won’t be boring. “Since it’s Crystal’s first day, Mrs. Walker is stopping by to bring lunch.”

“High five,” Emma says to herself.

Mia begins discussing the day when I see Gabe walking out of his office. The lab coat fits snug around his biceps. Watching him from my peripheral vision, I notice his eyes find me, then look away.

“Good morning, everyone,” he says, looking at the whiteboard. “Going to be a smooth day, right?” He smiles at us, and I want to do two things. One—roll my eyes, and two—I want to feel his lips again. I shake my head. Bad idea, Crys, bad fucking idea.

The intercom beeps again. “Go time, people. Crystal, you’re with me,” he says, walking to a room. I follow him and see that he is going to his office. “Since we didn’t have a chance to talk about your experience and stuff, I think it’s good if we discuss how we work.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Are you the type of doctor who is going to be leaning over my shoulder?”

He leans against his desk, crossing his legs, and I swear his package looks like it’s bulging. “I’m the type who is going to be watching to see if we are a good fit. I need to have confidence in my nurses.”

“I have no problem with that. I feel the same way,” I tell him. “Do you want me to get to the patients before you come in, or do you want to be there when I get their information and their vitals?”

“To begin with, I’ll be in there with you, and then we will see how it goes.”

“Perfect,” I tell him, nodding while his phone buzzes and we hear Debra’s voice.

“Um, Dr. Walker, Bethany is on line one.” If I thought the vein in his head was throbbing yesterday when we fought, it’s nothing like now.

“You can go ahead and get started. I’ll be right there,” he tells me, not moving from the front of his desk. I nod and walk out of the room.

I look at the whiteboard when I walk back out and see that I have a patient in room two. Grabbing the chart, I walk into the room to a middle-aged woman who is texting away on her phone. “Good morning,” I greet her as she looks up. “My name is Crystal.”

“You’re the new one?” she asks, and I just nod.

“That I am.” I place her file down. “Are you here for any particular reason?”

She looks down and then looks up again. “Nope, just a follow-up. I had my physical last week, and the results came in.”

“Perfect.” I smile at her. “I’ll just take your blood pressure while we wait for Dr. Walker.” I wrap her arm with the inflatable cuff. “It’s one ten over seventy,” I tell her, documenting the measurement in her chart. The door opens, and Gabe comes in.

“Hello, Mrs. Brewster, how are things?” Gabe starts as I hand him the chart. He takes it, nods, and opens it up. “All your results came back normal, so unless things change, you can come back in six months.”

“Well, there is something I think we should discuss. Ever since menopause started, I’m not really in the mood.” She looks at her hands and then up. “And before, I was, well …” She tries to search for the right word.

“Active?” I help her try to find the word, and she smiles.

“Yes, I was active, very active. But now it’s …”

“I see,” Gabe says. “I can prescribe you Addyi. It’s the female version of Viagra.”

“Yes,” Mrs. Brewster says as Gabe writes her a script. He hands her the paper as she thanks him and walks out.

“Go start in room four.” His voice is soft, but he doesn’t look up while he writes his notes. I walk out, and for the rest of the morning, it’s almost as if we work in sync.

Until we get an emergency call and I rush out to see that Hailey is carrying Mila in her arms, her feet bare and bleeding. “She got hurt,” Hailey says, trying not to move Mila, who whimpers.

I open the door for her. “Someone get Gabe.” I look over as Hailey follows me. “What happened?”

“I was sitting outside eating an apple because my eyes were hurting from the computer, and I saw her and that fucking dog playing.” The tears pool in her eyes. “She got hurt, but she was so brave.” I move around her, taking in the weird angle of her arm. “I think it’s her shoulder or her wrist.” It’s definitely broken, and the way her shoulder just lays there, I would say it’s dislocated also.